The Positive Mind

Who knew that going for a walk could make you more creative and help you solve your problems. Kevin and Niseema follow up the last three episodes with this exploration of the benefits of walking on the mind and body. Depression, anxiety and stress are relieved by this natural gentle exercise.

During this time of COVID are you finding yourself irritable, blaming, focusing on the negative? When we are feeling mildly depressed, our minds are subject to cognitive distortions like magical thinking, catastrophizing, black and white thinking etc. These "distortions" can lead to an uptick in compulsive and addictive behaviors.

Being aware of these "distortions" can help you to realize that you need to spend time doing self care practices. Tune in to this weeks show as Kevin and Niseema explore the many ways our thoughts can be distorted.

Are you "of two minds" or "two feelings" about any one thing? Can you see both sides of an argument and find it difficult to land on either side? Maybe you are ambivalent, and that's not all bad. Culturally, the decisive and single minded person is held up as the the one to admire in life. The availability of so much choice in today's world leaves many of us feeling ambivalent. What if being ambivalent speaks to a deeper understanding of life and the world? When ambivalence becomes pathological you can feel paralyzed, avoiding the feelings that underlie having to make important choices in life, like choosing a love partner or career. Join Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC and Niseema Dyan Diemer LMT, SEP as they explore how feelings of ambivalence play out in the context of relationships and current events.

Following up on our show on Home, and that “all sickness is homesickness” we discuss the phenomena of magical thinking as a way to create safety when what one really wants is a sense of home.

Magical thinking is an error in causation, attributing a cause and effect relationship when there isn’t one. We all engage in magical thinking, buying a lottery ticket is testimony to that, it only becomes a “pathological” problem when it creates significant consequences/distress i.e., betting your house in a poker game. Join hosts Kevin O’Donoghue and Niseema Dyan Diemer as they talk about magical thinking in both its pathological and innocuous versions: and as it relates to significant conditions like adolescent cutting and Borderline Personality Disorder.

Home is a powerful word. It evokes a sense of belonging, acceptance, safety and stability. Whether this was your childhood experience or not the idea and concept of home is a universal one. In this weeks episode Kevin and Niseema talk about how you can feel at home in your self, your body and a physical place. Homesickness is what happens when we move away from home, like in college or young adulthood and it can be a difficult time filled with grief and longing. These feelings are a sign of wanting to connect to home, no matter how you can find it.

These have been very serious and challenging months. Many of the things we loved to do are closed and inaccessible. Things that used to energize us are out of reach, even thinking about them seems to use too much energy. When the objects/subjects of our pleasure are gone we can lose a sense of there being any enjoyment in life at all, which is a mental health condition called Anhedionia. We are experiencing many of the symptoms on some level collectively through the pandemic. Kevin and Niseema discuss the loss, and reclaiming, of pleasure for your mental and physical health. Tools and insights to bring you from "meh" to moving towards feeling good again

Kevin O'Donghue LMHC and Niseema Dyan Diemer LMT, SEP close this year talking about focusing on one particular strength and how with practice that strength can improve mental and emotional health. They focus on three of the 24 positive psychology strengths of gratefulness, hope and appreciation of beauty as vehicles for transforming depression or anxiety into a sense of well being.

"At the core of resilience, there is trust" states Kevin O'Donoghue. And, as Niseema Dyan Diemer points out, "resilence is built through adversity."

In this year of unprecidented events from wildfires, COVID and lockdowns to school reopenings and politics, we are faced with many unknowns. How are you bouncing back from the daily anxieties plaguing us both socially and personally? What is your resilience level, have you adapted to adversity pivoting your thoughts to "what can I do today to be ready for tomorrow?"

This week's Positive Mind Radio Show Podcast invites us to examine how resilience can be found in us all, when we trust and know what we can and cannot change.

Why Complaining Doesn't Work

What's really going on when a person is complaining?

Hosts take the hour to discuss the hidden motives of complaining and look at the effective and ineffective ways of griping.

At what point do complainers look for attention or seek connection on a deep level but haven't found a way to get there? We can listen to the complainers in our lives by asking, "What is this person really feeling, and what is it that they really want?" To move beyond complaining requires courage and vulnerability.

Connection is key to good mental health. The ability to connect in relationships of all kinds is what will support us getting through this time of social isolation and distance.

Kevin and Niseema review some of the key concepts that lead to feeling greater connection shared with us by our most recents guests, Bethany Saltman, Author of "Strange Situation: A Mother's Journey Through the Science of Attachment", Charley Wininger LMHC, author of "Listening to Ecstasy: The Transformative Power of MDMA" and Dr. Warren Farrell author of "The Boy Crisis". We also share listener questions and responses to the guests on our show the past few weeks.