{"id":394,"date":"2023-02-13T09:18:32","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T09:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.sensa.health\/?p=394"},"modified":"2024-01-23T08:14:45","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T08:14:45","slug":"how-mood-journaling-can-help-improve-your-mindset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/how-mood-journaling-can-help-improve-your-mindset\/","title":{"rendered":"How Mood Journaling Can Help Improve Your Mindset\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How often do you say, &#8220;I feel good&#8221; or &#8220;I feel bad?&#8221; Probably pretty often, but are you aware of what you <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">actually <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">feel? Dissecting your emotions can be tricky, but it&#8217;s crucial in order to understand what&#8217;s making you feel the way you do. This is where mood journaling comes in handy.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"mood-journaling-for-exploring-the-emotion-wheel\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mood Journaling for Exploring the Emotion Wheel<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Human emotions are a complicated concept, and understanding them can be notoriously difficult. For this reason, psychotherapists have developed a tool that can assist in figuring out your true feelings.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-397\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"emotional word wheel\" class=\"wp-image-397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel-360x360.jpg 360w, https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel-60x60.jpg 60w, https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel-700x700.jpg 700w, https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel-640x640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel-24x24.jpg 24w, https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel-48x48.jpg 48w, https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/feelings-wheel.jpg 1332w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Emotion Wheel by Geoffrey Roberts, inspired by Dr. Gloria Willcox\u2019s Feelings Wheel<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An emotion wheel consists of 3 main parts:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><b>Core emotions. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The inner circle describes 6 primary human emotions: anger, disgust, sadness, happiness, fear, surprise, moodiness, and sadness.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><b>Middle circle. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The middle circle expands on the primary emotions \u2013 if you&#8217;re mad, do you feel humiliated, hostile<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or aggressive?&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><b>Outer circle. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The outer circle expands on the middle circle to better evaluate the emotion. If your core emotion is anger, and you feel <\/span><b>humiliated<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, is it disrespect or ridicule that you&#8217;re experiencing?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The emotion wheel helps us dig into the true reasons behind our feelings \u2013 we become more aware and understanding of the situation that happened to us and our response to it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the-benefits-of-mood-journaling\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Benefits of Mood Journaling<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consistently tracking your moods and delving into understanding the reasons behind them has various benefits, especially concerning mental health.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Being in touch with yourself can help you discover triggers and possible reactions to situations.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mood journaling helps you get to know yourself as a person \u2013 like you would know a friend. Over time, dedicating time to unravel your emotional reactions will allow you to notice that you don&#8217;t just feel bad or sad<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 there&#8217;s usually more to each feeling.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increased awareness<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writing about your emotions and thoughts can help increase <a href=\"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/10-best-tips-to-improve-yourself\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">self-awareness<\/a> and understanding of the patterns and triggers.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By letting your thoughts flow on paper or in an app, you can begin to notice what makes you feel and behave in a certain way.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the long run, you&#8217;ll be able to manage your emotional reactions the moment you&#8217;re experiencing them, so no more meltdowns or snapping at people when you least expect it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emotional regulation&nbsp;<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mood journaling can also provide a healthy medium to blow off steam after an intense situation. Not only that, but it can also help you express your emotions in a stable, healthy environment.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes, it&#8217;s difficult to explain why you&#8217;re feeling a certain way, but writing down what you&#8217;re feeling and why can provide a sense of relief, validation, and release.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This way, you can manage your emotional response better.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Progress tracking<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keeping a mood journal provides you with an opportunity to grow and track how much you&#8217;re progressing in your self-improvement journey.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consistent mood journaling will reveal your emotional patterns and the impact of certain life situations. With this data, you can decide to make changes to your lifestyle, environment, or social connections.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&#8217;s a great feeling to see that, over the course of a few months, you don&#8217;t feel sad or angry as much, and your happiness has increased.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Tt0sCvHqm50\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Better communication<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writing down your feelings, emotions, and experiences can significantly improve your communication with others.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discovering how you actually feel makes it easier to explain your emotional well-being and health concerns to your peers, family members, and even healthcare providers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Less stress and more positivity<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Studies have found that mood journaling can have a calming effect on your mind \u2013 exploring your emotions through the act of journaling can soothe anxiety and <a href=\"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/how-to-control-stress-at-work\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reduce stress<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, journaling also allows you to reflect and reframe your thinking. After the initial response, you might be able to perceive certain feelings in a different light.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over time, this can lead to a better overall mindset and positive outlook.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While mood journaling can seem like a tedious task, the benefits are undeniable. The more you get into it, the better your understanding of yourself becomes.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How often do you say, &#8220;I feel good&#8221; or &#8220;I feel bad?&#8221; Probably pretty often, but are you aware of what you actually feel? Dissecting your emotions can&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1150,"href":"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394\/revisions\/1150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensa.health\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}