PAUSE 4 THOUGHT

Pause 4 Thought

15 May 2020

‘Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?’ Hunter S. Thompson

This has been our final week considering Happiness – and in assembly I suggested two more habits to practice that can help us to nurture happiness.

  1. Build emotional resilience: All of us have times of stress, loss, failure or trauma in our lives. But how we respond to these has a big impact on our wellbeing. We often cannot choose what happens to us, but in principle we can choose our own attitude to what happens. In practice, it’s not always easy, but one of the most exciting findings from recent research is that resilience, like many other life skills, can be learned. We need some tough experiences in life. If we never fell over, how would we learn to learn to get up?

Relationships and the support of others can help us become more resilient. Both the giving and the receiving of support helps us – in good times, as well as bad. Realistic optimism also helps: recognising what we can control/influence and do something about; what we can’t, and so focusing our efforts accordingly. Where possible, seeing the benefits in adversity and putting tricky times into perspective builds our capacity for resilience and our ability to bounce back.

  1. Strengthen connection between mind and body: We often approach our mind and body as if they were unconnected. Rather, they are inextricably linked and valuable parts of our ‘selves’. For example, the vagus nerve, which transmits information to or from the surface of the brain to tissues and organs elsewhere in the body can affect the following:
  • Communication between the brain and the gut: the vagus nerve delivers information from the gut to the brain.
  • Relaxation with deep breathing: the vagus nerve communicates with the diaphragm. With deep breaths, we feel more relaxed.
  • Decreasing inflammation: the vagus nerve sends an anti-inflammatory signal to other parts of the body.
  • Lowering the heart rate and blood pressure: if the vagus nerve is overactive, it can lead to the heart being unable to pump enough blood around the body.
  • Fear management: the vagus nerve sends information from the gut to the brain, which is linked to dealing with stress, anxiety, and fear – hence the saying, “gut feeling.” These signals help us to recover from stressful and scary situations.

So relaxing our bodies can help destress our minds, and vice versa. Activities such as reading, exercising, playing or listening to music, looking at or creating art, prayer, meditation and yoga. Blowing bubbles also has much to recommend it – very calming and therapeutic! Finally, it is well known that ‘laughter is the best medicine’ – humour and a lightness of approach can go a long way in challenging times.

We continue to live in uncertain and changing times. Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding as we plan for the remainder of this term.

Mrs D-C

SHARE ON