Couch to Journal

Navigating the initial struggles with ease

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Wow it’s fresh out today, I just got home from a really invigorating walk with the ridgebacks.  The sun was rising in the distance and there wasn’t a soul about just me and the hounds making prints in the sand. I’m sure I own kangaroos as apposed to ridgebacks, they love to frolic and dance along the shoreline. It’s mesmerising to watch them. 

I must have been feeling so cold, as I started to jog alongside them, picking up a pace and with a ridgeback either side me made me feel quite fit.  Even though they kept looking up at me, a bit quizzed at my sudden sprinting.  What was more joyful was how much I was laughing whilst running.  Just about catching my breath due to the zero degree temperatures, it made me pause for thought about the early days of when I started Couch to 5K.

Much like how I felt disgruntled when I laced up my trainers, my initial days of journaling were just as challenging.  Earlier I had an ‘A-HA’ moment.  I realised that when people look at me cross-eyed when I talk about journaling every single day, this was how I felt like when I first heard about Couch to 5K. Like what?! Running daily and running 5K regularly each week?! I couldn’t ever imagine doing that consistently.

The thought of running 2K, never mind 5K, was daunting to me, when I started I couldn't even make it through the 60 second runs without being completely exhausted. But by the time I got to week4, I started to notice a real change in my fitness, but more than anything my mindset shifted. I started to really enjoy the satisfaction of increasing my running time on each run. That experience was very similar to how I felt years ago when I decided I wanted to journal daily.  Which was a major commitment for someone like me who doesn’t commit to anything, that’s another story for another day.

I remember my own struggles, wrestling with the idea of having to journal every day.  Thinking what the hell is this all about? What is the point of journaling?  All I seem to be doing is complaining about my life with the same boring rants over and over.  But it was precisely by keeping it simple - writing down just one word every day - that I formed a consistent practice and witnessed incredible transformations unfold over time.

If you’ve been following my Substack for the past few months, you’ll notice that I relate therapeutic journaling to yoga, it is a practice, and dedication matters.

I know there are many experts and now celebrity health professionals that are banging on about journaling, which is awesome and long may it last.  Some say you have to journal first thing and do your ‘morning pages’; some say you don’t need to journal every day. It’s horses for courses.  All good advice, yet one journaling technique does not suit all.  I struggled to conform with the majority of the more popular journaling techniques. After months and months of study, teaching therapeutic journaling and still learning as I go, I have created my own journaling practice.  It’s called Rage on a Page and if you’re interested to know more about the workshops and programs I host then do reach out and I’d love to share my story further with you.

I strongly believe that the best way to journal, in order to boost health and wellbeing, is to journal every single day. It’s not easy. It does take time. But the positive impact and mental health benefits are remarkable and in some cases can be life changing.

So what do you reckon? Are you going to give daily journaling a go?

In the beginning, you might not manage it, you might not enjoy it but that’s ok. Opening your journal might feel like a chore and the words may seem elusive.  But don’t worry; you’re not writing a memoir or trying to win a literary marathon.  You’re simply showing up, turning the page, and jotting down a single word.  When I first took up therapeutic journaling, I started with whatever first word came to mind, the word could have been “hello”, “journal”, “sad”, “what”, even a swear word.  The word I chose didn’t matter in the early days, but getting to my journal or even sitting with my journal next to me, was what was important.  

I listened to a podcast interview yesterday, between Tara Swart and Dr Rangan Chatterjee The Power of the Mind and Tara spoke about when she doesn’t feel like practising yoga first thing, she still sat on her yoga mat for a few minutes. Which is how we should treat journaling. Even if we don’t feel like journaling, we should still have our journal next to us. Dedication to a practice means physically showing up for the practice no matter how you’re feeling.

Just like carrying your water bottle on a run, keep your journal close by.  Bring it along whether you’re scrolling on social media, cooking pasta or making a coffee.  You’ve got nothing to lose and potentially transformative moments to gain.  The couch to 5K approach to journaling invites you to start small, show up every day and see where the journey takes you.

I’m always here to help guide you.  Leave me a question in the comments if you’re feeling ready to start journaling, just one word a day.  Give yourself permission to start a journaling practice.  You never know, by this time next year you’ll be journaling daily and have come up with the first chapter of your memoir.  You just never know. give it a go!

Until the next time

Take care and stay safe xx