Taking an asset-based or positive approach to life is often viewed it seems as a 'glass half empty, glass half full' situation. But I think of it as a much broader concept than that. As I mentioned in my previous post, the growing field of Positive Psychology has demonstrated time and again that viewing things from an asset-based, positive or optimistic manner is far more than just 'Positive Thinking" which I think for most people has more of the feel of the philosophy espoused by Stuart...
Jan 22,
2008
2008
Getting less bad
Back in 2000 when I was an assistant professor at Arizona State University, I was invited to be first author on a book chapter in a major publication called The Handbook of Health Psychology. The title of the chapter was "Effects of physical activity on physical and psychological health: Implications for exercise adherence and psychophysiological mechanisms" (A pretty long and involved title I admit, but then this was a pretty long and involved book - I was actually...
Jan 17,
2008
2008
The F Word
FUN! I was thinking about that word the other day. I keep reading that when people want to be more active they should 'make it fun' or 'find something that is fun' or even 'find something you enjoy'. I saw these same kind of suggestions in some of this year's recycled 'Ten Sure-Fire Tips' to stick to your New Year's exercise program (Déjà vu all over again?). Of course if you can find an exercise that is Fun, then you are well on your way to a...
Jan 16,
2008
2008
A little more higher energy usage
Just to follow up on my 'be a higher energy user' post today, I have included a graphical summary of information taken from the Surgeon General's Report (SGR) on Physical Activity and Health (and you just thought they talked about smoking!). The SGR was compiled by the brightest and best scientists in wellness, exercise and epidemiology. It was released in 1996 and was an enormous and exhaustive review of the scientific literature that examined the effect of physical activity on health. The...
Jan 15,
2008
2008
Be a high(er) energy user, not a low(er) energy user
Opened up my email this morning and found a reference to something called "Parkour" and "Free Running". Since both of these were described as related to being active outdoors I checked them out. Parkour was initially developed in France and the name was taken from parcours du combattant, the classic obstacle course method of military training proposed by Georges Hébert a pioneering French physical educator, theorist and instructor. Free Running was developed out of Parkour. Here's...
