past – Crisbie Coach

Nostalgia: Why Reflecting on the Past is Crucial for Mental Health

Nostalgia protects against existential challenges, helping us cope with the present and future by evoking positive experiences and feelings from the past. This powerful emotion serves as a rearview mirror, reflecting a particular time, place, or emotion that once brought joy or comfort. Whether it’s the memory of your first love, a yellowed photograph found by chance, or an object that stirs a significant memory, nostalgia plays a crucial role in our mental well-being.

How the Internet Fuels Nostalgia

In today’s digital age, the Internet has become a key driver of nostalgia. With just one click, you can find the soundtrack of a cherished moment from your past, instantly transporting you back in time. Experts suggest that nostalgia is a complex emotion—predominantly positive—that enhances our sensitivity and helps us understand the present.

The Origin of Nostalgia

The term “nostalgia” was coined in 1680 by Johannes Hofer, a student at the University of Basel. He combined the Greek words “nóstos” (homecoming) and “algia” (suffering) to describe the deep longing Swiss soldiers felt to return home from battle. Today, we understand nostalgia as a positive and stimulating emotion, distinct from melancholy, which does not cause illness symptoms but helps combat them.

Nostalgia as a Source of Resilience and Wellbeing

Research from the University of Southampton in the UK highlights nostalgia as a vital mental health component. It motivates us, boosts our self-esteem, and serves as a reservoir of emotions that we can consciously and unconsciously access. These positive memories reinforce feelings from our past, aiding us in coping with current and future challenges.

While nostalgia allows us to recall the past, it does not bring back what we have lost. Instead, it helps us better manage the life we are living. By tapping into nostalgic memories, we can find comfort and strength, making it an essential tool for resilience and well-being.

Does Nostalgia Help You Manage Your Life?

Reflecting on your own experiences, do you find that nostalgia helps you manage your life? Share your thoughts and let me know how nostalgia influences your mental health and daily coping strategies.

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Choosing Happiness: Nine Things to Let Go for a Fulfilling New Year

photo of pathway surrounded by fir trees

In the pursuit of happiness, we often find ourselves entangled in the complexities of life, overlooking the simplicity of joy that’s right in front of us. They say happiness is a choice, but sometimes we complicate it to the point of missing it altogether. So, what can we do to embrace happiness and make it a more significant part of our lives? Here are nine things to let go of as we kick off the new year, paving the way for a more fulfilling and content existence.

Release Anger:
- Anger consumes valuable time and energy, taking away from moments that could be better spent. Did you know that recovering from just a minute of anger can take up to an hour?
Surrender Control Illusion:
- Control is but an illusion in a world that often operates beyond our influence. Accepting the uncontrollable aspects of life frees us from unnecessary stress.
Ditch Approval Seeking:
- Worrying about others’ opinions is a futile exercise. Embracing authenticity attracts genuine connections. Remember, you can’t please everyone, and that’s perfectly okay.
Strive for Personal Growth:
- Be the best version of yourself, naturally drawing like-minded people into your life.
Bid Farewell to the Past:
- Dwelling on the past inhibits present and future growth. Learn from past experiences without letting them dictate your current state.
Mindful Spending:
- Acquire fewer material possessions; they don’t equate to happiness but can deplete your resources. A simpler life often leads to greater happiness.
Abandon Gossip:
- Gossiping breeds negativity. Remember, those who gossip with you today might gossip about you tomorrow.
Limit Worries:
- Excessive worry invests time and energy in hypothetical scenarios. Trust in life’s journey, and let go of unnecessary worry.
Avoid Taking Things Personally:
- Recognize that people are immersed in their own lives. Most reactions have little to do with you. Let go of unnecessary concerns about what others think.

Are you ready to embrace a happier and more fulfilled life this year? Letting go of these nine things is a powerful step toward choosing happiness. Remember that simplicity and contentment often lie in the release of what no longer serves us. Kick off the year with a mindset geared towards a more joyful and gratifying existence.

Thank you for reading. You can find more about happiness on my blog. You can also think about subscribing so as not to miss out on any new posts!

Spring, Spiritual Awakening and Freedom

It is the end of winter and spring appears timidly showing us the first blossoms, longer days and birds that build nests.

Spring marks the awakening of nature and therefore also our awakening, not only physical but also spiritual.

There is a Sanskrit word that defines spiritual awakening, but which actually means “liberation”. The word is Moksha.

According to the Indian tradition, the discovery of one’s Self is associated with that of freedom.

But why? What kind of freedom are we talking about?

First of all, let us remember that waking up our true nature means becoming aware that there is a much wider presence within ourselves than the individual we normally identify with. The Self is called Atman in Indian philosophy.

The first freedom that we should discover is to abandon identification with the body. In fact, by discovering our Self, we stop living as prisoners inside our body. Suddenly our presence, which was previously closed within the perimeter of our skin, becomes immense and limitless. We join the world. We are no longer inside our body, but it is our body that is inside us.

The second freedom is the discovery that we are not dependent on our thoughts. The Self is not a thought, but it is consciousness, the awakened space in which our thoughts appear and disappear. Liberation from thought is like liberation from a corvee, from a hellish cycle of recurring thoughts, and it gives us silence.

The third freedom consists in the discovery that our Self is free from our past, from what has happened to us of both positive and negative. Our past remains, of course, and constitutes our history, but the Self lives only in the present moment, so it is always new, original, fresh. It allows us to regenerate the source of our presence every moment.

The fourth freedom is that from the judgment of others, which too often is very heavy. Others see us, judge us and this makes us lose some of our freedom. But others cannot see our true Self, they cannot see who we really are. They only see our appearance, our body, but they cannot see our true nature. Thanks to awakening we are able to free ourselves from the gaze of others and finally to be free.

Which of these four freedoms do you think is most useful for your individual journey?

woman walking on pathway under the sun — Individual Journey – Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

How and Why You Should Learn to Forget

Letting go of the burden of the past is important to your happiness.

Many people live in the past; they remember what they were, the love stories that did not go well, their failures and disappointments.

Such a burden takes away space and energy from the present, which is actually the only time you can live actively.

I read somewhere that happiness consists in enjoying good health and having a bad memory.

Actually, you should learn to let go of the past, forget about the insults received, the bad events and the mistakes, in short, all the bad memories, and learn to focus more on the present.

Here are some tips you could follow.

The best antidote to guilt, resentment, or anger that takes you back to the past is to devote energy to building the life you want.
Stop playing the victim and become an active protagonist of your life
Your memories change while time passes by, they may distort, and they do not really reflect what happened. Try asking a person who shared an event with you to tell you about their memory and then compare it with your memory. You will see that you and that person remember different aspects of the same fact.
Prioritize your well-being. Life is too short to spend arguing and complaining. What happened could be a source of stress and even discomfort. Continuing to feel anger at a past event drains up your energy. It is more important for your physical and mental health to live quietly than to be right at all costs.

The past, however, also brings with it good memories and lessons learned, which shape your personality.

Have a look at what Buddhism teaches: “Joy and happiness arise from letting go. Sit down and take an inventory of your life. There are things you have been hanging on to that really are not useful and deprive you of your freedom. Find the courage to let them go.”

What about you? Would you find the courage to let go of your past?

accomplishment action adventure challenge — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Why nostalgia is important

Nostalgia is a shield against existential challenges. Evoking positive experiences and feelings from the past can help you cope better with the present and the future.

Nostalgia is a rear view mirror that reflects a particular feeling of a time or place or an emotion that happened in the past. It could be the memory of your first love, a yellowed photograph found by chance, or an object that reminds you of something. The Internet can help make you nostalgic. With one click you can find, for example, the soundtrack of a pleasant moment you lived.

Today, experts tell us that nostalgia is a complex emotion, above all, but not always, positive, which can give you greater sensitivity and can help you understand the present.

The word nostalgia was invented in 1680 by a student (Johannes Hofer) from the University of Basel who combined the Greek word nóstos (homecoming) and algia (suffering). He described it as the pain that the Swiss soldiers felt in battle and that they wanted to go home.

Current studies distinguish nostalgia from melancholy because it has a stimulating effect and does not cause symptoms of illness, rather it tries to fight them.

Could it be said that nostalgia is a source of resilience and wellbeing?

Researchers from the University of Southampton (UK) have observed that nostalgia is a vital component of mental health that motivates us and increases our self-esteem.

Nostalgia also represents a reservoir of emotions that you can consciously access and which you unconsciously use in your daily life to reinforce the feelings of your past that help you cope with the present and the future.

But remember that the past can be recalled but cannot come back. Nostalgia does not give you back what you have lost but it helps you to better manage the life you are living.

Do you think nostalgia helps you with managing your life?

Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

9 Things to Let Go to Be Happier

It is said that being happy is a choice. But we have a tendency to complicate our lives to the point of not recognising it when we have it in front of our eyes.

What could we do to be happier?

Here are nine things we should let go to find more happiness in our lives:

1. Give up anger. Anger steals time and precious energy that we could use more usefully. Did you know that for a minute of anger you need an hour to recover?

2. Let go of things you can’t control. Control is an illusion. We live in a world that is out of control, we have to accept the fact that we cannot control everything.

3. Stop worrying about what others think of you. This also makes us waste time and energy. We could never please everyone, there will always be someone who doesn’t like us. It doesn’t matter what other people think of us. .

4. Try to be the best version of yourselves, to spontaneously attract people who are related to you.

5. Stop living in the past. We all have gone through difficult times. But we survived. Try to silence that little voice that tells you: “I should have done this”, “I shouldn’t have done that”, “if I went back I would change things”. The past is past and does not come back, so let’s accept it as it is. We can learn many lessons from the past that will help us manage the present and lay the foundations for the future.

6. Try to buy fewer useless things because they don’t make you happier but they empty your pockets. The less things we have, the happier we will be.

7. Stop gossiping. Those who share gossip with you today, will be the same gossiping on you tomorrow.

8. Don’t worry more than you should. Worrying means investing time and energy in something that has yet to happen. Again, let it go and try to trust life.

9. Stop taking things personally. People are just too busy thinking about their own lives to be able to think about others’ lives. The world does not turn around you. Most people’s reactions have nothing to do with you, don’t worry about it.

Are you ready to take on those tips?