How To: Survive Teenagehood

28/ I Have 15 Journals- Is That Excessive?

Mindfulness is the kind of thing your teacher will mention to you once in a blue moon, and you never really listen to the advice they give. You're pretty sure you're in tune with your emotions, and your self discovery is near complete. But is this actually true?

Looking after your mental health is incredibly important, and we all need a release and escape to keep our mental health stable and healthy. If you keep all your feelings inside you and don't let them out, they'll only manifest into much bigger things that can potentially be dangerous for your mentality.

I am a huge journal-advocate, and notebooks and journals are my favourite things to collect. I currently use around 15 journals on a daily/weekly basis, which may sound excessive but for me this allows me to let out everything I need to as well as learning new things about myself.

Here are some really easy ways to practice mindfulness in your life which require zero money. All you need a notepad or paper and a pen.

1. Start a journal. This may sound lame, we all had diaries when we were kids that we all inevitably gave up after one week, so our association with journals is something childish. But journals are extremely productive and useful tools to release any bottled up feelings and it gets everything off your chest. I've been keeping a journal for 3 years now, and I feel like I have a much easier time in understanding my emotions and coping with things in my life. A journal provides a space for me to talk about things that I wouldn't usually.

2. Stream of consciousness writing. Very similar to a journal, writing continuously for a few pages a day about anything and everything that comes to mind is healthy for your brain, and allows you to just dump all your ideas onto paper. Don't think too much about what you're writing but instead just go with whatever thoughts you're having at that moment.

3. Start a gratitude journal. Writing what you're thankful for everyday takes little to no time, and makes you feel so much more positive. It's so easy to get caught up in the negative parts of life, so remembering that there are good things in your life will hopefully improve your positivity.

4. Start a positivity journal. In my positivity journal I have quotes, goals, and affirmations mainly, and it's so great to look at all this positivity because it rubs off on you when you're down or upset. You could draw, stick in pictures or write whatever you want.

It may sound like a pain to do a lot of these things, but they take a maximum of 20 minutes a day, and from them my mental health has improved so much. Journals help me to feel less alone, and make me feel like I always have someone to speak to as sad as that sounds.

So rule twenty eight of surviving Teenagehood: dig out your old barbie notebooks because you're going to need them.