35 Powerful Grief Journaling Prompts To Help You Overcome A Searing, Painful Loss!
Last Updated on 12/30/2022 by Nicky
35 Grief Journaling Prompts To Help You Overcome A Searing, Painful Loss
When you lose someone you love (either through death or a painful divorce or breakup) it feels like your world is ending.
You may feel as if you will never be okay again and even begin resenting other people who aren’t suffering like you are.
How is it that other people can go on about life normally when yours is falling apart?
When your heart has been shattered, you need to deploy every resource available to help you cope.
If you don’t, your grieving process will seem never-ending.
One way to release your emotions is through grief journaling.
No, it won’t take away your pain but journaling will help you process the excruciating thoughts, overwhelming fears, and uncertainties that are swirling around your head right now.
I truly pray that starting a grief journal will be a tool that will bring healing and hope to you during this difficult time.
– Benefits of Journaling For Overcoming Grief And Loss
1) Journaling helps you release toxic emotions
Writing about your grief helps you to closely look at your grief-related thoughts & memories instead of avoiding them.
People who have gone through intense pain, the loss of loved ones, death, or any other traumatic event want to avoid things that remind them of their trauma.
This is their attempt to attain normalcy, to take a break from their grief.
Journaling breaks through that avoidance barrier and gently forces you to confront your pain head-on.
2) Journaling helps you confront your pain
Although avoidance can help you to feel better in the short term, if you completely avoid your pain then it will cause you trouble in the long run.
Memories, hurt, and pain don’t just fade away.
These emotions don’t leave you especially if they are highly traumatic ones.
So it’s important to learn how to adopt healthy coping skills and journaling is of great help here.
3) Journaling relieves burdens from your heart
Living with trauma is not easy, your heart might be heavy with the burden of it.
You might have many disturbing thoughts, painful memories, self-doubts plaguing you daily.
Keeping everything to yourself can make you feel drained. It can affect your mental and physical health.
Journaling helps to relieve stress and it brings positive changes to your psychological health. Plus, it can help you let go of things that are traumatizing you.
4) Writing in a journal is theraputic
You will eventually feel much better after writing your thoughts as journaling is cathartic.
After putting down everything that is going on in your head, it will also help you to reduce the symptoms of sadness, anxiety, and depression.
5) Sleep better with journaling
Grief journaling can help you sleep peacefully at night. As grief can impact your sleep patterns as well.
It can make you lay awake at night because of your worries, your painful memories, your past.
Research has shown that writing about your grief can help you decrease your ruminating thoughts, and thus help you to have a better night’s sleep (source).
6) A journal is a safe space for your emotions
A grief journal gives you a safe space to express yourself, where you have no worries of judgments, where you can pen down all your jumbled thoughts.
It can also help you to keep track of your progress, on your healing process.
7) No censorship
You have no restrictions, your grief journal is your personal space and you can write whatever you want.
This free space can make you open up about your feelings about anything troubling you. So that’s how you can overcome grief and loss.
– General Journaling Tips
Use the tips below to help you have a more effective journaling experience:
- This is a judgment-free zone so don’t censor yourself.
- Don’t overthink, just feel free to write anything.
- This is not supposed to be perfect, so there is no need for editing.
- Don’t worry yourself with grammar, spelling, or punctuation mistakes
- Let yourself flow in the rhythm of your emotions, don’t stop yourself from writing anything.
- If it seems messy or unorganized then let it be, it’s your safe zone, write however you like.
- Do not leave any part of grief (anger, denial, etc.) unexplored, write everything down, that’s how you can feel lighter.
- Write about things that are hard for you to share with other people.
- Consider your grief journal as your best friend with whom you can share anything.
- You can paint, draw, color, and do anything that you like.
- Lastly, be kind to yourself, you don’t have to rush anything, it’s for your healing process so you have to be gentle with yourself.
– How To Create A Grief Journal Quickly & Easily
If you are wondering how you can make a grief journal you can use grief journaling printables and a binder.
Just keep it simple so you can start using it right away.
A printable grief journal is an instant download which means you can start using it immediately.
You can get a grief journaling printable here.
Joy Comes In The Mourning Grief Journal
– 35 Grief Journal Prompts For Comfort & Healing
Here are 35 grief journaling prompts that can be helpful for your self-healing journey.
- Today I am feeling bothered with…
- One thing I want to change about my current situation is…
- I am having a hard time with…
- Lately, the emotion I am feeling…
- My support system consists of the following people…
- My body feels like…
- I am missing…
- My most painful memory is…
- One thing that I want to forget is…
- I want to forget her/him because…
- I am feeling insecure because…
- I need more of…
- How do you want to spend your day?
- Which things do you want to include in your routine?
- Which things do you want to exclude from your routine?
- I don’t like to open up because…
- I feel most anxious when…
- What makes me feel better…
- 5 things that I like about myself…
- I wish God would…
- What is your biggest fear?
- The prayers I want to be answered the most are…
- How do you want to see yourself in the future?
- How do your friends make you feel?
- What was the darkest phase of your life since your loss?
- What is the happiest memory since your loss?
- What is your current mental health state?
- Make a list of activities that you want to start doing…
- When did you feel the most supported by loved ones?
- My goals in life since my loss are…
- Things that hurt me the most are…
- What makes your heart heavy?
- I want to be happy but…
- It’s making me sad that…
- Whenever I am stressed I…
- My most comforting memory is…
- My favorite holiday memory with them is…
– Please Find Healthy Healing From Your Pain!
I truly wish I could give everyone reading this a hug. I truly care about you in this season of pain and sorrow.
If you haven’t already, please use journal writing in your grief journey.
I also suggest counseling, whether it be through support groups, online therapy or face-to-face.
And I, of course, suggest leaning on the Lord during this time of brokenheartedness.
Everything takes time so please be kind and patient with yourself. With God’s help, you will get through this difficult time of your life and learn to smile from within again.
– My Gift To You: A Free Grief Journal Printable
So you can get started on your journey of healing right away, I would love to give you our grief journal that you can print out immediately.
Just enter your email below to access a mini version of the Joy Comes In The Mourning Grief Journal as well as some other printables to help improve your mental and emotional health!
Here’s what you’ll get:
- The Creative Rest Christian Coloring Book: These 5 beautiful coloring pages are accompanied by words of faith and inspiration designed to help you focus on the positive, relax your mind, and dwell on positive Christian affirmations.
- Joy Comes In The Mourning Grief Journal: If you’ve lost a loved one, then journaling is a tool you can use to begin to heal from your loss in a positive and healthy way
- The Stress-Less Anti-Anxiety Journal: This journal has a Count Your Blessings, Quiet Time With God, & Today I’m Feeling… pages as well as a Self-Care To-Do List & A Mini Day & Week Planner.
- 15% Discount code to use on any product in the HAYC store!
Plus I add to this bundle all the time
Just enter your email address below and the Renew Your Mind Bundle link will be sent to your inbox!
More Journaling Prompts From HAYC
25+ Fear Journaling Prompts To Help You Overcome Anxiety & Live Abundantly!
25+ Beginner Journaling Prompts For Mental Clarity, Deeper Faith, Weight Loss, & Financial Freedom!
50 Journal Prompts For Mental Health That Will Help You Process & Elevate Your Thoughts!
