Ryan Niemiec has taught people around the world to use mindfulness and character strengths together in order to live more flourishing lives. Whether for yourself or someone you treasure, his new workbook could be a holiday gift that makes a difference.
Curiosity
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How does a relationship with our natural environment help us develop a life of meaning? 13 actions to explore this question. Come back tomorrow for an additional 13 actions.
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The ability to be creative gives us the confidence to meet any problem, challenge, or opportunity that comes our way. Life, both personal and professional, is nothing if not full of challenges, problems, and opportunities. What is creativity? How does it contribute to well-being? How can we gain more of it? Hint: Look at the …
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Increasing our level of curiosity by spotting the novelty in a job or task we actively dislike is a great way to make it less of a chore and open us up to new possibilities.
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Other People Do Matter: ECPP2014
The 7th ECPP in Amsterdam from 1st-4th July was a fabulous opportunity to get up-to-date with the latest positive psychology research and practice. I was struck by how often the conference returned to the theme of connection and, in the widest-possible sense, well-being from a community perspective.
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Positive Psychology and the Body (Book Review)
The main message of this book is that it doesn’t work to focus only on the cognitive aspects of psychological well-being if you want to increase human flourishing. There are many processes involving the physical body that contribute to psychological well-being. If you have a serious interest in positive psychology and mental health, then reading …
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Going Wild for Positive Psychology
Nature can be an easy, free, and effective toolkit for supercharging positive psychology practice, supporting positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. Ultimately nature gives life to everything that supports flourishing. If we learn to nurture our relationship with the natural world, perhaps we’ll find it supports us in ways we never thought possible.
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Your children do not have to know algebra or read Dickens by the time they enter kindergarten. Let them be kids while they are kids. Let them play. Encourage play activities that maximize curiosity, positive emotions, and the cultivation of strengths and talents.
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Happiness, Right Before Your Eyes (Review of The Happy Show)
Within the first five minutes of walking into graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister’s exhibit, “The Happy Show,” at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, I found myself being instructed to drop a quarter into a machine whose destination seemed to be smack in the middle of the sidewalk outside (and conferred no immediate gratification to …
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Should You Play To Your Signature Strengths or Not?
Some new research from René Proyer and colleagues at the University of Zurich suggests that not all strengths are equal and that strengths-based interventions should focus on those strengths which are correlated highly with life satisfaction. But fortunately for those who do not have curiosity, zest, gratitude, hope and/or love in their signature strengths, all …
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Listening and Health
by Amanda Horneby Amanda HorneWhen 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.
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Appreciation at Work
by Amanda Horneby Amanda Horne“Feeling Under-Appreciated In Your Current Role?” That advertisement in 2006 inspired me to write about the importance of appreciation in the workplace. I’ve returned to this topic because of stories from friends and clients over the past few weeks. A common theme is their desire to feel appreciated and valued. Can positive psychology concepts help …
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A Mindful Approach for Chronic Depression
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), developed by Segal, Williams, and Teasdale, has been shown to be effective in reducing relapse among people with three or more depressive episodes. Like positive psychology, MBCT helps participants to observe their negative thoughts with curiosity and kindness, to accept themselves and stop wishing things were different, to let go of …
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Inception: Finding Positive Psychology in a Movie
by Louis Alloroby Louis AlloroThe film, Inception, explores the phenomenon of ideas. Where do they start? How are they influenced? Can we extract ideas from each other, and when we do, to whom do they belong? Can we cause others to incept (take in) ideas by influencing them to think what we want them to think? The film shows …
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Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman defined character strengths as the pathways to the virtues valued by moral philosophers and religious thinkers over time. Character strengths are manifested in our thoughts, our emotions, and our behavior. Building from this structure, here are ten principles emerging from the science of character.
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Change is Hard, Except When It’s Not!
by Dave Shearonby Dave Shearon“Nobody ever changes anyway.” I suspect that many of us had at least a flicker of agreement with these words. And yet we are all changing all the time. Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey present a model that shows why people have resistance to change in their book, Immunity to Change. hey also offer …
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Curiosity – What’s Next? Interview with Todd Kashdan Part II
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.
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Curiosity, an Engine of Well-being: An Interview with Todd Kashdan, Part I
Todd: I have always been an anxiety researcher, especially about social anxiety. Then I started seeing people who had energizing and profoundly meaningful social interactions. When I asked about their motivations, what kept arising was “I felt interested” or “I was curious.”