By Miriam Akhtar I love to write but the discipline of writing doesn’t come easily. The only benefit seems to be a cleaner house from all the procrastination and displacement activity.  So, to strengthen the neural pathways of communication I’m sharing some thoughts on topics that draw on positive psychology and how to apply it in real life. And like a lot of us my attention span isn’t quite what it used to be, so I’m keeping it short and sweet with four thoughts on each subject. Or should that read forethought? Because forethought can facilitate growth. First up it’s resilience. Resilien ..read more

To mark World Menopause Day Miriam Akhtar describes how positive psychology can help you manage the psychological symptoms of menopause and flourish after fifty. Part 1 on my own experience of the menopause transition. It can be a tough call for women turning fifty. Managing menopause symptoms on the inside while out in the workplace dealing with the double whammy of ageism and sexism. Older women seem to be invisible in the workplace, in research and in the media. Twelve years ago my namesake Miriam O’Reilly won an age discrimination case against the BBC, which happens to be my former employe ..read more

98% of women attending Dr Louise Newson’s menopause clinic are experiencing psychological symptoms and yet the impact of the menopause on mental health is often overlooked. Ahead of World Menopause Day Miriam Akhtar MAPP explores the menopause mindset starting with her own story.    It is a truth not universally acknowledged that women’s psychological health is significantly affected at and post menopause. For most of my life an appointment with the doctor only ever meant dealing with a physical illness. Mental health was never discussed, nor was there any acknowledgement of the rela ..read more

“If you want others to be happy, practise compassion. If you want to be happy, practise compassion” The Dalai Lama I’m a devotee of kindness. It is one of the twelve happiness habits that I write about in The Little Book of Happiness and I see it as the superlative practice that can make a difference in someone’s life and add to the tonnage of happiness on the planet. It is, in essence, about being nice to others and doing good deeds without expectation of personal gain. Add a splash of empathy, compassion, generosity, care, altruism and love and you have some of the many faces of kindness. In ..read more

With Dr Megan Hayes, author of Write Yourself Happy. A great deal of scientific research into what is called expressive writing, pioneered by Prof James Pennebaker at the University of Texas, which has shown us that writing about challenging experiences – from job loss to heartbreak to living with cancer – can have remarkable effects on both our emotional and physical health. This fascinating research has shown us the profound ways that writing can heal – but what if there were much more to writing than helping us to heal when things go wrong? Can we also pen our greatest hopes, our joys and o ..read more

We all want to be happy. It’s one of the most important life goals, if not the most, and the science of happiness has a simple and effective practice to increase happiness. Gratitude is probably familiar to you as ‘counting your blessings’. In positive psychology practising gratitude is a way of acknowledging and appreciating the good things in life. It’s powerful because it flicks our focus from the negative to the positive. The mind operates in one of two basic modes. A scarcity mindset brings awareness of what is lacking in our lives, which triggers negative thoughts and emotions. Gratitude ..read more

This is the fifth in a series of articles based on the twelve happiness habits in The Little Book of Happiness. Habit 9 is to Get Physical and Habit 10 is to Turn to Nature. Get physical and Get outdoors You’re probably familiar with the term ‘psychosomatic’ applied to illnesses where the mind has a negative influence on the body, but what about ‘somatopsychic wellbeing’ where the body has a positive influence on the mind? Using the body-mind connection is much under-rated as a means of growing your happiness. Whereas stress has a negative impact on the body’s systems, research is now showing ..read more

This is the fourth in a series of articles based on the twelve happiness habits in The Little Book of Happiness. Habit 7 is to Value Relationships, which are our number one source of wellbeing. And a very good way to do that is by Practising Kindness, the 8th habit. Wellbeing begins with ‘we’. Psychologist Chris Peterson once said that he could sum up the whole of the science of happiness in three little words – ‘other people matter’, which is why ‘Value Relationships’ is the next happiness habit in our webinar series. Relatedness is a sense of connection and belonging and is one of three fund ..read more

This is the third in a series of articles based on the twelve happiness habits in The Little Book of Happiness. Habit 6 is to Learn Optimism, one of the most reliable ways to boost your wellbeing. The positive news is that, even if you’re not a born optimist, you can still learn to think more optimistically. Happiness Habits: Learning Optimism    Is your glass half full or empty? Whether you’re an optimist or a born pessimist, it’s worth knowing about the link between optimism and mental health and that you can learn to think optimistically even if you’re more Eeyore than Tigger. Opt ..read more

This is the second in a series of articles based on the twelve happiness habits in The Little Book of Happiness. Habits 4 and 5 are Harness Your Strengths and Live with Meaning, which are both forms of eudaimonic wellbeing. Eudaimonic Wellbeing, A Deeper Happiness What makes us happy? We generally think of happiness as the peak moments of hedonic well-being, which comes from pleasure and enjoyment and is experienced as a range of positive emotions (the clue is in the name!) However hedonic well-being is a short-lived experience – a fleeting moment of bliss, delight, calm or serenity. Good new ..read more