Positive Psychology: Positive Cognitive States and Processes

Fixed vs Growth Mindset:

  • Fixed Mindset: intelligence is ^^static^^   * Leads to a desire to look smart
  • Growth Mindset: intelligence ^^can be developed^^   * Leads to a desire to learn
  • Tyranny of Now: cheat on a test, run from difficulty, find someone who has it worse
  • Discover the Power of Yet   * ^^Process^^ the error by learning deeply from it
  • ^^Reward the use of effort, strategy and process^^ instead of results alone
  • Every time students are pushed out of their comfort zones, neurons form stronger connections that can make one smarter, wiser.
  • Basic human abilities can be cultivated and nurtured.

Mindfulness, Flow, and Spirituality: In Search of Optimal Experiences

  • Life Pursuits   * Intentional, moment-to-moment searches for optimal experiences give us joy and fulfillment.   * Mindless pursuit of less than meaningful goals or unchallenging ones leaves people bored and empty.
  • Many walk through life unaware of the significance of our lives and its relation to our experiences and emotional selves.
  • Daniel Kahnenman   * There are about 20,000 moments in 3 seconds in a 16-hour day, so this is what life consists of a sequence of moments.    * Each moment is very rich in experience. There is a goal, a mental content, a physical state and even an emotional arousal.   * Many things are happening.   * And then you can ask, “What happens to these moments?”
  • Mindfulness   * State of active, open attention to the present. This state is described as observing one’s thoughts and feelings without judgment.   * Awareness + Acceptance   * Flexible state of mind   * Here and now   * Context and perspective   * Active search for novelty > mindlessness involves zoning out to everyday life.
  • This requires us to   * Overcome mind wandering to reduce uncertainty in everyday life   * Override the tendency to engage in automatic behavior   * Engage less frequently in evaluations of self, others and situations.
  • Openness to novelty and sensitivity to context and perspective. 
  • Cultivating awareness of everyday happenings and physiological and psychological sensations.
  • Qualities   * Non judging   * Non striving   * Acceptance   * Patience   * Trust    * Openness   * Letting go   * Gentleness   * Generosity   * Empathy   * Gratitude   * Loving   * Kindness
  • Living with Mindfulness   * Being mindful of emotions   * Being mindful of eating   * Mindful stretching exercises   * Mindful breathing and sitting
  • Benefits of Mindfulness   * Successful treatment of chronic pain and anxiety   * Stress-reduction   * Affiliative trust towards others (mindful parenting)   * Change in perspectives and outlook   * Increased cultural sensitivity
  • Mindful Brain and Rejection   * Part of the human experience is being rejected   * Mindful individuals report less distress during reaction because they don’t attempt to suppress the experience in the first place   * Mindfully accepting, rather than suppressing goes a long way towards healing from social injuries.

 

 

Flow and Mindfulness

  • Mindfulness and flow involve deep concentration, flow involves goal-directed behavior

  • Mindfulness channels concentration toward the present moment, flow channels concentration toward skill and goal achievement which includes past and future and assessment of these thoughts

  • Flow   * A person can make himself happy or miserable, regardless of what is actually happening outside just by changing the content of consciousness   * State which a person involved perceived that nothing else matters   * ^^Intense concentration^^, no attention for problems or anything else   * Where one loses oneself in the process, time gets distorted    * ^^“Can do” attitude^^   * Happiness is something that individuals can conjure themselves   * Happiness was a function of our degree of engagement with whatever we choose to do   * Start doing more of what you love   * ^^Optimal state of engagement^^    * A person perceives challenges to action as neither underutilizing nor overwhelming his or her existing skills.   * Has clear attainable goals and immediate feedback about progress

  • Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi   * Intrigued by the stories about artists who “^^lost themselves in their work^^”   * Similar activities that causes this single-mindedness state   * State of “full-capacity” living that is believed to be directly linked to optimal development and functioning.

  • Finding your Flow   * Why do people pursue particular goals with great fervor in the absence of rewards?   * Conditions of flow appear remarkably similar across work settings, play settings and cultures, which include:     * Perceived challenges and opportunities for actions that stretch     * Clear proximal goals and immediate feedback about progress.

  • What happens during flow?   * Intense and focused concentration on what one is doing at the present moment   * Merging of action and happiness   * Loss of reflective self-consciousness   * A sense that one can control one’s actions.   * Time has passed faster than normal   * Experience that activity as intrinsically rewarding, end goal just an excuse for the process.

  • Benefits of Flow   * Mastery of skills   * Flow in workspaces   * Optimal experiences   * Flow influencing the environment and the individual   * Work becomes “serious play”

  • Autotelic Personality   * Cluster of traits exhibited by a person who enjoys life and generally does things for his/her own sake rather than in order to achieve something later.

  • Concept of Flow   * Optimal experiences and its role in development   * Focus, attention and the self   * Flow, complexity and development   * Measuring Flow and Autotelic Personality   * Consequences of Flow   * Nature and Dynamics of Flow    * Obstacles and Facilitators of Flow    * Autotelic Families   * Interventions and Programs to Foster Flow

Spirituality: In Search of the Sacred

  • Thoughts, feelings and behaviors that fuel and arise from the search for the Sacred.
  • Spiritual strivings, which include personal goals associated with the ultimate concerns of purpose, ethics and recognition of the transcendent.
  • Although specific content of spiritual beliefs varies, all cultures have a concept of an ultimate, transcendent, sacred and divine force.
  • Belief in God
  • Value of Prayer
  • Religion 
  • Aid in human functioning   * Mental health    * Marriage and Family Life   * Stress and Grief

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