Note to Self Journal
by Rebekah Ballagh
Allen & Unwin

Rebekah Ballagh is a qualified counselor who created the popular Instagram page called Journey to Wellness – @journey_to_wellness_ – when she wanted students at the school where she was counseling at to have something better than leaflets. Her book is a beautifully illustrated personal toolbox to strengthen a sense of worth, navigate feelings of anxiety, worry and guilt, and support a journey to wellness.

As a high school counselor, she had met many young people trying to deal with depression, anxiety and even suicidal thoughts. Ballagh herself has been plagued with anxiety and panic attacks and has used her training in mental health to developed ways of not giving in, to ground and centre herself, and to face her fears head on. She reminds readers that you don’t have to be at your lowest ebb to ask for help.

Her previous book, Note to Self had bite-sized helpful tips showing how to unravel beliefs and narratives that no longer work for you and recognise unhelpful thoughts and thinking styles. Her latest offering is a workbook containing tools to transform your world by creating new neural pathways to create calm, confidence and clarity on your life.

The book is not designed to be completed from covers to cover, but rather to allow people to select sections with relevant exercises as they desire. I started with the ‘Foundations of Well-being’ section and then went to the ‘Mindful Body Scan’ before going on to the ‘Daily Check-In Mood Tracker’. Lastly, I attempted the ‘Brain Dump’ to ease the thoughts clogging up my brain and causing distress and identify unhelpful thinking styles.

We don’t often do a lot of thinking about our thinking but it is our thoughts that determine our emotions which in then create our reality. When we pay attention to our thoughts, we can begin to notice what we are telling ourselves, the judgments we are making and the fears that are preventing us from living to our potential.

Does your inner voice need a good talking to? Try Rebekah Ballagh’s collection of tried and tested techniques in the Note to Self Journal.

Lezly Herbert

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