Using Expressive Writing to Heal Your Body and Mind

Expressive writing is a technique where people write about an upsetting experience for 15 to 20 minutes a day for three or four days.

It sounds like journaling, but is much more.

The method was first described in a scientific paper in 1986 by Dr. James Pennebaker and has robust scientific evidence behind it.

Expressive writing has been found to improve people’s physical and mental health including:

• Stronger immune health

• Improved mental health

• Improved sleep

• Lower pain in chronic diseases

I look at Expressive writing as a preventive maintenance routine for our body and mind.

Here is how you can get started with Expressive Writing:

• Find a time and place where you won’t be disturbed.

• Write for at least 15 minutes a day for four consecutive days.

• Write about something that you think or worry a lot about.

• Explore both the objective experience (what happened) and your feelings about it. This is an exercise of reflection rather than venting.

• Once you begin, write continuously. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar. If you run out of things to write about, repeat what you have already written.

• You can write or type or record yourself speaking. Be unhurried.

• Write for yourself. You are the only audience.

• It's natural to feel sad immediately after writing. That usually goes away in a couple of hours.

"As the number of studies increased, it became clear that writing was a far more powerful tool for healing than anyone had ever imagined" – Dr. James Pennebaker