The Thanksgiving holiday is a time when we typically think about all we have to be thankful for: family, friends, plenty, etc. But did you know that the simple act of frequently noting a few things we are grateful for can be a significant mood-booster? When we adopt gratitude as an everyday mindset, …
Practically Positive
The term “positive thinking” has been in our vocabulary for a while and has come to represent different things—everything from always having a smile, seeing the silver lining in every cloud, to the “think and ye shall receive” mindset. Aside from all the hype, though, research has shown many …
Getting Personal with Coping Skills
Introducing some personal, close-to-home coping skills into our lives has serious advantages. With ourselves, we are operating in our sphere of influence. We can waste a lot of time trying to control others and be none the better for it. Even if we hope to contribute to world peace, the only …
Feelings Primer
Feelings are considered the conscious experience of emotional reactions. Many people when expressing themselves will use the word “feeling” interchangeably with the word “emotion.” Feelings are, in their most basic definition, senses—like the sense of smell or taste. A cool breeze might give us a …
More Thinking Aids
One of the strategies for countering rigid or harmful ways of thinking is to ask ourselves questions about our thoughts and assumptions. Likewise, we can treat our thoughts as “best guesses” rather than as facts. We can also use the PACE model in our own inner dialog: Playful, Accepting, Curiosity …
Negative Filters
Have you been wearing dark glasses lately? Negative filtering is one way to get ourselves into a negative-feedback loop that can be challenging to get out of. This type of thinking keeps us aware of and dwelling on negative aspects of ourselves or our situation, and either discounting or entirely …