calming skills allow us to wipe our minds relatively clear The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives William James calming skills allow us to wipe our minds relatively clear use the clear canvas to inscribe messages that you need to remember

four aspects of helpful inner focus reducing negative states nourishing positive states exploring & processing encouraging mindfulness

positive mind-body states applications have included increasing general resilience, confidence & wellbeing phobia desensitisation, sports performance, and enhancing success in more general tasks nourishing positive states researchers in this area of “positive states” include Fredrickson (broaden-and-build), Carson & Gilbert (compassion), Tarrier (desensitis’n), Beauchamp (sport), Taylor (process/attitude), Harris (gratitude & forgiveness)

helpful & unhelpful visualisation a series of research studies from UCLA have highlighted: imagining studying v’s achieving v’s control in 6 days before exams imagining working v’s achieving v’s control for “planning fallacy” remembering sequence of a current problem v’s imagin- ing relief & satisfaction of resolution v’s control group “in moving oneself from a current situation toward an envisioned future one, the anticipation & manage-ment of emotions and the initiation and maintenance of problem-solving are fundamental tasks” Taylor SE, Pham LB, Rivkin ID, Armor DA Harnessing the imagination: mental simulation, self-regulation, and coping American Psychologist 1998;53:429-39

process visualisation exercises for 5 minutes each day imagine yourself managing the tasks of the day in a way that will help you be very successful in achieving your priorities see yourself coping really well both with the external problems and dis-tractions you may need to tackle, and also with the internal emotions that might make things difficult

developing skills in application formal practice developing a trigger phrase/focus first “differential” practice Ost L-G Applied relaxation: description of a coping technique & review of controlled studies Behav Res Ther 1987;25:397-409 second “differential” practice the reminder dot exercise stressful real life situations