5 Benefits That Come From Expressing Yourself On A Daily Basis

When you were a child, you likely wanted to be six different things at the same time. Maybe you wanted to be a doctor and a singer. Convenience and adulthood often means choosing one thing to do with your life, and over time you may feel like you don’t know how to express yourself.

You don’t have to be creative to express yourself. In fact, expression can be practical and fun, adding many positive benefits to your life. Instead of compartmentalizing or dwelling, it’s channel your feelings into an expressive outlet daily to:

1. Develop stronger boundaries

When you actively express yourself, you’re able to see how you communicate and take yourself out of life situations for a moment to not judge them so harshly.

You gauge your feelings from a clearer mindset and develop a stronger sense of yourself to draw from when you communicate. When you return to a challenging situation, you feel more grounded in yourself to say yes or no without pressure. You are able to enforce your personal boundaries more effectively.

2. Enhance relationships with yourself and others

Enhance your relationships through self-expression. In life, there are many responsibilities, and you may fear by seeking another outlet to express yourself that your relationships and obligations will suffer. The opposite is true.

When you’re creating, and leading an active life, you’ve created a space for yourself. When you’re in a more centered space, you generously give to others and express yourself with them. By expressing yourself, you develop healthier relationships with others, and you contribute to your own happiness by respecting your need for that outlet.

3. Experience a boost of creativity

Let yourself be messy and play like a child, even if it feels silly. When you do, you’ll experience a boost of creativity in other areas of your life as you relax more and invite newer perspectives. You feel more energetic for the other responsibilities of life.

New ideas hit you spontaneously, and you recognize the importance of writing those down. You never know where or when a whim will lead to something bigger, or at least more fun. Creativity adds spice to life. Say goodbye to stagnancy, and hello to new ideas.

4. Conquer your fear and soothe your anxiety

Conquer your fear simply by putting it into words. Talking about fears weakens their power over you. Expressing yourself is not a distraction.

Try rewording how you talk about your fear from a non-emotional point of view with “I” statements, such as “I feel anxious about speaking in public.” Then, expand to why. When you’re able to talk with yourself, like you would a friend, it’s easier to debunk the fear and anxiety myths that your mind plays like a broken record.

5. Expanded sense of time

Life is short, and time flies by when you’re busy powering through your day like a marathon runner. Expression gets right to the point and doesn’t waste your time. Expression allows you to reflect and process, and maybe even enjoy yourself!

Time slows when you focus on detail. Your expanded sense of time will give you perspective about what you want to do with your time on Earth.

Practical and quirky ways to express yourself

Set aside time to be expressive or creative to connect more with yourself and others, inviting play, positivity perspectives and other benefits into your life. You don’t have to paint or be crafty to express yourself, because how you express yourself will be unique to who you are:

1. Keep a journal

This is not the “Dear Diary” of your childhood. There are many types of journals out there to keep: organizational, creative, nature, self-reflective, poetic and more. Journaling has a myriad of benefits from relieving anxiety and depression symptoms to stimulating the brain, leading to more uniquely and quickly connected ideas and boosted IQs.

Journaling allows you a space to say what you may be afraid to say to others, even to yourself. Writing by hand makes it easier to pause and force your brain to focus. Journaling gives you an opportunity to see situations from a distance, find new perspectives and record the beautiful parts of the day.

2. Get active

Move your body to express yourself, whether that’s through exercise, meditative nature walks or learning salsa! You don’t have to be a yoga nut to crack the self-expression code.

When you’re lethargic most of the day, your mind will also be stagnant. Getting your body moving forces your mind to get with the program, too. Movement will make you feel more grounded and connected to your body, as well as any thoughts or emotions it’s experiencing.

3. Learn a new language

Did you know that there are words that have no direct translation in English? The Scots have “tartle” for the panicky hesitation you experience right before you meet someone who’s name you’ve forgotten. Oops! “Iktsurarpok” is the Inuit word for the awkward anticipation that makes you constantly check for someone at the door, even though they haven’t arrived yet.

Aside from learning to express your awkwardness in multiple languages, there are words that carry power and punch in different ways than your primary language. How one language structures a sentence is completely different than another, and you as you learn a new language you may find the way that you structure your own word choices and thoughts change also.

4. Sing in the shower

Expressing yourself is awkward at first, as you fumble to find the “right” word or behavior that matches how you’re feeling. Sometimes, you need to spontaneously embrace opportunities for expression that make no logical sense, like singing in the shower.

For no reason, the shower head makes a perfect microphone to sing as beautiful or horribly as you want. Sing it, loud and proud! Embrace your spontaneous side!

5. Join a club

Just like you don’t have to paint to be expressive, you don’t have to be alone to be expressive. Take a personal hobby and passion on the road and do it with other people. Join a community club to play tennis or develop your marathon runner training. Being around others with a passion for a similar activity will encourage you to open up and also inspire you.

There are many creative and practical ways to express yourself, as well as many benefits that come with doing so. How you express yourself will be unique to who you are and finding that is part of the journey and fun!

Make expressing yourself a daily activity. Develop a habit of journaling before bed or singing in the shower in the morning. It doesn’t have to be a formally planned or time-consuming activity. In its best moments, expression is spontaneous and inspiring. Express yourself!

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