The Science of Journaling: How 15 Minutes of Writing Can Free Up Your Brain, Improve Your Health, and Make You a Better Friend | Dr. James Pennebaker

This is the Ten Percent Happier Podcast. I'm your host, Dan Harris. I will admit from the outset here. That I've long had a bad attitude about journaling. Which is weird because I've spent More than thirty years working as a journalist.

I dismiss journaling as some sort of new agey thing, though. But then I started to see a bunch of science that really changed my mind on this. This is, by the way, a pattern for me. I reflexively judge something only to have my mind changed by uh the evidence. Uh in the case of journaling the evidence is quite abundant. According to research, journaling can be an effective way to reduce stress and anxiety, two biggies for me. And that's not all. Various forms of journaling practice have been shown to increase immune response.

Sleep quality, memory, focus. Time management and decision making. So today I'm gonna talk to the guy who really pioneered the science around journaling. His name is Dr. James Pennebaker. He's a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He's published over three hundred articles and written or edited twelve books, and he was recently elected To the National Academy of Sciences, which is a huge honor. I interviewed uh Doctor Paner Baker jointly with my wife, Doctor Bianca Harris, who has no skepticism about journaling.

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