Jahnavi Sarma
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Written By: Jahnavi Sarma | Updated : February 22, 2023 4:28 PM IST
This method often enhances mood, alleviates stress, and promotes inner harmony.
Guided meditations and journaling have long been used by alternative therapy practitioners to help people deal with their anxiety, stress and troubled minds in a better manner. Though many people are cautious and skeptical about these practices, there are others who believe in its efficacy. Several surveys in the US have found that stress is one of the main reasons behind burnout. A Mayo Clinic study, published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, found that high stress levels of an employee has a direct and negative impact on poor physical and mental health, nutritional habits and perceived overall health. The study also reported that such people were least likely to go for wellness programmes like guided meditation and journaling among others.
To get a better understanding on the subject, we reached out to ThinkRight.me experts. As Sabrina Merchant from TRM says, "Most problems exist only in our minds. Guided meditations and visualisation help channelise our thoughts towards positive situations. Visualising a happy place or a happy moment uplifts our mood and helps us focus on more positive things, taking away all the negativity from our thoughts and our life."
The best way to deal with stress is to look at problems objectively. As Sanket Pai, an internationally certified Leap Ahead & Human Potential Coach, Spiritual life coach, NLP & EFT practitioner, says, "The simple act of putting a pen (or pencil) to paper can help one relax and get all the anxious thoughts out of the head. Journaling helps create distance or separation (one can see himself/herself separate from the challenges) and thus can gain a deeper understanding of the causes of their own internal conflicts. Also helps develop a deeper understanding of one's reactions. Journaling is also a great way to channel one's inner creative energy into expressing oneself."
Meditation can also help one achieve a calmer state of mind. According to Mr Pai, "Meditation helps stay grounded, focused, and maintain inner peace as it heals from the inside out. It gives a sense of calm, peace, and balance. It can also help with sleep and even chronic mental health challenges. The simple act of conscious breathing is a foundational healer."
The nature of the mind is such that it's always racing from one thought to another. The gaps between those thoughts are often missing. Nishtha Bijlani, a Mumbai-based yoga expert, says, "Guided meditation helps the mind to create those gaps. It's this pause or gap that allows the mind to not react on an impulse. It starts to stimulate the Parasympathetic Nervous System, which keeps the fight or flight response in check." Speaking on journaling, she further added, "Journaling helps to declutter the overcrowded mind. It helps one to process suppressed thoughts and emotions. If they don't find a release, they convert into a blockage. Journaling is a wonderful habit to maintain good mental clarity and perspective."
Research also says that journaling works. A Baylor University study, published in Healthymagination, found that men who wrote down positive thoughts about their testicular cancer had significant improvement in their mental health condition. Vidisha Kaushal, a sound healing and life mastery expert, says that "Journaling can help us declutter mentally. It is very easy and convenient; you can do it anywhere! When we pour out the clutter, the mental chaos, the endless loops of negative thinking in a journal, we make space for peace and healing." She further goes on to say that journaling can actually be a safe space for anybody from any background, religion and belief, to vent, heal, discover and reconnect with themselves and what matters to them. Her tip? Write down 1 page of releasing all the clutter and 5 things that you're grateful for. It seems very simple, but this itself can be life-transforming.
Speaking on the importance of meditation, she says, "What is plaguing most people today is the gap between 'I should meditate for better mental health' and 'I am actually meditating and enjoying my mental well-being', and guided meditation fills up this gap. So, if you have access to a seasoned teacher, who guides you through the process, then you are able to just let go and relax at a very deep level. It is literally cellular healing that happens."
(With inputs from ThinkRight.me experts)
