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How a ‘Worry Journal’ is Helping Simone Biles
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Olympic gymnast Simone Biles isn’t shying away from talking about mental health – and along with opening up about her struggles with anxiety, the 24-year-old is also talking about the tools that are helping her cope.
Biles appeared virtually at the Child Mind Institutes annual Child Advocacy Award dinner in New York City where she accepted the inaugural Trailblazer Award and revealed how therapy is helping her.
“I do keep close contact with my therapist,” the gymnast said in an exclusive clip reported by People. “I love that. It’s super exciting, so hopefully more people are open to going to therapy and knowing that they’re there for you and not to harm you.”
Biles revealed one of the tools her therapist suggested she implement is the use of a worry journal.
“I have pretty bad anxiety sometimes so she tells me in my worry journal to put from 12 to 1 p.m. — that’s the time I’ve selected — and anything I’ve written down in my worry journal, I use that hour to worry about the things then,” Biles explained in the clip reported by People. “And usually by the time 12 or 1 comes, I’ve already forgotten about all my worries so that kind of is a tool that helps me.”
According to Health, a worry journal allows you to “focus on your worries, then close the book on them until tomorrow.”
Health suggests using the following steps to create your own worry journal:
1. Designate a notebook as your worry journal. 2. Each afternoon or evening, spend about 30 minutes using your worry journal – make sure to do so several hours before bedtime. 3. List anything that is worrying you on the left side of the page. 4. Think about what you can do to alleviate those worries and write your plan on the right side of the page. 5. Close the book, put it out of sight, and don’t think about those worries or issues until the following day.
