The Irony of Positive Thinking

February 3rd, 2010 — tonymayo   Email This Article Email This Article

Harvard's Daniel M. WegnerWhen people undertake to control their minds while they are burdened by mental loads–such as distracters, stress, or time pressure–the result [will] often be the opposite of what they intend. …

Individuals following instructions to try to make themselves happy become sad, whereas those trying to make themselves sad actually experience buoyed mood.

…

When people in these studies are encouraged to express their deepest thoughts and feelings in writing, they experience subsequent improvements in psychological and physical health. (See also Resistance is Futile on this blog.) Expressing oneself in this way involves relinquishing the pursuit of mental control, and so eliminates a key requirement for the production of ironic effects. After all, as suggested in other studies conducted in my lab with Julie Lane and Laura Smart, the motive to keep one’s thoughts and personal characteristics secret is strongly linked with mental control. Disclosing these things to others, or even in writing to oneself, is the first step toward abandoning what may be an overweening and futile quest to control one’s own thoughts and emotions.


When we relax the desire for the control of our minds, the seeds of our undoing may remain uncultivated, perhaps then to dry up and blow away.


The Seed of Our Undoing by Daniel M. Wegner
From Psychological Science Agenda
January/February, 1999, 10-11.




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Happiness is simple–and subtle

February 2nd, 2010 — tonymayo   Email This Article Email This Article

Novelist Amy Bloom surveys the literature on happiness for the New York Times and distills these five essentials. I have recently rediscovered the importance of number 2.

The Fundamentally Sound, Sure-Fire
Top Five Components of
Happiness:

  1. Be in possession of the basics — food, shelter, good health, safety.
  2. Get enough sleep.
  3. Have relationships that matter to you.
  4. Take compassionate care of others and of yourself.
  5. Have work or an interest that engages you.

I don’t see how even the most high-minded, cynical or curmudgeonly person could argue with that.

–Amy Bloom
The Rap on Happiness
NYTimes.com



See also, Have Some Happy, on this blog.



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Sitting Quietly, Doing Something – Happy Days Blog – NYTimes.com

July 17th, 2009 — tonymayo   Email This Article Email This Article

Daniel Goleman

Jon Kabat-Zinn, …, taught mindfulness at a high-stress biotech company; these beginners meditated for 30 minutes a day for eight weeks. [Professor] Davidson’s measures showed that after the eight weeks they had begun to activate that left prefrontal zone more strongly — and were saying that instead of feeling overwhelmed and hassled, they were enjoying their work. So while the Calvinist strain in American culture may look askance at someone sitting quietly in meditation, this kind of “doing nothing” seems to do something remarkable after all.

Of course, there’s no guarantee of greater happiness from meditation, but the East has given us a promising path for its pursuit.

via Sitting Quietly, Doing Something – Happy Days Blog – NYTimes.com by Daniel Goleman

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Does Harvard Study Show “What Makes Us Happy”?

July 10th, 2009 — tonymayo   Email This Article Email This Article


That the only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people.

–Dr. George Vaillant, Psychiatrist
Harvard Study of Adult Development

"What Makes Us Happy"

What Makes Us Happy?, in the June, 2009, issue of the Atlantic has attracted a lot of attention. It is an interesting story, or collection of anecdotes, but does it provide any useful guidance for CEOs or their executive coaches?

Vaillant sorts people according to their Read the rest of this entry »

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Synthesizing Happiness

March 8th, 2009 — tonymayo   Email This Article Email This Article

Dan Gilbert at TED.




See also Are you sacrificing the real now for an illusory future?



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Your Brain on Music

December 23rd, 2008 — mayogenuine   Email This Article Email This Article

Daniel J. Levitin

Singing and dancing have been shown to modulate brain chemistry, specifically levels of dopamine, the “feel good” neurotransmitter. Our species uses music and dance to express various feelings: love, joy, comfort, ceremony, knowledge and friendship. And each one is distinct and widely recognized within cultures. Love songs cause us to move slowly and fluidly, for example, while songs of joy inspire us to dance in a full-body aerobic way.

–Daniel J. Levitin
Professor of psychology and music
McGill University


This Is Your Brain on Music:See it at Amazon

See it at Amazon

The Science of a Human Obsession.

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