By Freelance Writer and Novel Writer Denise Turney
Writing heals because it helps you exercise the frontal lobe of your brain. Writing also helps you to tap into parts of yourself that might otherwise go unnoticed. Furthermore, it’s these unrecognized parts of you that may push you to think, say or behave in ways that you might like (or not like). Let one or more parts of your inner self remain out of your awareness and you could say, think or do things that you regret, only to feel like you have no choice except to engage in these behaviors, thoughts or conversations.
How Much Do You Know About The Connection Between Writing And Your Brain’s Frontal Lobe?
But how can writing help you to discover (bring out of hiding) and, even heal, hidden parts of yourself? For starters, when you write, you active your brain’s frontal lobe.1 According to Medicinenet, the frontal lobe helps regulate emotions or mood.2 These emotions run the gamut, from peacefulness to happiness or sorrow to anger.
Other functions that the frontal lobe of the brain performs include planning, self-control, concentration and decision-making. The latter can have lasting impact. Think back to a time when you weren’t alert or weren’t concentrating enough and you made a regretful decision.
Maybe you were overcome with frustration that heated its way into anger and you decided to walk out and quit your job. Two days later, your rent or mortgage bill arrived and you regretted your decision.
Reasons To Add Writing To Your Healthy Brain Activities
Treat your frontal lobe with care through writing, a healthy diet and other actions and you could avoid turning a host of issues into hard-to-break habits. The decision to leave a job because you’re feeling angry is just one example of the effects of poor decision-making. Others are:
- Spending money that you know you don’t have
- Breaking up a healthy relationship only to wildly pursue a harmful relationship
- Avoiding decisions or actions that you need to take to keep moving forward
- Eating value-empty food and drinking beverages that have time and again been proven to destroy organs
- Waiting until the last minute to review a project it would take two or more weeks to edit, improve and finalize
Easy Ways To Start Writing To Heal
A good fact about writing is that it’s relatively easy. You don’t need a degree or years of experience to start writing. Despite what you might tell yourself, you also don’t need to plot out a bestseller to gain benefits from writing.
If you’re feeling cautious, consider writing in a journal. Depending on when you grew up, you might remember writing in a diary as a kid. When I was a kid, department and discount stores sold little diaries that came with a key lock.
Back then, I wrote about guys I liked and dreams I wanted to see come true. There was something about locking those early diaries that made me feel as if I was free to express myself however I wanted.
Today, I don’t need a key lock to feel empowered to freely express myself while writing in a journal. In fact, if you’re new to writing, journal writing might be a good entry point.
Journal Writing As A Healing Path
Also, although I’ve been writing novels for decades, it’s still very healing when I write in a blank journal. Those journals house my dreams that occur while I’m tucked in REM mode, daily experiences I feel happy, relieved, anxious or concerned about.
Opportunities are wide when it comes to how you could use journal writing to heal. As examples, you could write in journals to heal in one or more of these ways:
- Write poems about what you’re feeling or experiencing (you could turn these poems into a poetry book and bless others with what you write)
- Liven your writing with sketches, recipes or drawings
- Include pictures of people or events in your journal on pages you write about these people or events, especially if they have left a strong impression on you
Another thing that you could do is to set a day when you’ll write in your journal. This could keep you from going weeks without doing any journal writing. Or you could let the writing flow. Do this and you might notice that there are specific days when you generally pick up your journal and start writing.
Expressing Yourself Through Writing Could Free Up Energy For Healing
Approach journal writing with honesty and you might discover the root of a habit you want to get free of. Hidden parts of you might finally feel heard. Those parts might bring more to your awareness.
Should you branch out from journal writing into novel writing, don’t be surprised if your book’s characters seem to communicate with you in dreams. Some writers have said that they were directed by characters to make certain events happen in a novel.
Who knows? That could be a hidden part of those writers seeking to express itself.
Writing To Heal As A Show Of Self-Value
Expressing yourself through writing could help you to clear inner blocks. This, in turn, could free up energy that you could use to complete actions that open you up to receive more good. At the same time, you’ll be using your brain in healthy ways.
Neuo Tray shares that, “Writing requires the use of all brain structures working in a joint and coordinated manner, structures associated with thought, language and memory.” As you write, you can also sharpen your creativity, encouraging even more self-expression.
And self-expression may indicate that you’re trusting yourself. It could also show that you value what all parts of you are experiencing and want to share.
Resources:
- What Part Of The Brain Controls Handwriting? – NeuroTray
- What Emotions Does the Frontal Lobe Control? (medicinenet.com)
