Yesterday was the first full day of the conference. I've already written about the first evening. The full day started fairly bright and early at 8.30am. First off was a talk by Corey Keyes, a sociologist from Emory University, Atlanta. I've liked his work, but at first glance at this conference he looked a bit too like Johnny Depp for me to take him seriously (prejudice or what!). The talk this morning soon put that right. Passionate, informed, insightful. Great stuff.
I flew into Copenhagen yesterday afternoon. I have a low key good feeling about the place. Nice. Clean. Small enough not to feel overwhelmed. Friendly. How appropriate that Denmark, the hosts of this "5th European conference on positive psychology", have so often been ranked top in the world on life satisfaction. See for example Christensen et al's paper "Why Danes are smug: comparative study of life satisfaction in the European Union." I walked from Central Station to register at the conferenc
Berlin, Saturday morning. We flew in from Edinburgh pretty early yesterday. Direct flight. Easy. Guilt over air travel a little allayed by buying carbon offsets through ClimateCare. We're staying in a Miniloft, one of the really nice set of self-catering apartments designed by Matthew Griffin & Brita Jurgens, an architect couple whose practice is up at the top of the building.
What we've seen in our work is that most people don't give themselves permission to live until they've been given a terminal diagnosis.
Stephen Levine
In a series of linked blog posts over the course of this month, I've discussed writing for health and wellbeing, assessment of one's own level of wellbeing, and using a broadened Best Possible Selves exercise. In today's post I take these ideas a step further by linking them to the research work of Professor Lyubomirsky and colleagues.
I wrote a week ago about assessing one's wellbeing level. It makes sense to do this before exploring how much the following goal renewal suggestions boost your sense of wellbeing and associated life satisfaction.
Here's a method that's exceptionally likely to both boost our overall level of wellbeing and move us towards the goals we feel our most important in our lives. It will take a bit of effort and commitment - so don't fall into the trap highlighted by Thomas Edison's comment: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
“One shouldn’t complicate things for the pleasure of complicating, but one should also never simplify or pretend to be sure of such simplicity where there is none. If things were simple, word would have gotten around.
” - Jacques Derrida
Here are handouts and Autogenic relaxation exercises from the first "lesson" of an eight session Autogenic Training (AT) class. This first "class" concentrates on relaxation of the voluntary muscles of the arms & legs. It is probably sensible to stay with this focus for at least a week or two before moving on to the next exercise in the sequence. Subsequent lessons teach relaxation of several further body systems. Please read the introductory post on Autogenics before starting any of these exercises. If you're hoping to learn AT to help with physical or psychological symptoms, it may be sensible to talk to a health professional first to check on diagnosis and other treatment options. While you're learning these skills, don't practise them if you're driving or operating other dangerous machinery.
“Life is an endless unfolding, and if we wish it to be, an endless process of self-discovery, an endless and unpredictable dialogue between our own potentialities and the life situations in which we find ourselves. By potentialities I mean not just intellectual gifts but the full range of one’s capacities for learning, sensing, wondering, understanding, loving and aspiring.
” - John Gardner
