Filling my Joy

Tell me something funny or give me a picture of an adorable puppy doing something crazy with a kitten, and I will show you positive psychology at its best.  Once you get to the bottom of this post I do promise to lift your mood !

Positive Psychology has been the best-kept secret for a long time but now that depression is expected to be the second leading chronic illness by 2020 the cat really needs to get out of the bag.  And we really need to laugh at it happening. 

How is it that in a generation where we have more time, more choice, more activities and more information than ever before that we are also unhappier, more unsettled, more confused and more in need of help that ever before.  Have we lost sense of ourselves? 

I believe so, I think we have become overwhelmed with choice, saturated with pressure and lost for our true essence.  Health data and statistics would agree.

So what are the experts telling us and more importantly what are we telling ourselves.

The experts are saying we have become more anxious, more debilitated and with the highest rate of preventable diseases ever seen in the western world.  Diabetes, depression, sedentary lifestyles, disengagement, alcohol and drug abuse just to name the highest.  

 

What are our bodies telling us?  Sometimes its difficult to trust, hear or motivate ourselves to understand this, but its imperative that we start and we remain dedicated to finding our best self and the best ways for us to do it. 

When we start to understand the changes that are possible within ourselves we realise there are others ways than the hard knock ones we are doing.  When we begin to realise that with each habit or belief or understanding we can create an incredible positive change in ourselves then we are more likely to be intrigued.  When we realise that there are incredible supports networks available including wellness coaches and other health practitioners we can take a breath and know that good health and wellness practices are within our reality.  Knowledge and support are gold.

 Self-discipline and knowledge are propellers to the success of you and next generation and we are our own best doctors when it comes to sitting in the quietness of truly listening, feeling and knowing our selves. 

So here are some great Positive Psychology activities to add to your daily routine.  Give them two weeks minimum and remember that it tales three months to cement a new habit (just like when ou were a kid learning how to brush your teeth) and record your thoughts in a journal

 

Ask yourself what your true visions of wellness and health are.  Consider 1-2 goals that you would like to achieve and take steps each day toward that goal It may be around any dimension of wellness or health.

·      For exercise - Check out The seven-minute scientific workout on youtube  and start to do it.

·      For joy - Grab a Grateful diary and each evening jot down a couple of events for which you can see the beauty and joy of, that was part of your day in some way.  Within six months of grateful journal writing you will have lessened your risk of depression by 60 % and increased your life expectancy.  You will have also created a new mind habit of gratefulness.

·      For anxiety - When you have repetitive thoughts that are annoying you, they are usually coming from the Amygdala part of the brain.  Find a silly made up word that you have to have used a different part of the brain to think up and each time you go into that rough neighbourhood of crappy thoughts change direction with your made up word.  It confuses and redirects the brain into a much nicer suburb!

·      For healing - If you happen to be recovering from an injury or illness then make sure you surround yourself with beauty and nourishment as you will speed your recovery time up by half.  One controlled study found that patients recovering form similar operations were substantially better off in their recovery when their worldview was bright, like a window facing out to nature and natural light.  On the other hand patients whose recovery room was dull and facing nothing but a brick wall, these people recovered slower and needed twice as much pain medication. 

·      For Wellness – Take a breath. Just sit and spend five minutes breathing, slowly, deeply and consciously.  Turn down the computer/phone and other disruptor and just BE.  Practice observing but not reacting to everything that happens around you.


 

If this information was of interest to you and you want to know more please feel free to chat with me about any of the services I offer and may support you in.