Mindfulness

I want to travel to Pandora, the fictional planet depicted in Avatar.  I saw James Cameron’s newest film that has rocked box offices since its release in December on I-MAX…

I visited Maui, a breath-taking beautiful island where I experienced multiple moments of awe, elevation, spirituality, and connection with all things larger than myself. Stepping outside urbanization and its demands stimulated my strengths of open-mindedness, appreciation of beauty and capacity to love. Today, I am more motivated than ever to be respectful of the environment through the dozens of everyday choices that we know about, and should never fail to make.

Mind and Its Potential conference, held in Sydney on 2-3 December 2009, was an “opportunity to hear the world’s top scientists, psychologists, and philosophers explain how to apply the new…

We all know that a guiding principle of positive psychology is that “Other people matter.” What is it that makes other people matter to us? Empathy. Empathy is commonly defined…

Goodwill to All – If You Can Manage It The Christmas carols tell me that “’tis the season to be jolly” and wish peace to all mankind, but around me…

It’s all by matter of connection. Empathetic relationships are what predict successful lives. George Vailliant has shown this in the Harvard Men’s Study of Adult Development and in his PPND…

Detecting Icebergs Recently, I was teaching “Detecting Icebergs”, one of the resilience skills described in The Resilience Factor.  The participants had practiced the skills themselves, and we were talking about…

When we chose the theme of relationships as a topic for PPND this month, I asked myself, what is true love? I would describe myself as a (covert/genuine/tentative-but-rational … Heathcliff!!)…

In Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility, Ellen Langer, a psychology professor at Harvard, says that “knowing what is and knowing what can be are not the same…

Why is it that the older you get, the faster time goes? When I was a kid, summers were always long, lazy, languid. Time seemed almost to stand still. The…

This month’s theme of savoring got me to thinking about how the concept of savoring can be used by my clients with eating disorders. I work with people who struggle…

My Dieting Becomes an Eating Disorder I put myself on my first diet when I was 12 years old. I was never terribly overweight, just a little chubby. But I…

The 4th Annual Australian Happiness & Its Causes conference appealed to people of all backgrounds, and so it attracted over 2,000 participants. Credible, high-profile and respected speakers and forum moderators presented their material in ways that were accessible to all.

Chronic stress has been linked to many health disorders, including depression, heart disease, cancers, and Alzheimer’s disease. But the stress response engages a number of adaptive, complementary systems fine-tuned to find a balance between stress and solace. Take pleasure seriously, and sow it generously.

Today marks the 40th annual celebration of Earth Day in the United States. It is a good opportunity to tie together a few positive psychology themes with Mother Nature. We must learn to be good stewards of the environment and take care of the natural world around us so future generations may reap the same benefits.

Dr. Barbara Fredrickson and Sharon Salzberg share the stage at the Rubin Museum in New York City talking about meditation practices as part of the Brainwave Series exploring the intersection of mind and matter. One of the most powerful practices is the loving kindness meditation that involves cultivating and sending out a sense of love and well-being to all sentient beings.

The “Positive Psychology Pyramid” is an approach to organizing positive psychology research to help those seeking “better” to move forward. What’s your metaphor or organizing image? (For those who like an organic theme, see the end of the post.)

Are there different kinds of curiosity? Todd: We asked over 500 people what are the things that make them most curious. The two most frequent categories were being curious about other people’s lives and trying to figure themselves out – introspection. We don’t talk enough about the value of introspection, being curious about the self.

Remember the game “hot potato” that you played as a kid? Blame is like that. No one wants to be left holding it, since you might get burned. …All of us have times when we are clueless, and we, too, pass the blame to keep from feeling shame or embarrassment. Do you find yourself using the passive voice, saying, “Well, yes, mistakes were made.” But by whom?