Positive Psychology Interventions (Part Three)
Positive Interventions (part three)
Positive Psychological Interventions (PPIs) are scientifically based techniques that help us increase our health and happiness (in their broadest sense). PPIs must address at least one positive psychology construct or theory, and their effectiveness should have been supported by empirical research evidence.
PPIs are designed to promote positivity in people’s lives and help them cope with adverse events, emotions and moods that they may experience. Research suggests that the best results from PPIs were achieved in therapeutic settings and coaching; nonetheless, carefully self-administered PPIs are still effective in improving well-being.
More than one hundred positive psychology interventions have been suggested, and most of them are backed by empirical evidence that supports their efficacy in improving people’s well-being and happiness. In this article (PPIs, part three) and the other two parts (PPIs, parts one and two), I briefly introduce the most common PPIs (numbers do not represent importance or priority).
Person-Activity Fit
PPIs are indeed useful, but like any other technique, they have their own time, place and limitations. It is crucial to think critically when using PPIs or any other intervention approaches in clinical, coaching or therapeutic practices.
Meta-analyses (studies of previous studies) have generally found PPIs are beneficial (to varying degrees, depending on circumstances). They are undeniably appealing to mental health practitioners, counsellors and coaches. However, some people with a particular culture, personality type, attitude, or health condition do not benefit from some of these interventions (and may even be harmed by them).
Therefore, positive psychology practitioners (therapists, counsellors and coaches) should not apply PPIs universally to every person without considering who they are and whether they would benefit from the selected PPI (person-activity-fit principle). Below, you find a summary of the most common PPIs.
Meditations and Mindfulness
Let’s try a simple exercise. Make sure that you are not distracted for the next five minutes (set a timer for 5-minutes). Then, sit in a comfortable position, shut your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Feel your breath coming in, feel it going out. Feel your chest and abdomen moving as you breathe. Don’t pay attention to anything except your breath. Completely ignore any sound you hear, any thoughts that come to your mind and any other feelings or sensations in your body. Give your breathing all your attention for five minutes.
Did you have any problem doing this? Did uninvited thoughts go racing through your mind? Were you distracted by the sounds or other things in your environment? Did your breathing become muddled because you were paying attention to it? Were you surprised by how difficult it was to hold your concentration for so short a time as five minutes? Were you surprised at how long five minutes can be? Did you have any feelings of discomfort about being still for that long? Did you feel frustrated about your mind’s lack of control and discipline?
Meditation is a concentration exercise that promotes focused awareness and helps us achieve calmness, control and mental balance. Concentrating and keeping our attention on one thing without distraction is a skill that can be improved with practice. Meditation can reduce tension, prompt relaxation, and induce serenity. It improves self-discipline and gives us a sense of increased energy and improved well-being. Meditation helps us monitor subtle changes in our bodies, minds, energy levels and the state of our attitudes, emotions and moods. As we become more aware of ourselves, we can understand our various physical, mental and emotional states more clearly and recognise how they affect our behaviours and lives.
Difference Between Mindfulness and Meditation
The terms “mindfulness” and “meditation” are often used in similar contexts and represent identical notions, but they are not the same. Mindfulness is the conscious (deliberate) awareness of what is happening at present. But meditation is the act of observing (not assessing, judging or criticising), mentally immersing in, concentrating on and accepting (allowing and acknowledging) a chosen object or phenomenon.
Therefore, “mindfulness meditation” (combining the two words) is the conscious and non-judgemental concentration on what is happening to us at present, including attention to all sensations, feelings and emotions. Other meditations are created depending on the object (or phenomenon) observed (focused on and accepted non-judgementally), for example, breathing meditation (which brings vitality and life), loving-kindness meditation (which promotes generosity and altruism), or open-heart meditation (which reinforces forgiveness).
Moreover, meditation is an umbrella term covering all practices that aim to reach deeper consciousness and concentration (which is a different state of perception) in a transcendental way (achievement of a mentally clear, emotionally calm and stable state of mind). They involve many techniques and practices (to self-regulate body and mind), including compassion, love, patience and mindfulness (awareness of the present). So, mindfulness is a type of meditation alongside many other types of meditation (Tantra, Bhavana, Samatha, Yoga, etc.).
Meditation Techniques
First, remember that meditating is about bringing your attention to an object or a phenomenon, which could be your breath, the sound of an instrument or the taste of a food item. So, if the meditation is about listening, listen with all your being (body and mind); if it is about seeing, see with your whole self. Let every part of you attend to the focal point of your meditation. Allow yourself to become one with what you see, hear or hold in your mind so that all else disappears. Meditation is not what you force yourself into, but something that you gently get into (do), bringing yourself more and more into a concentrated state.
Second, be compassionate to yourself. Inevitably, other thoughts, sensations or feelings will intrude, and as soon as you notice them, you will no longer focus on your meditation. You shouldn’t be critical of yourself; just return to your meditation and gently bring your attention back to its subject.
Meditation Posture
You don’t have to be in a specific position to meditate, but sitting up straight is probably the best posture for meditation when you can. Sit up (not rigidly nor loosely slouching) with your feet flat on the floor (if you’re sitting on a chair); otherwise, sit cross-legged on the floor (you may need to use a small cushion under your bottom for comfort).
Some people prefer to maintain a particular hand position: touching the tip of their thumbs with their forefingers while keeping the other fingers curled up or extended. A posture like this works as an anchor (memory cue) and may help your meditation. Simply touching your thumb with your forefinger while mindfully breathing can help you remember the peaceful state you find in meditation and give you the confidence and composure you may need in a stressful situation (like a job interview). You may also meditate lying down, mainly if the intention is to relax, relieve stress or deal with insomnia.
24) Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation (or just mindfulness) involves intentional, non-judgemental awareness and acceptance of the present moment (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). It is a mental state of sustained focus on an object, event or process (like breathing), with an acute awareness of thoughts, feelings and emotions as they emerge in the present moment. Mindfulness is a mental skill marked with an awareness that arises through intentional openness and attention. Mindfulness can help us increase our understanding of our bodies and their functioning, regulate our emotions, improve our attention and provide us with a better perspective of ourselves, our environment, and the processes that affect our lives.
Moreover, paying more attention to the present and the task at hand can improve our performance, create flow and boost our mental well-being. Mindfulness meditation has been linked to increased positive feelings, greater empathy, mental agility, deeper appreciation, better relationships, more hope, enhanced vitality and improved well-being. Over the past two decades, research broadly supports the claims that mindfulness meditations promote physical and mental health, reduce stress and enhance cognitive performance (Eberth & Sedlmeier, 2012 – Tang, Holzel & Posner, 2015).
Savouring and gratitude can be done through mindfulness meditation.
Essential Attitudes of Mindfulness
No Judging: Mindfulness should be full of compassion and openhearted awareness of our present and recent experiences without judging them.
Patience: The ability to bear difficulty with calm, self-control and mindfulness is about exercising patience.
Beginners’ Mind: To develop a beginner’s mind, we should be open to the experience of each moment as if it is happening for the first time.
Trust: An essential part of meditating is learning to trust yourself and your feelings.
No Doing: Meditation is not about doing, just being. As you practice mindfulness, you shouldn’t feel the urge to control or change things; simply notice them.
Acceptance: The process of acceptance begins with our willingness to see things exactly as they are rather than how we think they should be.
Letting Go: Letting go or non-attachment is another critical attitude of mindfulness. It is essential to let your experience be what it is, moment by moment. Letting be is the best way of letting go. You have a better chance to let go by letting things be and not interfering.
25) Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a blend of meditation, body awareness and yoga. MBSR can increase our ability to cope with stress, pain, and the challenges of everyday life. It helps us deal with disturbing events with grace and composure and be fully present and alive. MBSR was developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre (the 1970s) by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn. It is an eight-week evidence-based program that offers secular, intensive mindfulness training to assist people with stress, anxiety, depression and pain.
MBSR is not a cure for severe medical conditions, and you should not use it as a substitute for medical treatment. However, research has shown that it has a significant therapeutic effect on those experiencing stress, anxiety, high blood pressure, depression, chronic pain, migraines, heart conditions, diabetes and other ailments. In addition, participants typically report feeling livelier and more in tune with themselves and the world around them.
26) Mindfulness-Based Flourishing Program
The Mindfulness-Based Flourishing Program (MBFP) is a program that combines mindfulness and positive psychology approaches to increase well-being (Ivtzan, Young, Martman, Jeffrey, Lomas, Hart, & Eiroa-Orosa, 2016). MBFP has many beneficial outcomes, including enhanced well-being and mental health and decreased depression.
The programme was inspired when Ivtzan, Young, and colleagues noticed a wide array of mindfulness programs that targeted psychological distress (e.g., psychosis, Bach & Hayes, 2002 – depression; Teasdale et al., 2000 – chronic pain, Kabat-Zinn, 1982). However, in contrast, there were few mindfulness interventions focused on positive outcomes.
The MBFP is delivered online and contains eight video sessions. The sessions are completed over four weeks and combine mindfulness, positive psychology interventions (PPIs), and recorded talks on positive psychology theories behind the techniques. Each of the eight sessions targets a different positive variable: 1) self-awareness, 2) positive emotions, 3) self-compassion, 4) self-efficacy (strengths), 5) autonomy, 6) meaning, 7) positive relations with others and 8) engagement.
Initial studies suggested that MBFP can increase positive outcomes, such as well-being, and decrease negative affects/emotions such as depression. MBFP is particularly promising because it is delivered online, and many people can use it.
27) Loving -Kindness Meditation
In loving-kindness meditation, people cultivate love and compassion for themselves and others. Read from a script to begin with, but later use your own sentences, modifying them to suit your situation. If possible, try to do all five parts of this mediation in one session. Otherwise, you can do its different parts at different times.
Body Position: Sit comfortably with your feet flat on the floor and your spine straight. Relax your whole body. Close your eyes, keep them closed throughout the entire meditation (closing your eyes helps visualisation), if possible, and bring your awareness inward. Just relax and gently follow the instructions. Take a deep breath in and breathe out. Continue breathing slowly and deeply (without straining yourself; keep a natural rhythm).
Part One - Receiving Love and Kindness: Think of a person (or persons) close to you who loves (loved) you very much. They could be dead individuals from the past or still alive; They could be your friends, teachers or relatives (parents or grandparents). If you have difficulty remembering such a person, imagine a fictional character vividly, treating you with love, kindness and compassion; imagine the feelings of love and kindness and regard this person has for you (an imagined scenario serves equally well in this meditation). Imagine the person who loves and cares for you is standing before you, sending their love to you. That person is sending you wishes for your safety, well-being and happiness. Take a moment and feel that person's love and warm wishes towards you. Visualise all the people who love you and have loved you, are surrounding you. Imagine all your friends and loved ones are around you, sending you kind wishes of happiness, well-being and health. Take your time and bask in the love and warmth from all sides. Enjoy the feelings of kindness and affection that come to you and fill you with compassion and love.
Part Two - Sending Love and Kindness to Your Loved Ones: Picture a person you love, perhaps a relative or a friend. Begin to send them love and well wishes. Remember, you and this person are similar. They, like you, wish to be happy and have a good life. Send all your love and warm wishes to them. Repeat the following phrases silently: Just as I wish and want for myself, may you live with ease, may you be happy, may you be safe and healthy (repeat three times – you can replace these phrases with your own words if it feels better for you).
Part Three - Love and Kindness to Other People (whom you neither loved nor hated): Think of your acquaintances, people you don’t know very well, and those you do not have any feelings towards. It could be a neighbour, a colleague or someone you see around but do not know very well. You and this person are alike in your wish to have a good life. Like you, this person wishes to experience joy and happiness. Send all your wishes for well-being to that person, repeating the following phrases silently: Just as I wish and want for myself, may you live with ease, may you be happy, may you be safe and healthy (repeat three times).
Part Four - Sending Love and Kindness to Your Enemies: Now think of someone you don’t like. It may be someone with whom you have long-standing difficulties. Call this difficult person to mind and be honest about what you feel. There may well be feelings of discomfort. Notice any tendency you may have to think badly of that person (for example, by getting into imagined arguments with them), and let go of these tendencies. Instead, wish them well, repeating the following phrases silently: Just as I wish and want for myself, may you live with ease, may you be happy, may you be safe and healthy (repeat three times).
Part Five - Sending Love and Kindness to All Living Beings: Now expand your awareness and picture the world before you. Send warm wishes to all people and all living creatures on the globe who, like you, want to be happy. Just as I wish and want for myself, may you live with ease, may you be happy, and may you be safe and healthy (repeat three times).
Take a deep breath in, and breathe out. Notice the state of your mind and how you feel after this meditation. When you’re ready, you may open your eyes.
28) Breath Counting Meditation
This meditation is a mind-clearing introspection practised in a sitting position. Sit comfortably with a meditation hand gesture (thumb and forefinger touching), breathe as usual, and mentally count your breath. “Inhale ..., exhale...1, inhale ..., exhale...2, inhale ..., exhale...3, inhale ..., exhale...4.” Then, start again “, “inhale ..., exhale...1, ...”; keep counting your breathing and be careful not to alter or control your breathing. Be mindful of your feelings and the physical sensation of each breath (both while inhaling and exhaling) as they pass through your nose or mouth.
If you think about anything except feeling your breath and the number of them, gently return your focus to the sensation of breathing and counting them. Start again if you’re not sure what number you’re on. Try not to judge yourself or become frustrated; simply start again. Consider breathing and counting your breath be your chosen thought. If any other thoughts or mental intrusions happen, gently replace them with “inhale ..., exhale...1, inhale ..., exhale...2, inhale ..., exhale...3, inhale ..., exhale...4.”
It is challenging to stay focused, but it will get easier as you keep on doing this meditation. If you like, experiment with extending each count to eight or ten. See if that’s easier or harder. The main upside of this meditation is the possibility of doing it anywhere, in a queue, on a train travelling home or sitting in a park.
29) “Looking and Listening” Meditation
Another mind-clearing meditation is to watch the clouds, flams of a fire (or a candle) or foaming waves at the seaside. Don’t try to make sense of what you see. Don’t try to find patterns or judge what you see. Just see them (or see and hear). When you notice a thought creeping into your mind, gently return to seeing and hearing.
It’s easier to start your looking and listening meditation with natural objects (clouds, flames or waves), as they are less likely to induce distracting thoughts. However, with practice, you can look at anything (cars or people passing by) and “just listen and look”.
You should do listening/looking meditation with no thoughts, no judgement and no attempt to make sense of what you’re seeing or hearing. Just listen. If thoughts intrude, notice them and gently return your focus to looking/listening. Instrumental music is usually the best thing to use for a listening meditation. Of course, when you learn how to do it, any music or sound (sound of waves or passing traffic) can become the basis for a mind-clearing looking or listening meditation.
30) Thought Counting (or Observing) Meditation
This meditation is a mind-watching (observing) exercise where your thoughts are the focal point of your attention. Sit comfortably and start observing and counting your thoughts. Later, you can label them instead of counting them, or you may focus on the feelings and sensations that your thoughts produce (without counting or labelling them). But for now, just count your thoughts without paying attention to their content. You can use a timer and set the alarm for two, three or five minutes. Close your eyes and begin counting your thoughts. When a thought appears in your mind, count it, but don’t get into its content. If you do that, you may end up with just one thought (or thoughts only about one thing) throughout the meditation.
Let go of each thought after counting it unless it’s particularly stubborn and so grabby that you cannot. In that case, you may want to delay your meditation to another time and take notice of that thought. The information it gives you could be crucial. Thoughts related to our fears and desires are the most challenging for people to let go of. On the other hand, if no thought comes to your mind, just say “no thought” or relax and enjoy a moment of clarity. Otherwise, count your thoughts, including “I didn’t have many thoughts” or “Was that thought number seven or eight?”
Though counting meditation is not an easy exercise, stay with it. Some thoughts will flash by; others linger for at least a few seconds. Treat your thoughts like the objects of your looking meditation. Just see them in your mind and count them (no judging, no analysis). Learn to take them as if they are nothing harmful, important or personal, just thoughts.
31 & 32) Yoga and Tai-Chi
We don't need to do mindfulness meditation to practice yoga or tai-chi, and practising them is not part of mindfulness meditation, but they complement and support each other. By practising yoga, we can enhance our abilities to concentrate and relax (two of the essential requirements for meditation). Moreover, we can deepen our experiences in yoga or tai-chi by combining them with mindfulness meditation.
Yoga consists of physical and mental exercises that originated in ancient India (around the 5th and 6th centuries BCE). There is a wide variety of yoga schools (practices), but most people in the Western world practise hatha yoga. Yoga is a disciplined method for attaining mental and physical strength, a technique for enhancing self-control (self-regulation) and a school of philosophy (darsana).
Tai-chi (commonly performed as a low-impact exercise) combines deep breathing and relaxation with flowing movements, originally developed as a martial art in 13th-century China. Studies have shown that tai-chi can help people (particularly those aged 65 and over) reduce stress, improve posture, enhance balance and general mobility and increase muscle strength in the legs.
Yoga and tai-chi are suitable for people of almost all ages, and you don’t need to be fit to start them. However, consult your GP if your health conditions merit a consultation. Both yoga and tai-chi could promote composure, relaxation and vitality. But, if you’re a novice, the best way to practise them is to join a class and follow a trained instructor's instructions and supervision to ensure that you do them correctly and safely.
Resources and Further Reading
Eberth, J., & Sedlmeier, P. (2012). The effects of mindfulness meditation: a meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 3(3), 174-189.
Tang, Y. Y., Hölzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4), 213-225.
Kabat-Zinn, J., Lipworth, L., & Burney, R. (1985). The clinical use of mindfulness meditation for the self-regulation of chronic pain. Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 8(2), 163-190.
Davidson, R. J., Kabat-Zinn, J., Schumacher, J., Rosenkranz, M., Muller, D., Santorelli, S. F., ... & Sheridan, J. F. (2003). Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosomatic medicine, 65(4), 564-570.
Shapiro, S. L., Schwartz, G. E., & Bonner, G. (1998). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on medical and premedical students. Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 21(6).
Shapiro, S. L., Astin, J. A., Bishop, S. R., & Cordova, M. (2005). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for health care professionals: results from a randomized trial. International journal of stress management, 12(2), 164.
Young, T. (2019) The Flourishing Mindfulness Programme: Overview and result from six randomised control trials. In Ivtzan (Ed.), Handbook of Mindfulness-Based Programmes: Mindfulness Interventions from Education to Health and Therapy, London, UK: Routledge.
Ivtzan, I., & Lomas, T. (2016). Mindfulness in positive psychology: the science of meditation and wellbeing. London: Routledge.
Arambula, P., Peper, E., Kawakami, M., & Gibney, K. H. (2001). The physiological correlates of Kundalini Yoga meditation: a study of a yoga master. Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback, 26(2), 147-153.
Schure, M. B., Christopher, J., & Christopher, S. (2008). Mind-body medicine and the art of self‐care: Teaching mindfulness to counselling students through yoga, meditation, and qigong. Journal of Counselling & Development, 86(1), 47-56.
Brown, R. P., & Gerbarg, P. L. (2009). Yoga breathing, meditation, and longevity. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1172(1), 54.
Posadzki, P., & Jacques, S. (2009). Tai Chi and meditation: a conceptual (re) synthesis? Journal of Holistic Nursing, 27(2), 103-114.
Black, D. S., Irwin, M. R., Olmstead, R., Ji, E., Breen, E. C., & Motivala, S. J. (2014). Tai chi meditation effects on nuclear factor-κB signalling in lonely older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Psychotherapy and psychosomatics, 83(5), 315.
Hart, M., & Alexander, S. (2011). The Best Meditations on the Planet: 100 Techniques to Beat Stress, Improve Health, and Create Happiness Just Minutes A Day. Fair Winds Press.
Galante, J., Galante, I., Bekkers, M. J., & Gallacher, J. (2014). Effect of kindness-based meditation on health and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 82(6), 1101.
