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The 5 minute 'Health Read; - Positive Psychology: recent research (December)

I read a fair amount of research and thought some people might be interested in brief updates on recent studies that I've found helpful.  I plan to write an approximately 1,200 word (5 minutes to read) blog post pretty (today's is a little longer!) much every week, highlighting helpful material that has emerged in the previous couple of months.  I'll rotate through six topic areas ... Lifestyle, Positive Psychology, Relationships, Ageing, Psychedelics, and Meditation.  I also plan to write occasional posts where I go into more detail about particular related subject areas. 

Deepening our enjoyment & appreciation of life

A sense of meaning, connection to our values and real engagement in what we do are crucial to nourish high wellbeing in our lives … and then high wellbeing feeds back to help us be more vital & effective in what we do.  But it’s important too to ‘smell the flowers’ on our journey.  Excessive focus on being happy is likely to be counter-productive but being too ‘puritanical’ tends to shoot ourselves in the foot as well.  The fascinating work of Barbara Fredrickson on the 'broaden & build’ function of positive/pleasurable emotions illustrates the way that deepening our enjoyment & appreciation of life doesn’t just balance energy & effectiveness, it actually boosts these qualities.  A high emotional

  • Compassion, wisdom & wellbeing training: 8th session, taking the learning on into our lives

    At our eighth & last session of the Compassion, wisdom & wellbeing trainingwe reviewed the journey we've been on together over the last couple of months.  We looked at what each of us personally had found most interesting & valuable.  The weekly reflection sheets that we'd filled in could make it easier to remember the variety of areas we've explored.

    Compassion, wisdom & wellbeing training: 3rd session home practice

    There are seven requests for this third week of home practice:  

    1.)  Please would you glance back at the handouts from the third session of the course & jot down further thoughts/feelings on this week's session 3 reflection sheet.  What last night felt most interesting & potentially helpful for you ... what felt less clear or less helpful?  The series of eight Session reflection sheets you will hopefully have completed by the end the training can provide a succinct, personal way of looking back on the course in the future and reminding yourself what was most important for you.  (10 minutes total, or more if you want) 

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