by Bryony Shaw | March, 2022 | Bryony Shaw, Positive Psychology
What is your negativity bias and why do you have one? Your negativity bias is an evolved function whose purpose is the keep you alive. This means you are hard-wired to notice and act on negative information more than positive information. By noticing the dangers in the environment, our ancestors were able to take action and protect themselves so that they survived. They passed this bias down to you, but unfortunately, it is not very helpful in the way we live today. Your negativity bias in action Take this example, you want to make a point in a meeting, you believe it will help the problems being discussed, you have found a solution and can’t believe no one else has thought of it. However, you don’t usually volunteer in meetings, you find it stressful to get your voice heard. So instead of speaking, you notice your negativity bias yelling at you, saying ‘don’t say anything, you’ll make a fool of yourself, everyone will think it’s a stupid idea, they’ll laugh at you. Is this what you want to be remembered for?’ Your negativity bias is so loud, it is screaming to keep your attention. Why won’t your negativity bias shut up? It won’t shut up because it believes it hasn’t done its job. Its job is to keep you safe, and you haven’t listened to it, you haven’t acted upon what it is telling you, you are still in danger. So your negativity bias needs to get louder, it needs to make sure you hear it. Your negativity bias will do anything to keep you safe, it...
by Bryony Shaw | November, 2021 | Bryony Shaw, Education
Positive education interventions are very slowly making their way into some mainstream schools and colleges. However, there are very few that offer a whole-school approach. Notable ones are Wellington College, an independent school in England and Geelong Grammar in Australia. These are both trailblazing institutions that are pioneers in the field of positive education. What is positive education? Positive education focuses on teaching students practical ways to boost their wellbeing. Students are taught ways to increase the amount of positive emotions they experience. Frequently the positive education curriculum is based on the PERMA model proposed by Martin Seligman. This model proposes that there are five factors that can be developed in all of us to aid flourishing. P stands for positive emotions. These are cultivated through activities such as gratitude, kindness and savouring. E stands for engagement which describes how involved students are in their tasks. Their involvement can be strengthened by helping students to identify and use their strengths when working on a task. When students are deeply engaged, they may enter a flow state where the degree of challenge is created that is appropriate for their skill level. R stands for relationships, this includes improving the quality of our social connections, we can achieve this by helping students to feel part of a community and encouraging them to contribute to that community. M stands for meaning and this involves helping students to find a sense of purpose and meaning in what they are doing. Often this is achieved by helping students to see how what they are doing is connected to something bigger than them such...
by Bryony Shaw | September, 2021 | Bryony Shaw, Positive Psychology
Wanting the best for those we care about is a very common trait. We try to support those around us, helping them on their path, providing them with support and encouragement. This can often be very successful and we see those we care about grow in confidence as they progress through life. How much support and what types of support is it best to provide? These are two questions that I frequently ponder upon and wanted to share with you. Individualised Support I believe the answer to this lies in Positive Psychology, as Positive Psychology’s philosophical roots are firmly grounded in Humanistic Psychology. The branch of psychology known as Humanistic Psychology views humans from the perspective that they are unique, self-determining individuals. So therefore it is best to tailor the amount of support we give to those we care about according to their individual needs at any specific time. Sometimes they may want direction, at others they may want practical tools, while at others they may just want to know we are there in the background providing encouragement and stability. We are fortunate in that we all have different roles to play in different people’s lives. The Dark Side of Support While our care and support may be wanted, it is best if we tread carefully when providing this support. If we can manage to stay in a mindful and reflective state so that we can fully tune in to what the persons wants or needs, we will be able create a more nurturing environment that facilitates growth/ enables ha individual to grow. However, if we think...
by Bryony Shaw | July, 2021 | Bryony Shaw, Forgiveness
Forgiveness! Now that is a superpower. It is a chance to reclaim control of your emotions, your thoughts and your behaviour. There is a strength OF forgiveness as identified by the VIA Character Strengths and I would like to explore that as well as the strength IN forgiveness. By examining these two aspects together, I believe that we can gain a greater understanding of both the components of forgiveness and the power of forgiveness. Forgiveness as a character strength The VIA Character strengths explain forgiveness as the ‘means to extend understanding towards those who have wronged or hurt us. It means to let go. In many cases, this is the letting go of some or all of the frustration, disappointment, resentment, or other painful feelings associated with an offence.’ VIA classify forgiveness as a strength that comes under the virtue of temperance, which is the ability to manage habits and protect against excess. This makes me wonder about which habits we are managing in forgiveness, and which excesses we are protecting against? Is one of them rumination? When someone has harmed us we may ruminate and replay the hurt that we are experiencing. This can become a self-destructive habit. We may also wish for retaliation. Both of these responses take a great deal of cognitive and emotional energy, they harm us more than the person who has harmed us. Therefore there is a strength in forgiveness, it is a strength that benefits us and those we care about. As we are taking control of our response to the hurt, we are more present and available for those around us....
by Bryony Shaw | May, 2021 | Bryony Shaw, Nature
Is gardening a flow activity or a mindful activity? This was a debate that I had with fellow Positive Psychologist Kim Furnish recently, and we did not agree. Gardening is an activity enjoyed by many, myself included and I often find myself in flow when gardening. I lose sense of time, I might go out to do some pruning that I think will take half an hour and I come back inside two or three hours later having achieved much more than I originally intended or achieved something completely different to what I originally intended. Whereas Kim says that when she is gardening she is very present and finds it a mindful activity. This left me wondering whether it is possible for gardening to both a flow state and a mindful state and if so, can these two states exist simultaneously or are they mutually exclusive? Flow involves being completely immersed in an activity and nothing else seems to matter so that you lose self-awareness. Whereas mindfulness involves maintaining self-awareness, it requires being fully present and aware of thoughts, feelings, surroundings and body sensations. Also, a flow state occurs when the task you are doing provides a certain level of challenge and you have the skills needed to match the challenge. I find gardening offers a level of challenge that keeps me absorbed. When I am gardening or even just out in the garden my mind is curious and engaged. I walk around and look at the plants and reflect on the progress they are making. I’m looking out for new shoots, assessing the pruning that needs to be...
by Bryony Shaw | February, 2021 | Awe, Bryony Shaw
Sometimes it’s one of those simple everyday occurrences that can bring some much to our life but we don’t fully appreciate it. This is exactly the case with ‘Awe Walks’. I only read about these this autumn and they are so simple and yet make such a positive difference to people’s lives. An awe walk is where you take a walk in nature with the conscious intention to have an awe-inspiring experience. Before we look at the process of completing an awe walk and the related benefits, let’s gain a better understanding of what awe is. Positive Emotion Awe is one of the ten positive emotions identified by Barbara Fredrickson and she says we experience awe when we come across goodness on a grand scale and this makes us feel small and humble. This can be from witnessing acts of humanity such as the work of Mother Teresa and the kindness shown by many, after unexpected disasters. It can also come from seeing the beauty of nature such as witnessing a stunning sunset, a great waterfall or as in my recent case, looking down on a rainbow. Earlier this year. I was driving through the countryside and arrived at the top of a steep hill and noticed this amazing rainbow (see picture above) behind me and below me, yes below me! I was looking down on a rainbow. I jumped out of the car and stood transfixed, at first unable to take in what I was seeing. I felt that I was witnessing something very special and rare, at least for my part of the world. Cultivating...