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2016 - wellbeing and looking after "self"

Wednesday, 20 January 2016 00:00

The start of a new year often sees people considering what lies ahead for the upcoming 12 months.  At insium, we'd like to see people consider their own well-being and how they can look after "self" in 2016.  With this in mind, we'd like to share some Wellbeing apps (available on both iOS and Android) that we find useful:

  • Values Ink helps identify values; if we live to values we are more aligned, authentic and hence, more resilient
  • Buddhify 2: this is a quite targeted mindfulness app
  • Mood Meter: helps identify emotions, thereby building emotional vocabulary which helps in emotional management
  • Smiling Mind: a meditation app

Check them out - we hope that they may be of use to you.

Merry Christmas from insium

Tuesday, 15 December 2015 00:00

Santa's helpers are another twelve months older!

  We wish you all the best for a successful and fun-filled 2016.

Dina & Geoff

 


 

This year, insium chooses to make a donation to the Lort Smith Animal Hospital.  Lort Smith is the largest not-for-profit animal hospital in Australia with over 60 vets and 80 nurses.  Built on its current site in North Melbourne in 1936, its founder Louisa Lort Smith was passionately committed to caring for the animals of poor and disadvantaged people.  The hospital has 11 wards including an Exotic and Native Wildlife Unit. Its Adoption Centre cares for animals undergoing medical treatment and also provides shelter, adoption and fostering services for abandoned and relinquished animals.

Similar to our third newsletter, our final newsletter about the World Congress of Positive Psychology focuses on a number of key messages shared by a variety of speakers.  With each of these key messages, questions are posed for you to consider.  Again, we suggest that you might ponder one key message with the associated question(s) at a time and at a pace that is beneficial for you:

 

“The single greatest strength may be uncovering a (unrealised) strength in another person.”  Tom Rath

§  How often do you take the time to observe and inform others of their strengths?

 

“You can’t have two books (your personal and professional life is integrated).”  John Kim 

§  How well integrated is your book?  How authentic are you?

 

Positivity Practices

Thursday, 10 December 2015 00:00

Gratitude:  What went well today …

Every night, for 1 week, before you go to sleep, write down 3 things that went well that day and why they went well (and the writing down is important;  whether in a journal/on laptop/other).  These things don't have to be earth-shattering - may be as simple as "my partner cooked my favourite meal tonight";  or may be as important as "my sister had a baby today."  The writing of why the instances went well is important too and may be as simple as "I happened to be talking to my partner about dinner and my favourite food" or "my partner is thoughtful and looks out for me."

Writing about positive events will help maintain positive mood;  it will make you happier ... and you might even like doing this exercise!

Adapted from “Flourish,” by Martin E.P. Seligman

A Few Simple Mindfulness Practices

Thursday, 26 November 2015 00:00

The simple mindfulness practices that follow are aimed to centre you and to connect you with your environment.  These can be practised anytime throughout the day; you might like to use one of these practices when you want to clear your head and focus; when you find yourself getting caught up in your thoughts and feelings.

 

Take Ten Breaths:  

  1. Take ten slow, deep breaths.  Focus on breathing out as slowly as possible until your lungs are completely empty—and then allow them to refill by themselves. 
  2. Notice the sensations of your lungs emptying.  Notice them refilling.  Notice your rib cage rising and falling.  Notice the gentle rise and fall of your shoulders. 
  3. See if you can let your thoughts come and go as if they’re just passing cars, driving past outside your house. 
  4. Expand your awareness:  simultaneously notice your breathing and your body.  Then look around the room and notice what you can see, hear, smell, touch, and feel. 

 

Drop Anchor:    

  1. Plant your feet into the floor. 
  2. Push them down—notice the floor beneath you, supporting you. 
  3. Notice the muscle tension in your legs as you push your feet down. 
  4. Notice your entire body—and the feeling of gravity flowing down through your head, spine, and legs into your feet. 
  5. Now look around and notice what you can see and hear around you.  Notice where you are and what you’re doing. 

 

Notice Five Things: 

  1. Pause for a moment.
  2. Look around and notice five things that you can see. 
  3. Listen carefully and notice five things that you can hear. 
  4. Notice five things that you can feel in contact with your body (for example, your watch against your wrist, your trousers against your legs, the air on your face, your feet upon the floor, your back against the chair). 
  5. Finally, do all of the above simultaneously.

Dr Russ Harris, www.actmadesimple.com

 

Unconditional Positive Regard

Thursday, 03 December 2015 00:00

Unconditional positive regard is primarily associated with Carl Rogers (1902 – 1987), American psychologist and one of the founders of the humanistic approach/client-centred approach to psychology.  Rogers believed that unconditional positive regard is essential to healthy development.

 It is:

About valuing a person as doing their best;  about respecting that person

Basic acceptance and support of a person regardless of what he says or does (as long as it does not cause harm)

The belief that everyone has the potential to improve, to change

Consciously seeking to find the best in others

 It does not mean:

You need to like the person nor approve of what they do

You just smile and nod

 “Just putting up with him”

 

Unconditional positive regard:

Provides the best possible conditions for personal growth

Needs to be genuine … “if you are not genuine, your conditional regard will always leak out”

Brings out the best in others and the best in self

 

Adapted from the work of Carl Rogers, David Myers, Alex Lickerman, Stephen Joseph    

Positive Language

Wednesday, 04 November 2015 00:00


“Positive words lead to positive emotions lead to positive actions lead to positive words to positive emotions to positive actions …”

Barbara Fredrickson, David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, Martin Seligman, et al

 

Words are the basic building blocks of language.  We use words to build sentences and paragraphs, ideas, and to make conversation.  Language allows us to structure and understand our own thoughts and feelings and to communicate intelligibly with others.

The words we choose reveal a lot about our attitudes and thoughts, and affect the people around us.  Our words can inspire, influence, bring hope or they can keep people down.  Our words can keep ourselves down.

We can make great strides toward living a more positive life by learning how to frame our thoughts, ideas and words in more positive terms.  To cultivate positive language, we need to think before we speak and censor ourselves, edit our written communications more carefully, and commit to being more conscious (and conscientious) about the words we use.

With a little practice, we can use our words to turn a negative into a positive.  Learn how to choose words thoughtfully, and eventually your thoughts and behaviours will become as positive as your language.


 

Positivity and Positive Practices

Sunday, 25 October 2015 00:00

Positivity produces success in life as much as it reflects success in life. Positivity works to broaden and build our lives. Broadening refers to the opening of the mind with increased attention, creativity and decisiveness. Building refers to the ability to craft a better life.

Research shows the benefits of positive practices include:

  • Increased resilience; increased ability to bounce back from stress
  • Increased curiosity and visioning
  • Expanded attention and thinking
  • Increased creativity and receptivity to others’ ideas
  • Increased scope for thought and action
  • Increased appreciation of others
  • Increased openness to possibility
  • Increased resourcefulness
“It takes courage to choose the positive as a daily leadership practice – especially in the face of poor performance. It is hard to let go of the tendency to criticise and instead be positive, caring and supportive.”
Diana Whitney

Seven reasons to be generous with appreciation: (Diana Whitney)

  1. Recognition lets people know they are on the right track; recognition is an investment not a reward
  2. Appreciation communicates and reinforces your values
  3. Compliments foster a positive emotional environment
  4. Gratitude is a verbal immune boost; it is good for your health
  5. Praise is good for the health of others
  6. Acknowledgment creates a sense of safety
  7. Gratitude encourages risk taking and experimentation

Mindfulness

Thursday, 15 October 2015 00:00
“Rest is prior to motion and stillness prior to action"
Taoist philosophy

Ariana Huffington is best known for her news website, Huffington Post. Her recently released book, "Thrive," explores wellbeing, wisdom, wonder and giving, dedicating a significant portion of her writing to the beneficial impact of mindfulness on wellbeing. Why mindfulness and wellbeing?

“There is a need to disconnect from our always-connected lives and reconnect with ourselves.”
Ariana Huffington

Coaching and Mindset

Wednesday, 07 October 2015 00:00

Mindset is enormously powerful and affects motivation, aspiration and achievement. A coachee’s mindset will impact the success of a coaching conversation; a coach’s mindset will also impact the success of a coaching conversation.

Some people see talents, skills and ability as fixed assets; things they were largely born with and which are mostly fixed in their extent. That is, you either have it or you don’t. This is known as a fixed mindset.

People with a fixed mindset may view themselves as entitled or superior. They tend to see failure as an indicator of lacking ability or talent; as meaning they are no longer clever, creative, talented, etc. Hence they will be less likely to take on challenges and risks. People with a fixed mindset tend to underperform. (Carol Dweck, 2008)

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