emotional well-being – Angela Crawford, Ph.D

The Power of “Deep Soul Writing”

September 24, 2026September 24, 2026Leave a Comment

I first read the book Writing Down Your Soul (by Janet Conner) in 2019, early on my vegan journey. It was recommended by a spiritual coach I was working with at the time. It immediately hit home for me. I’ve written and journaled since a young age – it’s always been a big part of how I process things and express myself. At the time, I was going through life transitions and exploring how to express my vegan values in ways that fit with my personality, gifts, passions, and skills. I was struggling to work through a space of uncertainty and transition and not-knowing. I was at a loss for words, and my usual way of journaling just wasn’t helping.

When my coach told me about “Deep Soul Writing” – where you write your journal entries as letters directed to your Higher Power, God, Higher Self, or Inner Wisdom (whatever terms align for you), this really resonated. My spiritual path has always been a central and grounding force in my life and Deep Soul Writing was a tangible way to connect with my higher power. It helped me to focus, give language to my questions, and listen to my inner guidance. It also gave me the courage to trust and follow my heart guidance (even when it seemed impractical or irrational).

Over the years, I’ve continued this writing practice – sometimes consistently, sometimes sporadically. I’ve been in a space of transition for quite a while now – and Deep Soul Writing is a lifeline. It brings more focus and clarity. Sometimes immediately, sometimes unfolding more gradually.

I recently purchased the newest edition of Writing Down Your Soul (2021). I decided to commit to 30 days of daily writing (which the author recommends, especially when you are starting out). Right now, I’m on Day 20.

What are the benefits I’ve experienced?

1) It helps me to view journaling as a conversation rather than writing into the void. This reconnects me with the support within me and around me.

2) It helps me ask powerful questions that lead me to inner answers that are what I need to know right now. Sometimes these answers come as an inner knowing, as something I sense, or as serendipitous experiences that unfold.

3) Sometimes Deep Soul Writing simply helps me be more accepting of things exactly as they are and to bring more gratitude.

4) It helps me to recognize how each event on my path has played a crucial role in guiding and leading me (even though often difficult at the time). I can see bigger patterns, larger trends, and how experiences interconnect.

5) Deep Soul Writing has helped me process my feelings so that I can let them move through me and guide me – and not stay buried or stuck. This has been particularly helpful as I’ve worked through social and emotional challenges of being vegan in a not-yet-vegan world.

6) It’s helped me find my voice and my purpose. It’s given me the courage to live and speak in ways that are truer to myself. (For more insights on journaling techniques to empower your plant-powered journey, you may want to check out my blog article about this.)

One thing that was super-cool about the newer edition of Writing Down Your Soul was seeing a blurb written by my colleague and mentor, Victoria Moran, on the cover. She says: “Just reading her [Conner’s] words will make you want to write.”

When you read the book, not only does it share Janet Conner’s riveting story of healing and transformation through Deep Soul Writing – but it provides tips, prompts, and powerful questions to deepen your own writing and discovery. As you read, you will find insights and ideas that help you give language to your own inner experience and journey.

If you’ve been seeking guidance, working through life transitions, and needing to hear your inner wisdom, I highly recommend this book and this approach.

Angela Crawford, Ph.D. is a psychologist, transformational coach, vegan educator, and Food for Life instructor. She is author of The Vegan Transformation: A Journey to Heal Yourself and the World (Lantern, 2025). The Vegan Transformation is a winner of the Outstanding Creator Awards and Vegan Choice Award, and is available at major booksellers. Each chapter of The Vegan Transformation offers reflections, action steps, and journaling exercises to help you live in greater alignment with your core values – and to catalyze mind-body-spirit healing in your own life (and beyond).

Download Dr. Crawford’s FREE Plant-Powered Journal: Writing Tools to Unleash Your Healthiest, Most Authentic Self

The Authentic Fulfillment of Vegan Living

July 17, 2023May 29, 20241 Comment

Salad with bell peppers, tomatoes, greens, and dressing — Photo by Sara Dubler on Unsplash

Becoming vegan was part of my journey to greater emotional fulfillment. Once I became fully aware of the injustices and cruelty to animals in animal agriculture, I could no longer participate in eating animal-based foods. As I realized how much was at stake through what we eat, I became committed to living my vegan values—of compassion, health, and sustainability.

In the process, I found my voice and became more authentic, truer to myself and my values, standing up for what I believed in, even when sometimes it wasn’t easy to do so.

I learned to value my own needs and convictions above “keeping the peace” or “fitting in.” I discovered that my perspectives mattered – both for my own well-being and for the greater good. I also learned I could voice my views in ways that often led to positive conversations and curiosity versus confrontation or conflict.

Now having been vegan for several years, I feel empowered, knowing that through my daily food choices, I can take a step toward compassion and justice. I don’t have the power to stop the injustices in the world – but each day I can choose not to contribute to or condone the suffering of sentient beings.

It’s been freeing to give up animal products and to stand in support of animals’ rights to live as sentient beings who have feelings, sensitivity to pain, a desire to live, families, personalities, and needs and desires – just as we do.

True fulfillment is not about having more things or getting what we want. It’s about living aligned with values, having a sense of meaning, recognizing our connection to the larger whole, and contributing to the well-being of other humans, animals, and the planet we share. There is peace and empowerment in discovering where and how we can contribute to the greater good.

Authentic fulfillment is also not about being happy all the time. When we acknowledge and witness the suffering in the world, including that of the billions of animals killed each year for food, it is very normal to have feelings of sadness, anger, and even despair. Our human journey inevitably entails struggles with difficult emotions – even when we are just navigating daily life. But all emotions have value and are meant to guide us toward deeper truth and well-being – including those emotions we label as negative or painful. A rich, fulfilling life entails experiencing the whole range of our complex and varied human emotions.

Perhaps it’s important to remember that positive emotions such as happiness are only part of the equation for well-being and flourishing. Other factors may be even more important, such as a sense of meaning and purpose, alignment with deeply held values, positive relationships, vitality, appreciation, gratitude, growth, and mastery. These variables are all part of what creates a life worth living.

The decision to be vegetarian or vegan is more than just a dietary choice. Whatever your motives for choosing a plant-powered lifestyle – whether health, fitness, animals, world hunger, and/or the environment – it is an act of great commitment to choose the path less travelled.

In my book research on the transformative impact of a vegan lifestyle, my research participants reported that being vegan has led to greater peace, fulfillment, and sense of meaning and purpose.

Below are seven ways that veganism can contribute to fulfillment and well-being:

Eating a nutrient-rich, plant-exclusive diet nourishes your body, increases vitality, and reduces your risk of many chronic medical conditions. A plant-powered diet is also anti-inflammatory, which supports your cognitive, mental, and emotional flourishing.
There is fulfillment in honoring your deepest values, which for most of us includes compassion for animals. Once we make the choice to no longer turn a blind eye to the plight of farmed animals – and no longer contribute to their suffering through what we eat – we experience peace and freedom.
Being plant-based is the most powerful way to live sustainably and reduce your environmental footprint. Animal agriculture has a devastating impact on greenhouse gases, water and land usage, pollution, and deforestation. By changing to a plant-based diet (no meat or dairy), you can save 1500 gallons of water, 30 square feet of forest, and 45 pounds of grain each day. (For more info, check out Eat for the Planet by Nil Zacharias and Gene Stone.)
Vegan food tastes great! There is a common misperception that vegan food is bland, restrictive, or depriving. On the contrary, most vegans find that their food palette expands greatly after becoming vegan. We enjoy foods from the bounty of the plant kingdom – including fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds, spices, herbs, and condiments. There are countless delicious recipes available – with plant-based versions of your favorite foods from all types of cuisines. And when you don’t feel like cooking, there are awesome veg-friendly restaurants as well as many commercial plant-based items in the grocery store (burgers, pizza, ice cream, and so much more) – cruelty-free and delicious.
Being vegan can lead to a greater sense of meaning and purpose. It’s empowering to realize that every day you can make choices that contribute to a healthier and kinder world, simply through what you choose to purchase and to eat. Many of us become so inspired that we choose careers, volunteer work, or activism to contribute to the well-being of humans, animals, and the planet.
In becoming vegan, you can discover deep and meaningful connections with others throughout the world who share your commitment to non-violence, compassion, and flourishing for all.
When we no longer eat animals, this can awaken us spiritually. Many vegans describe greater connection to their intuition, to nature, to all sentient beings, and to the planet. No longer are we consuming fear, suffering, and death. Now we are free to recognize how we are all connected – and to discover our intricate place in the greater whole. We experience deeper appreciation and gratitude for the awe, wonder, mystery, and beauty of the natural world.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope you’ll experience the joy and peace of aligning with your deepest values. May you live healthfully, compassionately, and sustainably. And may you discover freedom, healing, and authentic fulfillment on this transformative path.

Check out my resource list for books, websites, cookbooks, and documentaries to support your plant-powered journey.

And for more information on the benefits of a vegan lifestyle for health, animals, and the planet, CLICK HERE.

Angela Crawford, Ph.D. is a psychologist and transformational coach. She is passionate about empowering people to express their authentic voice and purpose in service to their own well-being, all beings, and the planet. Dr. Crawford is certified as a Master Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educator through Main Street Vegan Academy and has a Plant-Based Nutrition certificate from the T. Colin Campbell Institute for Nutrition Studies at e-Cornell. She is currently doing research for a book on the psychological and emotional impacts of a vegan lifestyle. She serves as a psychology advisor for weDIDit.Health, an on-line community that shares the benefits of a plant-powered lifestyle. She hosts a YouTube channel, The Vegan Transformation.

Flourishing Emotionally with Plant-Powered Nutrition

June 1, 2021November 7, 20212 Comments

Many who choose a vegan diet are aware of the benefits for improving physical health and reversing diseases. We’ve read the China Study and How Not to Die, watched Forks over Knives, and may have personally met people who reversed heart disease, diabetes, or cancer through a plant-based diet.

When I became vegan, I wondered if a plant-based diet also had an impact on emotional health. As I dove into the research, I discovered that the same plant-strong diet that contributes to a healthier immune system and that lessens risk of many medical diseases is also helpful for improving our mental and emotional states.

Increased rates of depression and anxiety during pandemic

Source: https://www.statista.com/chart/21878/impact-of-coronavirus-pandemic-on-mental-health/

According to the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), 7% of the U.S. population experienced an episode of clinical depression in 2017. Rates of depression in the U.S. increased more than threefold following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Levels of anxiety and stress have also escalated during this pandemic. Increasing numbers of people are seeking mental health treatment due to these challenges.

Lifestyle, nutrition, and emotional well-being

How do we address emotional difficulties such as anxiety and depression? In addition to professional treatment, such as psychotherapy or medication, there are many lifestyle practices that support improved mental health. For example, exercise and meditation are well-known for reducing depression and improving mood. Social connections and engaging in pleasurable activities are also beneficial for thriving emotionally.

However, it is easy to overlook the impact of nutrition on mental health. And yet, should it surprise us that the same nutrient-dense plant foods that nourish our body also support our emotional thriving? Several studies found that individuals who ate more servings of fruits and vegetables on a daily basis reported greater emotional well-being and life satisfaction, as well as less emotional distress, compared to those who ate lesser amounts. These studies suggest that 7 to 10 servings per day may be optimal.

In addition, a study of young adults found that those who consumed more servings of fruits and vegetables scored higher on measures of emotional flourishing, including creativity and sense of purpose, than those who consumed lesser amounts. And the same individuals reported higher levels of these positive mood states on the days they ate more fruits and vegetables compared to the days they ate lesser amounts.

Cross-sectional studies of vegans and vegetarians found that both of these groups demonstrated lower scores on measures of depression, anxiety, and emotional distress compared to omnivores. In addition, omnivores who were asked to eliminate meat, poultry, and fish had improved mood scores after two weeks on a vegetarian diet, compared to control subjects who continued eating meat.

In a randomized, controlled study conducted in a corporate setting, participants who were instructed to eat a vegan diet for health and weight loss not only had improved health measures, but also had decreased depression and anxiety and improved emotional well-being compared to participants in a control group who did not change their diet.

Why does a plant-based diet help mood? Research suggests that the nutrients and antioxidants in whole plant foods promote a healthy balance of feel-good neurotransmitters. In addition, plant foods have been shown to be anti-inflammatory, which appears to have a beneficial impact on mood. In contrast, meat, eggs, dairy, and processed foods are associated with higher levels of inflammatory compounds, which may negatively impact mental and emotional states.

Greater happiness and peace

Evaluating my own personal experience, I have enjoyed greater overall happiness since starting a plant-based diet many years ago. Based on the above research, I would guess that eating a healthier, high-nutrient diet, while reducing the processed and inflammatory foods that were previously part of my Standard American Diet, has contributed to my improved mood.

But I have discovered emotional benefits beyond the biochemical effects of my food. Going vegan has led to an inner transformation that is so much more than merely a change in diet. Choosing not to consume animal products has contributed to a sense of freedom and peace that extends beyond the ups and downs of daily life.

Our well-being is interconnected with the health of the planet

While there are many things in life that we don’t have control over, we can make daily lifestyle choices to support our emotional resilience and well-being. In addition to regular exercise, meditation, and meaningful social connections, we can enjoy a vegan diet packed with nutrient-dense plant foods. And the bonus is that in choosing this life-nourishing diet, we also contribute to a more sustainable, healthy, and compassionate world.

Note: An adapted version of this article was published March 30, 2021 in Main Street Vegan Blog.

Angela Crawford, Ph.D. is a psychologist and transformational coach. She is passionate about empowering people to create lives that nurture body, mind, and spirit. Dr. Crawford is certified as a Master Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educator, and has a Plant-Based Nutrition certificate from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies at eCornell. She is currently doing research for a book on the emotional and psychological benefits of a vegan lifestyle.