Summary

Wellbeing requires knowledge. We can work on our wellbeing by gaining information. We can learn new things, including some techniques to maintain our wellbeing. Mindfulness practices can help us maintain our wellbeing. It is important to be selective about the information we find, including the information we find online.

Wellbeing through Information

In the USA, we have entered the Holiday Season. Holidays can affect our wellbeing, as I have discussed in previous posts. Let’s discuss how to maintain wellbeing through information.

Wellbeing through Information: Wellbeing Basics

Let’s recap some of the tools we have to maintain our wellbeing.

Remain social connected.
Choose healthy foods to eat.
Exercise.
Establish a regular sleep routine and avoid using electronic devices for a few hours before you retire.
Practice mindfulness.

A simple set of concepts like social connectedness, healthy eating, exercising, healthy sleep routines, and mindfulness can help us regain and maintain our wellbeing. Simple and simultaneously complex.

Let’s take mindfulness practices. Research has been limited to a few types of mindfulness techniques: attentional (focusing attention on some concept and aiming to remain in the present); constructive (strengthening virtues); and deconstructive (gaining insight into self via reflection). Dahl and Davidson (2019) propose that we have yet to fully research the panoply of contemplative practices in existence in various cultures.

And, the highlight to recall is that mindfulness practices have always been part of a broader lifestyle approach. Consider how we can pursue a lifestyle which includes mindfulness. Mindfulness may have been a part of your upbringing, regardless of your spiritual background and even if there was no spiritual learning in your childhood.

Learning, Always Learning

Human beings are adept at learning new skills. As a species, we have learnt over the course of time. From infancy through childhood and into adulthood, humans learn new things. Until death, we continue to learn.

The neuroscience of learning is fascinating and still evolving. We have data which demonstrate the benefits of direct instruction as part of the learning process. However, the learning process must include active learning. Active learning involves us being an active participant in learning with social interaction, feedback, choices during the course of learning, and rewards.

Think about the strategies employed in apps like Duolingo (my bias!): we are taught some words; we have to practice spelling and saying some words; we have to employ the words in sentences; we have to match words; we can choose exercises to reinforce the learnt words; and we receive a reward (points, a high five from one of the characters, an upgrade to a higher level, a recognition from a fellow learner). We can even add family members and friends to our learning plan. Think about it. That’s how we learn.

As the literature on the neuroscience of learning reveals, we develop new connections in our brains when we learn and practice something new. And, this benefits our wellbeing.

Wellbeing through Information

The Internet has broadened our access to information. But, there are downsides to this access, especially in the era of AI (Artificial Intelligence). AI created algorithms can lead us down the garden path to hell.

Information Vetting: Be Choosy

Be cautious about the information at your fingertips. Not all information is created equal. By that, I mean that some information is pure nonsense. Information can be lies. Information can be part of a deliberate attempt to misguide you. Information may be distributed to promote an agenda of hate, fear, despair, deception, or any other emotion laden strategy.

Consider the potential for accessing untruths. Start researching something. Find information unfamiliar to you. Continue searching along the same lines. Be drawn to similar content. Find yourself on the path to misinformation or disinformation.

Let me share with you a resource to help you select information and sources which are reliable. Listen to someone who is wise and who knows science and the scientific method: Neil deGrasse Tyson.

StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson: November 27, 2025

How to Tell What’s Real Online

Practice Mindfulness Before You Speak

Wellbeing through information includes being savvy in our social interactions.

Some days, I exercise caution before I speak. Other days, I need a reminder to do so. Most of us remember that we are all human and that awareness informs our social interactions. (Clearly, ICE needs some training in social interactions.) Each of us, each of US, sometimes would do well to step back and pause before we speak. Regulate those emotions BEFORE engaging in an interaction.

Learn about mindfulness. Learn about how to improve social interactions by exercising the brain regions that help us regulate our emotions. Take a listen to Dr. Richard Davidson speaking with Tami Simon on Sounds True:

Sounds True: February 28, 2025

The Emotional Life of Your Brain with Dr. Richard J. Davidson

Music for Inspiration: Wellbeing through Information

Remember, wellbeing is a process.

Audra McDonald performing ‘Some Days’

Please give generously to your local food pantries. Your neighbours will thank you.

Disclaimer: This post is not meant to substitute for a consultation with your mental health care professional team.

If you are thinking of hurting yourself or of hurting someone else, please CALL 9-1-1; CALL 9-8-8; or GO TO the nearest emergency room.

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Nota Bene:

USA Government websites are being purged by the current Trump Administration to align the website content with the regime’s political agenda. Please note that any government website cited in this and other posts on this website may no longer contain evidence based or historically correct information. Thus, I am trying to avoid including any references or resources which derive from a USA government website. This is not bias; I take this action in an effort to maintain a factually sound content in my posts.