Managing Stress: The Power of Mindset
Nicole Weekes is the Harry S. and L. Madge Rice Thatcher Professor of Psychology and a Professor of Neuroscience at Pomona College. Her research focuses on the psychological and biological stress response. She has received Pomona College’s Wig Distinguished Professor Award for Excellence in Teaching four times, as well as being named the Case-Carnegie Foundation’s California Professor of the Year. She is also listed as one of the Top 300 Professors in the country by the Princeton Review.
Overview
What is the Power of Mindset?
We’ve all heard about the placebo effect – which explains why name-brand medicines work better than the generic stuff, even when they share the exact same ingredients. But did you know that the way we think about ourselves and the world around us dramatically impacts our health, how fast or slow we age, and even how long we live? In fact, people with a positive mindset about aging live on average 7.5 years longer than those without. That might sound alarming to those of us who struggle to see the bright side, but the good news is we can make surprisingly simple changes or small shifts to how we think, feel, and act that will really pay off. This is the power of mindset.
The Power of Mindset Lecture
This talk describes cutting edge research on the power of one’s mindset – literally meaning the setting of the mind towards a particular set of expectations – on influencing thoughts, feelings, and behavior. You’ll learn how making subtle tweaks in mindset can lead children to perform better on challenging math tests, college students to show improvements in their vision, and older adults to score higher on memory tasks. You’ll also learn about the substantial impact of mindset on physical health. Would you believe that simple shifts in mindset can lead to faster walking speeds, decreases in blood pressure and body fat, and increases in life expectancy?
Once we have covered the power of our mindset, we will discuss the science of both stress and stress management. Professor Nicole Weekes will explain the basics of the stress response, and distinguish between the different types of stressors – the events that cause dis-ease – and the perception of dis-ease. We will also talk about the role of the brain in stress, stress management techniques, and coping strategies. We will conclude with mindfulness training and even try a couple of helpful mindfulness exercises in order to improve the power of our mindset.
You will leave our power of mindset course with a better understanding of how stress is represented in the mind and in the brain, how stress affects both psychological and physical health, and the best practices for managing stress for a healthier life.
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