UCLA Journal of Radiation Oncology SPRING 2024 - Flipbook - Page 27
UCLA RADIATION ONCOLOGY JOURNAL
comes from a practice popularized
by the meditation teacher Tara
Brach, known as R.A.I.N (https://
www.tarabrach.com/rain/) in
which you recognize and allow
tough feelings. Another suggestion
is to approach these tough times
with self-compassion (see https://
self-compassion.org/), specifically
mindfully recognizing your own
struggles and treating yourself with
kindness.
A / K: Before Yale and your historic
happiness course, what sparks
drew you to cognitive science and
psychology?
L: I was always interested in how
people think and how the mind
works. My initial research was on
the question of what makes people
unique, and I studied that question
by exploring cognition and thinking
in non-human animals, specifically
monkeys and dogs. I wound up
switching to the study of the science
of happiness when I saw the mental
health crisis that my students were
facing in my role as a Head of College
on campus.
A / K: How can we foster meaningful
social connection in a major city
where we exist in buffered zones
(commuting in our cars by ourselves
versus NYC public transport, behind
our phones/headphones, ordering
groceries/food for delivery versus
shopping/dining, etc.)?
A / K: Our patients often face
significant change in a short period
of time due to their diagnoses. What
specific practices or exercises have
you found most effective in fostering
happiness and resilience among
individuals facing health challenges?
L: First, we need to prioritizing
spending time with the people we
do care about— find time to call
a friend or schedule an in-person
meet up. Second, I think we need to
find more opportunities to talk to
strangers. Even a quick conversation
with the barista at a coffee shop or a
stranger standing near you in line can
improve our mood. The key is that
we ourselves need to prioritize these
interactions in real life.
L: One strategy is to find ways to
acknowledge and allow negative
emotions. All too often we assume
that the right way to deal with
negative feelings is to suppress them
or to push them away. But research
shows we’re better off finding ways
to allow our tough emotions. One of
my favorite strategies for doing this
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