The Think Happy Aggregator

Giving up Smoking

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:48:49 +0100

Giving up Smoking:

Our latest author, Laura, is going to begin publishing a series of posts on giving up smoking.

This will be a three-part series, consisting of:

1 - preparation
2 - the actual quitting
3 - the…

I've never met a shy monkey!

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:44:11 +0100

I've never met a shy monkey!:

I’m not sure I’ve ever met a shy monkey! Nevertheless, research recently carried out on young rhesus monkeys may hold the clue to a deeper understanding of anxiety, stress and shyness is human…

We’re Back!

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:11:01 +0100

We’re Back!:

Well, after a fairly prolonged absence - for which my wife should be held responsible due to the birth of our third child! - we’re now officially back.

In the coming days you can expect further…

How NOT to stop grinding your teeth!

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:25:23 +0000

How NOT to stop grinding your teeth!:

I’ve been meaning to post more on how to stop grinding your teeth, along with pointers to tactics that I’ve found helpful. However, the truth is that not much has worked so far! Hence, not much…

How to Develop Good Luck

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:03:59 +0000

How to Develop Good Luck:

I’ve got a couple of posts in the pipe-line on teeth-grinding (or “bruxism”, to use the medical term), but in the meantime…

Who couldn’t use a little bit more good luck?

Richard…

Do you Grind your Teeth?

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:45:12 +0000

Do you Grind your Teeth?:

I don’t like Dentists!

Due to the excess of Cola that I used to drink, I’ve made more than my fair share of visits to the Dentist’s surgery. My experiences haven’t always been great, so it’s not an experience that I exactly look forward to.

There was a time a couple of years ago when I was so anxious about the state of my teeth - and the dental work required - that I would lose sleep worrying about it, or spend the night grinding my teeth in trepidation. The irony wasn’t lost on me!

I was…

Change your thoughts and change your life

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:25:12 +0000

Change your thoughts and change your life:

There’s an excellent post over at the Urban Monk that gets straight to the point of what I’ve been waffling around for ages: Change your thoughts and change your life – The Art of Cognitive Reframing.

We never, ever, see the world as it is. Our awareness – our beliefs, past conditionings, upbringing, the list goes on – these distort everything we see. They creep into every interpretation and misinterpretation…

Read the rest for yourselves. You won’t regret it.

Try it for…

3 Stesp to Keeping your Cool in a Crazy World

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:42:21 +0000

3 Stesp to Keeping your Cool in a Crazy World:

I recently came across an interesting guest post over at Zen Habits.

Murder! Ringing phones, broken equipment, lost data, rude customers, unreasonable deadlines, demanding bosses. A sure-fire recipe for a 187.

The author, Albert Foong, goes on to note that the days we are living in require emotional intelligence and psychologically tested methods ‘to handle anything that happens in a mature and powerful manner.’ The vital first step, predictably - but helpful nonetheless, is taking…

Home remedies (to preserve your sanity!)

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:29:35 +0000

Home remedies (to preserve your sanity!):

JollyBlogger recently posted some Amazingly Simple Home Remedies :

If you’re choking on an ice cube simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat. Presto! The blockage will instantly remove itself.

Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold while you chop.

Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink.

For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the…

Ben Pridmore is a Mentalist

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 14:44:46 +0000

Ben Pridmore is a Mentalist:

and Tony Buzan is, apparently, a Guru!

Did anyone see Channel 5’s documentary, The Mentalists? The show followed Ben and other Memorists (including Ed Cooke and Gunther Karsten) as they travelled to Bahrain to compete in the World Memory Championships.

You can read Ben’s reaction to the programme here. However, if you don’t know who won, be warned that Ben gives it away!

From my perspective, watching the programme was really interesting. My wife even watched it with me, partly because…

How to Get Rid of Anxiety

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:09:25 +0000

How to Get Rid of Anxiety:

I’ve know it’s been an absolute age since I last posted, but Christmas and family sickness had other plans. Nevertheless, let’s get back into it with a look at a topic that seems to be on the increase everywhere you look: Anxiety.

Anxiety Attacks

Having experienced my own fair number of ‘anxiety attacks’, I’m hoping to post a fair ideas and tips for dealing with them. For now, to ease myself back into the blogging habit, I’ll simply repeat the good advice found here.

Dealing with…

Can Aikido make you a better person?

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:36:31 +0000

Can Aikido make you a better person?:

Over at the Aikiweb forums, there was a discussion in October, prompted by the question: ‘What does your Aikido practice teach you that your religious/spiritual/philosophical practice teaches you that makes you a better person?’

Some of the answers were so enlightening that I thought they merited discussion on this blog. The question that they provoke for me is, would the answers be the same if we swapped ‘Aikido’ for any other work at self-improvement that involved healthy exercise,…

Jack Handey will make you Happy!

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:58:17 +0000

Jack Handey will make you Happy!:

At some point, I will write a post on the value of laughter. However, I’m suspect that such a view is intuitive enough to need little defence. So, for now, I will simply leave you with these wonderful sayings from the unmatched Jack Handey:

“I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they’d never expect it.”

“If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is, “God is crying.” And if he asks why…

How to lower high blood pressure naturally using slow breathing

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:00:47 +0000

How to lower high blood pressure naturally using slow breathing:

How To Use Slow Breathing To Lower Your Blood Pressure Without Leaving The Comfort Of Your Armchair (and it won’t even cost you a dime!)

Top 10 Stress Busters

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:00:26 +0000

Top 10 Stress Busters:

November 7th is National Stress Awareness Day, so it seems like a good day to get back into the habit of posting here. I loved the slogan of NSAD this year, that fits well with the purpose of this blog: “Smile Away Stress“.

I take this opportunity to post the top 10 stress-busters recommended by the International Stress Management Association:

1. Smile
	Smiling is the first line of defence against stress. It’s quick, easy, and free! When you smile your body releases…

What advice would you give yourself?

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:47:29 +0100

There’s a question that I’m sure many of us have pondered a number of times. Sometimes it comes out of a sense of frustration. Sometimes it’s a wonderful means of brain-storming. This afternoon, it opened up a whole series of new questions for me:

If you could go back in time 10 years and give yourself 1 piece of advice, what would it be?

There’s a whole host of things I’d want to say to myself, mostly about being more flexible - and less anxious - about the future. However, as I thought about it more, I realised that this nostalgic question could be a wonderful means of self-improvement, if we change direction and ask: If you could go forward in time 10 years and give your current self some advice, what would it be?

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"Do you find yourself getting angry while driving? Is that an understatement? Does your blood boil?..."

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 09:36:42 +0100

“Do you find yourself getting angry while driving? Is that an understatement? Does your blood boil? Do you curse like a sailor and secretly wish to launch projectiles at fellow drivers? Would you like to break this cycle of road rage? Well you can and it’s not that hard to do.”

- How to Cure your Road Rage - Dumb Little Man