As a person who journals everyday I can see the benefits of doing morning pages every morning and journaling just before going to sleep. I’ve journaled both ways. Right now I journal in the morning. I decided to switch over from night journaling because once in a while I’d nod off while writing. You can only imagine what funny gibberish I found on my page the next morning as a result.
Mari L. McCarthy, our WOW! Women on Writing blog tour guest today and author of Journaling Power, is an advocate of writing at night as a way to get a good night’s sleep. By the way, she writes in the morning as well. Please welcome Mari to Choices.
Sleep Tight Every Night
By Mari L. McCarthy
Do you have trouble getting off to sleep at night because your mind has gone into overdrive? Or do you drop off only to wake in the early hours with your head full of worries?
I used to suffer with insomnia until I discovered a creative cure with absolutely no side-effects: writing therapy in the evenings!
I love journaling and use it daily to boost my creativity. I find it helps me de-stress and overcome mental blocks.
I began many years ago by writing in my journal every morning (Morning Pages), but for some time now I have also been writing Night Notes as a dumping exercise last thing at night. It’s an extremely effective way to release the anxieties and hassles of the day before bedtime.
I usually write two or three pages quite quickly, letting my thoughts come out in a stream of consciousness. I don’t try to analyze the content, I don’t treat it as art and attempt to construct brilliant sentences or metaphors–I just write anything that comes into my mind.
Sometimes I write about what’s happened during the day and see if there are lessons to be learned; other times I write about random stuff, usually for about 15 or 20 minutes.
Night Notes have proved so effective that I routinely sleep for seven or eight hours without waking up. So now I recommend this stress-management tool to the CreateWriteNow.com family the online community I created for fellow travelers on the journaling journey.
Sleep is very important to physical and psychological health, and the benefits of expressive writing at bedtime have been scientifically documented.
Writing in the Journal of Behavioral Sleep Medicine back in 2003, researchers Harvey & Farrell reported on an experiment with poor sleepers, who had a tendency to lie awake worrying.
They tested the theory that excessive thinking at bedtime was an attempt to process the emotions and hassles of the day. They hoped that writing would help problem sleepers to carry out this emotional processing before they went to bed, so that they could get off to sleep more quickly.
This proved to be the case. Harvey & Farrell found that a group of participants who had been asked to do some journaling went off to sleep more quickly than another group who did not write.
And, keep your journal at your bedside, to do middle-of-the night data dumps so that you can keep your head on the pillow longer and give your body all the time it needs to do its healing work.
Night Notes Journaling Power Prompt:
Today Was My Best Day Because¦
***
Thank you so much Mari. You and I definitely agree about the power of journaling. It became a way for me to heal after our son died, and I’ve taken advantage of its power ever since, thanks to the great advice from our mutual friend, Dawn Herring – another huge proponent of journaling. Hopefully as a result of your words and your book, our readers will join us.
About the Book:
Journaling Power teaches you how to put the ultimate self-healing tool right at your fingertips journaling. Through Mari L. McCarthy’s moving personal story, you’ll discover how pen-to-paper journaling leads to self-growth and life-changing transformation. You’ll also learn that numerous medical studies prove journaling literally unleashes a healing agent that empowers your life in ways you’ve never imagined.
About the Author:
Mari L. McCarthy is The Journaling Power Guide and founder of CreateWriteNow.com. Her blog (http://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog) provides journaling for personal transformation and healthy living ideas, information and inspiration for keeping a daily pen-to-page Journaling for the Health of Itâ„¢ Practice. You can also download the FREE e-book, How to use Your Journal to Cure Writer’s Block Now (http://www.createwritenow.com/download-free-writers-block-tips). More life-changing e-books (http://www.createwritenow.com/journaling-ebooks) can be found in Mari’s Personal Transformation Journaling Library and in CreateWriteNow’s store (http://store.createwritenow.com/).
Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ndtMtUfs5s
Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Journaling-Power-Create-Happy-Healthy/dp/1988071216//?tag=wowwomenonwri-20
WOW! Blog Tour Schedule for Journaling Power: How to Create the Happy, Healthy Life You Want to Live.
Oct. 3 @ The Muffin http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/ Interview and Giveaway.
Oct. 4 @ Bring on Lemons http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/ Guest Post on: Can Adding a Daily Dose of Morning Pages to Your Health Routine Reduce Stress and Restore Success.
Oct. 5 @ Choices https://www.madelinesharples.com/ Guest Post on How Putting Pen to Paper Each Evening Can Help You Sleep Better.
Oct. 13 @ Writers Pay it Forward http://writerspayitforward.org/ Guest Post on Why It’s Important to Work On, Rather Than Wait For, the Muse to Produce its Juice.
Oct. 17 @ Crochet concupiscence http://www.crochetconcupiscence.com/ Guest Post on: How to Create a Healthy Relationship with Your Body.
Oct. 18 @ Bev Baird https://beverleyabaird.wordpress.com/ Review.
Oct. 19 @ Storyteller Anne http://www.storytelleranne.com/the-writing-life Interview.
Oct. 21 @ Building Bookshelves blogs.republicanherald.com/bookshelves Interview.
Oct. 24 @ Renee’s Pages www.reneespages.blogspot.com Review: Renee shares her thoughts on Journaling Power: How to Create the Happy, Healthy Life You Want to Live and what she learned after a few weeks of using Night Notes.
Oct. 26 @ Margo Dill http://margoldill.com/ Guest Post: Recovering Your Child: Use this Free Self-Healing Tool to Repair and Restore Yourself.
Oct. 27 @ Memoir Writer’s Journey http://krpooler.com/ Guest Post on: How Do We Go About Facing and Forgiving Our Past?
Oct. 28 @ Nina Day Gerard http://www.ninadaygerard.com/blog Review.
Thank you for hosting me Madeline. For me, there was no life before journaling. #WriteON!
You are most welcome Mari. I totally agree. Journaling is a huge part of my life.
I wish you huge success with your book. All best. Madeline