Journaling and Setting Intentions for Healthful Habits: A Holistic Approach

Intention is the human ability to redirect the electricity in your brain, that would be nerve energy, and no, it is not Mad Science. In doing so one avoids nerve energy flowing down the path of least resistance, the one that loves distraction! Intentions help us execute! In simple terms having intention is a cognitive process that involves setting a goal and then taking action to achieve that goal. When you set an intention, you are essentially programming your brain to focus on a specific outcome. This helps to activate the prefrontal cortex (the executor), which is responsible for planning, decision-making, and other higher-order cognitive functions. By doing so, you can improve your ability to concentrate, make better decisions, and achieve your goals. Maintaining the executor in tip-top shape is paramount, in addition to maintaining a serious meditation practice, another task that has been shown to provide superior results is Journaling. Read on! Let’s learn another new path to better motivation, naturally!

Nerve Energy:  Not only is it important to restore maximum energy to the body in our sleep (goal of good sleep hygiene), but it is also important that we are aware of the Whole Self and how that energy will be utilized, conserved, and restored during the day to maintain the body’s optimum use of nerve energy for maximum health, physical strength, and endurance. To optimize this flow, the path of least resistance is required to keep the lines of communication open, coordinated, and well-tuned between cells. When out of synch (as in when the pillars are not in balance) messages in the nervous system become delayed, crossed, or even completely misinterpreted, suddenly body function can turn into total chaos. Have you ever experienced a “Lack of Sleep Hangover?” You know, when you are just trudging along, your mind is not grounded and the day just seems to not make sense. Maximum nerve energy is the flow, the key, to healing and preventing disease holistically. Getting to the cause before the Symptoms of disease arise.

Journaling and Setting Intentions is a Holistic Health approach toward healthy living, and much like setting intentions has been shown to have a positive impact on daily living and has been recognized as an effective tool for healthy brain functioning, ergo creating healthy habits. When one writes in a journal one is scaling the thought process towards developing and implementing fruitful intentions. Expressive writing through journaling can be a powerful tool to process stress, trauma, and the onset of unhealthy behaviors and related emotions, ergo, a proven effective method for managing mental health conditions and stress. Journaling is an example of an expressive coping method, which is a technique that helps a person process negative thoughts, feelings, or experiences by releasing them. By putting these things on paper the latter have less power over us.¹ We have an improved ability to be aware of triggers and “re-route” the electricity behind nerve energy to more productive thinking and doing and ultimately being.  The benefits of journaling can be felt, intrinsically, done regularly, it can change your perspective and the reality of one’s life.

Besides reducing stress and anxiety, journaling also helps with sleep. Part of a regular sleep hygiene regimen writing in a journal, and getting things down on paper, not digitally (more on this later), instantly helps you shift the focus of your thoughts on the positive and short-circuit negative thought loops or remunerating loops of “need to do.” Other essential benefits are:

• Anxiety Management: Journaling can help cope with anxiety by externalizing anxious thoughts, putting them into words, and then setting them aside. It can also help explore alternatives to anxious thoughts. Studies show that regular journaling for just 12 weeks significantly reduced mental distress and increased resilience.
• Depression Management: Journaling seems to be effective for people living with depression. Emotional writing significantly decreased symptoms of depression. Keeping a gratitude journal is another specific approach that can help with depression.
• Emotional Processing: Writing about an emotional event can help you understand it better. The act of putting an experience into words and structure allows you to form new perceptions about events.
• Emotion Regulation: Brain scans of people who wrote about their feelings showed that they were able to control their emotions better than those who wrote about a neutral experience.
• Physical Healing: Journaling may also have an impact on physical health. A study found that those who wrote about their feelings on upsetting events healed faster than those who wrote about daily activities.

Awareness is key, the most efficacious way to journal “awareness” is through writing things down on paper, in other words, requires handwriting, not typing, or using a digital device (as speaking into one). Handwriting is a multisensory activity that activates multiple cognitive functions, including motor skills, attention, and perception. By stimulating cerebral circuits, this involvement helps individuals process information more effectively. The cognitive approach to handwriting is based on learning theories that involve self-instruction along with verbal mediation (using words or sentences to help associate a reaction to triggers), an attractive approach to dealing with the possibility of unhealthy thinking.

Research also shows that handwriting can have a positive impact on our cognitive performance. According to scientific studies, writing by hand stimulates the part of the brain known as the Reticular Activating System (RAS), which is a sort of filter that focuses only on the stuff you are writing, resulting in a more effective learning process and therefore more effective at changing unhealthy habits.

When we write, we are exposed to more critical thinking. Writing allows us to think more thoroughly about the information we are recording and encourages us to expand upon our thoughts and form connections between them. Writing by hand also helps increase brain connectivity (electric firing of neurons) which is crucial to memory building and information encoding. Actual handwritten notes help with memory and recall since areas of the brain associated with recall and comprehension are more engaged when we write notes with pen and paper.

Do you want to avoid distractions? Writing by hand helps one avoid distractions. When you are writing, contradictory to digital devices there are no notifications, there are no open tabs, there is no other distraction than the writing itself or a wondering day-dreaming brain! Although one may find that typing might be faster and more efficient, handwriting can offer deeper cognitive engagement and better memory recall. The choice between the two often depends on the context and the individual’s preference.

Wisdom:When we are living our life behind a screen we are living an illusion of self and how we relate to the world around us. Stunting the social aspect of life by not comforting very important stimuli that are blunted by a screen: Social connection,  being ourselves around others, and not being afraid of the world outside ourselves. How does this relate to handwriting in a journal? In much the same way. When we write we are connected to the inner self, we are in a state of self-learning, of actively achieving awareness for our thoughts. Our brain-to-hand connection allows us to visually see what we are thinking, there is no distraction. – Dr. Sixto

Processing life from behind a screen can have several effects on our psyche the most pertinent would be that it impairs social skills and causes one to isolate which is a factor in arrested development; deprives you of sleep since the artificial light from screens can trick our brain’s master clock into thinking it’s daytime, which can slow the body’s production of melatonin; weakens your emotional judgment and ability to register and process emotions, and can cause lower self-esteem simply from the constant comparison or the “Illusion” that social media delivers.

It’s important to balance screen time with other activities and take regular breaks to mitigate these effects. If use extends into nighttime, turn on blue light filters and avoid using your devices before going to bed.  Ever been “time-blinded” when using a digital device?  The constant stream of notifications and “likes” can trigger the release of dopamine, a brain chemical linked to motivation and reward. This can set us up for screen addictions and a lack of awareness of passing time.

Spiritual Perspective– A journal (and conducting a Daily Examen of the day behind us) helps us connect to the Metaphysical energy, the universal forces that connect us to the Spiritual perspective of Holistic Health (research has shown that when one maintains a spiritual practice ones longevity can increase by 10 to 12 years). When one relinquishes control to a higher source, such as God, it increases our self-awareness to examine our lives in terms of thoughts, feelings, and actions. When you relinquish control one better focuses on the realities of each day. We get more into Being than Doing.

This takes me to the topic of the connection between Spirituality and Science, a topic of growing interest. Spirituality often involves a sense of connection to something greater than oneself, such as to God or other Ascended Masters, to nature or the universe. It encompasses a wide range of beliefs and practices related to the human spirit or soul. It emphasizes that on earth all is interconnected. Science, on the other hand, is the systematic study of the natural world through observation and experimentation. While these two fields may seem incompatible, scientists are beginning to uncover evidence that suggests they are more intertwined than we once believed. The science of spirituality seeks to understand the impact of spiritual practices on the human mind and body. Through research, scientists are discovering that practices such as meditation, prayer, and mindfulness can have significant positive effects on mental health, physical health, and overall well-being. Despite their apparent differences, science and spirituality share a logical connection. Both seek to understand the world around us, albeit through different methods. As the field continues to grow, we may see even more evidence of the connection between science and spirituality.

Journaling from a spiritual perspective can be a powerful tool for self-discovery, personal growth, and inner peace since this angle on journaling dives into one’s core and its connection to a divine power, to that little voice that tells one to be still, to pause, to ask for guidance and healing. We then start to feel, an increase in self-awareness that helps us connect with that which leads us to explore our beliefs and values and seek guidance from the all-powerful universe (whatever that may represent, ie God, Holy Spirit, an Ascended Master, or the power of the universe around us. Yes the power of the Universe, how is it that gravity creates waves, high tides and low tides, sunny days, stormy days, earthquakes, and whatnot?

Journaling helps us process thoughts, emotions, and spiritual insights. It grounds us in a truth above our comprehension found in ancient writings, thinking, and traditions and ultimately aids in discernment and decision making cultivating gratitude, praise, and intimacy with our subconscious and all that surrounds us, in our time, in our reality.

In summary, journaling aids in making important life decisions, helps navigate hard times, allows celebrating joyful times, and provides a tangible record of your life. Journaling promotes holistic self-care and well-being and through the practice of the 8 pillars of Holistic Health, a simple guide to an anti-inflammatory, longevity-increasing lifestyle, we can all unlock optimum potential for living a vibrant and fulfilling life.

For further information on how you or a loved one could benefit from a Holistic Wellness, Whole Health path, please do not hesitate to make contact at sixto@drsixto.me.

To your Whole Health and Wellness, naturally!

Dr. Sixto J. Sicilia

Holistic Health & Nutrition Practioner

Founder, issimoUSA

¹Dibdin, E. (2022, March 31). The mental health benefits of journaling. Psych Central. https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-health-benefits-of-journaling