Journaling vs Meditation

Journaling vs Meditation: Do You Practice Both At The Same Time?

written by Ana

posted on Nov 09, 2022

Both journaling and meditation have therapeutic benefits and help to get rid of worrying and negative thoughts.

If you are on a journey to a better self, you might be wondering whether you should stick to journaling or meditation or maybe even try both at the same time.

In this blog post, we will explore what are the differences between these two techniques, explain what happens in your brain when you journal or meditate and if it’s worth practicing them at the same time.

Is journaling as good as meditation?

Generally, during meditation you keep and observe your thoughts and sensations in your mind, and when you write in a journal you let go of your thoughts by writing them down. Therefore, both techniques are good for reducing your levels of stress.

Journaling can have similar effects on your mind as meditation. When you do a free-writing exercise using a Morning Pages method, for example, it can be as calming as meditation.

When you get in a state of stream-of-consciousness writing, your breathing slows down and can help you cope with stress.

So, in two words, even though these are different techniques, both are as good for helping you to relax.

To find out where is the difference between these two practices, we need to understand what happens in our brains when we meditate and write in a journal.

What happens to your brain during meditation?

Your brain develops when neurons, the information-processing cells in your brain, connect to make neural pathways. These neural connections are responsible for your thoughts, sensations, feelings and actions.

So, when you consistently do one thing, you strengthen the neural connections responsible for that activity and in turn, develop the brain regions associated with the thing that you are doing.

When you meditate over some period of time, your hippocampus, frontal regions of the brain as well as the anterior insula and cortical regions develop.

An exploratory fMRI study showed that when you meditate, brain structures that are responsible for attention regulation — the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex — became activated. That’s what lets you concentrate on one object, monitor if your attention has wandered elsewhere and redirect it back to the object of concentration.

In a study with 23 Tibetan Buddhist monks who use long-term meditation practice, it was found that their attentional control and regions in the brain associated with attention and self-awareness improved.

In addition, meditation can lead to an increase in gray matter and the left hippocampus which can improve learning, cognition and memory. That way you can retain facts better and become more mindful.

Most importantly, over time meditation practice can help to reduce stress and anxiety. That’s because when you meditate, you slow down a network of nerves that help your body to activate its stress response.

This network called the sympathetic nervous system starts the fight-or-flight response that provides your body with a burst of energy to respond to a stressful situation. The system becomes activated after the amygdala — the structure responsible for fear processing — receives and sends a distress signal.

Through meditation, you can essentially deactivate your sympathetic nervous system and turn on the parasympathetic nervous system which allows you to rest and relax.

What happens to your brain during journaling?

When you write in a journal, many brain areas become activated, such as:

Frontal lobe – the control centre of the brain in charge of decision making and planning
Hippocampus – brain area that helps to form and retrieve long term memories
Broca’s area – the region of the brain involved in language production
Wernicke’s Area – the part of the brain that is in charge of understanding what you have written
Visual Cortex – lets you to ‘see’ a past experience in your mind
Motor Area – allows you to hold a pen and form the letters on the paper or press the correct keys when typing
Caudate Nucleus – the region of the brain that is involved with processes that have been extensively practiced

These brain areas work together to form ideas and note them down on paper when you write. That’s why it is more beneficial for you to write in your journal by hand instead of typing.

What's the difference between journaling and meditation?

Expressive writing, such as journaling or Morning Pages, is a similar technique to exposure therapy like meditation since imaginary exposure may help a person to confront, describe and relive the previous event, which had traumatic elements.

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Exposure, cognitive change, and self-regulation are the shared elements between these two techniques.

Due to the presence of emotion processing during expressive writing, writing sessions help to correct the interpretation and process of previous traumatic experiences, whereas meditation offers exposure to the present moment and triggers, reducing emotional reactivity in the future.

Writing can lead to greater awareness, as you get new insights and discover thoughts and emotions, which were hidden.

If you had traumatic memory, during expressive writing you create a coherent narrative story and change the schema, that existed up to this day. If we look at it via cognitive development theory (Piaget, 1983), a person has two options: adapt experience into existing schemes or locate schema to the new experience.

The second option usually takes place in writing, as a person’s existing schema is adapted to the new situation.

Is it worth doing meditation and journaling?

Many people find it beneficial to practice both techniques at the same time – you can journal throughout the day to do gratitude and reflection exercises as well as to-do lists to stay on track with your goals. While doing a 10-15 minutes meditation each morning can help you become self-aware of your mind and body and reduce stress and anxiety.

Let us know in the comments section down below if you prefer meditation to journaling or maybe you do both! Share your experience with others!

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Happy Journaling:)

With better awareness, better results

A&A

Hi there!

Thank you for stopping by! We are neuroscientists by day and digital creators by night who are passionate about self-development, personal growth and a healthy mindset. 🧠

We met when studying Master’s degree in Clinical, Social and Cognitive Neuroscience at City, University of London and instantly realised that we had a lot in common!

Let’s see what it is! ➡️