The Healing Journal
Guided Prompts and Inspiration for Life with Illness
Available Everywhere Books Are Sold
Publisher: The Experiment
Your writing has the power to help you live well!
Overcome the emotional toll of chronic illness with 50 positive affirmations, over 100 writing prompts, and soothing illustrations inspired by nature.
The Healing Journal is a dynamic, illustrated guided journal to empower those living with chronic illness to cope with the ways illness impacts daily life. It provides an outlet for readers to freely express their experiences related to illness and enables them to explore their own strength and resilience. Research suggests that writing expressively and sincerely about personal struggles and traumas improves physical health. Rooted in mindfulness and positive psychology, each of the 50 topics in this journal is explored through the pairing of an affirmation with relevant journaling prompts and a nature-inspired watercolor illustration.
The writing prompts and affirmations in this journal will help the reader to:
Cultivate self-compassion and chart their own course to inner healing.
Develop the self-care strategies best suited to their illness.
Advocate for themselves with doctors, family, friends, and coworkers.
Unlock the emotional benefits of mindfulness and positive psychology.
Recognize patterns related to their illness in order to effectively manage symptoms.
Photo by Miriam Brummel
The Healing Journal was born from author and illustrator Emily Suñez’s personal experience with illness— from her struggles to her triumphs.
Emily has over a decade of experience living with multiple chronic conditions, including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), and a lupus-like autoimmune disorder called undifferentiated connective tissue disease. When Emily began painting, her health improved and she discovered the therapeutic benefits of creativity. It was important to her to illustrate The Healing Journal herself, as painting has been a vital component to her healing journey and overall wellbeing.
Emily is devoted to helping other chronic illness patients find ways to cope, manage symptoms, and design a fulfilling life within the bounds of chronic illness. She cofounded the Los Angeles Dysautonomia Network (LADN), a patient-run organization dedicated to improving the lives of those with POTS and other forms of dysautonomia in the LA area. She has been facilitating a support group for people with POTS for the past 4 years.
