Being Mindful: Improving Happiness

Here goes, my first official post on this blog and I thought it best to start on a positive note. So what better way to begin than with ways to improve happiness!

What is Mindfulness?
One massive area of positive psychology is Mindfulness which is derived from Buddhism and involves bringing your attention back to the present. It's all too easy to become pre-occupied with the past and the future, but neglecting to focus on the present can lead to regret and negative moods. Germer (2004) suggests Mindfulness' aim to focus on the present can increase positivity and helps clear your mind. One way in which Mindfulness is implemented is through meditation, which consists of focused attention, bodily awareness and emotion control.

What are the benefits?
Some research suggests that individuals engaging in it become more patient, gain more pleasure from everyday tasks and report improved mental health (Gross, 2012). While Brown-Iannuzzi et al (2014) found that it is effective in reducing negative feelings as it provides individuals with skills to control emotions and move on from negative emotions quickly.

So what did I do?
After reading about it's benefits, I decided to give it a go!
I did a 6 week Mindfulness meditation intervention. Before starting I used the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (Hills & Argyle, 2002) to measure my happiness and made sure there were no distractions that could interrupt the meditation. So as much as it pained me, the phone was switched off!
I used a 10 minute YouTube video to do a Mindfulness body scan, which basically involved lying down with my eyes closed and focusing on my breathing. Then I had to focus my attention on individual body parts, starting at my head and working my way down to my toes.
I did this three times a week and measured my happiness scores before starting the intervention, at week 3 and finally at the end of the six weeks.

Results
From week 1 to week 6 my happiness score went from 3.6 (neutral score of not being particularly happy or unhappy) to 4.3 (moderate happiness).

So what did I make of it?
I don't feel noticeably happier, despite the increase in happiness score, but I did feel a lot calmer. To start with I found it difficult to engage in because having a stranger give me instructions wasn't really my idea of relaxing! I also found my mind wandering but practice makes perfect! After a week, it didn't phase me anymore and I did start to find it really relaxing.
I probably wouldn't continue doing it as regularly, because when you're busy it can be hard to find the time, but I really did like how calm and carefree I felt after doing it.

So if you're ever feeling stressed, anxious or maybe overwhelmed by the hassles of day-to-day life, I would definitely recommend taking 10mins out of your day to give it a go!

Next I want to try it before I go driving because I find that really stressful and anything that could make my journeys more relaxing would be great!

References
Brown-Iannuzzi, J.L. et al (2014). Discrimination hurts, but mindfulness may help: Trait mindfulness moderates the relationship between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. Personality & Individual Differences, 56(1) 201-205

Germer, C. (2004). What is Mindfulness? Insight Journal, 22 24-29

Gross, A. (2012). Your brain on happiness. Newsweek, 159(2-3) 35-36

Hills, P. & Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: a compact scale for the measurement of psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 33 1073-1082

Oxford Happiness Questionnaire

A Bit of an Introduction...

So I recently finished my Psychology degree and since it's been such a massive part of my life the last 3 years I thought what better way to keep it in my life than to write a Psychology blog!

I've always had a massive interest in Psychology as a subject and it's always seemed very close to my heart. I've had crippling panic attacks since I was 15 and it had such a detrimental impact on, not just my social life, but all aspects of living that I had to do something about it. I went and saw a specialist for 2 years and, as cliche as it sounds, it really did change my life. I just remember thinking right then and there if I can help just one person the way my specialist helped me I'd feel like I'd accomplished something. And that was it, my future career path was decided.

Next month I graduate with a 2:1 BSc (Hons) Psychology degree and, although my degree may be over, my psychology/research brain is still very much switched on and I'm not ready to let go of it just yet!

So here goes...