Hello and welcome to part three of the Stomp Cast. We're going to be talking about Germany. We just had a nice moment. We didn't rest in reality. We were talking about police at Charlie saying that someone went by and they were listening to the Stomp Cast out on the Stomp while we were recording. They said they're currently recording, which is quite cool. Very cool, very very cool. So if you are that person and you're now listening it to that as it goes out, you're awesome. Thank you so much. You should have said hello.
We've had a chat. We've had that a few times, people have said hello, and it's quite nice because, yeah, it's bringing the community into the recording. And that's the point of recording these episodes. I want to bring conversations and topics that are going to help you as listeners and as our community. OK, let's start the part three then. So, journaling. We've talked a little bit, I think, more so in part one, about aspects of journaling within the book.
Can you talk to me a little bit about when you discovered the concepts of journaling and how you found it helpful, because clearly you do. So just talk me through that, because I'm always interested about how people come to journaling and what kind of preconceptions and ideas they had around it.
So the word journaling was introduced to me in 2021 and immediately found a place in my life because it gave a word to somebody to a practice I'd been doing for a long time already. One of the, well behaved very well behaved in school. I enjoyed school on whole. But one of the few criticisms I'd get in parents' evenings was David will look like he's concentrating and working really hard. But then you look onto his desk and he's writing something completely different and then completely different.
And I always had a separate notebook with me at school where I'd write my own thoughts and feelings, I'd write poetry, I'd write lyrics, I'd write anything that I kind of felt, and if a lesson was boring me then I'd just start to write in that book. And at the time what I didn't realise was that I was just articulating my feelings in words, which is literally what journaling is.
And journaling is one of my favourite mindfulness practices and one that I really encourage people to do because to me, when my feelings and thoughts are in my brain, they're a big jumble. And literally just writing them out and seeing them is one of the things that makes them make sense to me.
I think no matter how much you care about mental health, how deeply you think about these things, sometimes the things we feel don't make sense to us until some kind of catalyst puts them in order. And for me, that's journaling. It's kind of that feeling of almost like there's lots of stuff going on in your head. But to make sense of that stuff, we need to be able to put it down and read it back and actually then understand
you know, where does that sit? What does this mean? Am I overthinking this? Is this something that I do need to dig into? A lot of the time, I just experience this as we walk around and the things that pop into our head or feelings, they just feel like slightly blurred, don't they? What does this mean in my head?
Is this thought that I'm frequently having? Is this a reflection of something that I'm kind of like subconsciously not quite processing? You know, I guess the idea of therapy in a sense really is to take people's experiences conscious and subconscious mind and look at ways to help the processing so that perhaps the memories, for example, get filed away in a tidy, neat manner with the lessons attached rather than this kind of jumbled up cabinet, isn't it?
And I guess that's what kind of journaling can really help. Would you say that you use journaling more for dealing with things, perhaps you're thinking and worrying about, or do you use it more for kind of positive practice? I guess perhaps that depends on your mood and where you're at. But yeah, what do you get drawn to, do you think? I think especially since
creation and writing has become my full-time career I definitely use journaling more for thoughts and concerns just because I feel like the positive reflections kind of come through my work and I get to work them out that way which really nicely means I get to share them with people so the things I actually need to pay more attention to kind of in my day-to-day life and make sure that I'm staying on top of yeah my thoughts my concerns and my reflections are things that might
come through later down the line or things that kind of would sit heavily on me unless I kind of get them out in some way. So you put them down in paper and press them. So what does that look like in practice? So if you're someone who's like listeners and never, they've never journaled before, they've probably thrown you in a few times, like how do you do that? Like talk me through like practically how you journal.
So, first and foremost, juggling sounds like it has to be done with pen and paper, which is, I think it's very quaint, it's very romantic. It's how I initially started doing things, but not how I do things now, because I just think with mindfulness practices, one of the best ways to make sure that I do them is to do them in a way that's convenient.
I don't think you're generally wrong necessarily if you're actively sitting down and making it completely mindful. It can be as simple as five minutes I open my notes and I just jot down everything that comes to my thoughts in the stream of consciousness. One of the biggest things I recommend when you start journaling is not to write and it takes some practice but don't write like someone else is going to read this.
I feel like, at first, I almost feel like deer diary. It's not so much that it doesn't have to make sense to anyone, but it doesn't even have to make sense to you later. It's literally supposed to be, for me, a present act
to understand or release the things that I'm thinking. So it can be done in any new form as long as I'm putting the words down somewhere. And it doesn't have to read well or be particularly nice or pretty, which is hard for me. As someone who writes it always thinks about it, it's going to be read. But yeah, it just needs to be put down. And yeah, it needs to be the release of emotion that I'm looking for.
I find it helpful and something that I've used is kind of if you are going to sit down where you're going to do pen and paper or you can do it on your phone or whatever. It's just having like you said the time, the same like five minutes or two minutes or whatever will be and having an amount of time and hitting even on a stopwatch like go.
and then because it gets you just this practice of just just writing what's in your mind because like you say you end up almost like a school you end up otherwise trying to write a story or a great like a as you say you like trying to put it down in like a curated way when really it's supposed to just it couldn't be you know oh today I had ice cream it was okay but then I actually felt a bit like this and I felt a bit weird and anxious and actually oh but then John actually has been quite good to me recently and it kind of if you follow it it's just like a terribly written story
But I guess it's like that's the stream of thought in the mind. If you read it and it's like this is a really beautiful like day of diary, that might be really helpful. But the chances are that perhaps it's more curated and you're not actually being raw. You're not like just letting it out. Yes. The best way I can think to put it actually, as you were talking, it came to mind. Like you said, it can feel like a school exercise or something you're supposed to do. But it's supposed to be something that's good for me and good for my health. So...
almost rather than approaching it like a task I'm supposed to do, it should be something that is necessary. It should feel like something that's necessary for me, like breathing. So if I tell you right now, don't think about breathing, you want to think about breathing. And now you're going to have to do it manually for a few seconds until you naturally start breathing again. And that's how I feel about journaling. When I sit down and start, I'm thinking a lot about the task. And I think, how do I even start? How do I get into this? What am I even thinking?
and I write until I find myself in a place where I'm not thinking about writing anymore, I'm just writing it. And that's once I've finished doing that, that's when I've finished journaling. So the start of it might feel a little bit stilted or a little bit forced, but I'm essentially trying to write myself into a place where I've stopped thinking about writing it, I'm just doing it. Like I've told you to think about reading, you're thinking about reading, but eventually you'll stop thinking about reading and just do it.
And then once you're in that rhythm of it, that's when you're breathing as you need to and giving yourself what you need. Same with journaling. Once I've got into whatever I'm writing about and I've stopped thinking about writing it, I'm just writing it. That's when I'll know, you know, I've written the things that I need to write. And do you tend to go back? Do you go back to like entries that you've done say last week or yes, or whatever it would have been and reflect on it? Do you kind of go back? Or is it kind of more of a good dump? Is it out there now dumped on the page?
Yeah, almost never go back. I almost never go back. Really, you just come forward. Me personally, always never. Only if I'm trying to think, what was I really going through at that time? So I've been through, for example, earlier this year I had a shoulder operation.
I felt very low in the time after it. And I feel a lot better now. I feel a lot better now. And I returned to some of my journal entries from the time just to kind of acknowledge and be grateful for the fact that I feel so much better now than I felt then. Especially because at the time I was kind of, because I'm kind of still in the process of
getting back my range of motion and all that kind of thing. And at the time, it felt like this massively daunting task. And I was writing things like, I'm worried I'll never be the same. And now I don't have that same concern. Reading that back is, it brings me a real sense of comfort and gratitude that I managed to continue and persevere to the point where I don't have that worry anymore. And having that kind of in what I call my mental evidence locker,
I think it's something that really helps when I go through features difficulties. It's like you've been through difficult things and got through them before. You can get through this difficult thing now as well. It's kind of like the feeling I guess of like...
you know, things feel insurmountable often until you get past them. Yes, absolutely. You have surpassed them. It's like, oh, I can't run. You know, I was thinking, I only started really running like a year and a half, two years ago. At the time, I was very overweight and couldn't run. And as I'm never going to be able to do a half marathon. And then I did four half-marathons last year. Oh, this year, sorry, this year.
And I'm going to be doing the London Marathon this year, which actually guys, this is an exclusive for you. I've not actually said that yet, so I'll be telling you guys early. But I'm running the London. So it's kind of like, oh, like, when you get through something, you realize I can do that. And you learn that you can do difficult things, something that those things, you know, are surmountable. Sorry, that's off-top, it's all going on today. No, no, no, no. But I guess part of what you've learned in the... Absolutely, absolutely.
And what do you think about journaling prompts? Some people love them, some people don't like them. Is it useful for people when it's starting out journaling, perhaps? Or do you think it's blank page writing?
I think that they have their use, it's the same as any method of doing any practice. Some, they work for some people, they don't work for some people, but equally, I used to think they didn't really work for me. I know why I think, I know why I want to start. And then there'll be times where I feel really blocked in the status, actually, I can use a product, I can use a help with this. The journal prompts in my book,
are very much suggestions. It's a place to start if you need one, but I really anticipate that most of the time when you've read the chapter of the book, you'll already know kind of what you think or what you feel about it and be able to start by yourself. I've just put something there to help you in case you need it. There's also this space in the book for people to write their journal underneath in the book itself, but again, I anticipate people will take those journal problems elsewhere because they've got more to say or less to say or don't particularly want to write in the book at all.
And the biggest thing about journaling is that it is very much a personal practice. This is one of their, you know, I don't actually frequently talk about journaling two other people because it's something that is very much mine. Like I said, it's not something I've ever going to show anybody. It's not something that I'm writing for the sake of creation or anything like that. Again, as I said, as an author and creator, it's very hard to sometimes draw the line between things I'm going to share and things that are definitely for me, which is where journaling is very valuable to me in that.
This is stuff that I know categorically is off limits at all times. Do you have a warrior at some of my regionals? Well, in theory, my fiance can read them any time. Actually, she would never trust her implicitly. In theory, she could at any time.
Because it feels like, let's be honest, it feels incredibly vulnerable. It's the most interesting thing. But you're writing something, you are actually potentially like sharing your most, well you are showing your most vulnerable feelings. Not even just most vulnerable, like sometimes it's things that I wish I didn't think this.
I know this would be helpful to someone else if they came across it, which is, again, why I said exactly, which is where I said, obviously, pen and paper isn't always the most practical because I have several different places that I journal, which won't necessarily be
As accessible as picking up a book and reading it, simply because these are things that I need to say I want to get down, but I don't necessarily want to be, I don't want people to read them, I don't want people to see these, which is, I think, yeah, absolutely fine, because again, the reason that I'm working through those things or articulating those things is
Yeah, to work through them and to feel better and to be a better person to myself and the people around me. Yeah, so to anyone, do not reason for one's turn or diary for God's sake. Like, that is sacred ground. It's tantamount to placing a listening device in someone's therapy session. It's the same kind of thing. You are right. That's been harsh at that point. That is not a good idea, don't do that.
Because it is important that we all do, and I guess that comes to that point, perhaps, that the message is that everyone needs a safe space. Yes. Like everyone needs a space that they can kind of deal with their things that are inside in a way that they're comfortable with, and I think that...
as much as I said, literally other people that are allowing yourself the safe space and going like, I have a right to kind of get this down on paper to really just make sense of what is happening right now. I wonder to be fair, you know, for everyone listening, you know, just have a think about
Have you journaled before? Have you done it before? What does it do to you when you do it? When you journal, how do you feel afterwards? I personally usually feel like it's a bit of weight off the shoulders. It's almost as if you have taken your suitcase of stuff, which is overflowing with all these different things, and you've pulled some of the hoodies and jumpers out, and you've folded them up, and you just put them on the shelf, and all of a sudden the suitcase is closing nicely, and it's a bit lighter.
You know, it's not empty, there's still stuff in there, but it's kind of like all of a sudden it's not like cram and creaking and it's like what I had before my previous holiday where the zip burps and whatever on my suitcase and all the stuff's coming out. Yeah, luckily I had an alternative solution, but that is a nightmare. The suitcase got the burks going on holidays.
So, I mean, if people are going to start them, how often would you say people would journal? Is there a good time of day that's like helpful to kind of, you know, morning and evening? Like, what's your general? Is someone that's experienced in this? What would you advise if someone's just kind of starting out? I tend to do, to general at the times of the day where I feel most worried. So that is either first things in the morning or last thing at night.
I really value good sleep. And sometimes I find that makes me really anxious to go to bed when I feel like there's too much on my mind. So journaling, as you said, emptying that suitcase before I go to bed makes me feel much lighter and makes me feel like I can put my head on the pillow with less in it. Equally, if I wake up and feel anxious about the day and don't particularly know why, I'll have a quick jot down of the first things that arrive in my mind, just so I feel like
Okay, I've got some, even if I am worried, at least I'm more aware of the reasons that I feel worried, rather than just having this general sense of anxiety and foreboding or hanging over me for the rest of the day. Do you tend to, if you are, say, writing stuff, you're worried about, do you tend to write about potential solutions, or do you use it as more of a control? Is it like, okay, I'm worried about this, but perhaps if I do this, it might go better, or is it more?
I am a very solutions-based person generally, so I do tend to write down solutions. That said, a lot of the time, I will actually force myself not to write solutions just so I sit in the feeling a little bit more, because I feel like sometimes when you're very driven to try and solve every problem, at least you dismissing how you feel, sometimes I feel this way and it's not actually for a particular logical reason, or it's not for a reason I'm able to acknowledge or articulate yet.
So sometimes I just need to know that I'm feeling something and be aware of the fact that I'm feeling something rather than trying to solve the fact that I'm feeling it. For example, if I wake up on a day and I feel particularly irritable.
acknowledging that I feel irritable that day just really helps me to avoid conflict if I'm in a conversation where I feel my temporizing or I know that, right, this is coming from me, not the interaction that I'm having. And it doesn't mean that I have to solve it or that I need to be at a good mood anytime soon. It's just so that I can be, yeah, better to myself and be better to the people around me. I can check my internal voice and be mindful and conscious of the way that I was speaking to other people. And then
I don't necessarily need to solve that irritability at that specific moment, but I'm aware of it existing and will be better able to deal with it when I can deal with it. This is actually a really good point though, isn't it? That actually part of what journaling is, we think of often journaling as a benefit to ourselves, but actually by journaling and being aware of where you're at, what you're feeling, even acknowledging it. Okay, I'm irritable today.
that can actually lead to better relationships, workplaces and all sorts of things because all of a sudden you are aware of perhaps feeling irritable and therefore when you say going home to your partner or when you go into the workplace you're just kind of like okay I feel it's where I'm not exactly sure what it is I've woken up wrong side of bed whatever it is but I'm just going to temper like I'm going to just be aware of that going into my interactions because otherwise you can just kind of walk in here bad mood you know why
And often it's classic, it's like you're the last person in the room to realise it. I'm not in a bad mood, saying you are, you're a grump today. I'm like, no, I'm not in a bad mood. You're almost going round like smashing the plates almost, if you like. Before you realise, whereas if you are able to acknowledge that, you're going to go into those interactions in a better way. And deal with those things in a better way. So as we finished 2024, we go to 2025,
What are the things that you're taking forward into the next year like perhaps things you're grateful for or things you've adopted that you've gone this has worked well this year that I'm going to continue doing for next year?
I am really taking into next year something I've managed to do much better this year, which is being present for moments. I feel I'm always someone who's trying to look at the big picture, which is obviously important. I'm not going to stop doing that necessarily. But I really want to keep the sense of presence and enjoying what I'm going through now, or just even acknowledging what I'm going through now.
And the other thing in a more practical sense is I don't look at my phone for at least half an hour after I wake up. And that's something that I think I'm going to continue forever. And it's just so much information you can be overloaded with on your phone straight away. I feel like you wake up and feel like I must have missed so much when I was asleep. There's nothing that can't wait the half of that. I've really adopted that as well actually. The initial thing is turn the alarm up off, open your phone, see what's going on. But I don't do that anymore. I turn the alarm off and I will get up and I have a shower and I grab a coffee and I literally like
will actively avoid, you know, less urgent mess with people calling you or something. I'll avoid being on the phone for at least an hour, if I can. 45 minutes at least, but to an hour. And you actually allow us that space, doesn't it, for you to kind of start your day from a karma, a karma place? Any other things that you are going to take forward?
The idea that life itself is effort, and effort isn't a bad thing. And if I'm putting effort into things, I might as well put effort into feeling better, because at least then that's in my control. I love that. Well, thank you so much for joining me on the stomp across, but let's do a health factor of the week. So this will be the last health factor of the week for
The whole of 2024, 52 of these, right. There are many benefits to mindfulness, but did you know it can help reduce pain? So research has shown that practicing mindfulness while in pain could reduce the feeling by about 50%. This could be for a few reasons, such as relaxing, helps calm your nervous system to take a down regulation of the nervous system, or by meditating, you're able to train your brain to experience pain with less distress. So the signal comes in, but you're able to respond with less distress. Pretty amazing, isn't it?
It's absolutely amazing. I mean, I love science, especially when it backs up nice mental health stuff. Right, we'll come to the end of the episode there. So guys, the book comes out frequently happy on the 2nd of January, whether the link in the show notes. Make sure you don't get a copy. It's been delightful having you on the show. Thanks so much for having me. Yeah, it's been really positive and you've made me feel very positive and I'm happy for you the rest of my day.
Thank you so much, sir. Thank you. Guys, as always, we are having our Dr. Alex's diaries going out every Thursday, which you can access on Apple podcast. And of course, recently we've launched this where we have the whole three parts in one go. So one hour and a half long episode with no ads on Apple podcasts as well if you subscribe. So if you're interested in that,
go and check it out. Otherwise, thank you so much for supporting the start of the cast in 2025. We really appreciate each and every one of you. It means a great deal. I love this podcast with all my heart. Take care everyone. Look after yourselves. Have a happy new year. Goodbye.
