Journaling VS Meditation- Comparing the two

 Journaling VS Meditation 

When it comes to finding the most effective tool to use for helping your mental suffering, the two tools I continue to bring up are journaling and meditation. These are the two main tools the majority of people use to find mental clarity and have helped them do that. 

It is hard to find the right things that work for you. As these two are the main things I hear of people doing to help them mentally, I will compare the two with their negatives and positives in hopes to sum up the questions people have before partaking. 

Journaling: 

The positives:

-Reduces stress & anxiety

When journaling, many people have found clarity in getting to write down their feelings. As someone who is an overthinker that tends to overload my brain, I enjoy writing down my thoughts as it helps me see what I am thinking instead of continuing to let them jumble in my brain, instead of later potentially forgetting about the thoughts. This helps many reduce the stress their brain creates and allows them to plan healthily and effectively. 

-Boosts self-confidence 

Getting ahold of the fears your brain clings onto and being able to write them down holds a sense of empowerment to some. It shows that you understand what is going on in your brain and that you are ready to take the next step in letting go of it. 

The negatives:

-Becoming a chore

Journaling should be something you partaken because it helps you. However, journaling can become another stressful task. Journaling can become something you feel like you have to do, further stressing you out and creating anxiety if you don't do it. 

-Focusing on problems TOO much 

When journaling, 9 times out of 10 people are doing it to express the problems they are going through, as I stated above letting them out of your head releasing them onto paper. Doing this everyday can cause people to continue to dwell on their problems rather than overcome them. It can start an unhealthy habit of "What problem happened today that I should write about?" 

Meditation: 

The positives: 

-Improvement of focus & attention

Meditation has been shown to help individuals learn a state of relaxation, further helping them concentrate. It helps focus on breathing and becoming comfortable with silence. 

-Improved sleep 

As meditation is for relaxation, this can help individuals shorten their time it takes to fall asleep. Many people struggle with falling asleep, which results in staying up late and getting bad sleep. meditating can help you reach the point of relaxation, stimming your brain to get tired and help you fall asleep for a good night's rest. 

The negatives: 

-Re-experiencing trauma

As meditation is to help people unwind and learn about themselves in a peaceful manner, it can often lead to reliving traumatic experiences that an individual is holding onto. This for some can be good as it can help people get over those events, but for others this can make their traumatic event worse if they are unprepared to think about it. 

-Unrealistic expectations

Many people start meditation thinking it is an easy fix and solution to their mental suffering. However, this is not true. Reaching the point of true meditation takes time, patience and practice. You will not find closure in one round of meditating. Meditation will need to be a practice you allow in your life multiple times before seeing results and reaching peak relaxation.