Stress isn’t just in your head; it’s in your body. In this post, I’ll show you how journaling can help calm your nervous system and literally rewire your stress response. You’ll learn how writing shifts your body out of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn mode and into a state of calm and clarity. I’ll also walk you through how I designed my BREATHE Journal to guide you through that process in just a few minutes a day. Whether you’re new to journaling or you’ve been at it for years, this post will help you understand the science behind why it works, and how you can start using it to feel grounded, centered, and safe in your own body again.
(The Science of the BREATHE Method)
Ever notice how your heart races or your chest tightens when you’re stressed, but you can’t really explain why? What if I told you that you could actually rewire that stress response just by picking up a pen and checking in with yourself?
Yep, really. That simple.
Stick around, because I’m going to walk you through the science behind why journaling calms your nervous system and how I designed my BREATHE Journal to help you do it in just a few minutes a day.
Stress Isn’t Just in Your Head — It’s in Your Body
When you’re stressed, your body flips into fight, flight, freeze, or fawn mode. That’s your sympathetic nervous system kicking in. Your heart rate goes up, your breath gets shallow, and your brain decides you’re in danger. Even if the “danger” is just a calendar reminder or an unread email.
But here’s the good part. When you start writing, your parasympathetic nervous system comes online. That’s your rest and digest mode. It’s your body’s way of saying, “Hey, we’re safe now.”
Writing slows your breathing, helps organize your thoughts, and literally signals to your brain that it’s okay to relax. You’re not just calming your mind. You’re sending your body the message that you’re no longer in survival mode.
So if you’re someone who always feels tense or like you’re living with a clenched jaw and tight shoulders, journaling might be your most powerful reset button.
How the BREATHE Journal Rewires Your Stress Response
Here’s how I built my BREATHE Journal to help you gently rewire your stress response every single day.
1. Emotional and Physical Check-in
Each morning, you’re asked to write how you’re feeling emotionally and physically. Most people skip the body part, but that’s where stress hides. That simple act of noticing, “My shoulders feel tight” or “I feel heavy today,” creates a bridge between your mind and your body. That’s somatic healing — the mind and body starting to work together again.
2. What Needs Your Attention
Next, you write what needs your attention today. Sometimes it’s a to-do list. Sometimes it’s something deeper. Maybe you need rest. Maybe you need to forgive yourself. Both matter. Both count.
3. Daily Mantra and Gratitude
These two are small but they’re game changers. A mantra keeps your thoughts grounded when things feel chaotic. Gratitude shifts your brain from fear to safety and from scarcity to abundance. And there’s real science behind it. Gratitude activates the parts of your brain that release dopamine and serotonin — those feel-good chemicals that help calm your system.
4. Thoughts and Feelings Page
This is your open space. Your free-write zone. This is where the release happens. When you pour your thoughts onto paper, you’re emptying out all the mental noise that’s been looping around in your head. Over time, you start to see patterns — the same triggers, the same self-doubt, the same stories. Once you can see them, you can change them.
5. Brain Dump Section
When anxiety spikes, your logical brain pretty much goes offline. That’s why you can’t think straight when you’re overwhelmed. The Brain Dump page gives you a quick exit. You unload the chaos onto paper so your mind can breathe again.
6. Grounding Tools and Emotional Awareness
I’ve also added grounding activities like “What’s my responsibility and what’s not.” Because honestly, most of us are walking around carrying stress that doesn’t even belong to us.
There’s also an Emotions Wheel that helps expand your emotional vocabulary. You’re not just angry or sad. You might be disappointed, overwhelmed, ashamed, or frustrated. Once you can name it, you can start to work through it.
The Somatic Connection
Every time you pause to check in with your thoughts and your body, you’re retraining your nervous system to trust you. That’s the rewiring.
Your body learns, “She’s listening. I don’t have to scream anymore.”
So instead of stress showing up as tension, irritation, or that constant buzzing feeling, it starts to settle down. You begin to respond instead of react. And that’s when you start to feel calm in your own skin again.
The BREATHE Spiral Launch Is Almost Here
If you’ve been waiting to start this practice, this is your moment. The BREATHE Journal Spiral Edition is coming this November — which is right around the corner.
It has the same soothing turquoise cover made from recycled ocean plastic, but it now lays flat so it’s easier to write in. It feels beautiful, inside and out.
If you’ve been meaning to start journaling but haven’t found a way to make it stick, this is your sign. This is the one to start with.
Let’s Stay Connected
If this resonated with you, there are a few ways we can stay connected.
You can hang out with me over on my YouTube channel @risewithjewels, where I share videos on journaling, mindfulness, and midlife mental health.
You can also join The Courage Collective, my private Skool community where women come together to support each other, share journal prompts, book ideas, and keep each other grounded through the chaos of real life. There’s also daily gratitude posts, self worth challenges, coffee chats, and more.
And of course, you can grab your own BREATHE Journal and start this daily practice for yourself.
You don’t need a retreat or a therapist on speed dial to start healing your stress response. You just need a few quiet minutes and a pen.
So tell me… when you’re stressed, what do you notice first? Your emotions or your body sensations? I’d love to hear from you.
Jewels xo