Quote

A nail is driven out by another nail; habit is overcome by habit.

--Desiderius Erasmus

Can't think straight? Get out of the chair and move

The January 13th edition of the Boston Globe included an article in the Ideas section entitled Don't just stand there, think, which is about a new area of study called embodied cognition. Research in this area suggests that we think not just with our minds, but with our bodies.

For example, lead researcher Susan Goldin-Meadow, a psychology professor at the University of Chicago, found that children told to gesture while attempting to solve math problems slightly more difficult than their current educational level were more likely to answer correctly. Other examples include stage actors remembering their lines better when they are moving, and subjects asked to move their eyes in a specific pattern while trying to solve a puzzle being more likely to solve it. Finally, an example of this theory can be found in the movie Akeelah and the Bee, in which the girl's tutor discovers that she memorizes the spelling of words faster and better when tapping or playing jump rope.

I love many things about my Life Consultation practice, but one of the most fulfilling parts of my work involves helping people to get unstuck. That means relaxing about their current situation and getting themselves moving again. Once moving, we can figure out what plays to their strengths, what gets them closer to their goals, and what doesn't work. If it takes tapping or jumping rope, so be it! Contact me for more information about how my Life Consultation can get you unstuck and moving again.

Laughing like a DAMN fool is good for your health

The January/February 2008 issue of Spirituality & Health magazine reported on the work of Heidi Beckman, Ph.D., Nathan Regier, Ph.D., and Judy L. Young, who investigated the effects of laughing-without-humor on mood.

Their research, published in the Journal of Primary Prevention, described a study involving people making themselves laugh regardless of anything funny occurring, and doing this practice for 15 minutes each day for 15 days. Participants reported significant increases in self regulation (being able to control upsetting emotions), optimism, feeling more positive emotions, and social identification (feeling bonded and connected). These increases were maintained at a follow-up examination.

So, does this mean we should force ourselves to laugh for 15 minutes a day? Well, I supposed you could, but I don't recommend it. I had a coworker who once said to me, "If I did everything that health experts recommended that I should do daily, I wouldn't have time in my day for anything else, like making a living."

Instead of prodding people to insert an insane amount of contrived, awkward exercises into their lives, I'd rather help them to allow their bodies to do naturally what they were built to do (such as laughing). You could say that I help people to get out of their own way! Contact me for more information about how my Life Consultation can help you to be more easily amused and better off for it!

Quote

Approach the mind through the body.

--[Seen on a bumper sticker]

Want to succeed? Picture it, first

The Fall 2007 issue of Going Bonkers? magazine includes a brief and helpful description of using visualization to assist you in reaching your goals. There is a good amount of research, especially in the sports-psychology world, that supports using a detailed visualization of success as an initial step in helping you to actually achieve that goal quicker and with higher quality. (It makes sense, if you think about it. You have to be able to imagine yourself reaching a goal before you can reach it.)

Here is how you can use visualization to assist you in reaching your goals:

1. Be clear about your goal. There is some debate between those who think that no goal is impossible and those who prefer that you choose a do-able goal. Within reason, try not to censor yourself based on whether you think you can reach the goal, and instead pick a goal that you really, really, REALLY want.
2. Create a mental picture of you accomplishing your goal and enjoying the fruits of your labor. Weave aspects into the fantasy that involve your five senses; what do you see, hear, smell, touch, and taste along the way toward reaching your goal. Be very specific and detailed.
3. Repeat Step 2 every day.
4. Summon up the strong belief that you will achieve your goal.
5. When you notice that you are subconsciously beginning to take small actions regarding your goal, you can increase the pace of success by choosing to do more. 

One of the things that clients appreciate about our regular Life Consultation meetings is that it helps them to discuss, visualize, imagine, and focus on reaching their goals: keeping their eyes on the prize, if you will. It's a regularly scheduled time dedicated to getting more of what they want out of life. The more they focus on it, the more they act on it; the more they act on it, the more they bring it into being. Contact me for more information about how I can help you to move from desire to confidence to action to satisfied success.

Feeling sick? It's not what you think...or IS it?

The February 3rd edition of the Boston Sunday Globe contained an interview with Anne Harrington, author of The Cure Within, a history of mind-body medicine in the western world.

The book examines everything from the placebo effect to the evolution of hypnosis, from biofeedback to exorcism to psychotherapy to shell shock to the gospel of Norman Vincent Peale. The article states that certain patterns appear again and again in the book: that illness is the body's way of working through psychological trauma, that positive thinking can cure us, and that the pace and atomization of modern life make us sick. Even while accepting the germ theory, the author posits that the mind can both cripple the body and heal it. "I'm not a skeptic," Harrington says, "about the mind-body connection.

Here are some small details from the interview with the author: anthropologist Margaret Lock found that the symptom of "hot flashes" did not exist in older women in Japan (eating more soy has been ruled out as the reason for not experiencing hot flashes). The type of stress as we typically describe it today has existed only since the end of World War II. Older descriptions of the trials of every-day living used to be described as fatigue, exhaustion, or bad nerves (instead of blowing up, they would take to their beds). When asked for examples as to how she applies these principles to her own life, she said that she turns to meditative practices for herself and placebo medicine for her 3 year-old ("any mother can tell you" that it's kisses and Band Aids).

Sometimes, as I'm working with clients, I anticipate that they will find my re-wording assistance to be nit-picky. However, when a client tells me that their week has been "a disaster" and that he had "his heart stomped on," then, to some degree, they will have to live with the emotional reality they create with their words. With my help and some practice, they can escape "disaster" and get things down to "it was irritating at times this week." Which is manageable, right? Contact me for more information about how I can help you to tailor your mental approaches to life to reduce stress and generate more satisfaction.

I'm POSITIVE that positive psychology can help you!

I recently completed a three-session class about Positive Psychology for Arlington Community Education. It was tremendous fun for me, and I learned even more than I already knew about Positive Psychology. I hope you can join us for an upcoming adult education class!

I presented numerous studies and data points, but the one that stays with me the most after having completed the class is this one: there is early research indicating that, when practicing positive-psychology approaches, negative symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression decrease (the original study showed a drop in the symptoms of clinically depressed people). Look out Prozac! There's a cheaper alternative out there.

In that spirit, here are some hand outs from my class that you may be able to read and use to begin your own positive-psychology practice:

• Slow down—This newspaper article provides some good information about how our culture promotes rushing, how damaging it can be to us on multiple levels, and what we can do to slow ourselves down.
• Mindfulness—Slowing down is necessary to set the stage for doing positive psychology exercises, and deep relaxation is correlated to many types of physical and emotional health benefits. If you can develop a meditation practice, great! If you can't, then doing mindfulness exercises is a great way to weave relaxation into a busy, modern life and is a great way to build the mental muscles needed to relax when it counts the most.
• Spirit of mindfulness—A good number of my clients choose not to practice mindfulness. This write-up provides helpful guidelines about how you can approach your life using a spirit of mindfulness, which is actually more important than doing the exercises (though you get more bang for the buck if you do the exercises, too).
• Brief meditations—This write-up describes a series of brief meditations that are so quick and easy that you can use them just about anywhere. Remember, any amount of slowing down and relaxing will support your positive-psychology practice!
• Positive-psychology exercises—This write-up provides a list of positive-psychology exercises. Try some, and see which ones work best for you and which ones fit most naturally into your lifestyle.
• Positive psychology annotated bibliography—This write-up provides a list of books on the subject and notes about which books I found most helpful. Check them out!  

As I mentioned in class, positive psychology emphasizes taking action. And, logically, when taking action, practice makes perfect. Contact me  for more information about I help people to keep a positive focus, generate more day-to-day joy, and build a more satisfying life.