Adwin Konsten, psychologist
Message from our speaker:
“On training our Mind:
Normally, when we think of exercise, we think about physical fitness. Or we talk about how we learned to ride a bike or how we had lessons for our drivers-license.
In these areas repetition is normal. And, when we were young we learned our languages in exactly the same way.
There is however, one area where training is usually totally absent: mental / emotional training and learning.
All the rules about how we learn and educate ourselves are usually not applied in the center of ourselves: our brain, our emotions and our thoughts. This is the area where we do exactly the opposite: we assume that understanding = doing. (Instead of practice, rehearsal and repetition.)
In this course we want you to apply the learning techniques in:
– Focusing as a way to stabilise and manage your thoughts.
– Being aware of your non-verbals and steer them in a conscious way.
(Non-verbals are all the postures and ways you use your body, which affect also how you think and act and how others respond to you.)
– Experiment with topics as mindfulness, savouring
(from the area of positive psychology).
Is it possible to learn emotional skills and support mental habits?
We feel it is, and we are convinced that mental training is something that can be taught.”
New research using chemistry and brain scans shows surprising links between the mind and body, and gives us a chance to affect our stress levels and improve our performance through some simple interventions. Here are some ways discovered in recent decennia.