[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Happiness: Positive Psychology ©2023]

And so, the first of our 9 keys is this: focus and notice. The practice of mindfulness is very useful to the recipe for happiness. While a form of meditation originating in Buddhism, it’s also been extracted from its religious context and applied as a practice of daily living. And while, like any skill, we must learn the basics and then engage it regularly in order to enhance our new capability, at its core it’s as simple as this: focus and notice your life. And also, don’t attach too much to your emotions. (More on that in a moment.)

The Greater Good Science Center at University of California in Berkeley describes mindfulness as “maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens.” Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022), perhaps the world’s most well-known Buddhist monk second only to the Dalai Lama himself, founder of Plum Village in France with centers worldwide and author of more than 100 books in English, carried mindfulness to the non-Buddhist world as part of his ‘practical Buddhism’ for world peace. In the US, Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts Medical School is generally thought of as the ‘father’ of mindfulness in its secular applications; he developed a program known as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction [MBSR], widely in use to this day.

In a systematic review of 22 mindfulness studies, Allen, Romate, and Rajkumar (2021) found that mindfulness significantly increased an array of positive emotions: amusement, awe, contentment, joy, gratitude, hope, interest, love, and pride, as well as positively impacting wellbeing, life satisfaction, self-compassion, and the capacity to find meaning in one’s life. Further, the effects of mindfulness were sustained over time.

Let’s explore that last bit. As we age, we all feel that time speeds up — suddenly we’re celebrating the new year, and we’re sure it was only yesterday that we were observing the previous one. How did another year fly by? While there are in fact biological reasons for the shortening sense of time that accompanies age, and while the speed of our world and our lives gets ever-faster the more we integrate the digital aspect, this is only part of the story. More than anything, we’ve simply failed to take note of our lives.

In mindfulness, this is not the same as engaging in a 20-minute meditation session; mindfulness meditation surely exists and is extraordinarily beneficial, but here we’re talking about a way of living. When we pay attention to our lives, when we notice the details around us, when all our senses are engaged and we’re paying attention, time stretches out before us – something scientists now refer to as ‘time affluence’ or having a wealth of time. And when yet another year has passed, while we still note the speed of time, we can also say: ah, but in that year, I’ve lived a life. I’ve engaged in my own life. I’ve noticed each day, and savored many delicious moments therein.

When I’m trekking, for example, always solo so as not to be distracted by another human being, I walk with my eyes, ears, nose, mouth, pores of my skin (and my instinct) wide open — continually scanning, sensing, hearing, smelling, feeling, noticing as much as possible around me. It’s a way to live one’s daily life, too. We can focus on the food that we’re eating (instead of an electronic screen), feel our feelings, recognize many moments of each day that bring us joy.

Meanwhile, detachment. This is the flip-side of mindfulness, its counterbalance if you will. Notice everything, yet detach from its emotional content. This doesn’t mean one should become an unfeeling robot, or live one’s life in neutral, or disengage from society — far from it. As emotions arise within us, such as that anger as a car cuts us off in traffic, or fear of what might happen tomorrow, or sadness over a loss long ago, we can take a moment to recognize the feeling, honor rather than ignore it — oh, yes, there’s that old grief again, or ah, I feel that flash of anger, or hmm, I wonder what’s really beneath that anger – oh yes, it’s fear, or envy, or simply hunger — and then let it drift away again, like so much smoke.

Granted, that takes practice — a lifetime of it, in fact — and yet, it makes life so much easier, and lighter. Most of our emotions are very temporary reactions to a situation that we either can’t control or that will quickly fade. Emotions are natural and we’re entitled to them; they make our lives so much richer. We don’t need to hold them, however, and life is much more peaceful — and happiness easier to achieve and sustain — when we let negative emotions continue to move their way through and out of us.

When we focus on and notice all the pleasurable moments in the course of nearly every day, they add up, and become a way that we’ve chosen to live our lives — fully noticing, and noting, all those good little (and sometimes, big) things around us. Granted, there are some days that simply seem difficult or painful, from beginning to end; yet even so, a sunbeam may fall on the desk beside you, or a waft of baking bread from the nearby patisserie might drift in the air and under your nose, or even the squawk of those pesky gulls at dawn may serve as a reminder that you live near the sea.

Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center refers to ‘micro-moments’ of mindfulness spread throughout the day, moments in which we take time to notice our lives, our surroundings, our emotions and bodily felt sense — the details of life. Just noticing, in as much detail as possible, enriches one’s day, and one’s life, enormously.

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Exercises:

Numerous websites, apps, and books are dedicated to the concept of mindfulness and its practice, but here are a few more, and in perhaps even a simpler and more achievable manner. In order to practice this key, we can take a walk somewhere outdoors and try to notice as much along the walk as possible. As we walk on the street, we can notice the rhythm of our gait and the people around us. When we return home, we can follow up by writing a journal entry about all that we experienced, or just take a few more moments to review and remember — to contemplate those moments of simple daily pleasures that we’ve just had, to “taste life twice,” as writer Anaïs Nin famously said.

There are classic mindful walking meditations outlined in Buddhism, in which we pay attention to our steps and also our breath — by being aware of our walking rhythm, our pace, and matching it to our breathing (e.g., 3 steps to one inhale-exhale cycle) when out in public, or by walking as slowly as possible when home, as a meditative act (e.g., 1 step to one respiratory cycle).

At home, we can eat meals without electronic devices, paying attention to the quality and taste of — and our own pleasure derived from — our food. We can also sit quietly in a room and try to notice everything about it – not only visually but with as many senses and in as much detail as possible. And whenever unpleasant emotions arise, we can take note — “ah, hello, sadness” — and then take a slow, deep breath, and on exhalation, let the emotion drift away.

Awareness of our breath is another classic mindfulness exercise, whether in mindful meditation or simply in moments throughout the day. Focusing on the breath, on the nourishment it gives us, on the air coursing its way into and out of our lungs as it enervates the heart and stretches the diaphragm, is in fact the only meditative focus we need. As we observe our breathing, we can also observe our mental activity — not aiming for ‘empty mind’ or a pure focus but instead noticing, with self-compassion, our thoughts and feelings as they arise and then dissipate.

Another useful technique is the sound of a bell — whether one you physically hold and ring, or an app or other recording of a bell chime. The mindfulness aspect is to focus on its sound, from the first ring to its fading away. Similarly, we can focus on the effects of a drop of water as it falls into a still pool, whether a pond, a puddle, or a bowl of water in front of us as we sit quietly. The concentric rings moving outward from the drop as it hits the surface are another efficient and satisfying mindfulness exercise, a gentle way to train our minds to notice everything. Staring into a candle flame and noticing as much as you can is yet another method.

In MBSR, mentioned earlier, there are several now-classic mindfulness exercises: mindful breathing and walking meditations, versions of which have already been mentioned; a body scan, in which we close our eyes and slowly — and in self-compassion — scan our body, part by part, noticing its functioning, condition, sensations. Another such is a ‘5 senses’ exercise, in which we pause and observe our environment, noting 5 things we can see, 4 that we physically feel (e.g., cool air on our skin; firmness of the chair on which we sit), 3 that we hear, 2 that we smell, and 1 that we taste – the coffee that lingers on your taste buds, or the very air itself.

In Buddhism, the metta bhavana or loving kindness meditation focuses on self-compassion and empathy toward others; multiple studies have shown its direct bearing on improved physical and mental health. There are many ways to practice this meditation; the simplest is by sitting quietly, eyes closed, breathing calm and regular, as we imagine first a feeling of compassion and kindness toward our own self, then toward someone we care for, then someone about whom we feel neutral, then someone we find difficult, then outward toward all sentient beings. This compassion will extend well beyond the meditation itself, and strengthen the more you practice.

The key, then, is not to let your life pass you by unnoticed — but to notice as many moments and as much detail as possible, while not attaching too strongly to the emotion of it all.

Reference:

Allen JG, Romate J, and Rajkumar E (2021). Mindfulness-based positive psychology interventions: a systematic review. BMC Psychology, 9(116). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-021-00618-2

[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Creativity: Positive Psychology, ©2023]

Stay curious, as a very popular saying goes. (Often misattributed to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, he actually ended a now-famous commencement speech with, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”) The phrase, widely adopted, refers in part to engagement: stay curious about and connected to life; maintain a wide array of interests. It also refers to innovation — the scientific face of creativity.

Our first key to ever more creativity must be our curiosity. The connection between the two, on the surface, is self-evident: how could we possibly engage in creative acts unless we were first curious to know more, try something new, or solve a problem?

Humans are innately curious; everyone who has parented a child, or even been in the company of one, knows that this quality comes naturally. (And how many Wikipedia wormholes have you fallen into recently?) There’s more than one type of curiosity, however, and while epistemic (cognitive) curiosity — the desire to learn and acquire new knowledge — relates directly to one’s intellect, perceptive (sensate) curiosity is a desire for novel experiences — the person who likes to try new things. Both correlate with creativity, though both may not be found in the same person.

But how does curiosity relate? And how do we consciously engage with and use our curiosity in order to enhance our creativity?

First, let’s look at some recent research.

Epistemic curiosity, or the desire to know and learn, was found by Hardy et al. (2017) to be a predictor of creativity in both performance and problem-solving; positively affected were both quality and originality, while the type of creativity was of no consequence. In the 2020 study of Gross et al., curiosity is established as a ‘seed’ for creativity. The researchers further differentiate between the two types of curiosity mentioned in our introduction, epistemic (cognitive, or the desire to learn new knowledge) and perceptive (sensory, or the desire for new experiences), and found that both lead to greater creativity. They mention the limitation, however, of curiosity as a state rather than trait – we may be innately curious, but it fluctuates over time and depending on context, which would have direct bearing on its contribution to our curiosity. However, as the premise of this book is to undertake activities to increase our creativity, in this case through our curiosity, for our purposes this is a matter in the hands of the individual.

Schutte and Malouff (2019), in a meta-analysis of 10 studies involving a total of 2,692 subjects, established a strong correlation between curiosity and creativity. In their 2020 study, they replicated such finding in an adult population (mean age: 35), while Evans and Jirout (2023) had similar findings in their study of primary school children. Hagtvedt et al. (2019) demonstrated a causal relationship, in that specific curiosity could indeed lead to greater creativity, and proposed a concept they call “idea linking”. Similar to the brainstorming technique of mind-mapping, when our curiosity is used specifically to link ideas to one another, we become more creative as a result. They further propose that idea linking isn’t only a mediator, but also can be used as a novel tool for deliberately fostering our creativity. (More on that later.)

Five categories of curiosity are measured on the 5 Dimension Curiosity Scale, according to Kashdan et al. (2018), including joyous exploration, deprivation sensitivity, stress tolerance, social curiosity, and thrill seeking. We can think of curiosity broadly in these ways – learning or trying something new because it brings us joy, a need to be ‘in the know’ and not excluded, a tolerance for stress that allows us to try new things, a desire to know more about other people, and an interest in excitement. These researchers also identified 4 types of curious people, rather than a simple dichotomy of curious-incurious, which they call: the fascinated (28% of sample), problem solvers (28%), empathizers (25%), and avoiders (19%).

So how can we be more curious? Firstly – by simply deciding to be. Ask questions, find an interest in other people, want to learn and to experience new things. Try a food that you haven’t had before. Learn a new language via an app – no one else needs to hear us, so the risk of embarrassment is minimal. Or if language doesn’t appeal, learn or try something else.

The point, really, is to be interested, potentially in everything. Naturally, we aren’t curious about all things equally, but we also don’t want to live always within our comfort zone. In order to grow our curiosity, we can embrace the general concept of diversity: read a book in a genre you don’t normally choose, try new types of music, spend time with people different from yourself – and ask questions, and truly listen. Take on a new hobby, one that’s different from whatever you normally prefer.

Embracing learning for its own sake is another dimension of curiosity, something that the Internet makes easy for us. If school wasn’t particularly pleasant for you, or didn’t come easily and was stressful, or you find that you don’t feel like learning new things, consider for a moment your Internet use. Chances are, you find yourself going from page to page via links to topics you hadn’t considered previously. The previously mentioned wormhole of Wikipedia, with its multiple hyperlinks, is a good example of this; any topic we may be reading about by choice will have a multitude of side topics, and the temptation to click on those other links as we read can be great. All of a sudden, we find we’re reading about types of galaxies, or what a Chinese character means, or how to knit.

If you’re a gamer, you’re also curious by nature and embracing learning. Video games are entirely about learning the new landscape each time you level up, and how to compete, and win. You’re not only continually learning, but at a highly accelerated pace. And each new game brings a whole universe of new learning to be undertaken.

Movies can be another category. Do you find yourself typically watching the same genre of film over and over? Are you into action movies, or rom-com, or documentary? (Okay, that last category is probably of interest to those who already embrace new learning.) Try movies in other genres. Even more, watch films made in other countries – streaming platforms make this easy, subtitles included – which greatly expands your knowledge of the world and its cultures. The same goes for books. If you find you always gravitate to the same genre of books, shake things up and read something entirely different. And again, be sure to include authors from countries other than your own.

Being curious when out in nature is a very easy task; there’s so much to see, learn, and experience. If trekking or camping, at the beach or in the forest, pay attention. There’s a whole world to discover. Travel, similarly, opens vast new horizons to us, in new cultures, languages, foods, customs, and generally having to learn the lay of the land in order to get around. Skip the tour guide. Make your own way. Learn everything. Be, stay, curious.

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Exercises:

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One of our most powerful tools for enhancing our curiosity is in asking questions – questions of someone else when we meet them (social curiosity), questions of ourselves when we’re in nature or really, at any time. Why? is a very good tool for curiosity-building, as is How? and all those other question words. As an exercise, take any object with which you are unfamiliar, and run through all the question-related words: what is it? Where is it used? Why would I, or anyone for that matter, want this? And so forth. We can run through this exercise an infinite number of times, and it’s an excellent skill to have as your default whenever you encounter anyone or anything new.

Another is the brainstorming style known as mind-mapping. When considering anything – object, intangible idea or behavior, which action to take, the character of another person – or your own, anything at all, begin by writing that topic in a balloon in the center of a blank sheet of paper, then beginning to brainstorm whatever comes to mind that’s in any way related – and draw the connections. Those connections will have connections of their own, too. (Think of this as your own retro, hand-drawn version of Wikipedia.)

Take a walk in the park, or in a forest. Take it slowly, peacefully, observationally. Be an explorer. Look around. Feel the quality of the air, the soil beneath your feet. Listen deeply. Listen some more. Taste the air. What do you smell? A natural setting is an excellent way to stimulate our curiosity, and the more detail you notice, the better. When you return home, take a sheet of paper and write down as much of your observation as you can recall.

Are you curious about other people? Are you a good listener? Do you recall what they tell you? Meet someone new, or meet with someone you don’t know well. Ask them questions. Display your curiosity (without being overly intrusive, of course). Ask further questions based on their replies.

Curiosity consists of our desire to know, and to experience, new things. If we’ve gotten into the habit of always doing things the same way, watching the same types of programs and reading the same books or websites, or any other routine, we need to step out of that pattern and seek out new things and people. It may be less comfortable. But it will expand our ability to be curious, and our creativity as a result.

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References:

Evans NS and Jirout JJ (2023). Investigating the relation between curiosity and creativity. Journal of Creativity 33:1, 100038. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjoc.2022.100038  

Gross ME, Zedelius CM, and Schooler JW (2020). Cultivating an understanding of curiosity as a seed for creativity. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 35, 77-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.07.015

Hagtvedt LP, Dossinger K, Harrison SH, et al. (2019). Curiosity made the cat more creative: Specific curiosity as a driver of creativity. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 150, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2018.10.007

Hardy JH, Ness AM, and Mecca J (2017). Outside the box: Epistemic curiosity as a predictor of creative problem solving and creative performance. Personality and Individual Differences 104, 230-237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.08.004  

Kashdan TB, Stiksma MC, Disabato DJ, et al. (2018). The five-dimensional curiosity scale: Capturing the bandwidth of curiosity and identifying four unique subgroups of curious people. Journal of Research in Personality 73, 130-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2017.11.011

Schutte NS and Malouff JM (2019). A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Curiosity and Creativity. Journal of Creative Behavior 54, 940-947. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.421  

Schutte NS and Malouff JM (2020). Connections between curiosity, flow and creativity. Personality and Individual Differences 152:109555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109555

[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Integrative Wellness: Personal Growth ©2023 : Ch.1]

We begin with health psychology, which provides us with a framework for our own integrative approach to personal wellness.

As we saw in our introduction, this specialty is based on a biopsychosocial model, for one of the clearest integrative approaches within modern medicine. While medical doctors may view the role of the health psychologist as one to encourage patient compliance with health regimens and self-care, the approach is broader. The psychological and physical are considered to be closely interlinked, with each having an impact on the other and neither likely to fully resolve without engagement of the other, for a truly holistic view of health.

Thus, we begin our personal application by seeking such connections. How is my physical health influenced by my thoughts, emotions, and perhaps memories? Am I carrying in my body the residue of earlier trauma? Do I have mental blocks to full engagement in my health regimen? If so, what are those resistances and how can I resolve them? Is my physical health or condition affecting my mental state? What can be done about that?

Whether you are currently in excellent health, have some health goals, or are challenged by illness or disability, these questions apply to all. We aren’t ever looking to self-blame. My failure to consistently exercise isn’t because something’s mentally wrong with me. My health condition isn’t ‘all in my mind’. And I’m not causing my illness because of my negative thoughts. This is the magical thinking of a child, that we wish things into and out of existence, but that’s not health psychology.

Instead, we simply want to look at how each influences the other. Let’s say you have a condition for which medical doctors, after extensive testing, can’t find a cause; at this point they may tell you it’s ‘functional’ and refer you to a psychologist. Many tend to react poorly to this, feeling their doctor doesn’t believe them and thinks they’re mentally ill, when in fact, the doctor is merely saying that because he cannot identity a cause, he can’t offer a remedy beyond symptomatic relief – and that a psychological approach may help to resolve these unquestionably physical symptoms.

An example of this can be seen in chronic migraines. When all testing has found no cause, dietary triggers have been corrected, yet migraines continue, the only logical next step is to seek psychological help. The migraines may or may not be related to mental/emotional issues, but they surely might be aggravated by same, and looking for such underlying cause or symptom triggers in order to resolve such issues may help reduce the migraines themselves.

Panic attacks are another clear example. While we can more clearly see that a panic disorder is an extreme anxiety and thus psychological, the symptoms of an acute attack may look exactly like a heart attack; whether cardiac or panic must first be determined before treatment can commence. Further, various physiological conditions can trigger anxiety and even panic, while it’s the physical ailment that must be resolved. Even more: following open heart surgery, a very common side effect of the surgery itself is depression, and doctors warn patients and their families of this possibility. One may well think that limitations due to the surgery and underlying condition are the natural cause of depression – yet it’s also known that when we control for the emotional response, depression is clearly linked to the aftermath of surgery itself.

In yet another example, one prevailing theory of addiction is that early childhood trauma often predisposes a person to alcoholism and/or substance abuse. Working to resolve addiction itself will only bring temporary relief with a high risk of relapse, unless the underlying trauma is also addressed. In each of these examples, the symptoms are very physical, indeed; no physician would deny this reality. However, the mental component is also there, and must be part of the treatment approach.

And so – we can do the same. We must learn to think outside of the box, as it were. Physical or mental/emotional problems are never only in one arena; we are one complete person, body and mind utterly intertwined, and each can powerfully affect the other. If we are currently symptom-free and in good health, we still approach our wellness in the same comprehensive way. Exercise and nutrition can profoundly affect mood. Meditation to regulate our emotions, or journal-writing to discover and transform our faulty thought patterns, powerfully impact our physical health.

For an integrative approach to our own wellness, we want to think of body and mind as a single unit – and to ensure that our daily regimen considers our full self.

You can easily assess this in the following exercises: on a blank piece of paper, write the word ‘health’ in the center, then in brainstorming fashion, quickly fill the page with as many associated words as possible; doing this without pause helps to prevent self-censorship. When you’ve come to a natural stop, turn the page over and categorize these terms into 2 columns: physical, and psychological or mental/emotional. Some of them may belong in both. When you’re finished, consider whether your terms are heavily weighted in one category, or more equally distributed – and further consider what changes you can make in your own approach to personal health, to achieve more balance.

You may also wish to draw a triangle, with ‘biological’, ‘psychological’, and ‘social’ at each point. (You might further wish to write ‘spiritual’ in the triangle’s center, to be later discussed.) Consider your approach to your own health and wellbeing in each of these 3 (4) domains; further consider whether your own triangle is balanced or out of balance, and what you can do to rebalance as needed. Perhaps you go to the gym each day but don’t give much consideration to your mental/emotional health. Perhaps you’re good with both of those, but as an introvert, you don’t make much time for community and tend strongly toward solitude instead. (Both are healthy – to be later discussed – but there’s no denying that community, social bonding, and a sense of belonging are essential to one’s health.) Place this triangle somewhere prominent where you’ll see it regularly, as a model and a reminder for a balanced approach to your wellbeing.

 Perhaps you’re a very busy person, and feel that you haven’t time for an extensive health regimen. Fear not: mindfulness meditation, for example, which research has demonstrated to be beneficial to a range of physical as well as mental / emotional health concerns, is also shown to be effective if practiced just 10 minutes a day. You can apply that same 10 minutes of mental stillness, present moment focus, and emotional detachment (more on all of this soon) to walking meditation, or a series of acupuncture-related stretches, or a creative activity that totally absorbs your attention and thus puts you in a flow state very similar to that of meditation, and more options as well. This doubling up is actually typical of mindfulness, and we get the benefit of two health activities in one brief time frame.

Of course, while a comprehensive two-hour regimen, say, may be a bit much for many a schedule, if we feel too busy to regularly engage in any activities to promote health…we’re too busy.

As the Zen saying goes, just twenty minutes of meditation will do – unless you’re too busy, and then you should practice for an hour.

We may also wish to consider busy schedules and stress. Conventional wisdom for a hundred years (and what a stressful century it’s been) has viewed stress as harmful to health. In just the past decade, much research has been conducted regarding the beneficial nature of the stress response, as the human body under duress releases a cascade of hormones to bring the body back into a state of equilibrium, a process known as homeostatic mechanism. Our physical response to stress can result in greater social bonding and empathy, more energy and motivation, increased focus and attention, a decrease in pain, and an elevation in mood – all because of stress hormones.

What damages our health in the face of stress, it turns out, is a belief that it’s bad for health. And so, for our health: we befriend stress instead. We don’t necessarily invite it in, though a life without stress would be dull; indeed, instead, when it does arrive, we recognize and greet it, and ally with it for the best possible outcome. This, too, has emerged from the field of health psychology.

And so – we begin with this bodymind / mindbody approach, alongside the understanding that the social realm too is essential for health, and we think of and plan our own practices in these 3 areas: biological, psychological, and social.

The contribution of health psychology.

[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Befriending Stress: Personal Growth ©2023]

We begin with the development of a positive stress mindset.

First, what do we mean by ‘mindset’, and how does this differ from perspective? The term ‘mindset’ doesn’t refer to our full worldview or way of thinking, but a subset thereof – so we can have mindsets on more than one topic. It begins, yes, with a certain perspective, yet to be considered a mindset rather than a mere point of view, we must also engage with it in some way, to integrate this way of thinking into our daily life. We often identify with others who share our same mindset; for example, we may align a certain way politically and identify with those of similar perspective, though we may differ from them in other major ways, such as religious beliefs, while the reverse could also be true.

And, what constitutes a shift in mindset? Following on from above, periodically we may gain a new perspective in some area; our way of thinking about it has changed. We then engage in some sort of activity that helps us apply it personally, to more fully integrate this new viewpoint into our own life. Finally, we share this concept with others, by seeking out those who share our new point of view and/or in telling others why we’ve changed our thinking about a certain area, and at this point: we’ve experienced a mindset shift.

Sometimes, this comes as a sudden awareness, often referred to as an “aha!” moment of revelation; something has occurred that’s caused us to change a particular perspective. For example, the person who has long-held beliefs about a certain group of people may be helped by them in a surprising way, and his previous belief shifts. Just as often, the mindset shift occurs over time, in multiple such encounters or other occurrences that belie our previous way of thinking, and we become increasingly convinced to see things differently.

Our stress mindset can be either positive or negative; we can believe that stress is harmful, even debilitating, as a century of research has pointed out (and isn’t wrong), or we can believe that it brings beneficial aspects from which we can develop in positive ways. This isn’t an absolute, it’s important to note, but a continuum; we can fully recognize the benefits of stress while also understanding that, if viewed negatively and approached as something to be controlled or ignored, it does indeed result in harmful health effects. As mentioned in the introduction, the view that we choose to support can have a significant effect.

A mindset of stress as beneficial, then, must be our starting point to befriending stress – not that we view negative stressors themselves as positive, but that we begin to recognize the benefits stress brings to our physical and mental health, performance, and behavior, and that it provides us with an opportunity for growth.

The stress-as-beneficial mindset has been linked to cognitive improvements in attention, decision-making, and mental flexibility, psychological benefits of mood and life satisfaction, and biological outcomes as mentioned including stress hormones and improved cardiac functioning. That racing heart when faced with a sudden stressor is unlikely to fail, if there’s no predisposing weakness; rather, it’s pumping blood to the body’s brain and muscle tissue in order to achieve an optimal state of readiness. Its pounding may be alarming to you, but the heart is beating a drum of alert – and functioning at its peak.

Think about this mindset shift for just another moment. Across cultures, stress has long been seen as something painful to be avoided. This shift, then, in viewing stress as something welcome and growth-enhancing, is so profound that it may have a major ripple effect throughout the world – especially in such highly stressful times as these.

We must be very clear: no one is saying that we should accept the death of a loved one, our diagnosis of terminal illness, or a natural disaster that kills thousands and destroys communities, as something positive. It’s not the event itself but our response: while initially destabilizing, stress causes our bodies and minds to react in a cascade of events meant to bring us back into balance – and that flooding of oxytocin, dopamine, endorphins, cortisol, adrenaline, norepinephrine, and more brings with it some very positive health benefits. Yes, our bodies and minds are at risk in the presence of extreme stress. And, our bodies and minds are designed to recognize and deal with this through a myriad of homeostatic mechanisms.

In the face of stress, we may feel emotionally devastated – and, we have biological support that can enable us to thrive in the aftermath. The significance of this cannot be overstated.

Chronic stress brings less of a biochemical flooding – as mentioned in our introduction, the sympathetic aspect of our autonomic nervous system isn’t fully engaged in chronic stress – so while we will still experience some such, this is where our mindset becomes even more important, as mind and body work together. How we view the impact and outcome of stressful events over time will greatly affect the actual outcomes.

This isn’t a matter of wishing something into being. We can’t wish away our cancer or bring back our loved one. Rather, it’s a fundamental view regarding stress itself, not only our handling of it but the very nature of stress and the human stress response, that will determine its impact on us.

The Stress Mindset Measure, published in 2013 by Crum, Salovey and Achor, originating theorists earlier mentioned, has both adult and youth versions. In our quest here in this first key, as we work to shift our own mindset toward one of stress as beneficial, the following questions from the adult version may be helpful.

Begin with asking yourself these 3 preliminary questions. (You may want to explore these and the ones to follow simply in contemplation, or in a journal or similar.) How much stress am I experiencing in my life right now? What is the primary source of stress in my life? How stressful do I perceive this to be?

And then we must consider our response to each of the following statements. The effects of stress are (a) negative and to be avoided, or (b) positive and to be utilized. Experiencing stress (a) facilitates or (b) inhibits my learning and growth. Experiencing stress (a) depletes or (b) improves my health and vitality. Experiencing stress (a) enhances or (b) debilitates my performance and productivity.

It’s important to note that in the measurement tool itself, these questions are separated out and ranked according to the strength of one’s belief (from ‘not at all’ to ‘fully support’) – which is to say, this isn’t as absolute as presented here but more nuanced. In your consideration, then, allow for this; in each of the above statements, your current belief may fall somewhere between the two options presented, which represent polarities.

We do want to work, however, toward those positive poles. If your present views of stress (and if you’ve a major stressor in your life currently, your stress mindset may be powerfully influenced by same) lean more toward the harmful pole, then you may wish to work toward a shift in the opposite direction.

Stress mindset theory is also supported by the Transactional Model of Stress, in which we perceive stressors either as a challenge which can lead to positive outcomes, or as a threat that invokes negative outcomes – and that the perception itself, and how we act on it, is a matter of choice, and practice.

But how do we do this?

First, simply learning more about the research that supports this will help. You may wish to read an article or two on ‘stress mindset’ or ‘benefits of stress’ (scientific if so inclined; or if not, you’ll also find a number of media reports that reflect these scientific findings). When presented with new information, we often find our own views changing as a result.

Secondly, you may wish to consider (again, in contemplation or in journal-writing or other expressive method, as you prefer) stressors you’ve experienced throughout your life and any positive outcomes, in the short- or long-term, that resulted. In the moment, it may seem purely stressful, or even painful. When we reflect, however, we can often recognize our own growth as a result. Someone who’s gone through a painful divorce, for example, may later realize how much more independent they’ve become. This helps to reinforce your positive stress mindset; not only are the facts and research supportive of same, but when you think about it, your own stressful experiences have also resulted in some positive outcomes.

Thirdly, then, how can we more actively engage with this in current and future experiences with stressors?

When stress comes again, or if it’s here now – and who doesn’t have stress in their life? but we’re talking about major stress – there are generally two stages. If acute – devastating news or an accident, for example, or if positive, perhaps the month following a job promotion or the birth of one’s baby – we first need a period of emotional recovery, and some of our later keys can help with that. When we’ve passed the acute stage and are settling into a more chronic recovery period, or find ourselves in long-term stress generally, we must shift our focus to the positive biological benefits of stress, through journal-writing, meditating, imagery, and other methods to be discussed. We search for any potential positive outcomes including personal growth, as we work toward those goals instead of focusing on an endurance of the stress itself.

Easier said than done, naturally. However, in this key we work to shift our stress mindset in the direction of stress as beneficial; we are building a foundation, a core belief. Our other keys, then, will help us to actually take steps toward this end, even when in the midst of major stress.

Do your research now. Read more about the stress mindset and positive benefits of stress. Reflect on your own prior experiences, and perhaps record some positive outcomes and personal growth that resulted. Build your foundation. Plant all this firmly in your mind.

Cultivate that stress-as-beneficial mindset.