Positivity Practices

Thursday, 10 December 2015 00:00
Published in Blog

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

Unconditional Positive Regard

Thursday, 03 December 2015 00:00
Published in Blog

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    

A Few Simple Mindfulness Practices

Thursday, 26 November 2015 00:00
Published in Blog

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

 

insium's newsletter on leadership: November, 2015

Written by Tuesday, 10 November 2015 00:00
Published in Newsletter

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?

 

Positive Language

Wednesday, 04 November 2015 00:00
Published in Blog


“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.