Habits Practices and Rituals - The Canadian Positive Psychology
Transcription
Habits Practices and Rituals - The Canadian Positive Psychology
Habits, Practices and Rituals A Framework for Living Well Canadian Positive Psychology Association July 18, 2014 Jan Stanley, MAPP [email protected] Aristotle’s metaphor: We begin as a tiny acorn. Our purpose is to develop ourselves and our lives to produce our own best grand and beautiful oak tree. “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” - Aristotle Habits, Practices and Rituals A Framework for Living Well •Why a framework? •What are HPR? •How do we use HPR for living well? Why a framework for living well? What is a habit? HABIT A behavior repeated so often as to become automatic. HABIT A behavior repeated so often as to become automatic. Wood, Quinn & Kashy 2002 “Repeated routine behavior in the past is the best predictor of behavior in the present.” Little effort required! HABIT A behavior repeated so often as to become automatic. •Examples • Morning meditation • Gratitude journal • Exercise • Call a friend Using habits strategically Understand which actions bring greater fulfillment, then create habits to ensure you do them regularly. Q: Which habits help my oak tree grow strong? What is a practice? A PRACTICE Repeated performance of related activities to acquire or improve skills. PRACTICE Repeated performance of related activities to acquire or improve skills. R. Davidson, 2014 “Well-being can be learned. It’s very analagous to skills training: It is through repeated practice that connections get established in the brain that support the new skill.” Living well is a set of skills! PRACTICE Repeated performance of related activities to acquire or improve skills. PP Examples •Positive relationships • Mindfulness • Gratitude •Optimism Using practice strategically Remaining selfcompassionate, ask what skills would bring greater fulfillment, then cultivate them by creating practices. Q: Which new or better skills would help my oak tree grow strongest? What is a ritual? RITUAL Symbolic actions to anchor experiences. RITUAL Symbolic actions to anchor experiences. Norton & Gino Norton, Yang & Vohs Rituals lead to feelings of control and increased involvement – enhanced experience. Those who performed rituals felt better, too! RITUAL Symbolic actions to anchor experiences. PP Examples •Journal and pen • Meditation shawl • ACR happy dance Using ritual strategically Identify moments that connect you to excellence or purpose and create rituals to anchor your experience. Q: What deep understanding would help my oak tree grow strongest? HABITS of Well Being PRACTICES of Well Being RITUALS of Well Being Automating behaviors Repeated performance of related activities Symbolic actions HABITS of Well Being PRACTICES of Well Being RITUALS of Well Being Automating behaviors Repeated performance of related activities Symbolic actions To routinize well-being related behaviors To learn and improve skills of well being To anchor and enhance well being experiences HABITS of Well Being PRACTICES of Well Being RITUALS of Well Being Automating behaviors Repeated performance of related activities Symbolic actions To routinize well-being related behaviors To learn and improve skills of well being To anchor and enhance well being experiences Achieve benefits of regular well being behaviors Enhanced skills for living well Integration of experiences with living well HABITS of Well Being PRACTICES of Well Being RITUALS of Well Being Automating behaviors Variety of activities with shared intention Symbolic actions To routinize well-being related behaviors To learn and improve skills of well being To anchor and enhance well being experiences Achieve benefits of behaviors repeated regularly Enhanced skills for living well Integration of actions with living well Can enhance self-regulation ability, willpower not depleted May have flow, positive emotions, accomplishment. May expand awareness of meaning in one’s life, connect daily life to life purpose and values, sensemaking. “Learning to learn” carries to other areas. HABITS of Well Being PRACTICES of Well Being RITUALS of Well Being Automating behaviors Repeated performance of related activities Symbolic actions To routinize well-being related behaviors To learn and improve skills of well being To anchor and enhance well being experiences Achieve benefits of regular well being behaviors Enhanced character and skills for living well Integration of actions with living well, constancy of purpose Can enhance self-regulation ability, willpower not depleted May have flow, positive emotions, accomplishment. “Learning to learn” carries to other areas. May enlarge awareness of meaning in one’s life, connect daily life to life purpose and values, sensemaking. ENHANCE EMBODY HARDWIRE Case Study: For the past few months, William’s energy has steadily declined. He began the year resolved to experience more joy in his life, not radically so, but enough to feel like he is fully alive and not just a slave to his job, household chores and family obligations. William is an architect, in a satisfying marriage with two school aged children. Habit: Practice: Ritual: Case Study: For the past few months, William’s energy has steadily declined. He began the year resolved to experience more joy in his life, not radically so, but enough to feel like he is fully alive and not just a slave to his job, household chores and family obligations. William is an architect, in a satisfying marriage with two school aged children. Habits: Morning run. Practice: Playfulness. Joining softball team and regular pick up games of basketball. Playing with children every day, even briefly. Finding ways to lighten the mood at work each week. Rituals: Silly selfie with kids each day after play, using photos to create a family calendar of fun. Habit, practice or ritual? Which activity? Know what brings fulfillment? Make it a habit! Need to improve? Create a practice! Want to connect deeply? Design a ritual! Sources of habit, practice and ritual ideas Science Society Self The beauty of a framework H P R Who We Can Be What We Can Do Best future self Excellence Virtue, strengths Life purpose Goals & mission Career, lifework Other People Matter Habits, practices and rituals? Habits * * Practices * * Ritual * HPR and Living Well Well being activities can be habituated the way we spend our days the nature of our neurons and genetic expression Well being can be learned practices strengthens well being “muscles” Well being experiences can be anchored and enhanced ritual deepens and imprints our experiences The consequence of forging life by purpose and resolution is a sense of inner harmony, a dynamic order in the contents of consciousness. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi CPPA Ritual Newton once said that his life has been spent collecting small rocks of insight along the shore of the sea of truth. To close this HPR session, I’d like you to think of ONE INSIGHT that you have gleaned from this workshop on Habits, Practices and Rituals. Please write it down. Sir Isaac Newton once said that his life had been spent collecting pebbles of insight along the shore of the sea of truth. Stand by for further direction. Bruser, M. (1997). The art of practicing: A guide to making music from the heart. New York: Bell Tower. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: HarperPerennial. Duhigg, C. (2012). The power of habit: Why we do what we do. New York: Random House. Greenberg, M. & Maymin, S. (2013). Profit from the positive: Proven leadership strategies to boost productivity and transform your business. New York: McGraw Hill. Grimes, R. (2014). The craft of ritual studies. New York: Oxford University Press. Hanson, R. (2013). Hardwiring happiness: The new brain science of contentment, calm and confidence. New York: Harmony. Kashdan, T. (2014, June 19). What is the simplest strategy to increase your well being? Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/curious/201406/what-is-the-simplest-strategy-increase-your-well-being Lyubormirsky, S. (2013). The myths of happiness: What should make you happy, but doesn’t, what shouldn’t make you happy, but does. New York: Penguin. Norton, Michael I., and Francesca Gino. (2014). Rituals alleviate grieving for loved ones, lovers, and lotteries. Journal of Experimental Psychology. (Forthcoming). Peterson, C. & Seligman, M. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York: Oxford University Press Ryan, R., Huta, V., & Deci, E. (2008). Living well: A self-determination theory perspective on eudaimonia. Journal of Happiness Studies (2008) 9:139-170. DOI 10.1007/s10902-006-9023-4 Salzberg, S. (2002). Loving kindness: The revolutionary art of happiness. Boston: Shambhala Press. Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The Meaning in Life Questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 80-93. Vohs, K., Wang, Y., Gino, F., & Norton, M. Rituals enhance consumption. (2013). Psychological Science. DOI: 10.1177/0956797613478949 Wood, W., Quinn, J., & Kashy, D. (2002). Habits in everyday life: thought, emotion and action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Dec;83(6): 1281-97.