I'm not, or I think I could be more resilient, so I took some action after reading this on NPR.
NPR is doing a series of newsletters over five weeks that they say will provide "powerful tools and strategies that have been shown to help people reduce anxiety and improve feelings of well-being". I've only received the first newsletter, and it has the usual advice that we've all probably read (and maybe practiced) before, like breathing exercises.
More interesting (to me, anyway) is this: NPR is collaborating with Northwestern University to bring an online stress-reduction course and research study to their audience. This free course is based on the work of Judith Moskowitz, a research psychologist at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine. It teaches eight skills to boost positive feelings.
The course is based on her 20-plus years of research studying people who have experienced difficult situations, such as being diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer and people who are caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer's. Her peer-reviewed studies point to benefits. They are recruiting 20,000 participants for an online, self-guided, positive emotions study. The course will teach eight science-backed stress reduction skills over 5 weeks, with the 6th week being a practice and review period (the entire length of the study will be 12 weeks).
I signed up for the course/study and I can see how this may be beneficial. I'm only in the first week, but there are readings about the skills (Positive Events, Savoring, and Gratitude this week) and home practice (basically just writing about positive events and gratitude on a discussion board like many of you already do in a gratitude journal). I've failed at journaling and documenting things plenty of times before but this format works better for me with everything all in one place and a personal "Dashboard" so I can see what I've done and what I still have to do. It's not overwhelming and I think consistency and practice are important for me. Other skills that will be covered include:
- Daily Mindfulness
- Positive Reappraisal
- Self-Compassion
- Personal Strength
- Attainable Goals
