How Can Journaling Be a Supportive Tool?

Journaling isn’t a test. It’s not about being perfect or writing a masterpiece. It’s a way to be with yourself — in your own time, on your own terms.

Quick Exercise: you’re invited to try It!
Scribble, doodle, or jot down one sentence about how you feel right now.  That’s it — that’s journaling.

Why Journaling Can Be Helpful

Journaling can:

• Help you hear yourself more clearly

• Untangle confusing feelings or thoughts

• Give your inner world the attention it deserves

Writing (also doodling, or dictating) can make thoughts and emotions more manageable — and sometimes reveal what’s quietly brewing beneath the surface.

As writer and artist Natalie Goldberg says:
“When you write in a notebook, your thoughts are in a place. It's like they’ve been taken out of your head.”

Make It Your Own

Journaling doesn’t have to look one way!  You might experiment with:

• Sketches or comic strips instead of sentences

• Typing, voice memos, mind maps, or symbols

• Setting the mood with dim lights, noise-canceling headphones, or candles

• Reading a reflection prompt and noticing how you feel, or intentionally thinking though a prompt in your head, can be an effective reflection tool too.

Reminders:

Make this your safe place for exploration, self-expression, and self-support. It’s always okay to step away.   There’s no wrong way to journal.

6 Ways to Keep Your Journaling Effective, Compassionate, and Grounding

1. Start with a Check-In

Before you begin writing, check in with your body and nervous system.
Briefly explore one of the following:

• What am I feeling right now? (physically, emotionally, energetically)

• On a scale of 1–10, how grounded, tired, or charged do I feel?

• Am I resourced enough to write right now? (If not, it’s okay to pause or switch to something gentler.)

This helps set a baseline and reminds you it’s okay to pause or pivot if it feels overwhelming.

2. Use Structure

Free-writing isn’t for everyone.
If it makes you spiral into distraction, self-criticism or overthinking, try prompts like:

• What would I say to a younger version of me (or a good friend) who felt this way?

• What part of this belief no longer fits who I’m becoming or where I’m heading?

• If I didn’t have to fix this right now, what might I feel instead?

3. You Don’t Have to Go Deep Every Time

Sometimes supportive journaling is:

• Scribbling a grocery list

• Briefly venting a frustration

• Writing one sentence like: “This is hard, and I’m still here.”

• Doodling the scene around you or something that’s been floating in your head

4. Externalize Harmful Narratives

When unpacking difficult beliefs, try to give those voices some distance.
See the belief as something you learned — not who you are.
You can try:

• Writing a letter to the belief (e.g., “Dear Belief: ‘I’ll only be lovable if I’m X’...”)

• Having a dialogue between your present self and the voice of a societal pressure, emotion, or object

• Rewriting the story into a new one rooted in truth and care — you can use my “rewriting a belief” worksheet as a journal prompt.

Tip: Use a timer (5–10 minutes) to stay focused and avoid spiraling. You can always come back later.

5. Include the Body in a Kind Way

Write with your body, not just about it.
Try asking:

• “Body, what do you want me to know today?”

• “Where do I feel safety or calm in my body right now, even if it’s small?”

This supports gentle reconnection.

6. Close with Resourcing

After journaling, re-ground yourself:

Write something stabilizing:

• One thing I’m grateful for right now

• Something that brings me comfort or beauty

• A reminder I want to take from this session

• One small, specific next step (e.g., 10 minutes of studying or doing dishes)

Repeat a stabilizing phrase:

• I am safe in this moment.

• I can come back to my breath or the sounds around me.

• This feeling is allowed, and it will pass.

• I am not my thoughts — I practice observing them like weather.

• Nothing needs fixing right now.

• I am doing the best I can with what I know.

• I choose compassion over perfection.

• I am enough, just as I am in this moment.

Move your body to release energy:

• Tense your shoulders, then release with a big exhale

• Shake out your hands like water

• Clap, sing, listen to a favorite song, or move in any way that feels good

Final Thoughts

Journaling — when done with care — can be a steady companion.
It’s a space for:

• Self-awareness

• Emotional regulation

• Quiet transformation

Whether you’re untangling deep beliefs or simply checking in with yourself, the page offers a non-judgmental place to witness your truth, practice compassion, and choose new directions.

Let it be yours — a space of clarity, curiosity, and quiet power.

“I think of writing as a spiritual practice — a way to ground myself in the world, and also to reach out.”
— Ocean Vuong