How to Use Letter Writing to Boost Your Wellness

Your personal wellness can be a complex issue that requires ongoing attention and care.

Thankfully, we can use many powerful techniques to improve our mental health, including writing. You're likely aware of journaling, maintaining a diary, and other ways of writing reflectively.

But letter writing can also be a helpful tool for managing mental health. The act of writing helps you channel your thoughts and feelings into distinct physical forms and representations.

In the process, a number of positive things happen to make you feel better.

Here are five ways you can use to pen down a letter to improve your mental health.

1. Write A Letter To Your Child-Self

Have you ever heard of the concept of the inner child?

In psychology, the inner child is your childlike personality. It covers what you learned as you grew up until adolescence or maturity.

It's often viewed as a personality or pattern that we fall into - a 'subpersonality' that is semi-independent from your conscious mind.

There are good and negative aspects to one's childish character. Having a sense of playfulness, spontaneity, and innocence are the best features of your inner child.

But if you experience difficult situations during childhood, negative patterns and behaviors can appear in adulthood.

For example, if you craved to be independent as a child but your carers did not support you, you might grow up with the feeling of being overly dependent on others. This is a negative way that your inner child can manifest.

However, you can overcome destructive feelings that you experienced as a child and make changes to become independent. For example, you'll develop the ability to start a business, move somewhere, create a blog, or do anything without external approval.

The way to overcome the negative effects of your inner child coming to play in your life is to write a letter to your child-self. It is a way of addressing the wounds of your inner child.

It's a form of self-therapy that can help. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of our innocence, hope, and potential.

And that, as adults, we can stretch our wings and meet our goals.

2. Address A Letter To Another Person - But Don't Send It

Sometimes we need to say things that we can't say in person.

It might be because the person is no longer alive, or because the relationship is too difficult. It might be because we worry about how the other person will react.

Addressing a letter and not sending it can be a way of expressing ourselves without worrying about the pressures that come with face-to-face conversations.

It's a win-win situation. No one will be hurt and no difficult reactions will be triggered. However, you will get a chance to let your thoughts out through the process of writing a personal letter.

3. Write A Letter To Yourself In The Future

This is a great way to set goals and intentions.

It's a way of expressing what you want to achieve, and how you want to feel. Think of it as a way of giving yourself permission to change.

We can often be our own worst critics. We can be stuck in negative patterns and behaviors because we don't believe we can change.

Writing a letter to yourself in the future is a way of reminding yourself that change is possible. It's a way of planting the seed, so to speak.

It's a way of telling yourself that you can be whoever you want to be and that you have the power to make the changes you want to see in your life.

4. Write A Letter Of Forgiveness

This is a difficult but important one. We all need to forgive at some point in our lives whether it's forgiving someone else or ourselves.

Forgiving can be incredibly freeing. It can help us to move on from the past and open up to new possibilities in the present.

Jotting down a letter of forgiveness can be a way of releasing yourself from the pain of the past. It can be a way of accepting what has happened and of making peace with it.

When writing this letter, address it to someone who hurt you - it can even be yourself. Make sure that you clearly state the reasons you're upset and also write about how you forgive them.

Seeing these words in black and white will help you release negativity and find peace.

5. Create a burn letter to let go of negativity

This is a letter that you write with the intention of burning it afterward.

It's a way of releasing negativity and toxic thoughts and emotions.

Writing a burn letter can be incredibly cathartic. It can be a way of venting pent-up emotions safely and constructively without harming yourself or another person.

The goal is to perform a symbolic gesture of letting go. To let go of the past and move on into the future.

There's something powerful about taking internal turmoil and converting it into a physical and 'real' act. When you see, feel, and hear your letter burning - the impact is stronger and any catharsis or relief you feel will stick.

So, sit down and think about what you want to let go of:

• Bad memories of childhood
• Negative reviews at work or your business
• Rejection by someone you cared about
• Loss of someone important to you

By using letter writing in this way, you'll process your feelings better and see positive changes over the weeks.

Get writing

There are many different ways that letter writing can be used to heal your mental health.

These are just a few examples. If you're struggling with mental health, then give the above-mentioned ways a try. It might just be the thing you need to help you on your journey to recovery.

And make it as powerful an experience as you can by playing music, turning down the lights, lighting up candles, and so on. When you make it an event, it'll be more impactful.

Have you ever written a letter for therapeutic reasons?

If you haven't, start now.