How to boost your winter wellbeing
How can you counter the winter blues? Check out our tips on how to boost your wellbeing during the colder months.
HOW TO BOOST YOUR WELLBEING IN WINTER
By Joyce Chong
Winter is a time when we often let our wellbeing habits slide. Those lifestyle factors that make for positive wellbeing in summer - exercise, socialising with friends, healthier diets, and a sunnier and more positive outlook – tend to take a back seat come winter. Faced with shorter days (less natural light) and colder temperatures, it’s easy to fall into unhelpful patterns and neglect your wellbeing. Mood can suffer, and the winter blues can sometimes tip into Seasonal Affective Disorder. So, today we’re look at 3 Problems for Wellbeing in Winter and what we can do to boost our wellbeing.
PROBLEM 1: Poorer health during flu season
SOLUTION: Being physically healthy is an important component to overall wellbeing. Think of winter as an endurance race – the goal is to stay well for a 3-month stretch. So, it’s time to double down on the building blocks of health by eating well, exercising, and getting enough sleep (for more general tips on how to stay healthy see this post). And, of course, with cold and flu germs being in plentiful supply during winter, it's good to practice good hygiene.
And should you happen to fall ill, be sure to get proper rest rather than propping yourself up only to run your body down again.
Problem 2: Being less active in winter
SOLUTION: Rethink how you work on your wellbeing. Because there's less light, more rain, and cooler weather, staying active in winter may require a bit more thought and preparation. Try the following:
Get over the psychological barrier in order to get physical. Often the biggest barrier is in your mind, so make it a non-negotiable that you will be more active.
Move your exercise indoors where possible (e.g. Perhaps join a gym for the winter months or use the stairs at work) so that the weather becomes a non-issue.
Choose wellbeing activities that are not just physical in nature. Focus on building positive emotions (do something nice for yourself), get into a state of flow (engagement) where you’re really engrossed in an indoor hobby or activity (for more on engagement check out our post on PERMA: The Ingredients for Resilience and Wellbeing), or nurturing positive relationships.
And, of course, the PERFECT way to boost your wellbeing in winter is with our 14-day Wellbeing Challenge! The wellbeing tips in our challenge don’t rely on a perfect sunny day or a spare hour or two… They’re simply 15-minute activities delivered to your inbox each day, and are mostly based indoors, so get cracking and sign up here (just below), or you can learn more about the challenge here.
(You can read Problem 3 for Wellbeing in Winter by scrolling down.)
PROBLEM 3: Feeling blah, feeling down, or feeling depressed
SOLUTION: Winter can be a real dampener on your mood, with a lack of light proposed to be linked to Seasonal Affective Disorder (see this article for more on SAD), so try the following options to boost your mood:
Try to get some (safe) exposure to the sun, or consider light therapy
Increase your exercise because of its positive effects on wellbeing (see this post on Why Exercise Matters for your Mental Health + Wellbeing)
Increase pleasant activities to give yourself a mood boost
Follow these tips and boost your wellbeing this winter, and feel free to reach out if you’d like to book in with one of our team for a tailored plan.
REFERENCES
Grimaldi, S., Englund, A., Partonen, T., Haukka, J., Pirkola, S., Reunanen, A., Aromaa, A., & Lönnqvist, J. (2009). Experienced poor lighting contributes to the seasonal fluctuations in weight and appetite that relate to the metabolic syndrome. Journal of Environmental and Public Health. Doi:10.1155/2009/165013
Positive Psychology: 5 Key Concepts (and how journalling helps with intentional practice)
Boost your wellbeing and resilience with Positive Psychology. In this article we look at 5 key concepts in the field of positive psychology, and how journalling can help you achieve better wellbeing.
Positive Psychology: 5 Key Concepts (and how journalling helps with intentional practice)
By Giulia Villa
“Curing the negatives does not produce the positives.” opined Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology. With this, Seligman started a movement - and a refreshing detour from traditional psychology by turning our focus away from fixing negatives to maximising positives - to become more resilient. Specifically, those skills used to ‘fix’ our unhappiness differ from those that enable us to become better, more resilient versions of ourselves. Key concepts such as the three routes to happiness, PERMA/PERMAH, strength and values, grit, and gratitude, have found their places in our psychological toolkits. And if there’s anything that the Covid pandemic of the past 18 months has taught us, it’s that we can’t predict the challenges and setbacks that life may throw at us – resilience is key for us to thrive under difficult circumstances.
Positive psychology provides not only a framework, but also outlines behavioural interventions for a happier, more satisfying life. In this article, we highlight five key concepts of positive psychology, look at evidence regarding the effectiveness of psychological interventions, and examine how you can stay focused on the positive psychology track.
5 key concepts in positive psychology
1. The three types of happiness
The concept of happiness is perhaps viewed as synonymous with positive psychology, and the exemplar of positive emotions. Seligman proposed that there are three paths to achieving happiness. The twist is: they are not all equal. The first path, or level, is the Pleasant Life. We all have things that bring us happiness in the moment: that delicious slice of cake, sleeping in to avoid work, a few (maybe too many) drinks with friends. However whilst these bring us pleasure in the short term, the instant gratification we get from the Pleasant Life does not necessarily translate long-term happiness.
This brings us to the second type of happiness - the Good Life. We pursue happiness through this path by being engaged in what we do. We become engaged and live the Good Life when we frequently use our strengths and virtues in our day-to-day life. Engagement might look like being passionate about your work, building your personal relationships, or pursuing new hobbies.
The ultimate path to happiness is the Meaningful Life. We can lead a Meaningful Life when we use our strengths and character traits to serve a cause or purpose that is bigger than us. There is no singular cause that will be important to everyone, so infusing our life with meaning involves reflecting on what really matters to us.
To learn more about the 3 types of happiness head on over to this article.
2. PERMA/PERMAH
Another important concept in Positive Psychology is that of PERMA, which are the five building blocks of resilience and wellbeing identified by Seligman - Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. Let’s refresh these five components before we introduce the latest building block. In brief:
Positive emotions are important for resilience and wellbeing. In the moment, we can increase positive emotions by simply choosing to do things we enjoy. Practicing gratitude is a great way to feel more positively about the past and future.
We experience Engagement when we are fully immersed in an activity that requires our strengths, skills, and focus.
Intentionally investing in positive Relationships gives us purpose whilst building a protective tool against our own struggles.
We can all live a life filled with Meaning by working towards a purpose that is bigger than ourselves.
We gain a sense of Accomplishment by achieving goals that are important to us.
The latest research in positive psychology has expanded this model to add a sixth determinant of wellbeing: physical Health. We can break this down into three pillars:
Movement Recent research shows that those who exercise regularly are less likely to suffer from mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression.[1] Physical activity can reduce stress, boost mood and improve self-esteem.[2]
Healthy diet What we eat impacts how we feel not only physically but mentally. Alongside reducing the risk of chronic disease, a balanced diet can improve mood as well as cognitive function. A population study found that consumption of fruit and vegetables was the most consistent predictor of mental wellbeing.[3]
Sleep It’s challenging going about daily life under a cloud of tiredness, let alone try to improve ourselves. A lack of sleep can leave us feeling cranky and struggling to concentrate (hello brain fog). On the other hand, being well-rested is associated with positive emotions and having purpose – which we already know is key to achieving a Meaningful Life![4]
Learn more about the relationship between physical health and psychological wellbeing.
3. Strength and Virtues
So far, we have mentioned using your strengths to live an engaging and meaningful life, but it can be challenging to look inwards and know what these strengths are. Seligman and his colleague Peterson developed the Values in Action (VIA) Character Strengths Survey, comprising 24 character strengths categorized under six overarching virtues (Wisdom and knowledge, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, and Transcendence).[5]
In a similar vein to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is used for classification and diagnosis in traditional psychology, the VIA provides a framework to empirically assess and classify positive traits.
The VIA Strengths survey helps identify particular strengths, and by frequently applying and working on these strengths we are able to thrive and flourish.
Dr. Niemic from the VIA Institute on Character encourages us to be mindful and reflect on the role of our strengths in our lives: what strengths do we use when we are at our best? What about to overcome our struggles? We may notice that we have gravitated towards job opportunities, study paths, or hobbies which call on our strengths. Setting goals involving identifying strengths we wish to use more often, and integrating it into our daily routines. The more we practice tapping into our strengths, the more likely they are to become part of our routines and increase meaning and satisfaction in life. Head here for some great articles on how to harness strengths on a daily basis.
4. Grit
Grit is defined as passion for, and perseverance towards, long-term goals. It’s what keeps us going in the face of challenges. Research has found that grit is a greater predictor of success than other measures such as IQ and conscientiousness.[6] Not only do grittier people experience more success, they are also more resilient and find it easier to bounce back from adversity.
Unlike IQ, which remains relatively stable throughout adulthood, we can actually work to improve our own grit through intentional practice. Becoming ‘grittier’ requires a shift in mindset, involving examining those beliefs that hold us back, those beliefs that lead us to give up on things when we feel frustrated, or those that stop us from attempting a challenge out of fear.
Increasing grit involves crafting a balance between maintaining effort and interest. By varying mindset, seeing challenges and setbacks as learning opportunities, and incrementally stepping in the right direction, grit can be strengthened.
5. Gratitude
The practice of gratitude is not just the latest fad taking the wellness world by storm. Being grateful is a great way to amplify the effects of what is going ‘right’ in our life: a key tenet of positive psychology. In fact, the very act of expressing or receiving gratitude triggers the release of “happy” neurotransmitters in our brain: dopamine and serotonin.[7] These chemicals help us feel good and tap into those positive emotions, which we know are essential for wellbeing. The key to strengthening these neural pathways is to make gratitude a habit. To increase the likelihood of success, anchor gratitude practice to everyday tasks. Some examples of this are:
Jotting down a gratitude list whilst on the train to work.
Ending each day by naming three good things that happened that day, for example by journalling.
Writing a thank you message to a friend after spending some time with them.
How does positive psychology apply to real life?
Does positive psychology have the potential to trigger long term positive change? Let’s take a look at the evidence. For many, the workplace is an environment that conjures stress and anxiety. With the additional weight of the pandemic on our shoulders, it is no surprise that 63% of workers are experiencing decreased mental health due to workplace changes.[8]
To learn more about causes of burnout at work, check out our previous blog posts Early Career Burnout: Part 1 – Personal factors and Early Career Burnout: Part 2 – Workplace factors. Alongside addressing the personal and organisational factors mentioned in these articles, research suggests that positive psychology plays an important role on workplace performance and wellbeing. Positive psychology interventions in the workplace, such as gratitude diaries and capitalising on individual strengths, are linked to reduced stress and burnout amongst employees.[9]
Positive psychology is not just for adults. In schools, intervention programs based on positive psychology concepts have been successful at improving relationships and academic performance whilst reducing stress levels and symptoms of anxiety and depression in students.[10][11]
How journaling helps you practice Positive Psychology
So far, we have learnt about the key concepts in positive psychology and the effectiveness of positive psychology. But how can we maintain regular practice in order to reap the benefits of positive psychology in daily life? The answer: Intentional practice.
Intentional (or deliberate) practice aims to bring awareness and intent to all components of the to-be-implemented change. This means being mindful of the “what” and the “how”. Start by asking the following questions:
What is the desired outcome?
What behaviours need to be practised to achieve that outcome?
How will these behaviours bring about the desired outcome?
Resilience can be built through the intentional practice of evidence-based wellbeing interventions [12] in much the same way as deliberate practice helps with learning, skill acquisition, and expert performance in a wide range of areas (e.g. athletics, musical performance, etc.). Thus, for all of the 5 key concepts of positive psychology covered above, intentional practice can be applied in the following ways:
Positive emotions can be amplified through our intentional choice of activities that make us feel good.
A regular conscious practice of gratitude teaches us to intentionally focus on the positive sides of an experience.[13]
The intentional choice of activities in which we can express our strengths brings meaning and satisfaction to our lives.
One simple way to engage in intentional practice is via guided journalling, which is easily accessible to anyone. Journaling has been shown to improve psychological wellbeing and stress management.[14][15] It’s a highly portable activity that does not require significant planning, and the act of journalling gives you time to focus on enhancing your wellbeing.
Committing to journaling regularly, and in a guided manner to focus on the principles of positive psychology, can help you reach your goals and boost your wellbeing. It can be as simple as journalling about the positive aspects of your day, about a positive memory, or things that make you happy. Make a start today, and start journalling your way to improved wellbeing and resilience.
If a more structured approach is what will help you stick with the task, why not try guided journalling? Check out My Happy Place, a 30-day positive psychology-based journal with guided prompts.
If you’d like a tailored approach to building up your resilience and wellbeing reserves, why not contact us to make an appointment and get started?
REFERENCES
[1] Kandola, A. A., Osborn, D. P., Stubbs, B., Choi, K. W., & Hayes, J. F. (2020). Individual and combined associations between cardiorespiratory fitness and grip strength with common mental disorders: a prospective cohort study in the UK Biobank. BMC Medicine, 18(1), 1-11.
[2] Mikkelsen, K., Stojanovska, L., Polenakovic, M., Bosevski, M., & Apostolopoulos, V. (2017). Exercise and mental health. Maturitas, 106, 48-56.
[3] Stranges, S., Samaraweera, P. C., Taggart, F., Kandala, N. B., & Stewart-Brown, S. (2014). Major health related behaviors and mental wellbeing in the general population: The health survey for England. BMJ Open, 4(9).
[4] Steptoe, A., O'Donnell, K., Marmot, M., & Wardle, J. (2008). Positive affect, psychological well-being, and good sleep. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 64(4), 409-415.
[5] Peterson, C., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York: Oxford University Press and Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
[6] Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(6), 1087.
[7] Zahn, R., Moll, J., Paiva, M., Garrido, G., Krueger, F., Huey, E. D., & Grafman, J. (2009). The neural basis of human social values: evidence from functional MRI. Cerebral Cortex, 19(2), 276-283.
[8] Relationships Australia. (2020). COVID-19 and its effects on relationships. https://relationships.org.au/what-we-do/research/online-survey/AprilSurveyReportRelationshipsAustralia3.pdf
[9] Meyers, M. C., van Woerkom, M., & Bakker, A. B. (2013). The added value of the positive: A literature review of positive psychology interventions in organizations. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 22(5), 618-632.
[10] Shoshani, A., & Steinmetz, S. (2014). Positive psychology at school: A school-based intervention to promote adolescents’ mental health and well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15(6), 1289-1311.
[11] Waters, L. (2011). A review of school-based positive psychology interventions. The Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 28(2), 75-90.
[12] Kaye-Kauderer, H., Feingold, J.H., Feder, A., Southwick, S., & Charney, D. (2021). Resilience in the age of COVID-19. BJPsych Advances, 27, 166-178.
[13] Emmons, R. A., & Mishra, A. (2011). Why gratitude enhances well-being: What we know, what we need to know. In K. M. Sheldon, T. B. Kashdan, & M. F. Steger (Eds.), Designing Positive Psychology: Taking and Moving Forward (pp. 248-262). NY: Oxford University Press.
[14] Dimitroff, L.J., Sliwoski, L., O’Brien, S., & Nichols, L.W. (2017). Change your life through journaling – The benefits of journaling for registered nurses. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 7, 90-98.
[15] Pastore, C. (2020). Stress management in college students: why journaling is the most effective technique for this demographic. (Unpublished Honours thesis, State University of New York, New York). Retrieved from https://soar.suny.edu/handle/20.500.12648/1512
PERMA: The Ingredients for Resilience + Wellbeing
Looking to build up your resilience and wellbeing reserves? Meet your new best friend PERMA, the key 5 ingredients from positive psychology for better resilience and wellbeing.
PERMA: The ingredients for resilience + wellbeing
What enables some people to bounce back from challenges while others crumble in a crisis? Well Martin Seligman, the father of Positive Psychology, studied resilience and wellbeing to answer this very question. In doing so, Seligman developed the PERMA Model, which contains five factors to help you build resilience and wellbeing - Positive emotions, Engagement, (positive) Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. [1]Positive psychology shifts traditional ideas of psychology from working on fixing what is 'wrong', to focusing on what works, on strengths, on skills, and on enhancing the positives. Positive psychology has a lot to teach us about how to achieve and maintain long-term wellbeing.
Let’s look at each element of the PERMA model.
POSITIVE EMOTIONS
Positive emotions like happiness have an obvious connection to wellbeing. When we feel positive emotions we perform better, we respond more helpfully in our relationships, and we are more willing to hope for the best future, and to take risks to achieve that future.
How do we bring about positive emotions? The short answer is to do the things that make you happy. Fill your life with the things that make you smile – food, friends that build you up rather than drag you down, music, gardening, movies, exercise. Whatever it is that makes you feel good. Things like gratitude diaries are also great ways to train your mind towards the positive.
ENGAGEMENT
Have you ever had a time when you were enjoying what you were doing so much so that you were completely absorbed by it? So on a roll writing a report or assignment that an hour slipped by unnoticed? So enthralled with that Game of Thrones episode that you didn’t hear your partner calling your name? So blissed out during yoga that the past and the future just fell away and you felt completely in the present?
Psychologists call that experience “flow” - a state of being fully engaged with a task and, according to Seligman, engagement is one of the five crucial building blocks of wellbeing. We all achieve flow doing different things – sport for some, music for others, a hobby or a work project. Figure out what in your life gives you a sense of engagement.
(positive) RELATIONSHIPS
Humans are built to belong. We need connection, intimacy, and emotional and physical contact with others.
An integral part of overall wellbeing, therefore, is our relationships. We struggle with our wellbeing when our relationships are destructive, draining, one-sided, or we are just isolated. However if your relationships make you feel supported, included, understood and cared for, you have set yourself up for a lifetime of wellbeing.
Be conscious of building your relationships and you will be working not just on relationships but on overall life satisfaction.
MEANING
Seeing and working towards a meaning that is bigger and more important than just your own happiness is also important.
Having a purpose to your life brings satisfaction, even if working towards that purpose does not directly bring positive emotion, flow, or any of the other building blocks of wellbeing. This might be a religious faith, a political agenda, community work or perhaps charity work. Being with like-minded people working towards a common goal that you really believe in brings significance to your life.
ACCOMPLISHMENT
The final building block that allows humans to flourish is accomplishment, or a sense of mastery over something. Gaining mastery over something is important for its own sake, even if the accomplishment is not linked to any of the other building blocks of wellbeing.
Ever wonder why you keep doing Sudoku, even though it has no real world application? Why you are driven to get to the next level of Candy Crush Saga, or why you keep building that Lego construction even after your kid has drifted onto another activity? It’s important to know that we can do something well, that we can set a goal and reach it, and enjoy that feeling of success.
THE BOTTOM LINE?
People who adopt and live by these five concepts have been shown to do better at university, excel even after setbacks in sports, are less likely to experience depression or post traumatic stress, and even have a lower risk of premature death[2].
So stop and think. How can you apply the PERMA model to your own life? By being consistent in filling your life with positive emotions, engagement, good relationships, meaning and accomplishment you set yourself up to weather the storms in life more readily, and enjoy the blessings in life more fully.
If you’d like a tailored approach to building up your resilience and wellbeing reserves, why not contact us to make an appointment and get started?
Keep track of your anxiety by monitoring your mood and sticking with healthy habits. Here we outline how the humble planner can help you to achieve your goals when it comes to anxiety.