Better Health Without Exercise

Would you be interested in an activity that has been shown to boost production of certain disease-fighting immune system cells, improve blood pressure and heart rates and would help you cope better with individual pain and suffering?  What if that activity didn't involve exercise?  Bet I have your attention now.

The activity I'm referring to is journal writing.

An attitude of gratitude is essential in life.  Your journal can be your place for recording "joy" happenings.  The next time the clouds are hanging low; pull out your journal and read about all the great changes you have been making and the joy-filled happenings that get forgotten in day-to-day living.

Journaling gives you perspective.  Going back over my journals also provides for great laughs when I see how worked up I had gotten with a child or a client or situation.  To realize how unimportant it all is in such a short period of time revives my commitment to be focused on the important.

While there are no rules for journal writing, I'd like to suggest some guidelines that have worked for others.

• A journal is a place to record (clarify) dreams thoughts, ideas, insights, problem solving ideas.

• Try not to censor yourself! 

• Don't judge your ability to write, spell, or express yourself.

• Balance the good and bad of your life and circumstances.

I quit journaling through college until my senior year.  It felt therapeutic writing again and I wondered why I stopped.  I wondered until I found some of my high school journals and read through them.

On the outside, I was a very upbeat, positive teen.  On the inside was chaos.  Turmoil poured out on paper.  The problem was that I focused on only writing the negative in my life.

I suspect I stopped writing when I started to get healthier and decided to not focus on the negative.  I had thrown the baby out with the bath water and gave up all writing.

These are some other ways to start or increase your enjoyment of writing:

• Try different colored pens to communicate different emotions.

• Write about the process of change--the easy, the hard, new products that make your day or your life easier, encouraging words from others (record quotes, verses, poems, etc. that you like)

• Periodically, read through your journal to review your journey.  Look for times or situations that encouraged and/or lifted you.  Look for telltale signs of relapse living.  Your journal can act as a future road map or diagnostic tool.

• Include photos or drawings.

Getting started:

Buy a journal, notebook, index cards, whatever you would enjoy writing in.  My first journal was written on 5 x 7 index cards which I kept wrapped and hidden in a dark brown, ribbon-tied folder.  My next journal shrunk to 3 x 5 index cards.

Small notebooks, large ones, hard bound, spiral bound and loose leaf paper have served as my journals over the years.

Write one or two lines a day.  Record your day or thoughts in bullet points.  You may want to record the date, day of the week, time and/or your location.  I jot down where I'm writing from (i.e., my porch or our cabin etc.) because as I read through it later it gives me a feel for where I was and what I was doing.  I realize other personality types will say, "Hey, let's keep this simple, I'm lucky to write down the date."  Answer the questions, who, what, where and when about your day-to-day activities and thoughts.

However or wherever you decide to write, just start.  Journaling is one more tool for you to use to achieve better health, but I must admit the way to your "best health" still requires some level of the "E" word.  We'll just call it activity.

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Kate is a senior partner with CLC, Inc.