Writing to Let Go

Dr. Maggie is back in The Writing Shed! When I learned about the research on how expressive writing helps us have an experience of letting go, I was gobsmacked. Letting go experiences are normally associated with trances or spiritual experiences. But the simple act of identifying and recognizing your emotional reactions to fearful times in your life can have powerful effects on your body. In one study done about the human fear of spiders, when the participants expressed their deathly fear of spiders in language, they were able to move closer to the spider (more than those who merely looked at the spider without expressing anything). Journal writing is powerful!