Last month’s blog looked at the concept of flow as originally described in the book Flow The Psychology of Optimal Experience, published in 1990 by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced Me-high Chick-sent-me-high). What’s happened to this idea since then? That’s where the book The Rise of Superman, written by Steven Kotler and published in 2014, comes in. [...]
The book Flow The Psychology of Optimal Experience was first published in 1990 but I just recently caught up with it. Maybe not knowing how to pronounce the author’s name, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, kept me away. Silly, right. Well, I found out that his name is pronounced Me-high Chick-sent-me-high and now there’s no turning back. Csikszentmihalyi [...]
Judson Brewer, M.D., Ph.D. is the director of research at the Center for Mindfulness and associate professor in medicine and psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, an adjunct professor at Yale University, a longtime meditator and has written a book called The Craving Mind. His research has shown him what leads to people [...]
The book Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, The Process and Practice of Mindful Change, Second Edition, by Stephen Hayes, Kirk Strosahl and Kelly Wilson, is a good introduction to a type of therapy developed in the 1980s, which while the authors identified it as a form of behavior therapy, is different from other types of behavior [...]
Life is all about doing. Our brains evolved to reflect this and our minds appear to have a special aptitude and liking for the construction and interpretation of stories about active agents, someone doing something meaningful. Thus Daniel Kahneman, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, in his bestselling book Thinking, Fast and Slow, [...]
Most of us are often thinking about making changes in our lives. Whether big or small, change if often an inevitable part of life itself. When we desire a change, we often want to make that change RIGHT NOW and we want it to be quick and painless. The problem is that with any life [...]
Most people find the holidays the hardest time to avoid binge eating. There are celebrations, holiday parties, grocery stores packed with candy and desserts and a constant message that the holidays are all about food. Not to mention the stress involved with the holidays! During times of stress we are more likely to engage in [...]
When our minds are 'running on empty,' we set ourselves up to be emotionally vulnerable. As we drive a car, we pay attention to how much gas is being used so we know when to refill. Similarly, the more physical energy we exert, as exercise, running errands or playing with children etc., the increasingly tired or sore we begin [...]
Exercise and Fitness must always be goal-oriented. However, many people aren't always successful at meeting their goals because of a lack of criteria when establishing them. The #1 fitness/exercise goal is always to lose weight, especially around New Years'. Forbes magazine did a survey and estimated that about only 8% of people are able to [...]
The Anxiety/Stress Management Program and Support Group Offered at Specialized Therapy Associates Everyone worries from time to time, but sometimes anxiety can become all-consuming, inhibiting everyday life. Most of us have experienced anxiety at some point in our lives. It is a normal response to threatening situations. Under certain circumstances, anxiety can actually help us [...]