TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR OWN WELL-BEING WITH THE WHOLE HEALTH JOURNALING CHALLENGE

 These are some inspiring and insightful passages in “Whole Health Journaling Challenge: A Journaling for the Health of It” by Mari L. McCarthy

 

—  Healing Humor —

If you have ever laughed so hard your stomach hurt, you know from personal experience the therapeutic benefits a little humor can have. There is a lot of truth to the old saying “laughter is the best medicine.” Research has found that laughing does a great deal to safeguard and enhance your health, reducing stress hormones and maybe even preventing heart disease.

William Fry, a psychiatrist at Stanford University, conducted long-term studies on the health benefits of laughter and found that it increases circulation, exercises the muscles, stimulates the immune system, and invigorates the brain. Other researchers have found that laughter reduces stress hormones and may even help prevent heart disease. That’s certainly a reason to be happy!

— Play Date —

We can all learn a thing or two from children at play. They know how to enjoy the moment fully and lose themselves in what they are doing, whether it’s inventing a game of make-believe or climbing the highest tree they can find.

As an adult, it’s more difficult to make room for play and unscheduled leisure time. You may think, “How can I goof off when I have so many other important things I need to be doing?” You might feel that you can’t spare the time or even that you don’t deserve to have fun when you have a lot going on. But play isn’t just important for little kids. It’s a necessary part of healthy adult life and can help reduce stress and increase happiness.

According to Dr. Stuart Brown, founder, the National Institute of Play: Play is particularly important during periods that are sustainedly stressful... If we’re going to adapt to changing economic and personal circumstances the way that nature armed us to do, then we have to find ourselves having some play time virtually every day.

 

Far too often, we become distanced from our own health in our busy modern lives. We neglect not only our physical needs but also our mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. Each of these elements is vital, and optimal health is achieved when we’re able to keep them in balance in a holistic way.

To put it in simple terms, imagine that your well-being is a plant. For it to thrive, it needs the right care: plenty of water and sunlight, nutrient-rich soil, room to grow. If you take away one of those essential ingredients, the plant will suffer and begin to wither.

Have you experienced that kind of effect in your own life when you are deprived of something important – wholesome food or adequate sleep or leisure time? In those situations, it is often an easy short-term solution to treat the symptom instead of addressing the root of the problem. Perhaps you take a pill or drink a cup of coffee or push yourself harder to overcome feeling sick, tired, or anxious. But this approach doesn’t consider your wellness in the long term.

The good news is that you don’t have to keep feeling this way. You have the power to take ownership of your own wellness and change your life for the better, with your journal as your guide.

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THE PRACTICE OF SELF-LOVE AND ABUNDANT LIVING!

Here is an inspiring and insightful passage in “Mindset Medicine: A Journaling Power Self-Love” Book by Mari L. McCarthy

 

— Grab your pen and write “I love myself ” in your journal. In addition, I want you to think about the last time you

wrote this simple little sentence about yourself. I also want you to be honest and admit if you’ve never written this before!

Next, I want you to write, “I love myself ” again. Then write it several more times.

This won’t take long. It’s only three words. Three incredibly wonderful and powerful words that will transform your life.

Now, I want you to get bold.
I want you to say “I love myself ” OUT LOUD several times. And when I say out loud, I don’t mean just move your lips

a little as you mumble to yourself.
I mean, say “I LOVE MYSELF” out loud. Really out loud.

Not once, not twice, but several times.
Say it with a big sloppy grin across your face. This will

make you feel amazing because it’s very difficult, if not impos- sible, to put a big smile on your face and feel lousy.

For the next step in this journaling prompt, and this is the big part, I want you to take your journal and stand in front of a mirror. Come on, do it!

I want you to stand in front of a mirror, put a big smile on your face, look yourself square in the eyes, and say, “I love myself.” Not once, not twice, but several times.

Now I know you may be thinking, “I’m with you on this, Mari, but do I really have to look at myself in the mirror and say ‘I love you’ to myself out loud?”

Yes, you do!

I am going to explain why by asking you two questions: How many times have you written about how much you love yourself? How many times have you stood in front of your mirror and talked about how much you love yourself? I’m guessing you probably haven’t done these two things in a long time, if ever.

On the other hand, I bet there have been numerous times  over the years when you have stood in front of your mirror and said things like:

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” “Why’d you do that?”
“How come you’re not in better shape?” Why don’t you have more money? “Why don’t you try harder.” “You’re worthless.”
“You talk too much.”

 If you’ve done this, you’re certainly not alone. We have all abused ourselves while looking in the mirror for one reason or another.

But how many times have you stood in front of your mirror and said:

“I love you! You’re dreamy and incredible!”

If you’re not doing this every single day of your life, my next question is:

Why the heck not?!
It certainly doesn’t take long.
If you’re not doing this simple little exercise every day, you’re not doing it enough. But now you can make up for it. Shower yourself with self-love. Do this every day. Write down the words, “I love you” in your journal. Then stand in

front of your mirror and say, “I love you” to yourself. Remember to say it loud and say it proud. After the ass-kicking you’ve been giving yourself in front of your mirror for all of these years, it’s time to turn the tables and get the self-love thing going.

Getting good at smothering yourself with love can be your own private little thing.

No one even has to know you’re doing it. You can love yourself while you’re writing in your journal every day and no one will suspect a thing.

When you give yourself permission to finally love yourself, it will put you in a tremendous frame of mind for attracting what you really want in all areas of your life.

So go for it. You have nothing to lose and endless amounts of joy to gain!

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THE MIRACULOUS BENEFITS OF COURAGEOUS JOURNALING

These are some of my favorite passages in “Heal Your Self With Journaling Power” by Mari L. McCarthy

 

— Whether you’re dealing with health issues or other personal matters, courageous journaling gives you the opportunity to be bold, to be loud, and write down anything you want any way you want.

Remember, this is YOUR journal. Nobody is going to read it but you. You don’t have to be polite with your writing, and you don’t have to be politically correct. You can bring down the hammer and write anything YOU want that is bothering you.

Again, it’s the best and least expensive form of therapy. When you write about things that upset you in a hard, direct manner, solutions will start flowing back to you in the form of answers and action plans.

The key is to be brutally honest with your thoughts. In other words, be courageous! This is a great way to get things out of your system that you might otherwise keep bottled up.

The tremendous benefit of courageous journaling is that it allows you to get the words out without anybody else hearing them. So you don’t have to worry about filtering your thoughts, and you don’t have to worry about “saying things” to someone that you later feel the need to amend or apologize for.

This is an incredible tool when you have fierce issues going on in your life. We all know people who’ve kept quiet about what was eating them up inside, until one day they let loose and exploded with rage and anger they later felt embarrassed about.

Now, imagine if these people had instead emptied their rage and anger onto the pages of their journal. They’d feel so much relief inside, and they’d have absolutely nothing for which to apologize!

Have you known someone like this? More important, has this person ever been you? If it has, it never has to be again. Because now you can rant and rave whenever you need to...to Dr. Journal!

Are you angry with your boss or a co-worker? Let ’em have it in your journal. Rant and rave and spill your guts about how you really feel. Let it all out! Are you angry because you’re struggling with health issues? Pour your  raw, honest thoughts into your journal. Remember, Dr. Journal is there to listen to you 24/7, and she doesn’t charge a dime.

Everybody gets angry and upset. It’s part of being human. What sets us apart is how we deal with it. We all know it’s never healthy to keep things bottled up, but it can be equally as unhealthy to explode emotionally and verbally rage in front of others.

On the other hand, verbally exploding into your journal can be courageous, combative, and incredibly cleansing! So go for it!

— When the issues in your tissues have you really worked up, there is a huge advantage to letting your rage loose on Dr. Journal, instead of flying off the handle during a personal confrontation.

When you have issues you know will eventually require a direct con- versation with someone, journaling about them first gives you the advantage of being able to collect and organize your thoughts. It also enables you to rehearse the thoughts, feelings, and words you need to communicate.

The benefit of this process is that when you finally do confront some- one with your issue, you won’t come across as an over-emotional mess who is shooting from the hip with a series of rambling and disconnected thoughts.

Journaling your rants before an inevitable confrontation also gives you time to pause and consider someone else’s point of view, or the other side of an issue you’re dealing with. Over time this can deliver a sense of ease, calm, and healing to you.

Ranting and complaining to Dr. Journal also gives you a tremendous chance to fiddle with your feelings and thoughts over a period of days after your initial pen-to-paper outburst. By doing this, you are not continually dealing with your issues and the people connected to them in a state of emotional upheaval.

Think of times in your past when you had an issue with a friend, lover, co-worker, or family member that resulted in a confrontation where both of you got emotional, shot from the hip, and said things you later regretted. Or, as most often is the case, you didn’t say things you wish you would have.

When you think back to these times (and we’ve all had many), wouldn’t it have been a great advantage to you if you had at least a day or two to first rant to Dr. Journal? Wouldn’t it have been a big help if you had first put your emotional rant on paper, and then taken a day or two to sort through your thoughts and feelings before you had a direct conversation with someone about the issue at hand?

Sure, there are some issues that confront us on the spur of the moment, and we have no choice but to react to and deal with them immediately. But the large majority of our issues are challenges we see coming ahead of time.

Spending some time venting to Dr. Journal (who doesn’t charge a dime) is a great way to work through your challenges before they lead to a confrontation with someone.

Plus, you’ll be in a much calmer, cooler state during your conversation, which can provide you with a big edge if you’re confronting someone who’s never heard of Dr. Journal.

— Courageous journaling gives you a fantastic way to write things down you might not want to say out loud. You don’t have to be polite, proper, dignified, classy, or politically correct. You can just let it rip!

Not only CAN you do this, but it’s important that you DO! Be brutally honest with your thoughts and feelings and let them pour out. The more honest you are with your writing, the more helpful Dr. Journal becomes.

When you are real and authentic with Dr. Journal, she will reward you by sending back answers, solutions, and action plans that are equally real, honest, and authentic.

In addition, when you are true and honest with Dr. Journal, you’ll realize that all your thoughts and feelings have value. And when you commit them to paper you will truly realize this.

Then you will have the power to choose whether you want to express these thoughts and feelings publicly with one or several people. You will also be able to decide if you need to keep certain thoughts and feelings to yourself, and just learn from them.

Another benefit of being open and honest with your rants is that you can look back on them and learn. For example, when you read your courageous journal entries from six months or a year ago, you will notice things like...

—  I’ve come so far in this past year because I learned so much from my rants.

— I notice I only half committed to the action plans I said I would take six months ago.

— I no longer hang out with the people who motivated my rants last year, and I’ve made new friends and I feel energized.

— Gee, I seem to be ranting about the same damn things as I was a year ago, and I’m hanging out with the same people and repeating the same old patterns. I need to get on the ball and address this!

This is a great example of why you shouldn’t hesitate to rant your raw, unfiltered thoughts to Dr. Journal. Let’s face it, they’re in your head so you may as well write them down.

This way, when you look back in your journal you’ll be able to see if your rants from a year ago are the same ones in your head right now. On the positive side, you’ll also be able to see if last year’s rants are a distant memory you’ve learned from and left in your past as you’ve moved on to bigger and better things.

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RECOGNIZING AND HEALING THE INNER CRITIC THROUGH JOURNALING

This is one of my favorite passages in “Journaling Power: How to Create the Happy, Healthy Life You Want to Live” by Mari L. McCarthy.



Through my daily journaling, I learned to recognize my negative automatic thoughts – those well-worn and limiting “tapes” that play in your head, over and over, as they inhibit progress. We all have these negative thoughts from time to time. Journaling has helped me eliminate them.

My Inner Critic also shouted loudly when I decided to follow my dreams to become a singer: again I had to talk to him very firmly. My journal revealed how he had been empowered through the treatment I received as a child. The message I got from my parents and teachers was to keep quiet and be invisible; this did not help me to become a creative writer or singer. At school, I was once sent away from the chorus for allegedly being tone-deaf (though the problem was actually my shyness).

These rejections affected me deeply. As I grew up, I began to think of myself as “staccato,” a musical term that meant “with each sound or note sharply detached or separated from the others.” I didn’t feel that I expressed myself in a way that flowed naturally, so I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t speak out, let alone sing out. As I progressed through elementary school, high school, and college, I excelled at solitary tasks that did not require me to speak out loud. My Inner Critic told me to keep quiet and I obeyed his commands.

Journaling enabled me to break this pattern and cast aside the negative self-image I’d developed. Remarkably, I became a singer despite the many discouragements I’d suffered as a child. As you’ll see in Chapter 5, the daily practice of journaling led me to take the first step in this once-scary direction – and then the next step and the next. With the help of my journal, I committed to the daily practice that learning to sing well entailed.

Of course, that meant listening to my voice (oh, yuck!). I taped all of my voice lessons and forced myself to pay attention to. In time, I learned how to treat myself kindly and gently and discovered how relaxing, breathing and drinking water not only made me a better singer, but a far less wrinkled one!

Now if I’m honest, it’s taken years to tame my Inner Critic. It wasn’t an overnight victory. But it’s all happened through journaling. Through writing every day, I’ve learned to live in the present moment. I’ve cleared out the old messages that seemed to be stuck deep in the cells of my body. Managing my Inner Critic was a huge part of my journaling practice for many years and I continue to grapple with him on a regular basis.

As you start your journaling practice, don’t let your Inner Critic get the better of you. In the next section, I’ll explain how the Inner Critic develops and how you can keep him under control.

It’s good to be aware of the Inner Critic right from the beginning of your journaling journey. Some people have more trouble than others with this interfering entity, but pretty much everyone will experience his voice some of the time.

Right now you could be thinking: “The whole journaling idea is probably a waste of time because I’m not really a writer,” or “I doubt journaling will change my life: it seems a bit of a hippie thing to do.” These thoughts create resistance to the whole process, and that’s typical of the Inner Critic. As soon as you try something a little bit different, he goes off on a tirade.

So let’s unmask him and put him in his place!

Psychotherapist and writer Dennis Palumbo defines the Inner Critic as “the persistent, sometimes harsh and almost always shaming ‘voice’ that belittles or invalidates your work.”

It is, of course, part of you, a component of your psyche that manifests almost as a sub-personality of who you are. It’s linked to your ability to make judgments, discern your likes and dislikes, and form opinions so that you can make decisions.

The Inner Critic developed as soon as you had language skills and could understand your parents’ comments, particularly when they used the word “no” and rebuked you. You internalized these comments and began to hear their “no” even when they were not physically present. If your parents were often critical, then your Inner Critic became a powerful negative voice in your head, forbidding certain thoughts and behaviors. If your parents were very positive and encouraging then you may have experienced it far less. But the Inner Critic isn’t just a product of your family upbringing – teachers and other authority figures, and the wider society you grew up in, were all influential in its development.

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