60. Cultivating a Good Heart for Mental Health

In this episode, we're working on our element Hope... and resilience as well! We're still adventuring through The Roots of Resilience (laid out in one of Dr. Emmons book, The Chemistry of Calm). We're talking about the sixth root, "Cultivating a Good Heart." What does this have to do with mental health?! A lot actually. We're not just a brain wandering around all alone. We're more than that. And this root opens up the rest of our body, and the world around us, so that we can not only improve our mental health, but connect with meaning and purpose, and tap into our joy, hope, and resilience.

Watch this episode on YouTube.

Links and Sources Mentioned:

• Resilient Community Find lots of resources to support you and you'll join a crew of inspiring people who are helping to keep our Joy Lab podcast in existence!
• Joy Lab Program (step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life)
• Joy Lab Podcast #13 (The Roots of Resilience) This episode is a broad overview of what we'll be talking about over the next 9 episodes. It's a really helpful summary!
• Joy Lab Podcast #2 (The Handle of Hope). This is a great summary for our element of Hope.
• Chemistry of Calm (Dr. Emmons' book referenced in this series)
• Learned Optimism (Seligman book)
• Resilience definitions, theory, and challenges: interdisciplinary perspectives
• Annual Research Review: Positive adjustment to adversity -Trajectories of minimal-impact resilience and emergent resilience
• The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Hope and Stress
• The role of Hope in subsequent health and well-being for older adults: An outcome-wide longitudinal approach
• On the promotion of human flourishing (VanderWeele article)
• Hopelessness and Risk of Mortality and Incidence of Myocardial Infarction and Cancer
• Cumulative Stress and Health