Sha-en Yeo is a 2011 MAPP graduate who lives in Singapore. To bring a perspective from another part of the world, I interviewed Sha-en on her work in positive education, where she has been inspired to think of innovative ways of delivering the research in digestible pieces as well as ways to make people experience positive psychology, rather than just learn the textbook definition.

The Australian Institute of Business Wellbeing hosted the 3rd Australian Positive Psychology and Wellbeing Conference on 22-25 March 2012. The conference is run every two years, and each time moves to another city and is hosted by a local university. The theme this year was Positive 2012: Spotlight on the Future.

When you listen, are you really listening? Had you ever considered that when you’re listening well, you’re enhancing your health and the health of others? This last question might seem strange, since using good listening techniques is not usually thought of as a well-being practice.

In the days leading up to Christmas Day, some people like to use an Advent Calendar to count down the days, some with a small gift each day such as a chocolate. In 2011, Kurt Shuster turned this idea around to create the online Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar. Find out why and what he learned in this interview by Amanda Horne.

“Isn’t there a place in which we’re not positive or negative, but we’re neutral and objective?” This comment was made recently by a member of team in a discussion about how emotions, reactions, and behaviors impact team conversations and team relationships. This comment led to a broader discussion of how individuals can apply mindfulness practices to be less reactive and more constructive in workplace interactions.

Under the broad umbrella of Positive Psychology, Leary and Guadagno have related research and theories of the hypo-egoic state, a “psychological state characterized by relatively little involvement of the self,” to the achievement of optimal functioning. That’s not something you would typically find in a basic book on Positive Psychology or happiness.

At a recent leadership conference, a speaker discussed new research on high performance workplaces in Australia. He showed that some positive emotions are highly correlated with performance. However feeling loved rated as low, at almost equivalent levels in the high and low performance organizations. In the discussion, nobody mentioned the word, love. A no-go area? Contrast this to Geoff Aigner’s work on Leadership and Love, where he makes the case that leadership and leading is about growth, “…and things grow with love.”

Here are some statements from the Science of the Mind Forum held recently in Brisbane Australia with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, psychologist Paul Ekman, neuroscientist Marco Iacoboni, Buddhist scholar B. Allan Wallace, and psychiatrist Patrick McGorry. The panel was moderated by ABC Radio National’s Natasha Mitchell. Transcripts and recordings are available from ABC.

Continuing with the theme of covering some of the chapters in the Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology and Work, this month’s article covers key points from Chapter 12: “More than Meets the Eye: The Role …

I recently read some seemingly unrelated articles that all caused me to reflect on institutions’ missions to create happiness on behalf of others. In this article are snapshots of what I read and some subsequent reflections on questions that have no easy answers.