March 2016

Wellbeing
The glass is half full
When we are joyful, energised and in a good
space, everything else in our life improves.
We think better, we communicate better, we
can manage our time better and we deal with
difficulties better. We are better parents, partners,
children, carers, friends, colleagues, leaders.
Did you know that examination of our average
daily lives shows that for every negative
experience, we encounter three or more
moments of joy? The secret is to notice them
more and to dwell in them.
I’ve heard parents advise kids to look for the
simple joy in things, and yet they often don’t
follow this advice themselves.
Advertorial
Many of us have lost the
ability to see the positive
side of life, writes life coach
Karen Liebenguth
We often struggle to see the joyful things in our
day. The stuff that tends to drag us down often
gets all our attention.
This way of thinking can be attributed to the
"negativity bias" (a brain which focuses by default
on negative information). Our brains evolved from
our hunter-gathering days, when life was all about
anticipating and avoiding danger.
Although it seems we’ve evolved a brain that
routinely tricks us into overestimating threats and
underestimating rewards and opportunities, the
brain is highly plastic. It can change and adapt; it
can be rewired. By focusing on pleasure, we can
encourage the parts of our brain that notice and
create sensations of joy, happiness, appreciation,
to grow and to become stronger. We can rewire it.
To recognise those simple joys, we need to slow
down. Savour that first cup of tea or coffee in the
morning, look out for things to appreciate on our
way to work (a smile from a neighbour, blossom
on the tree or a warm greeting from a colleague),
and take a proper lunch break to help keep
perspective of your day.
I also advise clients to keep in touch with their
passions, and not to put off the simple things they
enjoy so much.
Once you practise noticing and appreciating the
good things, pause for a moment, dwell on the
pleasure, and really let the experience in. You will
not only register it in your brain but also sense
it in your body. The body then sends a signal of
wellbeing back to your brain, and the more we
work that "brain muscle" the greater the sense of
wellbeing we will feel.
So the next time you feel that life’s a drag, it’s
really only half of your experience.
Karen Liebenguth offers 1:1 coaching while
walking in Victoria Park, 1:1 mindfulness
training & courses for the workplace &
mindfulness for stress and chronic pain.
To book a free taster coaching session email
karen@greenspacecoaching.com or call
07815 591279. For more information visit
greenspacecoaching.com
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