“Like everything else, it takes practice to nurture lasting happiness. In a sense, we have to be patient, reset our baseline, and bring attention to the positive aspects in our lives,” says Dr. Kirti Salwe Carter.
AUSTIN, Texas (PRWEB)
September 14, 2020
For most in the world, 2020 has been jarring to the mind, body, and psyche. According to a recent study, Americans reported feeling more unhappy, lonely, and less optimistic about the future than they have in the past 50 years. The last 230+ days of the COVID-19 pandemic has left many of us inundated with unrelenting negative emotions and thoughts.
How do we find joy in our lives with so much uncertainty and anxiety?
“Like everything else, it takes practice to nurture lasting happiness. In a sense, we have to be patient, reset our baseline, and bring attention to the positive aspects in our lives,” says Dr. Kirti Salwe Carter, co-author with her husband, Dr. Rob Carter, of The Morning Mind: Use Your Brain to Master Your Day and Supercharge Your Life (http://www.themorningmind.com)
Carter has four creative techniques to wake up your brain and live a positive, calmer, and happier life:
1. Think Deeply and Be Creative. “Research studies show that engaging in creative activities consistently truly makes you happier,” says Carter; use your imagination to write, paint, or draw as much detail about how a positive experience impacted you and how you felt before and then after the positive experience.” These types of creative activities are associated with encouraging emotions, long-term happiness, and well-being.
2. Focus on the positive. “To realize enduring happiness, you ought to reorient your brain from a pessimistic mindset to a progressive mindset,” says Carter, “the tendency of the mind is to focus on the negative, you must resist this inclination. If you devote a few minutes a day exploring the positives in your wonderful life, after a month or so, your mind will begin doing so spontaneously.
3. Choose a Positive Mantra for the Day. “Something you will repeat to yourself, such as “today is magnificent” or “I feel thankful for all I have,” says Carter “and when things go south, take a second to try and see it from a positive light.” Never undervalue the significance of recognizing the silver linings in life.
4. Practice mindfulness. “Mindfulness mediation ensues by creating recognition and attentiveness to the present moment,” says Carter “it’s about staying open-minded and accepting your emotions.” “Recognizing what we are going through reduces anxiety and helps us see situations for what they are,”says Carter.
Mindful writing and thinking help us more purposefully pay attention to all facets of life. These activities allow us to get our most precious thoughts out without allowing them to get lost in a sea of emotions. Give your 100% during your writing exercise and mindfulness practice. You will begin to notice that you are getting much more out of your day and your life.
About Dr. Rob Carter III and Dr. Kirti Salwe Carter
Dr. Rob Carter III is co-author of The Morning Mind: Use Your Brain to Master Your Day and Supercharge Your Life (http://www.themorningmind.com). Dr. Rob Carter is a Colonel in the U.S. Army, an expert in human performance and physiology with an academic appointment at the University of Texas. He holds a Ph.D. in medical physiology, is a Gates Scholar, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard School of Public Health. He lives in Austin, Texas.
Dr. Kirti Carter was born in Pune, India. She received her medical education in India, where she practiced as an intensive-care physician at Breach Candy Hospital before moving to Texas to complete postgraduate training in public health. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Stress (FAIS), has more than 18 years of experience in meditation and breathing techniques, and has been facilitating wellness seminars for the past decade.
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