Positive psychology is a branch of psychology which uses scientific methods to study how we can become happier and more fulfilled human beings.
Our brains tend to have a negative bias, looking for problems and danger which can lead us to focus on the things that go wrong in our lives and what we don’t have which leads to unhappiness, stress and anxiety… sound familiar at all?
Positive psychology research shows that there is a combination of things we can do to live a happier life and that being more optimistic even has a positive effect on our health – so we feel better! Here are some examples:
We can train our brains to achieve a better balance in our thoughts and lives and to experience more positive emotions and joy – understanding this and putting it into practice can be such a relief when we have been stuck in a cycle of negativity. What might this look like? One example is practicing gratitude – noticing when good things happen (and writing them down) helps us to rewire our brain to develop the positive pathways – when you start noticing good things, appreciating them, and, importantly, make this a habit, your brain starts to look for those good things and gratitude becomes a part of who you are, increasing your sense of wellbeing and satisfaction with life.
Identifying our purpose (or dharma) and living in alignment with it can help us to feel more fulfilled. Do you understand your purpose? Do you feel aligned and settled or out of balance? Identifying purpose is the first step in the Chopra coaching process and helps us to frame how you move forward.
Identifying our strengths and using them is also a way of maximising our enjoyment of life and is a proven way of enhancing our feelings of fulfilment – we feel happier when we’re doing something we are good at, right?
Finding our ‘flow’ – when was the last time you enjoyed doing something so much that you didn’t notice time passing? This happens when we are in flow, completely immersed in an activity – this allows our brain to rest from the constant thinking of masses of thoughts and with limited other sources of stimulation which so often go with life, instead we are spending time being in focus and experiencing pleasure for an extended period and we feel satisfied when we come away.
These are a few examples of some of the research findings from positive psychology, I will share some more in the next post - I hope that this has been food for thought. If you would like practical help with improving your levels of happiness, feel free to get in touch,
I would love to hear from you!
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