Psychology Simplified on Happiness Achieved by Good Memories

Good memories stem first, of course, from our use of our natural powers of visualisation, you might say associated at the same time with the emotional feelings they evoke and other senses we trigger. But isn’t this fantasising? Isn’t this indulging in delusion of the worst kind? Isn’t this a flagrant misuse of our imagination?  I would say, ‘No! No! and ten times No!’ Also I would maintain that it is a vital activity for people of a certain age, no longer able to travel freely and now living alone having lost a partner. How can this mental activity help us achieve happiness?

Our powers of imagination are extraordinary in replicating any real event in our mind. Our natural talent to recall it all visually is no less than our power to remember the sounds of that memory, the texture, and even the scents associated with it.

If, for example, a widow or widower having had a very happy relationship with a partner who he or she has now lost, can draw laughter and happiness from recalling in the mind, or in an album or on film those happy times, there is burgeoning scientific evidence to show that our minds body and spirit will respond just as if we were experiencing the real thing.

Take the issue of fitness which for various reasons tails off as one grows older, taking with it much needed muscle tone. Research has shown that merely by watching replays of physical activities one has been involved in previously can cause the muscle tone to improve! Our minds are greatly underestimated as remarkable conditioning and rehabilitating tools. 

There is however one serious downside to this which warrants a great caution. Recalling sad memories, trawling over them morbidly, re- playing them, and reinforcing them have exactly the same degrading effect on our health and happiness as did the original sad events. That should be avoided like the plague.

Personally I believe none of this will surprise people. What is surprising to some, however, is the extent of reticence about actually doing anything about it when the benefits of good memories can be profound. By indulging happily in this, without embarrassment or self-consciousness, all the beneficial chemical and hormonal flows are triggered, just as they were when the original events took place.

So how can one better guarantee recreating and sustaining the beneficial aspects of good memories?

I would advocate that one looks for a moral in in one’s own happy recollections, finds a relevant story, and looks for similar experiences posted on the internet. With that information, one shares it with others, and writes about it and finds opportunities to talk about it. When doing so, one replicates the same passion and happy feelings one felt originally. Exhorting others can be just as effective.

Yes, of course, happiness can be and should be achieved from new events and experiences enjoyed today. But we can still all achieve it in good measure by reliving good memories in a whole series of forms and by encouraging others to do the same.

Gerry Neale

Author of Squaring Circles ISBN 9780956868824 Published in Paperback

Available from www.amazon.co.uk or via www.squaringcircles.co.uk

Psychology Simplified on Eating Here To Eat Less

Ever conjured with the thought of "mindless eating" and where it is most likely to occur? The Website www.realage.com may be worth a visit for those trying to lose weight. It refers to nutritionists studies which point to food being more liable to be fattening when we eat on the sofa watching television rather than at the table in the Kitchen or Dining Room. Other mind games we can gain from are described such as the plate sizes we chose.

Here is the linkhttp://www.realage.com/health-tips/eat-in-kitchen-to-eat-less. It is a free site with many useful health tips.

Gerry Neale

Get Up Early And Not Only Get Much Done But Feel Better

Early Risers feel happier, are slimmer and healthier than those who lie in, which leaves the stay-in-beds feeling depressed, stressed and statistically more likely to become overweight. Check out this link http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8763618/Early-risers-get-ahead-of-the-game.html and get hold of the detail of Dr Joerg Huber's research. conducted by Roehampton University UK  

Gerry Neale is in Ezine Top Five Authors on Psychology

Sir Gerry Neale, the author of the novel "Squaring Circles: From The Dark Into The Light" is now ranked in the Top Five Authors of articles on Psychology on Ezine Articles, the largest internet article directory..

For his Ezine Profile and Article List. Click here. It is possible to register there for free mailing of his subsequent articles. He has written over sixty articles on a range of subjects. Copies of these articles can be downloaded, provided the resource box at the end containing his name and website/blog details accompanies the download and any subsequent posting.

The website for the book is www.squaringcircles.co.uk. The paperback can be ordered there or on Amazon.co.uk

His watercolour and mixed media art prints can be viewed at www.sirgerrynealeartprints.com

Psychology Simplified and Caffeine Intake

A morning coffee loaded with Caffeine may not work as well as the mind!

Who says?  

Researchers at the University of East London fooled, some might say lied, to a proportion of the subjects of their research. They told them the coffee they handed contained caffeine when it did not!

And what happened? You have probably guessed it. There was a measurable improvement in performance and mood of those deceived!

For the caffeine supporters, there was worse to come. In a series of tests devised to assess reaction times, performance and mood, some of the deceived even performed better than those given caffeine!

The researchers included 88 people in their project, ranging in age from 18 to 47. All these volunteers confessed that they drank at least two cups of coffee a day.

It has been fully reported in the magazine Appetite.

However, now with the results, comes the suggestion that maybe the urge for caffeinated morning coffee merely appears to supply the added zest. Instead, psychologically the energy ‘shot’ may come from the mere anticipation of caffeine to buoy up the coffee drinker and not the caffeine itself!

There have been many other startling medical tests where placebos have been found to have as inexplicable and marked beneficial effect on patients, than was enjoyed by those given the actual designed tablets themselves. One suspects that medical researchers will before long discover a facility in the brain which could think ourselves well.

The rather depressing downside to that prospect is the possibility that it will prove too that we can definitely think ourselves ill!

Gerry Neale