by Steve Emery | August, 2020 | Uncategorized
Whilst in the midst of the recent lockdown, there have been a number of concerns regarding the effect this will have on loneliness. According to the campaign to end loneliness (https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/) there are an estimated 9 million people in the UK who experience loneliness on a regular basis. Whilst a lot is mentioned about the older generation being prone to loneliness it is now being felt by younger people in growing numbers. A survey by Action for Children showed that 43% of 17-25 year olds had experienced loneliness. Furthermore 24% of parents felt they were always or often lonely. Health risks of loneliness Loneliness carries a significant number of health risks; Loneliness can be as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day (Holt-Lunstad, 2010) Loneliness is more damaging to your health then obesity (Holt-Lunstad 2010) Lonely People are at a higher risk from, heart disease, dementia and depression (Cacioppo et al, 2006) Loneliness is likely to increase premature death by 29% (Holt-Lunstad, 2015) From a personal point of view there have been times when I have felt lonely, and although they have only lasted a few weeks or months, I have noticed a change in my mental and physical well-being. Four months of lock down due to Covid-19 has reminded me of what it felt like in not being able to connect with other people. Re-connecting with people It might sound obvious, but loneliness is caused by losing connection with other people. There are many reasons for this and everyone has their own way of connecting with others, however I have listed five strategies that have...
by Stuart Dickson | November, 2019 | Life
I consider myself to be a confident person. I am accustomed to standing in front of a room full of people and speaking. In my work, I deliver training as well as work as cabin crew, so I am always communicating. However, put me in a social situation such as a party and suddenly I start to struggle. I ask myself “Has the cat got your tongue?” I am also involved in a network marketing business. It’s a great company and an amazing opportunity. All I have to do is talk to people about the services the company provides and share the opportunity to make money as a distributor. After six years I have the grand total of twenty- three customers. Hardly groundbreaking additional income. But why have I not made a success of it yet? So, I ask myself again, “Has the cat got your tongue?” Origin There are different suggestions as to the origin of the expression, such as relating to people’s tongues being fed to cats in ancient Egypt or the cat o’ nine tails being used in the Navy. According to the site www.phrases.org.uk there is no evidence to suggest either of these are true. Gary Martin writes that ‘The expression sounds as though it might be old but isn’t especially so. I can find no instances of it in print until the mid 19th century.’ Fear of Rejection and Taking Action Regardless of the origin of “Has the cat got your tongue”, it is time for me to think about why I am like this? I suspect that it boils down to...
by Karen Henry | July, 2017 | Clarity is . . ., Karen Henry, Noetic Nomad
Noetic Nomad, Week 1 This is a new dawn to a new day in the time of something ‘more’ for positive psychology. I began my journey in the study and practice of positive psychology in 2007. I was a charter member of IPPA, but since, allowed that membership to lapse. I began researching the positive aspects of pp for professional reasons, but soon realized that we are more than the sum of our parts. The part that was pp? Was missing parts. I’ve become a noetic nomad in search of clarity. Reflection to Revitalization I was one of the original admin’s on the now, largest Facebook page for pp. There were only 5,000 members then, Now, it’s well over 100,000 and counting. I had to leave. It lost it’s meaning to become more of a selling point for programs and practitioners. I got to know leaders in the field, who, upon closer evaluation, needed followers, more than they needed to lead. Some were as with all momentums, gracious, kind, humbled and lovely. Others? Egotistic, rude, self-serving and thoughtless. Ironically, the more I became invested in the pursuit of happiness [research], the more miserable I became. Happiness does not fall out of fashion. No topic can. But, positive psychology murdered my Pollyanna. In our professional and personal development, we have attempted to divide the two, as if we don’t live both lives in tandem of each other. In psychology in general, we splinter ourselves into researcher vs. practitioner; client vs. coach; student vs. teacher, and so on. In truth? We are all both at all times. There’s a fluidity to...
by Lisa Jones | April, 2017 | self-development
Since the 1990s there has been book after book with titles such as ‘How to have difficult conversations’, ‘Crucial confrontations’, ‘How to win an argument’. As a Human Resource professional who has had to manage organisational issues that are often contentious- such as redundancies, disciplinaries, performance matters, I always had to build up my courage to go into these situations, and by the end of the day I would be exhausted. Before I started each meeting I had a negative mindset: I would say to myself; “This is going to be difficult“, “He never listens to anyone, just shouts “, “I’m no good at getting my point across“. For years I lived with this tension until one day I had a light bulb moment. I realised I was looking at it all wrong, and found that communicating with others just needs a change of mindset that involves the following approaches: 1) Be compassionate. Although some people like to create an argument and seem to get a buzz out of it, in reality when two people are trying to make a point in a discussion, each one just wants the other person to see their perspective. They have a point they want to make and tension is just the frustration that the other person doesn’t seem to care. So start caring about the other person’s viewpoint!; 2) Be interested. Is this familiar- someone is telling you their view, but you are not fully listening, you are already putting together your retort to what they are saying in your head? When a person stops and actually listens to another person, sometimes we...
by Maggie Bevington | March, 2017 | Education
It’s not only students who suffer with stress as GCSE examinations approach; teachers and parents can feel stressed too and often don’t know how to support their teens effectively. A recent Radio 5 Live survey reveals that parents say their mental health and sleep suffer and they sometimes feel ‘not good enough’ as parents. Teachers are under pressure to get results as well as deal with teens in ‘melt-down’ over upcoming exams. I was excited to be asked to deliver training on mindset for year 11 teens in a local High School recently as they approach GCSE’s. With very little notice or guidance about what the school wanted, it felt like a tough call – designing and delivering a 6-week programme in literally a few days. However, as I have been hoping for more opportunities to work with young people and introduce them to positive psychology ‘tools’ for health and wellbeing – I accepted the challenge gratefully: and it is certainly proving to be a challenge! Exam stress, anxiety about missing lessons and reluctance to engage in new activities such as mindfulness – in front of their mates and with an unfamiliar teacher – are proving a real challenge and I am definitely having to adopt a growth mindset to come up with new strategies to encourage engagement and participation. Positive Exam Preparation (PEP): Being and Doing Your Best Choosing the programme title ‘Positive Exam Preparation: Being and Doing your Best’ felt like a good start. This PEP course is part of the Upward Spirals: Strengthening Schools programme that I have developed which looks at supporting both physical...
