Watch Video Of Post: Click Here
One of my favourite ways to energize before teaching psychology classes at St. Clair College is to summarize a theory in practical and concrete ways in the parking lot.
Literally! đÂ
IÂ filmed this video 5 minutes before I was about to teach a lecture on personality and positive psychology in my liberal arts class.
Just a few weeks before all St. Clair College classes went fully online due to COVID-19.
In the video above, I talk about the connection between openness and happiness. Openness to experience is one of the Big 5 Personality traits – see figure below.
The more open, adventurous, and flexible we are in our thinking (and being), the more likely we are to perceive ambiguity as a pathway to something new and exciting.
A whole new road, yet to be discovered.
We never know whatâs waiting on the other side of COVID uncertainty.
Even if we canât see the outcome.Â
Together in faith, anything is possible!
Video of Post â Click Here
Weâre on a trip to California for our December birthdays and wedding anniversary and I couldnât imagine a more mindful place to be.
Luminous moonlight.
Fresh ocean air.
Sunshine in every nook.
Just outside our hotel room door.
Waiting to be climbed.
December birthday blessings of the highest kind.đđ
Video of Blog Post â Click Here
You have the ability to make positive changes in your life.
Right here. Right now.
Donât wait for âthe perfect timeâ to transform your life.
NOW IS YOUR POWER.
I look up every chance I get. First thing in the morning. On my run. On my way to work. In between classes. Out for a bike ride. From the skylight in my office. On the front porch before I go to sleep.
The sky connects us to something much bigger. Challenges seem small in comparison to the vastness of the sky. Solutions seem plausible. Answers come more easily.
One Minute to Mindfulness â Click Here
The stars heighten our awareness, expand our field of possibilities, and relax our mind. In their presence, we embrace the profound and surrender the pettiness.
When we look up, we become fully present. In the moment. Completely mindful. Nowhere else to be but one with the sky.
What are your mindfulness tips?
How do you transcend your restless thoughts?
Are you a star gazer or a sun worshipper?
Do you see pictures in the clouds?
Video of Blog Post â Click Here
âBuddha described the human mind as being filled with drunken monkeys, jumping around, screeching, chattering, carrying on endlessly. Fear is an especially loud monkey – Â screaming out all the things that could go wrong.â Source: HuffPostÂ
When weâre caught in a loop of anxious thoughts, our amygdala goes into overdrive. Causing us to get stuck in the basement of our brains (the limbic system) where our stressful thoughts go around and around. With no end to the downward spiral in sight.
Time in nature gives us a chance to catch our breath, to see the light, to realize thereâs a way out of this never-ending rumination loop.
The impact of nature on the human spirit is so profound that a hallmark study in 1984 showed that patients who had a room with a view healed faster than patients without a view. A mere glimpse of nature was enough to enhance their resilience.
Nature shifts our thoughts. Expands our awareness. Gives us hope. Lifts us up from the basement of our brains (amygdala) to the penthouse (cerebral cortex) where all solutions are possible.
Related Video:Â Grounding Techniques
Be still.
Take a rest.
As often as you can.
Pause at the end of my video âŹď¸ for 30 fun self-care ideas.
Please share in the comments below.
Our right brain lives in the here and now.
The other sinks into the present moment, trusting all is well.
I choose my right brain.
Fully present.
All is well.
A walk around Blue Heron Lake.đ
Related Post: Is Happiness a Choice?
This post was inspired by a stressful situation that I couldn’t let go of, long beyond its solution. No matter how hard I tried. Day in day out. The worry would reappear. Then someone close to me suggested “I shed the stress”. And a lightbulb went off. Each time the repetitive thought appeared, I imagined a tree shedding its leaves. A golden leaf for every anxious thought. This visualization process made all the difference. And so did writing about it. Â đđ
What would you say good-bye to?
Once and for all.
It could be an emotion. Or a thought.
A relationship. Or a job.
AÂ place or a thing.
It’s time to let go of what drains you.
Let go of what holds you back.
Let go of what keeps you down.
It could be a mindset. Or a memory.
A situation. Or an attitude.
Write it down. Shout it out.
It’s time to let go of what weighs you down.
Release it to the universe.
Declare your freedom.
Vow to move on and beyond.
Once and for all.
Something so close, so within reach, we often forget it was there in the first place. The good night’s sleep we’re yearning for; waiting patiently at the end of each day. The connection to nature we’re searching for; available 24/7 just beyond our front door. That extra deep breath; we frequently forget to take.
When everything feels out of control, breathing is the one thing that will always be within our control. The times we’re under the most amount of stress is the exact time we need to expand our breathing – not restrict it.
The next time youâre under any kind of pressure. Stuck in traffic. Rushing from class to class. Dealing with a difficult customer at work. Desperately trying to recall answers on a final exam. Wake up to the formidable power that exists within you. Right here. Right now. Right under your nose.
Related Post: Give pain room to breathe.
