MOVEMENT, PURPOSE, CREATIVITY, AND PRODUCTIVITY: JOURNALING FOR MENTAL HEALTH WITH ERIN CUMMINGS6/19/2025 Have you ever felt conflicted? So many thoughts are swirling around, and you can't think straight? I have! After giving birth to my second child, I was running very low on sleep and energy. My emotions seemed out of control, and I couldn't keep my priorities or health in order. I was not alone. Although this period of my life was not considered an illness, it was a mental health challenge. More than 20 million Americans experience a mental health challenge in any given year. A mental health challenge is when: • There is a major change in a person’s thinking, feeling, or behavior. • The change interferes with a person’s ability to live their life. • The interference does not go away quickly and lasts longer than typical emotions or reactions would be expected to last. I turned back to what I knew helped me to find peace before the whirlwind of welcoming a new child, yoga. Just a few Sun Salutations or sitting to breathe deeply in Suhkasana were the first steps that I took to welcome balance back in. Mental Health is a state of wellbeing in which an individual: • Realizes their own capabilities. • Can cope with the normal stressors of life. • Can work productively. • Can contribute to their community. Erin Cummings, a former yoga studio owner and entrepreneur, created a journal, The Possibility Project: A Guided Journal for Creating What's Possible, to provide practical tools for mental well-being. The Possibility Project offers a unique approach to journaling, focusing on the following areas:
 (Photo by Bri Costello Photography) Interview with Erin Cummings1) How do you define mental well-being?Mental well-being is defined as how one is feeling mentally, physically, and spiritually. For me, it’s all about how I am feeling, thinking, and what actions I’m taking based on what is happening around me. Practicing mindfulness is a big part of my life. Whether it’s meditation, journaling, cultivating relationships, understanding different aspects of my business, continuing to learn and educate myself, moving my body, or knowing when to rest, mindfulness has been a crucial component of how I have learned to understand what I am feeling, know what my body needs, and create an action to take…if any action is needed at all.  (Photo by Bri Costello Photography) 2) I see that movement is one of your project categories. Tell me more about how you use movement for a project toward mental wellbeing. I’m a big proponent of movement and exercise. I was a yoga studio owner for almost 8 years, I taught yoga for over 10 years, and I’ve been practicing yoga for a long time. There is study after study that showcases the benefits of not just yoga, but intentional physical movement for our health and our minds. I’ve seen this in myself and others. I set a goal to do some sort of intentional movement every single day. Some days that's just 10 minutes of stretching, I take my dog on walks about 5 times per week-sometimes with headphones and sometimes without, and I do some sort of physical strenuous activity, whether strength or resistance training as well. Because I have extensive knowledge of the body and exercise from all of my yoga and other trainings, moving my body and working out also gives me a safe space to push myself mentally. Whether it’s pushing past fear by changing my gaze to a new spot, or understanding my limits when I need to take a break, these are great practices for everyday life.  (Photo by K Mamou Photography) 3) What types of exercises do you suggest in your journal? (Photo by Bri Costello Photography) Because whoever is using the journal is not me, I don’t give explicit instructions for movement. However, I do give examples. I think because each of us practices mental well-being in our own unique way, we should also practice our own unique intentional movement. I really like a specific style of yoga class that some can find very boring. Some of the very loud spinning classes really stress me out, and many people love those types of classes. In my experience, it’s best to do what works for you and keep doing that. I’m not a runner, I used to run half-marathons a long time ago. After being diagnosed with a connective tissue disorder that impacts my joints, it’s best for me not to do high-impact exercise movements. However, I know so many runners who use that running time as an intentional movement exercise to help clear their minds and practice those mental exercises of the mind-body connection.  4) How does journaling support yoga or other health practices? (Photo by Bri Costello Photography) Journaling really helps you unlock what you are feeling. I always like to think of it as setting your brain on the table in front of you. You can understand how you feel and look at it in a non-judgmental kind of way. If you’re practicing both journaling and yoga or some other type of physical practice, you can better understand how you feel and what you need. Whether you need to pull back because of grief, feeling lost, or feeling unsettled, this can help you rest or slow down in your movement without feeling guilty. Or, if I’m angry, feeling strong, feeling happy, or just had a great idea, sometimes I’ll push myself more in my physical practice. I’m able to take those risks of shifting my gaze or holding for an extra breath. Journaling is also a great way to get your thoughts out if it’s too hard to sit with all of them in meditation, or journaling can be a great way to start a meditation practice. Again, it all comes back to mindfulness. If you’re wanting to change a habit or better understand your time management, maybe journaling and keeping track of what you do during each hour to help you understand how you’re actually spending your time. 5) What is the connection between journaling and finding purposeI think journaling gives you that clarity of not only finding purpose, but implementing it into your life. Because you can literally journal about anything, it opens up the possibility of being able to understand yourself in ways that other things can’t teach you or tell you. The Possibility Project is focused on creating a vision and goals for what’s already working in your life. It’s so much easier to keep doing something that you already know works and that you are already doing. It’s about expanding on those opportunities. It’s much more derailing to STOP doing something, so this framework comes from what’s already working and what’s possible from there. Because of journaling and this framework, I’ve been able to create the foundation of how I bring intentionality and purpose into many aspects of my life, from movement to the businesses that I invest in. I’ve been able to use that purpose as a guide to help make decisions, and that’s all thanks to the moment I began journaling. 
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