Headstuck?
The most common reason we get stuck in our lives is because of something called “experiential avoidance”. What is that? This brief video explains it beautifully.
ACT
Benefits of living with purpose
Just in case you need scientific evidence on the benefits of living a life of purpose and valued-based action…
ACT: A psychology of the normal (vs pathological)
This is one of the cleanest explanations of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) by one of its founders, Steve Hayes. Even if you aren’t interested in ACT, you’ll likely find some of the ideas in this 12 minute interview worthwhile. “Vastly more human suffering, ” Hayes says, “come from normal processes that run away from us” than from psychopathology.
The Big Think: Steven Hayes (12-minute video interview)
In Mindfulness, a Method to Sharpen Focus and Open Minds
This is a nice description of mindfulness, how it is different from meditation, and how it has a very practical application in our day-to-day lives. I love the phrase “purposeful pause”; sometimes that is all we need to get our heads out of autopilot and make conscious choices in sync with who we want to be, and the live we want to create.
In Mindfulness, a Method to Sharpen Focus and Open Minds(NY Times)
A present, focused mind is a happy mind
When are humans most happy? To gather data on this question, Matt Killingsworth built an app, Track Your Happiness, that let people report their feelings in real time. Among the surprising results: We’re often happiest when we’re lost in the moment. And the flip side: The more our mind wanders, the less happy we can be. (Filmed at TEDxCambridge.)
The strength of vulnerability
Let’s face it, we all all imagine a time when we “have it together” and we are “on our game” and in control of our lives. However, Brene Brown’s research underscores that living a whole hearted life, is only as possible as our capacity for feeling vulnerable. She asks, “Is it possible to do a courageous act without feeling vulnerable?” Below is a wonderful radio interview and a video with this engaging woman.
The problem with positive thinking explored
This theme seems to be making its way from psychology research into the mainstream media more and more (see the TIME article I posted on June 21). Decades of the “positive thinking” industry have little to show, and folks are looking for something more realistic and useful…
“My mind spins like a river eddy”
A client said this to me once, and it struck me as such a wonderful metaphor I searched online and found this video. The goal for so much of us is to get out out of the eddy (our mind’s rumination) and into the river (our life).
Rivers Time Lapse Eddy Currents from Geography Fieldwork on Vimeo.
Introducing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A handout for clients
This one-page handout explains what ACT work looks like. Since ACT can be thought of as a unique set of life skills, it involves learning and practicing these skills so we can make progress in areas that are important to us.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy explained
In this brief interview Barbara Kohlenberg eloquently explains the heart and structure of the ACT model. “When one has compassion for one’s own suffering,” she says, “then that suffering changes.”