What if you could cure depression just by writing for a few minutes each morning?
After all, it’s just a pleasant activity that takes no time, but which can make you less anxious, stressed and negative over time.
That’s absolutely possible.
Depression comes in many forms. And it’s never good. But we can take control of our emotions and bring back the positivity and joy in our days with a simple and easy exercise like doing morning pages.
Basically, it’s just sitting down in the morning and pouring your thoughts out on paper. It’s therapeutic and has many positive side effects too, like letting all bad feelings behind by putting them in writing, getting to know yourself, understanding your problems and issues and finding out what causes them, maybe even a creative solution.
And all that just by writing down a page (or a few) in the morning.
But there are some things to keep in mind if you want to feel the healing effect of this practice:
• do it in the early hours of the day – in the morning it’s quiet and the stress of the day hasn’t come yet. So you can do things slowly, and enjoy the silence and your morning coffee while writing;
• do it before everything else – in order to focus and not to think about anything else, you’ll need to do it first thing in the morning. Otherwise, doing a chore, task or something else will engage your mind and you’ll jump onto the next, forgetting about writing;
• handwritten morning pages – don’t turn on the computer in the beginning of the day. In fact, don’t use any devices. Unplug completely. This will give you a sense of authenticity, you’ll write more slowly (as typing itself makes you do it faster), you’ll be able to actually enjoy the exercise.
How can a morning writing ritual help you cure depression?
1. You’ll complain to the pages.
This will help you get the negative emotions out and feel free. That makes you less anxious too.
Read also: How to Create The Ideal Morning Ritual
2. You share stuff and become more expressive.
People are often depressed because of the many things they keep inside. In time, it just gets too much. And even talking to someone else doesn’t help simply because you’ve got an issue with yourself.
Morning pages are a great solution for that, plus they help you cure depression once and for all.
You can just write down everything you’re worried about, describe your deepest fears and desires. You’ll be admitting them to yourself this way. Which will take a huge burden off your shoulders.
You’ll feel more comfortable sharing your feelings now that you know how to express them.
3. You become grateful and optimistic.
Using morning pages as a platform to celebrate your life is what can bring the joy back into it.
You can simply list things you’re thankful for and write positive affirmations about yourself and the following day. Even this little – and pleasant – habit will make a big change.
4. You get over past experiences.
A morning writing ritual can also be used as a way to share traumatic events, understand them, and let them be in the past without going back to them.
So that’s how this simple exercise helps you cure depression and that’s the powerful effect it has on so many areas of your life.
