Neuroplasticity – help your flexible brain create positive neural pathways everyday!
Imagine you lived in a world where from a young age you were taught to look after your mental well-being using a similar daily routine to brushing your teeth. This daily practice would ensure that your mind did not rot, decay and cause you pain. Read more…
We all know the consequences of daily chores left unattended – it can seem overwhelming to have to face a backlog of dishes or laundry. We also know that by consistently taking a few moments each day to deal with these chores they become easily manageable. Similarly with mental health, by taking a few moments each day to pause for positivity you are in fact making a decision to lead an open and mindful life. It is essential to note here the use of the word “decision” because decision is, in effect, an action resulting from a choice and we all have to make choices on a daily basis. The important thing is to make the right choices.
This week, reach out and simply hug someone! The benefits of this simple act of physical affection are numerous and go a long way to keeping you physically and mentally healthy. The benefits include:
Reduced fear of death and mortality
In a study on fears and self-esteem, research published in the journal Psychological Science revealed that hugs and touch significantly reduce worry of mortality. The study found that hugging, even of an inanimate object like a teddy bear, helps to soothe and allows the hugger to experience a strong connection to the life force of consciousness.
Stimulates Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a neurotransmitter that acts on the limbic system, the brain’s emotional centre, promoting feelings of contentment, reducing anxiety and stress.
Lowers Heart Rate
In an experiment at the University of North Carolina, an experiment was conducted with two groups, one where participants who didn’t have any contact with their partners and developed a quickened heart rate of 10 beats per minute compared to a second group who got to hug their partners during the experiment and had only 5 beats per minute.
Dopamine, Serotonin & Cortisol
Releases both dopamine and serotonin and reduces the stress hormone cortisol whch in turn will keep your immune system strong.
So, this week make sure to reach out and hug someone that you love, in particular hug any children or babies in your life as well-hugged children are less stressed as adults.
Martin Seligman, the father of the Positive Psychology movement, has a plan that by the year 2055 55% of the world’s population will be thriving rather than languishing. Up until the development of “Positive Psychology”, Clinical Psychologists had only paid attention to methods of how to fix people who were suffering with mental health issues. Seligman and his colleagues, in contrast, took an active role in studying how humans could pursue happiness and make the most of their lives and that this would have a major impact on their mental health.
This week, consider your strengths and how best you can build on them. Consider how to develop and embrace all that is already positive in your life while at the same time thinking of how to progress. In order to thrive a good starting point is to be gratetful for all that you have and to focus on the activities that make you happy. Flourish with positive psychology!
If you have recently returned from time off or a holiday, then you will realise that a change of scene can be a wonderful dose of medicine for our mental health and can give us the perspective that we sometimes need to make decisions about our life or to revalue where our priorities lie.
Another advantage of holidays is that when we slow down our pace of life and allow ourselves freedom from daily pressures, we are much more open to a positive mindset. If you have recently returned from a holiday, take some of this slower pace of life with you as you return to your responsibilities at home and work. We achieve so much more from a place of calmness and inner peace than by automatically responding to external pressures and getting caught up in the whirlwind of life.