Welcome
Welcome to the Positive Living Skills Online Program.
Excellence in life, relationships, sports, work, and play, is made possible by developing the ability to think, dream and focus in positive ways.
This program will give you tools you can use immediately to develop positive-living skills to be more positive, more relaxed, more focused, and better connect with others.
Welcome to this Positive Living Skills Program.
Excellence in life, relationships, sports, work and play, is made possible by developing the ability to think, dream and focus in positive ways.
It is extremely important for children and adults to feel good about themselves and their abilities. By learning to think and see positively, we free ourselves to develop our talents, experience less anxiety and balance the abundance of negativity to which we are subjected. Positive thinking enables us to have confidence in ourselves, trust our capabilities, and maintain a sense of perspective and positiveness throughout our lives.
The problem with negative thinking is that it destroys our confidence, increases our anxiety, kills enjoyment and interferes with our chances of performing well, especially if we are feeling vulnerable. We can free ourselves to live life fully and experience life joyfully by developing positive living skills. Many of us want to be more positive and relax but we do not know how.
When I was younger, others would say to me you just need to see the glass half full. This not only increased my frustration, I felt guilty and I became even more negative. This advice was not something I could act on, nobody was able to teach me how to change the way I saw the world, or at least how to start.
This program will give you tools you can use immediately to develop positive-living skills to be more positive, more relaxed, more focused and better connect with others.
In this program I will give you different activities designed for you to gain positive perspectives, relax, manage stress, and connect better with others. In each class I will present you a concept or idea, an activity to practice and bring that concept to your daily life, and some questions to reflect on.
Developing the skills to be more positive may take some time. But the good news is that these are skills, and everyone can develop them you just need practice.
I hope that you enjoy this program, I am excited to read your comments and achievements.
PS: I want to apologize in advance. I make my best effort to pay attention to grammar and spelling but english is my third language (I learned it in my 20s) and I make many mistakes that I am not able to recognize even when I try (you can learn more about me in the About Me Section). For instance, you will notice that I still do not use well “in” and “on” (something that I tried to correct but I have not succeeded yet). My partner proof reads most of what I write, but not everything. In Spanish mistakes like this one make me cringe, so I apologize for the mistakes you are most certainly going to spot!
Download here the Positive Living Skills Journal with reflective questions
Module 1: Cultivating a Positive Perspective
Having a positive perspective is a skill that empowers people to see the positives in themselves and the positives in others, believe in their own capacity and the capacity of others, love people and the positive things in their lives, express their appreciation to others, and embrace simple positive experiences every day.
In this video, I share a strategy that will help you learn how to think more positively every day.
You can find the story "Treasure hunting for highlights" in Orlick, T. (2011). Positive Living Skills: Joy and Focus for Everyone. Renfrew, Ontario: General Store Publishing House.
Download the workbook for this module here
Download the wheel of highlights here
Download the Discovering Happiness Journal here (developed by Calm.com)
Module 2: Less stress and more harmony
How do you know when you are feeling worried or stressed? How do you know when you are relaxed? When we are worried or stressed our heart beats fast and we breathe in and out faster.
When we slow down our breathing and breathe deeply from our belly or what it is called diaphragmatic breathing you relax. Most great athletes and singers do diaphragmatic breathing even when they are performing.
One strategy to manage stress and be calm that can help you at any time is to learn how to breathe in and out in a relaxed way. We breathe all the time, but we do not use our breath to our advantage. Join me in this class to learn how to breathe easily and slowly.
Join me to learn how to breathe easily and slowly by practicing "Jelly Belly" a relaxation authored by Terry Orlick that you can find in his book Orlick, T. (2011). Positive Living Skills: Joy and Focus for Everyone. Renfrew, Ontario: General Store Publishing House., and on his audio CDs.
Download the workbook for this module here
Download the Managing Stress workbook here developed by Calm.com
Additional Resources
Calm: App for sleep, meditation and relaxation with audios, music and masterclasses.
If you have an American Express Card you can enjoy a free trial year if you sign up before October 30th, 2020. Join in this link: https://www.calm.com/americanexpress
Headspace: App to learn to meditate and improve sleep: www.headspace.com
Little Renegades: Set of beautiful cards with easy mindfulness exercises to teach children (ages 3+) how to unlock their own sense of stillness and wonder in the present moment.
Habilidades para Florecer (Spanish): https://mjperformanceconsulting.com/habilidades-para-florecer
Swami Vidyadhishananda of the Hansavedas organization: (recommended by Rhonda Sarcone OLLI’s Positive Living Skills Class participant) https://hansavedas.academy/programs/om-chant-sound-bathing
Try listening to the Heartbeat Om Chanting at 118 Hz: https://hansavedas.academy/programs/om-chant-sound-bathing?cid=625925
You will hear the Swami doing his continuous breathing chanting. Sit upright, relaxed, and just listen and enjoy.
This sound coming from a fully enlightened master is transformative and healing. I love it! It feels like the coarse sound of the
chant is reaching down into each one of my cells and helping them. I always feel better afterwards. This particular recording has something special that the others don’t. In between the Om sound there is a little chirp that reminds me of listening to insects near a swamp or a lake.
You are not supposed to listen to any one of the recordings more than once a day. That’s how powerful they are. Experiment with the 98, 108, and 128 Hz recordings also to see which of them resonates best with you.
After selecting the picture block for the recording you want to listen to, scroll down. There will be more information about how to practice that particular meditation. This one says “With eyes closed, subtly feel and trace the sound vibration into the heart,
through the center of the chest behind the sternum.”
Module 3: Mindset for Success
Do you get frustrated with bad results? When we get frustrated with bad results, we miss the opportunity to learn from failure since we are understanding failure as proof of our lack of skills and the abilities to succeed. This Fosters negative feelings like shame and anger.
In this video, I talk about an alternative mindset. A mindset that frees us to learn from our mistakes like the best performers in the world.
Module 4: Responding to good news
Many of us may believe that how we respond when a loved one is in distress reflects how strong our relationship is, however, a better predictor of the quality and longevity of our relationship is how we respond when someone shares something that they are happy about. These interactions may seem insignificant, they may take only two minutes, but they are very powerful and that is what I am going to talk about today.
Shelly Gable, a psychologist at the University of California in Santa Barbara, conducted research on how we respond to others when they share with us their good news and how that influences the relationship.
She argued that there are four ways in which people respond to good news:
Active Constructive
Passive Constructive
Active Destructive
Passive destructive
There are many reasons behind the way we respond the way we do. we may be busy or worried about something else, we may not share the same enthusiasm, we may not be interested, the news may not involve us or maybe we don't understand what they are talking about.
However, paying attention to how we respond when others share their good news for us is important because they are choosing us to share something important for them, and that is a gift. It is an opportunity to experience positive emotions.
How we respond to good news strengthens our relationship with that person, and positive events take place more often than negative ones.
Module 5: Appreciating yourself and others
How do you think the world would change if we took the time to appreciate what is good about ourselves and others?
For many reasons, it may be easier to see what is wrong with us and what we need to improve on, than finding good things about ourselves. Usually, we are our worst critics. And often, this critical voice does not allow us to live our lives fully.
It may seem simplistic, but if we want to have positive and meaningful lives, we need to learn to appreciate ourselves and others.
When writing 10 things that people think about themselves, many tend to write more negative things, which leads to bad thoughts about themselves. They believe that by saying negative things, they will change, but this is a mistake.
Intentions Journal
What could you use more of?
Download here the Intentions Journal to make positive change in your life (developed by Calm.com)
Gratitude
“Gratitude wakes us up to the beauty and magic of everyday life, but we have to choose it. Create the space for a simple daily routine of reflection and doing the work, and over time the benefits start to show up in our lives in overwhelming ways. People who practice gratitude consistently feel more generous, compassionate, and connected to others. Ultimately gratitude is one of the great keys to unlocking happiness.” (From Calm.com)
Download your Gratitude toolkit here (developed by Tamara Lewitt from Calm.com)
Download your Gratitude Journal here (developed by Calm.com)
For more talks on gratitude check out this Ted Talk list: https://www.ted.com/playlists/206/give_thanks
Creative Living Beyond Fear
¿What will you do if you were a 100 times braver?
“Fear prevents us from living life to the fullest. Through her experience facing 100 fears, Michelle learned how we deal with fear, the types of fears we face in life, and the process through which we are able to manage the anxieties and accomplish great things” (From the Tedx Talk description).
Download the workbook Creative Living Beyond Fear here (developed by Calm.com)