I was given a gratitude journal a few years ago and journaling has become part of my daily routine. I take a minute at the beginning of the day to think about what lies ahead and again, before I go to sleep, to focus on what good things happened during the day.

When you put pen to paper and write down everything you would like to happen, it can strengthen the neural pathways in the subconscious to actualising it! Think of journaling as your “scene setting” for the day, prompting inspiration and motivation.

Evening reflection and journaling enables better sleep, reduced blood pressure, improved mood and feeling grateful at the end of the day.

In my practice, I see many people who feel out of balance and overloaded. We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with information and we can be scrolling through Instagram and comparing ourselves to others often before we have even got out of bed in the morning! This increases unwanted levels of stress and anxiety.

The benefits of journaling

Journaling creates different patterns of thinking and encourages your brain to slow down and to notice more. When we encourage a heightened appreciation we can feel more positive with a sense of purpose.

It doesn’t have to take much time or be complex but journaling for mental health and focussing on gratitude has been proven to increase happiness and wellbeing. I encourage my clients to try this format:

• Morning check-in:  “I’m feeling…”
• 3 reasons to be grateful today…
• What 3 things would make today good?…
• Evening reflection: “I’m feeling…”
• 3 good things that happened today

Years of research continues to confirm the therapeutic benefits of expressing what matters to us in words on the page. Mounting evidence only underlines what many have instinctively discovered for themselves: Writing can be good for you.

How hypnotherapy can help

Hypnotherapy can help to shift and re-frame your subconscious to focus more on the positives than the negatives. Life can be challenging, but how we respond with our thoughts and actions can make a huge difference to how we ultimately feel and how we manage going forward. Hypnotherapy can help you to calm emotions, find clarity and create realistic goals for yourself – and journaling is a way you can re-enforce this and find some joy along the way.

So I would encourage you to book in for an online session and notice the restorative effect an hour of hypnotherapy brings.