Journaling as an SEL Tool
Journaling is a wonderful way to enrich an experience, something you learn, or a feeling you have. A significant amount of evidence shows us the healing power of writing, including emotional regulation, reduction of anxiety, increased awareness, and even physical health benefits like lower blood pressure. When we think about the heavy focus on academics and test scores in our culture, we have even seen evidence of higher student grade averages with the use of expressive writing. I understand these benefits first hand and writing has become one of my primary self-regulation tools. This week we explore the science and the practice of journaling.
Journaling as an SEL Tool
One of the greatest benefits I have found from journaling is acceptance of my emotional experiences, my triggers, and hardships in relationships, rather than spiraling towards feelings of hopelessness. When I can digest my experience through free-flow writing, I have a way of decompressing, normalizing, and simply getting it out of my head so I can bounce back to feeling like myself again. It has become one of my go-to regulation tools, which is no wonder I made this a regular part of Kind Mind’s Classroom Resilience Toolkit and SEL Curriculum.
It is not only my personal experience that proves journaling to have positive impacts on our mental and physical health. There is a growing amount of research examining the power of journaling, and certainly worth paying attention to when we think about school, homework, and supporting our children’s growing mental health needs. If we know that anxiety is on the rise, why not have them do journaling every day? If we know the importance of a child feeling a strong sense of belonging, why wouldn’t we encourage them to express themselves through writing regularly? If we are concerned about the growing need for children to learn healthy emotional regulation tools, why not build journaling into the daily routine?
At Kind Mind, we have also done our own research showing that our program significantly:
- Reduces anxiety and emotional distress
- Improves children’s ability to regulate
- Improves a sense of belonging and peer engagement
- Reduces conduct problems
And guess what, this tool is not only for your students and kids. We have built in daily journal prompts for teachers and parents, too, to help get you started on a simple daily reflection that will change the way you think, feel, and interact with the world.
This week, take 2-5 minutes every day to journal and have your students journal. Create a rhythm around this practice and notice how energy, emotions, and focus shift throughout the week.
