News Stories

Research shows how to increase mental wellbeing and feel happy

Published 17 May 2012

Why is it that some people seem to waltz through life in a bubble of happiness, when for others each day is a struggle? Should we just accept the personality we’re born with? Or can we act and think ourselves to happiness?

Victoria University PhD researcher Dr Erica Chadwick spent three years examining ‘savouring strategies’—the thoughts and behaviours people use to create, maintain or enhance positive experiences—to ascertain what strategies were most effective for overall wellbeing and happiness.

While past research has examined how people savour major but fleeting events, such as going on holiday or receiving a high mark at school, Dr Chadwick investigated the impact of the minor, everyday positive events that make up life.

“I wanted to know not only what increased the feeling of happiness for a moment, but what made a difference to mental wellbeing over time. I also wanted to examine how savouring strategies changed from adolescence to adulthood.”

Her research gathered the actions and thoughts of more than 400 young New Zealanders in the Bay of Plenty and 1,500 adults from across New Zealand and overseas, and grouped them into four overall strategies.

Actively boosting feelings of happiness involved physical actions such as celebrating by jumping up and down, high fiving or rushing over to a friend to share good news.

Subtle actions included being more mindful of your surroundings, living in the moment and paying greater attention to your enjoyment of minor events—such as savouring a meal.

Self-focused actions included thinking about being a lucky or fortunate person. They also included congratulating oneself after an achievement and actively realising a moment would be a memory to enjoy again in the future.

Dampening or “keeping things low key” had a negative effect on mental wellbeing.

“What I found interesting as I analysed my research results was that while subtle strategies such as mindfulness positively influenced adult wellbeing, they had a negative effect on adolescents. Instead, self-focused actions were the most powerful savouring strategies for youth,” says Dr Chadwick.

“They may be the most effective because teenagers are naturally inward-looking, or it might be because New Zealanders’ humble attitude and tall poppy syndrome thwart the effectiveness of more public behaviours.”

Dr Chadwick says that for everyone, regardless of age, research clearly shows that meaningful social connections with family and friends remains the most valuable tool for feeling happy and mentally well.

Dr Chadwick graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Tuesday’s Graduation ceremony.

How to feel happier and improve your mental wellbeing:
1. Activate your mind:  savouring is a conscious process so look for opportunities to make more of an experience or event, but don’t over think it.

2. Share positive news with other people, especially with those who’ll be happy for you too.

3. Acknowledge your achievements: although this might be anathema to New Zealanders, the research showed taking a moment to congratulate yourself, even silently, greatly improves your wellbeing.

4. And for adults particularly, slow down to more mindfully appreciate day to day activities. Be in the moment.

TURNING DREAMS INTO REALITY: understanding how your brain works could help!

 By Simon Parkinson-Jones

Do  you have a dream or vision of something you want to accomplish in life?  A new business, taking a year off to travel, a change of career, building a new home or other such big project? This can be very exciting and as long as we just think positively it will all go fantastically well!  Unfortunately this is often not the case.  People I have worked with over the years, and from my own experience, have often talked of the many hurdles, both inner and outer, they had to overcome in order to achieve their goals.

Having had a great idea for a new venture, there are many practical issues to consider: how will I make time for it in my already busy life; is there a market for my product or service and how will I market it; how do I put together a business plan; where will I find the money to get started; and If there are other people involved, what will our roles and responsibilities be?

Whilst it is vitally important that these issues are adequately attended to there are often some more hidden difficulties to contend with such as:  lack of, or too much confidence; being too perfectionistic or careless; learning how to communicate effectively and resolve differences constructively with others; acting impulsively or too cautiously; berating oneself when mistakes are made.

Research on how the brain functions has shown that there is often a conflict going on between the logical Frontal Cortex and the more emotional Limbic areas of the brain. The Limbic system controls things like hunger, your sex drive, reactions to dangerous situations – fight, flight or freeze – and emotions such as happiness, anger, sadness and fear.  If for example you learned as a child to fear big men with beards because there was one there who was at times a dominating bully, your Limbic brain will still today make the same association, will react with fear and produce a strong urge to either flee or become quiet and compliant. Even though your logical mind may be saying that this man with a beard is kind and respectful, your limbic mind will be saying the opposite! Through the long years of your childhood you will have developed many such associations, both positive and negative.

These old patterns of behaviour can become strongly ingrained, usually we have some lack of awareness about them and they’re often associated with strong emotions. Such habitual ways of reacting  to others can have a big effect on how we live our lives and the success or otherwise of our ventures.  Becoming aware of the self-limiting patterns and doing some work to find and develop new responses can dramatically increase your confidence, vitality and creativity.

There are many different methods and techniques for unlearning old ways and developing new ones, but the key thing, from my experience is that the emotional “baggage” held in the Limbic system needs to be healed or released, whilst a new pattern of behaviour is being learned. Therefore the method used needs to fully engage the mind, body and emotions.  I will go into specific examples in my next article, and I would welcome any questions from readers: simonvjones.57@gmail.com.

About Simon Parkinson-Jones

Simon has lived in Golden Bay, with his wife Carol, for most of the past 35 years.

During the late 1970′s he joined and helped develop the Rainbow Valley community, which is approaching it’s 40th anniversary.  In the 1980′s he and Carol, with two other couples, established and managed a successful business making possum fur garments. One of Simon’s roles was to market the products to tourist shops throughout NZ.

In 1990 Simon and Carol founded and established Te Whare Mahana Inc, a residential therapeutic home for  people with psychological problems, which developed into a comprehensive mental health service covering Golden bay.  During this time Simon trained in counselling and social work, and worked in the residential facility till 1999.

Simon moved with his family to ChCh in 2000, where he worked as a counsellor, supervisor and group facilitator, working with individuals, couples and families. During this time he also worked with Tom Watkins in his EncorageMentors business, doing mentoring/coaching with a variety of clients. An area of particular interest over this period was developing  and facilitating therapeutic and educational programmes for men.

Since moving back to Golden Bay in 2008, Simon has continued to work in the field of personal and professional development, working with a wide variety of people.

He may be contacted for Mentoring and counselling (face to face or on line) enquiries at 03 5258542,  or email: simonvjones.57@gmail.com

By Paul Smetana

We need it for our Socio-Economics, our health,wealth, and self esteem. It’s vitally important for our relationships, social, business, work, and career. In the area of creativity, competition, and Intelligence IQ, it’s almost the single factor that increases mental and cognitive power.

We need it to fight disease, illness. It’s huge in healing. Our immune system powers on feeling good. Our capacity to study, and do well Academically depends upon it.

Our sense of community and belonging, so important to ward off Alzheimer’s Disease, is bound up in that we feel good.

Spiritual and Religious efforts are helped. Business plans and their application are improved. The ability to tolerate and rise above the storms of life are heightened by feeling good….

Feeling good isn’t just a treat then, it’s not even just a nice thing, it’s the cornerstone of a successful Life.

About the Author: Paul Smetana writes about the Simple Secrets of Being Touched by Life, and how you can be Happier than you ever thought possible. In Aged Care for 30 years, he has discovered what our most Successful Elders knew about “A Life worth Living”.  One Brimming with vitality and Joy. There are Articles galore in
www.betouchedbylife.com, plus some simple Lessons in Being Touched by Life, often in downloadable form. Enjoy!

What if someone looks at us when we are supremely happy. Might they not think we were weird or dangerous. Might there be some consequences.

Usually though, it’s just what we think might happen, being that it’s so unusual to live like that. Although you can never be sure how others will react. It’s a bit of a gamble.

Once you get used to being a lot happier, anywhere and everywhere, there is a confidence that tells other people that it’s right to be this happy… Really!

Of course this brings us to the how to be Happy bit, doesn’t it?

Well, I can reveal one way it might work for you, and it’s not the way it happened to me, and I’m working on that. For me it just happened, but I’m convinced that I can somehow through intuition find teaching devices.

For now, let me offer the Actors Method. An actor remembers a time when a certain state of feeling was strong. The idea is to access that feeling many times by remembering, and then staying with the feelings.

These feelings will be felt in the body as sensations, mine for instance are in the chest and forehead. The actor after awhile can let the memory activation go, and the feeling can be turned on just by intention. The actor gets a set of switches used to tell the stories in tones of feelings. We non actor types can just focus on the subset of happiness, contentment, compassion, and muster up those memories.  I used to act, so I too played with these things. But I never in those days thought much about Happiness.

Give it a go, what have you got to lose.

Speak soon,
Paul
www.betouchedbylife.com

Then it came to me in a flash. Let me explain what came to me. Our mind is part of the mind of God. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not being religious here. There is no particular boat that I’m advocating. IF you like you can say instead, “our mind is part of the mind of life.”

Life, certainly has it’s mysteries, and one of them is that life/god/all that is/the divine … I could go on. Anyway one of the mysteries, is that life has intelligence and wisdom. This I believe with all my heart.

When we are in tune with life, we also have a mind that is active, wise and intelligent. But when we experience shock, we lose that attunement, and instead are only aware of pain and suffering. In this place there is very little wisdom and intelligence, but lots of confusion and wrong thinking in abundance.

Without life’s intelligent wisdom, our mind very quickly deteriorates. It’s a kind of spiritual petrol, if you like. We seem then, inexorably lost, and we are …
which is a further shock. All together, the very essence of what keeps our mind intact, is the direct intuitive connection to God/Life. And when it is severed, seemingly for good, our minds just lay down and die.

This direct intuitional connection to life’s very essence, means the difference between a life well lived, and one full of regret. A life within the radar of life’s exuberant essence, is one full of joy, clarity, wisdom, compassion and happiness. It’s the most interesting and amazing thing about being alive.

But, some people have in my experience, been skeptical about a life lived in joy. They say that while happiness is great, it leaves you clueless about all the threats to life. They say that a person in continuous happiness couldn’t be successful in life’s material aspects.

They argue that people couldn’t be happy and manage their lives, business’s, health, families and relationships well, because they wouldn’t be paying attention and bad things could happen right under their noses.

Let me say this in a loud voiced reply, … that happiness, and all kinds of joy, does in no way make you stupid, nor blind for that matter. If fact the opposite is really the truth. When negative events come, and when the simple management of life’s ups and downs come your way, as they do from Sun up to Sundown, you need the simple clarity and the wisdom to act, not from fear, anger and desperation, but from a far better place.

These people who don’t trust joy are wrong, no matter how their experiences have given them their truths about this. Unless you are so drunk with happiness and joy that you are in a stupor and can’t even wipe your own nose, joy and happiness is the one true way to live well.

Even if you are one of the very few who live in an almost ecstatic state of bliss, you still need to learn how to keep your life balanced, so that your physical, and material needs and those of your nearest and dearest, all well catered for.

The Yogi’s of India stress this balance of the Spiritual and the mundane, as being most important, and much training in Self Realisation, includes the management of Earthly duties.

But to come back to the shock that can cause Alzheimer’s, if we bother enough to enlighten ourselves, pursue happiness and joy, immerse ourselves in wisdom, there is no challenge we cannot face, no life we cannot help, and no joy too little for us to embrace. Life is good. Go on, be touched by life! You know you want to.

About the Author: Paul Smetana writes about the Simple Secrets of Being Touched by Life, How you can finally take control of your destiny, and the simple reason most people fail. In Aged Care for 30 years, he has discovered How our most successful Elders Attained “A Life worth Living”. One Brimming with vitality and Joy. And how easily you can too, without waiting any longer. For Instant Access to more Articles, e-books, and Resources on Living your best Life, Visit www.betouchedbylife.com

For many people the festive season is an important time of year to recollect and gather energy for the New Year.  In fact some scientists and psychologists claim that doing nothing and taking time out for yourself provides a multitude of mental and physical health benefits. All the more reason to put your feet up and take a breather before the “holidays” pass you by. During a study published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life in 2010, researchers from the Netherlands investigated the effects of vacationing on the mood levels over 900 participants.

The most significant benefit was noticed before and during vacation, with the simple anticipation of having a holiday increasing happiness the most. Only people whose vacations were very relaxing experienced an increase in their levels of happiness once the vacation was over. If holidays were not relaxing at all, there was almost no long-term benefit to mood levels once the participants returned to work. So live up your holiday and enjoy yourself and relax, because if you don’t, it might be time wasted.

If your holiday does go pear-shaped and is one of increased fatigue, conflict and worry, the stress you experience may have a negative effect on your physical well-being. Increased stress levels stimulate production of a hormone known as cortisol, which in turn has a suppressing action on your immune system — putting you more at risk of infection and disease. According to a meta-analysis study published in Psychological Bulletin in 2004, both short term and long-term stress can initiate changes in immune responses, with older people and those already affected by illness being at the most risk of stress-related immune dysfunction.

LOVE TO WRITE?  CHECK OUT THE HAPPYZINE NEW YEAR’S POSITIVE WRITING COURSE – FOR WORLD-CHANGING WRITERS

These real and measurable effects on your health are important to take into account – especially when the holidays may be your one chance during the year to rest, relax and charge up your batteries. The last thing you want is to do even more damage to your state of health.

While holidays are an important time of year for getting together with loved ones and spending real quality time together, it is also an important time of year for spending quality time with yourself. Susan Biali, M.D., published an article in Psychology Today in 2011 stating that “time alone is essential to our sanity” and that many people have to play a more active role in controlling their work and social schedules in order to get the down time that they require.

Rather than looking at alone time as something selfish, treat it as a health-promoting behavior, and build it into your daily life. Go for a run by yourself in the morning, go to a cafe, take a drive by yourself, or read a book somewhere peaceful. Negotiate with family and loved ones to get this time, and work out a solution that works for everyone. When you come back from your quality time, you will feel re-charged, and ready to face the busy holiday season with increased happiness, freshness and vigor.

Joel Le Blanc

Related Articles
Applied Research In Quality of Life: http://www.springerlink.com/content/233331654742r175/

New York Times “Vacation and Your Happiness” article: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/how-vacations-affect-your-happiness/

Psychological Bulletin:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361287/

Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/prescriptions-life/201108/need-more-time-alone-how-beg-borrow-and-steal-it

Joel Le Blanc is a medical herbalist, NLP practitioner and freelance writer living in Christchurch, New Zealand. His previous writing has featured in various publications, newsletters and websites, and currently Joel is studying towards a BA in English and Creative Writing at the University of Canterbury. When not working on freelance projects or publishing poetry, Joel spends time sitting in and weeding his organic herb and vegetable garden, where he hopes to grow enough produce for the whole winter long. 

As we head towards 2012 I couldn’t resist doing a ‘fly-by’ of this year’s amazing collection of positive news articles.  Some stood out for me personally as incredibly heart-warming and touching.  So here they are, my favorites (though there are so many articles I haven’t listed here that were also mega-amazing).  Enjoy them and thanks for tuning into my ‘baby’ Happyzine.

Charlotte Squire

Editor.

January -

Kapiti Coast’s Green Street Competition – Four Streets, One Prize – the Blog

365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog 271 – Line Dancing for Beginners

20% by 2020: Growers Drive Campaign to Turn New Zealand’s Vineyards Organic

The World is Your Canvas – Karamea’s Rongo Backpackers Where Self-Sufficiency Meets Creativity

February - 

The Earth Speaks

Ekodo: A Thousand Years of Bliss

365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – 297 – Gratitude at Waikoropupu

Wind Power, Zero Energy Homes, Power Conservation and Local Production Hailed As A Great Mix in New Zealand Green Energy Challenge

The Good Old Days – In a Jar!

March -

Using Our Spiritual Power to Balance World Chaos

Primary School Becomes First in New Zealand to Wear a Green Roof

April -

Kāpiti Coast’s Greenest Street: Growing the future

Eco-Jeweller Nick Feint – Saving the Planet One Wine Bottle at a Time

Some 'good' graffiti

ReGeneration Roadie Blog#4 – Free Hugs and Happiness

May -

Shining Light, Shaky Ground: a Poet’s Pilgrimage Through Te Wai Pounamu

 Eco-Artist Sarah Turner’s Recycled Bottle Sculpture Campaigns for ‘A World Without Bottles’

100 Free Fruit Trees for Auckland Schools: A Community Project from the Mount Eden Village People

June -

The Reality of Oil… and the Power of Hands

From a Stuffy LA Airport – By Johny O’Donnell

July -

Generation Zero Invites You To ‘Cheer Up Bob!’

Soften the F Up – The Successful Plan to Challenge Young Men’s Perception of a ‘Real Man’ in Aussie

The Victory School Success Story

LOVE TO WRITE?  CHECK OUT THE HAPPYZINE NEW YEAR’S POSITIVE WRITING COURSE – FOR WORLD-CHANGING WRITERS!

August -

Carrotmob: What a Nifty Idea …

Local Food Self-Reliance: Sexy

Feeding the Family With 95% Locally Sourced Food – by Anna Lakeman

Our Accidental Community – by Tricia Curtis

September -

International Hopebuilding News: German Mother of Five Who Created Power Company Wins Environmental Prize

‘Flash mob’ Meditations Awaken Public Interest in UK

Hand Over a Hundy: Leaving Food Growing Knowledge to the Next Generation, in Aotearoa

Building Community, Helping the Honey Bees With ‘Project Sunshine’

October -

Chickweed. A star in the garden – by Tricia Curtis

Take it Personally – Let Great Change Come from the Tauranga Oil Spill

November -

New Time Bank in Wellington South – by Hannah Mackintosh

Spring Time In Wellington, a Christchurch ‘Refugee’ Admires Silverbeet on Lambton Quay

Check Out the Lyttelton Timebank – ‘Back to the Future’

December -

NZ Gardener Celebrates Nation’s Green Heroes

Keep it local this Christmas!

Keep calm and carry on – the return to Christchurch

The miraculous powers of stinging nettle … by Tricia Curtis

Letter to the Editor: Fun, Romantic Car Free Sunday

Take care of yourself, and your loved ones and remember to have some good old fashioned fun!

Love Charlotte.

Got an inspiring goal you’d like to achieve by the end of 2011?

With the right focus, amazing change can happen in 30 days.

Join the November 30 Day Dream to Reality Challenge!  Note: places are limited.

Team up with Happyzine founder Charlotte Squire for some very affordable one-on-one encouragement.  Dream up and design your very own 30 day challenge, and one step at at time, take it from dream to reality.

Sign up before 5pm Monday 31st October

“Each of us bring something special and unique to this world, and if that dream keeps ‘knocking on our door’ so to speak, it’s good to trust those feelings.  They’re there for a reason.  And who knows?  That dream could bring some wonderful change to our world.”  Charlotte Squire.

What could you achieve in 30 days?

Finish that world-changing project?

Loose the extra weight that somehow appeared this year?

Find that amazing mentor to help you crank out the world-saving idea?

Meet that amazing person who will be your life-long mate?

Get yourself on TV, ’cause you’ve got something important to share?

Get your work accepted in that magazine you LOVE?

Start that super-duper socially responsible business?

Lead the cause that needs to be lead?

Finally write that proposal, that will be the beginning … of everything?

 Join the 30 Happyzine Dream to Reality Challenge!

Just for you:

• One 45 minute phone conversation per week with Charlotte for four weeks to brain storm, check in, review your progress, celebrate and strategise;
• A One month, custom made 30 day SMART goal strategy;
• Back-up support: Email check-ins with Charlotte – when ever you need them;
• Access to inspiring online videos and information to help you work towards for your goal;
• A free copy of Charlotte’s ebook ‘Ten Ways to Chillax and Have Fun As You Live Your Green Dreams‘;
• Charlotte Squire’s positive encouragement, support and perspective for one month
• Hit December with a whole new sense of confidence, and enter 2012 with a swagger in your step!

During this 30 day process Charlotte will work along-side you to help support, facilitate and enable your process of focused, positive progress towards your chosen goal.  She’ll assist you to identify your core strengths, clarify your key motivations and ‘what makes you tick’ and, one step at a time, unfold that dream of yours into an inspiring reality.

Invest in your dreams now.  Begin 2012 with a clear mind and the confidence to set exciting amazing new goals.

Investment:

One on one: $150

or

Team up with a buddy and achieve your goals together – $250

Visa accepted.

Email: charlotte@happyzine.co.nz to apply for the 30 Day Dream to Reality Challenge today.

About Charlotte

Charlotte Squire (BA SocPol and Politics), founder of the positive news website www.happyzine.co.nz, New Zealand based positive social and environmental change maker. Charlotte has spent the past decade working for and writing about some of the world’s most inspiring, green, world-changing people and organisations.   Most recently, she co-established Wild Energy (international green energy design competition) and Dream2Reality (one year’s mentoring for one green dreamer).  Over the past year she has promoted her new ebook ‘Ten Ways to Chillax and Have Fun As You Live Your Green Dreams’, and run a series of Green Dream courses for people who are serious about using their core strengths to create serious environmental change via financially viable projects, businesses or careers.  Currently Charlotte’s mid-way through facilitating the online course: The Happyzine 2011 Mindset Spring Clean Course – for World-Changing Ladies!  As an inspiring and intuitive mentor, Charlotte uses her skills and experience in Reflective counseling, Compassionate Communication (also known as NVC), Re-Evaluation Counseling, Zen Buddhism (meditation), Seido Karate, positive thinking and the Law of Attraction to offer a positive, intuitive, multifaceted approach to mentoring.  Charlotte sees the good, the huge untapped potential in everything and everyone!  Email charlotte@happyzine.co.nz

Feedback!

“Charlotte is truly amazing in providing support and reassurance to stick to your dreams: “One step at a time”, “Follow your heart” and “Trust the process”. After the course I feel I have made the first steps to rediscover myself and over time realise my big green dream for transforming urban transport: “Move slowly and you get there!”. Willemijn Vermaat, Green Dreams Course participant, 2011.

“The Green Dream Launch Pad course has introduced me to other wonderful green dreamers and to the wise, empathetic and inspirational Charlotte .The course has provided me with strategies to pursue and see my green dream all the way through. I often have what I think are “good ideas” but never have the courage to see them through – this course and the support from Charlotte and encouragement from my fellow green dreamers has changed that because of the enthusiasm everyone has for my idea and also all the practical advice the course as provided.” Sarah Pritchett, Green Dreams Course participant, 2011.

“It has been really good to do the green dream course with Charlotte, wonderful encouragement, insightful, very helpful structure to get things going and the support of a group of like minded green dreamers is priceless! I heartily recommend it!“  Gee Heijneman, Green Dream Course participant, 2011

“It was just what I needed and I got so much out of it, far more than I had imagined beforehand. The strong positive encouragement and emphasis on self belief really helped …” Rebecca Toon, New Zealand – Course participant, 2010.

“Charlotte Squire is one of the most positive, enthusiastic people I know.” Anna Lakeman – Mentor Client, 2011

Email charlotte@happyzine.co.nz to apply today.

Meditation 'flash mob' in Trafalgar Square, 2 June 2011 Photo © Kiran Gupta

By Seán Dagan Wood & Andre Berry – Positive News UK

Popularity of group meditation increases across London

Hundreds of meditators are converging in public spaces in London to take part in ‘flash mob’ meditations. The pre-planned events have startled passers-by when, following a signal, groups of strangers seemingly going about their business have suddenly sat down to meditate together.

Since June 2011, events have taken place at Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, and City Hall by the river Thames. They are coordinated by Wake Up London, a group of 16 to 35-year-olds inspired by the teachings of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh.

Wake Up London believe the flash mobs are a demonstration of peace and show how anyone can sit down and experience inner silence, even in the centre of a huge city.  Read more on Positive News UK.

Ali Scott

This year marks the 7th anniversary of RAK Day and New Zealand is the only country in the world to have a Random Acts of Kindness Day!

RAK Day is all about people doing kind things for others – for no reason at all. To lift the kindness temperature in our country, step out of our comfort zone and do something randomly kind for a stranger or friend.

Over the last six years people have been RAK’d by strangers buying them coffee, paying for their parking, neighbours arriving with gift hampers, pizza being delivered to the local fire station for lunch and even huge giveaways like flights and cruises.

While the concept isn’t new, the dream to make this a national day came about after four friends: Josh de Jong, Marshall Gray, Megan Singleton and Reubyn Gwyn, got together in mid 2004 and thought it would be great if Kiwi’s had a day where we all did something kind for others – without any retail pressure!

Thus began our national RAK Day and this September 1st we would love your support to encourage New Zealanders to get involved.

Here are some RAK ideas:

• Send a pizza to the local fire station, school staff room, boyfriend’s work
• Give money to the café cashier to buy the next person a coffee
• Pay the bus fare of the person standing behind you
• Let someone into the traffic (!)
• Merge like a zip
• Take muffins to the office for morning tea
• Give a box of Roses to say thank you to someone who deserves it
• Mow the neighbour’s lawn
• Pick someone a flower
• Wash your partner’s car
• Put toothpaste on your partner’s brush
• Put the neighbour’s wheelie bin out
• Phone your mum
• Get your kids to donate their pre-loved toys to charity
• Drop clothes in to the Sallies
• Offer to walk the neighbour’s dog
• Babysit for friends so they can have a night out
• Run round the streets offering free hugs – ok that might get you into trouble!

You get the idea – the possibilities to RAK New Zealand are endless!

Businesses, schools, community groups, churches and individuals around New Zealand are currently planning what they might do on RAK Day 2011.

Our hope is for all New Zealanders to get onboard and make our nation a kind place – even just for one day.

Your support to spread the word about Random Acts of Kindness Day would be hugely appreciated!

Follow us on Twitter @RAKDay and Facebook www.facebook.com/RAKDayNZ

www.rak.co.nz

Thanks to the  following environmentally responsible businesses for supporting Happyzine:

ECOtanka

• Eco-friendly –  Reusable for years upon years
• Safe & non-leaching – BPA free (bisphenol-A)
• Solid food-grade stainless steel – Super hygienic & clean

www.ecotanka.com

30% of Kiwi women are concerned about their level of happiness, and 34% don’t know how to increase it. Appearance plays a big part in their unhappiness, with 34% of Kiwi women saying they aren’t happy with the way they look, and 56% claiming they would be happier if they lost weight.

Women’s happiness was hindered by feeling guilty in a range of areas,  including: not exercising enough (64%), eating too much (46%), not achieving as highly as they should (37%), letting people down (34%), and not having enough time with friends and family (27% equal).

66% of Kiwi women have experienced high levels of stress with almost half having felt depressed (47%) and suffered from some form of anxiety (45%). Money was also a big feel-good factor, with 33% stating winning a million dollars in Lotto would make them happy, and 26% saying lack of finances makes them unhappy.

Full survey results will be published in the September issue of Good Health magazine, along with Part 1 of a 3-month Happiness Plan. Written by New Zealand’s ‘Happiness Coach’ – naturopath, nutritionist and mind-body therapist Cliff Harvey – the plan is a simple, effective way for every New Zealand woman to reduce stress and worry, and improve day-to-day happiness.

“The survey resulted in a lot of positive feedback, but also identified what makes Kiwi women unhappy,” explains Editor Shelley Ferguson. “This meant we could create a tailored, positive and practical plan to get more Kiwi women smiling,” she says.

Thanks to the  following environmentally responsible businesses for supporting Happyzine:

The Organic Green Grocer.

Nelson’s busy organic shop – healthy food, happy people, great service, caring for the environment.  Corner Tasman & Grove Streets, Nelson.  Ph 03 548 3650.

www.organicgreengrocer.co.nz

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Shelley Ferguson – Editor: (09) 308 2673; sferguson@acpmagazines.co.nz

Jackie Campbell – Sales & Marketing Manager: (09) 308 2846; jacampbell@acpmedia.co.nz

*Source: ACP All Woman Talk Panel (May 2011) n= 1583

ABOUT Good Health

Good Health New Zealand Is a magazine for people with a healthy attitude to life! Our aim is to make NZ Good Health informative, up-to-date, relevant to women’s lives and fun. Every issue is packed with information – cutting-edge health and medical news, psychology, relationship advice, fitness, kids, food, fashion, beauty and much more. Above all, we want to empower our readers with a sense that they can do something positive to enjoy a long and healthy life.” – Shelley Ferguson, Editor, NZ Good Health

Launched June 28th 2010 with huge success into the New Zealand market, NZ Good Health magazine has achieved a strong 6-month circulation figure of 15,025 and a fantastic readership result of 118,000.

Source: Nielsen CMI (Jul-Dec 10)

With the advent of Positive Psychology and an upsurge in the interest in happiness … and of course my 21st Century  initiative…. we are beginning to place our focus on employee engagement and how we all be in the workplace.  Popular use of the term ‘well-being’ usually relates to health. Philosophical use is broader, but related, and amounts to the notion of how well a person’s life is going for that person.  The standard indicators of the quality of life include not only wealth and employment, but also the built environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation and leisure time, and social belonging.

The last 7 years I have been presenting my stress management program “ Stress, Humour and Health “ at Auckland University.  The emphasis on the program is supporting people to achieve a happy, engaged and meaningful life, irrespective of current circumstances.   Professor Martin  Seligmans work in Australia the last couple of years  had a team of 20 of his Psychologist s  pervade the curriculum at Geelong Grammar ….delivering the Positive psychology principles with the intent of building resilient students and teachers.  And ….Geelong were serious…they spent in the vicinity of $17 million dollars !!

I am combining my new skills from an NLP Practitioner course I am just completing with the High Nurturance Questionaire I use to determine workplace practices and peoples perception about them.  The results of that questionaire provide the tools to build employee confidance so they can be more confidant and productive in times of change.

We were never prepared for such rapidly changing dynamics as we face today, nor to remain positive and resilient in the face of a stream of adversity. The people who come through your doors, customers, peers are all experiencing the added pressures of the recession of the last 18 months and local quake events.  Add to that losses of a personal, or business nature all add to the dynamic.  We each have the capacity to feed into that space, contributing what we know or feel to be a contribution to their lives.  The time is now to begin that process.   http://joyjottings.blogspot.com/2011/06/can-awe-and-wellbeing-be-found-in.html

The virtue on my radio this week was AWE!

Kim Knight and I discuss this and maintaining energy , depression and stress www.planetaudio.org.nz/radioimprov

And for a moment of humour……This is Bob Newhart showing how to manage the stressors in your life ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYLMTvxOaeE

My book ”Humour Works “ boost your staff confidance by demonstrating  the way  being good humoured, can  boost productivity, marketing and sales .  $30 plus p&h

The CD “ Precious life Precious health “ is created by Dr Elliott Dacher , exclusively bringing to you 4 meditations    It is $25 with $3 p&h

Elliott says :-

“…precious because we can, through our own efforts, create a life of goodness, wisdom, meaning and sustained happiness — an integral life and health that is unique to the human condition. We have all the requirements: a fine mind, a sound body, personal freedom, sufficient material resources and the knowledge and wisdom of those who have traveled this road and attained the heights of human perfection and health. Yet even though the extraordinary is available to us we too often settle for the seeming comfort of the ordinary — filling our lives with distractions, trivialities and entertainment — forgetting that our lives are short and that there is little time to waste.

Pat is available as  keynote speaker, facilitator and wellbeing consultant

Contact on 09 4244234

Pat Armitstead

Managing Change, Building Productivity and Resilience

Keynote Speaker, Facilitator, Author, Radio Producer

Phone +649 4244234  Mobile +64 21 687 635

Email pat@joyology.co.nz Skype joyologist

Twitter joyologist1 Website www.joyology.co.nz

“Radio Improv – Joy In The Moment” Planet FM 104.6 – www.planetaudio.org.nz/radioimprov

http://parmitstead.blogspot.com/

WARNING:- The Surgeon General advises that information in this mail could be beneficial to your health and sense of well being.  Please use the information only as directed and see your Doctor if you are not amused!

Don’t let earthquakes shake your relationship

The ‘new’ normality of Christchurch is beginning to mould our day to day reality. It might not be a desired kind of new and few of us are very excited or even liking this ‘new’ normal, but it is what it is. As the weeks turn to months since our ‘old’ normal was taken abruptly from us, relationships across the city are starting to show signs of stress.

Most will work through this, but some relationships, some families and many dreams will be torn asunder like the very fabric of our city. Life is different and household dynamics may have changed, therefore Chief Cupid and Romantic Gestures founder, Jody Worsfold says it is vital work to maintain their connection, communicate and set boundaries around any changes which might have been forced upon them.

“Don’t let an earthquake throw a spanner in the works of a perfectly good relationship. The quakes have taken a lot away from many people and it upsets me to think it might take relationships away from them as well.”

Many households are now converted to home offices, children are home at times they never used to be and the daily tensions are often being kept under wraps, bubbling away ready to erupt at the slightest provocation.

“No two people in Christchurch will be dealing with what has happened in exactly the same way. In a relationship, communication now is more important than ever before – as is empathy.

“One person might be going to work each day and life is fairly normal for them, the other could be at home struggling with new routines and realities. There might be a small aftershock which sends their heart racing. If they share how they are feeling and are brushed off, told they are being over sensitive or worse to harden up and get over it, this can cause a lot of damage. It’s important couples are listening to each other and validating what the other person is feeling.”

On the flip side of the coin, there are couples who are both working from home – this brings entirely new dynamics into the household. “Talk about things in advance. Share expectations around interruptions, chores, space and anything else which could arise. Communicate and deal with these things before they become an issue.”

Jody believes one of the best stress busters is for people to get away as often as they can. “It’s been two months now and we are all adjusting as best we can, but you get in your car and drive down the road, maybe through an area of town you have not been before and you see the destruction, which brings it all back. The only real way to get away is to go away.” And while Jody recognises that financially this can be hard for many, she encourages people to try their best for even one night away where you can relax together as a couple – or a family.

Another relationship revitaliser Romantic Gestures advocates is ‘Date Night’.

“Relationships take a lot of time and effort and I think people begin to forget that. It’s important to make the time to keep alive the feelings and reasons you got together in the first place. Without effort a relationship will stagnate – even the most perfect ones.”

By using a little imagination, and Jody recommends you take turn about, set a regular date night – once a week, one per fortnight or at  a stretch once a month. “What you do does not have to be grandiose and expensive – just special.”

Sure many of your favourite haunts may be closed because of the earthquakes, but what a great excuse to find some new ones, Jody exclaims.

“There are still plenty of restaurants open, so dinner out is not off the cards, just book early as walk-ins are often being turned away at the moment. Coffee and cake is a great afternoon or after dinner treat that is not hard on the budget or pack a picnic and go for a drive – yes it’s getting cold, but who says you can’t rug up or have a car picnic.”

It could be as simple as getting the children to bed, turning off the TV and playing a board game by candlelight with the winner naming their prize! Or simply sit around and talk and LISTEN to each other. Maybe you roll up your sleeves and cook a meal from start to finish together and leave the dishes for the morning. “Whatever it is, make it about the two of you having time together as a couple.”

Romantic Gestures send out weekly romance tips which will help ignite your imagination and plan something special for the one you love.

“Take a moment and remember you are not flatmates, or just bed pals, or just parents – you are in a relationship, treasure it, celebrate it and don’t take it for granted. The effort required to maintain a relationship is far less than that required to start all over again”

As a couple, what you have is stronger than the movement beneath the city; dedicate some time, imagination and love into your relationship and turn this disaster into a home advantage.  www.romanticgestures.co.nz

For Further Information:

Jody Worsfold

Romantic Gestures

Phone: 03 322 8808
021 152 8232

Email: jody@romanticgestures.co.nz

Web:               www.romanticgestures.co.nz

Joe Simmonds doesn’t actually live in Rainbow Court, but his mum Angie does. And he’s left his mark on the community in the shape of a series of garden beds. Rainbow Court is Raumati South’s entry in Kāpiti Coast District Council’s Greenest Street competition, in which participating streets work as a community to reduce their collective environmental footprint over nine months.

Joe is a 22-year-old website designer who started gardening less than a year ago after “getting paranoid” about peak oil and climate change. Despite being already motivated by his passion for ‘the big picture’ (to the degree that he became vegetarian at 8), Joe says a nightmare in which he was run down by an oil tanker “kickstarted something in my brain – changed my entire outlook on everything”.

With a belief that “putting poison into your system will slow your body and mind” and a concern that few people know where their food comes from and what goes into it, Joe decided that good food was an obvious place to start enacting social change for a more resilient future. Learning to garden was the first step.

Starting at his home with a few lettuces in buckets, his early crops were savaged by the local salt air. He persevered and moved onto some small planter boxes, then took over Angie’s 165m² backyard six months ago, installing a series of raised beds made from recycled pallets. Apparently Angie was apprehensive at first – expecting it to be unfinished and chaos (as did his wife, Grace) – but is now happy with the result. The beds have been built with just enough space to kneel between them, making the best use of a small area. On the wet, cold autumn day I visit they boast swedes, basil, carrots, rainbow chard, marigolds and the last of summer’s strawberries. Joe’s future plans involve more compost bins, more fruiting trees and vines, and clearing an area to keep chickens.

Joe describes himself as “slightly OCD” (I laugh and tell him his mum says he’s passionate), so it’s no surprise that his new skills have seen him go on to build raised beds for two other Rainbow Court households, for Paekakariki School and his boss’ family. Preparations are currently underway for putting in a garden at Grace’s mum’s place next season and he confirms the rumour that he was building Rainbow Court garden beds the week he got married….

To date, he’s paid for a few seedlings and a few trailerloads of compost to fill the first beds. All are built from recycled pallets – for Joe, the fact that pallets are free, potentially going to waste and usually untreated outweighs the fact that they have a shorter lifespan than macrocarpa or treated timber. He wryly estimates that his tomatoes have probably cost him a couple of dollars each to date due to the compost purchase, but expects the economies to get better over time, especially as he expands his composting and starts to use the seeds he’s saved.

For himself, Angie’s beds are his testing ground where he figures out how to garden, so that when he has more land to work with in the future he won’t be jumping in at the deep end. His grandfather always had a great garden, as does his dad’s partner, so there’s help and advice available as he learns on the job. He’s also been reading up on permaculture and has taken on the idea of feeding the soil, not the plants: “With the other problems we’ve got right now, the scariest thing is how we’re killing the soil that feeds us. Topsoil fertility is decreasing world-wide”. Ideally he’d like to have an acre to work with and is keen for his future children to grow up with gardens and fresh food.

Having said this, he’s emphatic that you don’t need a large space to produce food – providing people with garden beds is part of his wider goal to help people use what they’ve got available. He says that growing food is often seen as too hard, but if people would have a go they’d find out how easy, productive and rewarding it can be.

His advice is to start small with a square meter plot – do it small and well and see what you can get from it.

While getting paranoid was the catalyst for Joe to get gardening, he says it would be great if he could inspire even a few people to make small changes (I wonder if he knows that Rainbow Court’s blog thanks him for inspiring them to build their community garden beds from pallets?). While he may not be an expert gardener yet, he does know how to build a website and he’s keen to create an information hub, getting gardening-related information out there on the internet in a way that’s easy to navigate. If Joe’s passion to date is any indication, watch this space.

Press release: NZ Mental Health Foundation

Over recent years the responsibilities and expectations on employers around staff wellbeing have changed yet for many managers it is still an area that presents challenges.

This year’s annual Like Minds, Like Mine Auckland Metro Forum will focus on wellness in the workplace and highlight ways to overcome some of the difficulties experienced by employers and employees alike.

The realisation that employers hire a whole person still needs advancement when it comes to HR policy and there is a way to go before many workplaces can claim that their employees are flourishing. For this reason and given the current persistent recession it seemed like a discussion on such matters might be particularly relevant.

What if you could live the life of your dreams and save the planet, all at the same time? Buy the ebook today.

“Forums such as these are a vital part of the Like Minds, Like Mine programme” says Judi Clements, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation. “They put information and resources out for discussion and show people what they can do to help contribute to the creation of flourishing communities.”

Keynote speakers on the day include winner of the JRA “Best Places to Work Survey 2010 and Chief Executive Officer of Mars New Zealand Gerry Lynch, top consultant and People Development Manager Sandy Hall and Lawyer and Disability Advocate Dr Huhana Hickey.

The public forum, hosted by the Regional Consumer Network in conjunction with the Mental Health Foundation, supports and furthers the work of the Like Minds, Like Mine programme which aims to reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness.

The forum is taking place at the Grey Lynn Library Hall, 474 Great North Road from 10am on Thursday 10 March and is open to anyone wishing to attend.

About 30 of us gathered for an Ekodo workshop one sunny Sunday afternoon. Sunlight dappled on the polished floor and through folding doors the cottage garden swayed in a summer breeze, making me feel fine.

I asked the group how long they each intended to spend on a paid and unpaid career as agents of positive change. It was a relatively youthful group and so the average career that lay ahead was about 35 years. I then asked what it would be like if our chosen career involved following our bliss. Imagine if we each did exactly what our hearts wanted – rather than listen to the usual insipid rationalisations that paint dreams grey and edit the text of our lives into a dull sensible tome that reads more like a dictionary than an adventure novel.

After all, when we do exactly what we want to do with our lives we tend to love what we do and as a result become very practiced, skilful, and effective. Not knowing outcomes does not matter because the process is blessed by our honesty. If 30 of us did this then we would get an average of 30 times 35 ‘people years’ = a thousand years of bliss: a millennium of authentic lives capable of unfolding right here in this sunlit room.

When we aggregate small incremental problems we get a global crisis. When we collect the sum of individual solutions we get a global solution. We just need to have the confidence that our contribution will make a difference. And it will – because it always does. But what is the quality of our contribution?

The global challenges we face require more than business-as-usual solutions. We need to pull something different out of the hat. Something different includes an approach that is free from the limited thinking that has tied our cultural shoelaces together and caused us to stumble as a global society. One thing that is free from limited thinking is our own joyful, unedited, creativity – as a way of life.

But to follow our bliss we first need to find it. In the chaos of constantly meeting insane deadlines and juggling a life filled with senseless distractions, there is so much emotional noise that we cannot hear our heart song. To hear it we need to clear a space, and from that stillness things have a habit of clarifying, and from this clarity we can choose how to step forward in a purposeful life. Then our lives can become enriched, not by more stuff, a fatter CV, or more activity, but from the immeasurable riches of living authentically at a time when authenticity has become an endangered species.

Our truth is always right here: our wise one within. And our loyalty to our own wisdom is integral to healing that part of the Earth wrapped up in our skin. From that calm and blissful truthfulness arises authentic action capable of keeping its head while all about they are losing theirs…

Sean Weaver and his wife Jo Campbell founded and host Ekodo (pronounced “ecodaw”) – a life-skills programme for compassionate agents of change. They live now in Golden Bay, New Zealand.

Sean works for himself as a climate change solutions consultant through his business Carbon Partnership. Jo is an artist and environmental educator.

During this time, the Mental Health Foundation is urging everyone to, not only be mindful and empathetic to what others may be going through, but to also take steps to look after their own personal wellbeing.

“When people take an active role in supporting their own wellbeing, they can’t help but flourish”, says Judi Clements, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation.  ‘Activities that support your wellbeing include connecting with others, giving, in its many forms including giving of your time, taking notice of the world around you, learning new things and being active.”

The Mental Health Foundation’s vision for 2011 and beyond is to create a society where all people flourish. A flourishing individual is someone, who for the most part, experiences positive emotions, positive interest and engagement with world around them, and has meaning and purpose in their lives.  And, evidence suggests that people who are flourishing are less at risk of physical and mental health problems and have better social relationships.

Some tips on how to flourish over the festive season include –
•       Focus on positive emotions
•       Do not neglect yourself. Try to schedule in some time each day, even if it is just 10 minutes and do something that revitalizes you both physically and mentally. Taking a walk, reading a book or meditation are just some things you could do
•       Know that it is OK to say no. You do not need to be everything to everyone all the time
•       Remember and practice the five winning ways to wellbeing – connect, give, take notice, learn and be active
•       Appreciate what you already have
•       Relax and enjoy yourself

“With the fast pace of life nowadays, it is easy to get overwhelmed and stressed out” explains Ms Clements. “It is important to remember that if you are feeling down, it is OK to ask for help. Don’t keep it to yourself, talk to friends, family, or make use of helplines such as Lifeline or Youthline.”

Martin Street

Mental Health Foundation

ADITIONAL INFORMATION

Flourishing is a measure of mental health that has been developed within the last decade and can be used to determine the level of positive mental health in populations. It is about focusing on the good things in life. It’s about the things we aspire to, both as individuals and as members of a wider community.

Lifeline on 0800 543 354
Youthline on 0800 376 633

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Enjoy a smooth, happy relationship

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Enjoy a one-on-one session, or multiple pre-scheduled sessions, with Charlotte Squire, Editor of www.happyzine.co.nz and Author of the new ebook ‘Ten Ways to Chillax and Have Fun As You Live Your Green Dreams’.

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