by Pinky Jangra | February, 2022 | Life, Pinky Jangra
Allow me to take you by the hand and pull you back from the world and introduce you to the art of observation. Let’s retreat a little. Now, from afar, let’s look at what’s going on. Can you see it? The chaos? The confusion? The noise? The fear? Also, the hive of activity, the pace, the constant change. There’s also joy, love, progress and creativity all over the place. Perhaps you can also observe from afar, nature taking its course. The trees in the wind, the birds flying, the ocean roaring and crashing against the shore. What about looking up? At the stars, the sky, the clouds, the moon. And, what about the people and situations in your personal life, what if you just stand back and observe them, too? How does it make you feel? Does the difficult stuff make you fearful, anxious and angry to observe? Does it make you want to leap in and fix things or run away and hide? What about the peaceful natural scenes, do they bring you joy and pleasantness, do you want to immerse yourself in them? Is there also a point at which you can observe all of it and just… see it, impartially? Can you see it without wanting to be in it, without getting dragged into it or being emotionally riled by it? Just see it as ‘information’? Can you stop judging it as good, bad, right or wrong? It just is? Try this. Practise it. Stand in calm, stillness and just observe. Don’t judge, don’t try to fix, don’t fight or feel, don’t run towards or...
by Sarah Cramoysan | November, 2021 | Life, Sarah Cramoysan
When life deals you Lemons… Positive Psychology has sometimes been described as what takes us from OK to great – but what happens when something knocks us sideways and we are finding it hard to cope? There are times when things just aren’t going right for us and no amount of positivity can fix it, so what do we do then? I’m normally a fan of gratitude journaling to keep focussed on the bright side of life, but in the last couple of months there have been a couple of issues over which I have no control that have made it hard to feel positive or hopeful. So this month I thought I would try to summarise what I’ve learnt from Positive Psychology that has helped me through. Acknowledge your emotions, but don’t get swept away If you are feeling angry, or frustrated or upset or sad, that’s OK. Don’t be hard on yourself or feel that you shouldn’t ‘feel’ that way, just accept those emotions as part of your human experience. But at the same time, don’t get swept up in your emotions or take action when they are in full flow. This is easier said than done, and takes practice, but if you can allow yourself to time to feel and process an emotion, without reacting to it and leaping into action straightaway, the feelings will calm down eventually and then you can move forward. One way I found helped me was to rephrase the way I spoke to myself. Instead of saying “I am angry” (or sad, or whatever) I rephrase it as “I feel...
by Kelly Seaward - Ding | November, 2021 | Kelly Seaward - Ding, Life
‘The only people who get upset about you setting boundaries are the ones who were benefitting from you having none’ I have seen the above quote a few times on Facebook. I usually write in line with empirical research regarding Positive Psychology, but within the spiritual practices I belong to, if you see something more than three times, you need to pay attention to it. This is the reason why I feel empowered to write about boundaries. Our modern culture has nearly everything on instant mode. This can sometimes make our lives easier. However, regarding our time it means that everything seems like a priority but you only have the same twenty-four hours a day to complete everything. So, this quote got me pondering that time is precious and how much our thoughts and emotions contribute to this notion of time. Seligman and Positive Emotions: According to Martin Seligman (2011), Positive Emotions is the first element in his Well-being Theory. It was also part of his original theory – Authentic Happiness. Positive Emotion is linked with the pleasant life. Positive Emotions are also connected to the research of Barbara Fredrickson. Fredrickson (2011), research suggests ten Positive Emotions: Love, Gratitude, Interest, Pride, Inspiration, Joy, Serenity, Hope, Amusement and Awe. Tugade and Fredrickson, (2004) state Positive Emotions can undo the harmful effects of negative emotions and promote resilience. They are also one of the key ingredients that promote flourishing. Coming back to the theme of boundaries. During the first lockdown when most things in life were restricted, I found I experienced a reflection process where I was reviewing all...
by Pinky Jangra | October, 2021 | Life, Pinky Jangra
Do you feel lost? Confused? Dissatisfied with life? Why are you here? Who are you? How are you meant to live? What are you meant to do? Why don’t you feel happy with your life? Well, I can’t guarantee that I have THE answers to these complex, existential questions. But, I can share with you what I have learned, what feels true in my heart and I hope it will help you in living your true nature and purpose and experiencing more meaning, joy and fulfilment in your life. What is your true nature? A brain, a body? A mortal animal? Just another species on the planet? Yes, you are all of these. But you are also so much more. When we take a microscope and look at your cells we see atoms. When we look at those atoms more closely, we see sub-atomic particles and 99.999% empty space. When we look closer yet, physicists discover that those particles are also behaving as waves of energy. You are made of waves of energy. The physical world is at its root, not physical at all. Not only are you a non-physical being made of waves of energy, you are also an interpreter of energy. For example, when you see with your eyes you are interpreting light waves and when you hear with your ears you are interpreting sound waves. Even touch is the energetic friction felt between the atoms of your body and the thing you are ‘touching’. You also emit waves of energy. Your body generates electrical energy and it gives off heat energy. Your thoughts and feelings...
by Pinky Jangra | April, 2021 | Life, Pinky Jangra
Chasing perfection is not only futile, it’s also painful! In this video, I talk about why we seek perfection, what pitfalls this lands us in and some things to think about if you are ready to leave your days of perfectionism behind.” Read about Pinky Jangra and her other articles HERE ‘We Are The Positive Psychology...
by Janette Kirk-Willis | December, 2020 | Janette Kirk-Willis, Life
Acceptance and its questionable reputation At first glance acceptance doesn’t have a great reputation does it? What often springs to mind is defeat. It feels somehow passive, perhaps resigned to settling for less that we had hoped for. It may feel unpalatable and against our every instinct. It feels like giving up. But it’s not. Acceptance takes a huge effort. It’s hard work to accept something as it is, especially when it’s not what we’d hoped for or have been working towards. Definitions of acceptance So what’s the definition of acceptance? “It is a person’s assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it or protest it.” [1] Jon Kabat- Zinn describes acceptance as taking “A huge amount of fortitude and motivation to accept what is — especially when you don’t like it — and then work wisely and effectively as best you possibly can with the circumstances you find yourself in and with the resources at your disposal, both inner and outer, to mitigate, heal, redirect, and change what can be changed.” [2] So why is acceptance good for us? Acceptance helps us to move forward. Acceptance is power. Deepak Chopra in ‘The 7 laws of spiritual success’ says “we might want things to be different in the future but in the present moment we need to accept them as they are…” Whether it’s the global pandemic, questionable politics, a potential redundancy, a company reorganisation, relationship difficulties or financial worries, the outcome is the same. When we refuse to accept reality we create a suffering for...
