Dogs can improve your state of mind

A UK study reveals that owning a dog is good for your health. And having a pet dog improves your physical and mental wellbeing more than having a cat. This is the conclusion of a study by a senior lecturer, Dr. Deborah Wells, from the Canine Behavior Centre of Queens University, Belfast in Northern Ireland.

But she is not the only one who came to this conclusion. You may have seen this guy on National Geographic or just heard of him, Cesar Millan. Better known as the dog whisperer he goes across the world to help people understand their dogs and help them with their problems.

Cesar lives by a couple simple rules when it comes to dogs:

• Exercise
• Discipline
• Affection

Always treat your dog in that order and you should be fine. When you enter the room or meet a new dog you have some basic rules to:

• No touch
• No talk
• No eye-contact

Dogs can feel our energy, our state of mind. So, basically our emotions have an effect on the way our dogs treat us. When you get angry at your dog, but you don't act upon it, he will still feel your energy. Cesar learns us that the way we feel effect our dogs, so in order to address our problems we must look at our own emotions. When we sort them out our dogs will notice the change in energy and will act upon that energy. Well, what is the energy I should have? A calm and assertive state of mind is the perfect way to be a balanced pack leader for your dog. It gives you rest and your dog is happier. A win win situation!

Below a short clip with Cesar's house rules:

Are we missing the joke, Joran?

He is all over the news, Joran van der Sloot. He confessed in court today, or did he? I saw the video of the confession today and I had already noticed some contempt when his lawyer was explaining the meanings of post-traumatic stress syndrome. That did not feel good to me, that's why I decided to do some research. I found a video of Joran, in this video he is laughing with his lawyer and some other people. Now we can wonder why he does this. Is it because he is nervous, happy or simply because he does not give a thing about what happens to him. It could be a form of stress release, laughing or crying can be signs of this. Not everybody does handle stress the same way. Or did he do it because he is happy that everybody is buying his lie? You never know what's going to happen next when it comes to Joran. One thing is sure, we are going to hear a lot from his trials, especially because America is after him as well. To be continued...

Six Word story

"How do YOU KNOW I'm ANGRY!"

Get to know me. An interview with myself.

I have been telling you all about emotions for the last couple of weeks but who am I? What about my emotions? I thought I'd enlighten you with an interview with myself. Enjoy! 

When was the last time you cried?

The last time I cried was not too long ago actually. It was when my dog died, Jacky. She was 15 years old when she passed away. She got sick and when we took her to the vet, they told us that it was best for Jacky is we put her to sleep. So we did, and it was one of the saddest moments in my life. She had always been there for me, comforting me, supporting me. She was my best friend, and she still is.

When was the last time you laughed?

Well I laugh every day, but the last time I really laughed was on new year’s eve. I was taking pictures of everybody and when I looked at a picture I had taken I just had to laugh. It looked ridiculous! Of course I had had something to drink that night and I was laughing so much that I literally fell over. I was lying flat on the ground laughing. I did have a lot of fun!

When was the last time you got angry?

This weekend actually. My dad was moving the table, a really heavy wooden table, and its leg broke! When my mom and I move the table we always get a speech to be careful because when you don’t lift it up high enough the legs can break. And now he decided to do it on his own and it broke! I got angry with my dad. Everything is okay now though, he fixed it the next day.

When was the last time you were ashamed?

The day after new year’s eve. I got a bit too drunk that night and the next day we had some sort of an after party and everybody was there. I don’t drink much so it was kind of a big deal. Everybody knew about it and they all knew that I had fallen down laughing. I was ashamed to face them the next day.

When was the last time you were surprised?

Christmas eve, we got together with some friends and we had all made surprises for each other. Getting a present is always a surprise because you don’t know what’s in it. But now I really had no idea what so ever!

When was the last time you lied?

Probably not too long ago. We all lie every day, it might be to avoid hurting someone’s feelings or to make ourselves look better. I can say that I haven’t told a big lie recently but I do lie every day, we all do.

When was the last time you were disgusted?

Yesterday we went out to dinner at a friend’s house and he had made something I really didn’t like. I was disgusted by it and therefore he made me some pancakes that made me really happy.

When was the last time you were contempt?

Helping my mom with her work, realizing that I know more than she does when it comes to computers. I did feel some contempt and it was nice, she knows I’m good at it and I am proud of it.

When was the last time you were afraid?

Last Thursday, in the Efteling. I was in a rollercoaster in the evening, it was dark out. And I had never been in a rollercoaster when it was dark, it was a new experience for me and I got a bit scared.

 

When was the last time you were worried?

I am worried all the time, I have a puppy and I am always worried that he might get hurt or that he is going to eat something he shouldn’t. I can’t even open the door without making sure he is out of the way because I am afraid that he might run away. I love him so much that I am worried all the time.

A guy eating dog poop? - Ameriquest Commercial

I was surfing on the internet today, trying to find a funny commercial, and I found alright! It is a bit of an old commercial, but it's still funny if you ask me. This commercial is from the mortgage company Ameriquest, the slogan they used in their commercials was: "Don't judge too quickly, we won't". What they created were some really funny commercials, there are a lot of them. All of them are very short and straight to the point, which makes them very funny. The one I found hilarious was this one:

In this commercial you see a guy with his dog, just sitting in the park and enjoying the weather. Deciding that it is time to go home he starts to gather his things and stands up. The dog then sees another dog and gets excited, pulling the guy forwards. The guy then drops his chocolate brownie (or whatever chocolaty thing it is), it lands behind the dog. An elderly woman and her granddaughter walk on by and they see the two dogs. Our guy pick up his brownie with a paper, making it seems like he is picking up the dog's poop. He cleans it up a bit and start to eat it. The disgust is obvious on the faces of the elderly woman and her granddaughter. The guy is happy with his brownie, then he realizes what it must seem like to the elderly woman. He quickly tries to sign to them that this is not what it seems! The emotions that the commercial transfers to us, the viewers, are obvious. We sit on our couch with a great big smile on our face. That is what I love about this commercial is all the emotions and the body language, there are no conversations, the entire story is told with emotions. What can I say, strong commercial, strong message, and a very good looking brownie.

What does anger tell me?

Anger can mean a lot of things to me, it depends on the context of the emotion. For example, when I am talking to someone and I see a micro-expression that shows me anger, I know that whatever I said must have been offending or hurtful for that person. If I don't notice it and I keep on going with my story I might upset him/her even more, which may eventually lead to an argument. When I see the micro-expression I know that whatever I said was hurtful and I can stop my story and apologize or explain what I meant with my story. This way I may have avoided an argument and saved a friendship.

Anger certainly is not my favorite emotion to see, feel or experience. It is , however, important that you know how to deal with it and to stop it in the act, if you can.

Personal hero

When it comes to personal heroes, I have to say that it would be Paul Ekman. I have mentioned him quite a lot in my previous posts. When it comes to the research in recognizing emotions and spotting liars, Paul Ekman is the leading man. He is the man behind the series "Lie to me," his research has been the base of every episode in the series. Paul Ekman was present at every shooting of all the episodes, just to be sure that the facts were right. Even on his website he put up a blog about the show, explaining into precise detail the science behind the show. Separating the facts from fiction.

Paul Ekman got me interested in recognizing emotions and even got me studying his literature. I wanted to know what he knows and to be able to do what he does. Watching the series and reading the books, I have to say I am nowhere near the level of expertise of Paul Ekman. I can say that I can recognize more now than I could before and I know what to do with that information. So I say thank you, my hero, Paul Ekman. Thank you for your inspiration and eye-opening research.

Put it to the test

We now know the background of the micro-expressions and the way we should interpret our knowledge, but how do we gain the knowledge? With a lot of practice of course! Since the boring part is over we can go straight to the fun part of micro-expressions, recognizing the emotions and putting your knowledge to the test! I will give you some examples to practice your new found wisdom.

Disgust

The emotion that is shown on this woman’s face is, if you haven’t guessed it yet, disgust. We all feel and know this emotion. It is in our nature to recognize it. With a still frame it is a lot easier, imagine it coming by with a 25th of a second. The way we recognize disgust is by the wrinkling of the nose and the raised upper lip.

Anger

O, how he is green and angry (not to mention ugly). We all know who this guy, with serious anger management problems, is. The Hulk, a regular guy who turns green and ugly when he gets angry. I’m sure we all know our own hulks and therefore it is important to recognize this emotion. You will recognize anger by the glare in the eyes, narrowing of the lips and the down and together eyebrows.

Fear

A very unpleasant emotion, you might experience it after seeing a horror movie or when you walk alone in the dark. You can recognize fear by raised and pulled together eyebrows, raised upper eyelids, tensed lower eyelid, lips slightly stretched horizontally back to the ears.

Sadness

Everybody is sad some days, maybe after watching a sad movie, or you might be sad because of something that has happened to you. When you interact with people, such as your friends or family, sadness is important to recognize. You can often feel when someone is sad, and we all notice the slight trembling in the lips, but there is so much more to this emotion. The drooping upper eyelids, losing the focus in the eyes, the pulling down the lip corners slightly.

Happiness

Desired by many,achieved by some, happiness. A look that fits everybody, we all know it when we see it, but what’s the science behind it? We recognize happiness by the crow’s feet wrinkles, pushed up cheeks and the movement from the muscle that orbits the eye.

Surprise

When I was searching for an example for this emotion, all I could find were surprised kids. Maybe that’s because when we get older we have seen so much, so much that we don’t get surprised as fast as kids. But when we do get surprised we sure do show it! How can you see the difference between happiness and surprise? Easy, by the raised eyebrows, widened eyes and the open mouth (which you can see clearly on thispicture).

Contempt

Apparently, former president of the United States, George W. Bush was very contempt about something. About what we don’t know, but we can clearly see the emotion on his face on this still frame. How can you recognize it in others you ask? Well it’s actually pretty easy.You simply look for the following things: The lip corner is tightened and raised on only one side of the face. It might sound simple, but this emotion does not require a lot of muscles. Therefore it will not be shown very long. Pay attention while you are talking to someone and you might catch something that they are contempt about.

I hope that this was useful for many of you, recognizing emotions in the faces of others may help you with your social skills, relationships, jobs and many other things. Practice and enjoy!

Quote of the day: "Art is a lie that makes us realize truth", Pablo Picasso.

Sorry, have we METT?

METT training programme Paul Ekman

As I promised yesterday, we will be talking about micro-expressions today. What are they, what do they tell us and most importantly how can we train to see them? We all have micro-expressions, the same way we don’t always see them in others, we don’t always notice when we have them ourselves. I am sure that we all know that feeling, a hunch that someone is lying or the feeling when you pick up something and you get the feeling that something’s just not right. These feelings may just be your subconscious picking up on micro-expressions. Your eyes just haven’t learned to see them yet, but that can change! According to Paul Ekman, you can learn to see micro-expressions within half an hour. So which micro-expressions are there and how do we see them?

A micro-expression is a brief, involuntary facial expression shown on your face following the emotions you are experiencing at the time. They usually occur when under stress, or when you have something to lose or gain. Micro-expressions are difficult to fake, unlike regular emotions. Micro-expressions express the seven universal emotions:

1. Disgust
2. Anger
3. Fear
4. Sadness
5. Happiness
6. Surprise
7. Contempt

In the 1990s Paul Ekman expanded the list of emotions, this includes positive and negative emotions not all of which are encoded in facial muscles. The expansion to the list contained to following emotions: Amusement, Contempt, Embarrassment, Excitement, Guilt, Pride, Relief, Satisfaction, Pleasure and Shame.

All micro-expressions are very brief in their duration, they only last up to 1/25^th to 1/15^th of a second. There are three different types of micro-expressions, the first is a Simulated expression. This is when a micro-expression is not accompanied by a genuine expression. Second is the Neutralized Expression, this is when a genuine expression is suppressed and the face remains neutral. Last, but not least, the Masked Expression, this is when a genuine expression is completely masked by a falsified expression.

Despite the efforts to conceal any sign of emotion, leakage may occur in a micro-expression. These tiny changes also can occur when an emotion is just beginning, often before the person knows that they are about to act emotionally. With the METT Training tool, developed by Paul Ekman, you can train to see the important signals and recognize micro-expressions. Micro-expressions tell you that the emotion is concealed, but they don’t tell you why or how it was concealed. You will need to determine if the concealment is deliberate or unconscious, as they look the same. You may need to ask some questions to figure out the motive to conceal the emotions.

Source(s):           Telling Lies, Paul Ekman, chapter on cautions

                           Emotions Revealed, Paul Ekman, chapters 5,6,7,8 and 9.

                           www.paulekman.com

                           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microexpression

Sneek preview micro-expressions

Today I would like to share a video with you. The video shows Paul Ekman and John Cleese discussing subjects such as: Lying, emotions and micro-expressions. Paul Ekman provides us with some examples and tells us where we have to look to see a micro-expression. We learn what it tells us and how we can interpret them.

John Cleese provides a lighter side to the subject, with his humor and charisma he tells the story to make sure anyone can understand. This video is an excerpt from a miniseries which aired on BBC, called "The human face". You can watch the entire show on YouTube (following this link)

You should see this video as a hint of what's to come tomorrow. I will be talking about tricks on how to catch a liar. This involves micro-expressions, which just happens to be the subject of the short clip. So stay tuned and check in again tomorrow to learn more about micro-expressions and the use of micro-expressions.

I would like to leave you with a quote that you can think about during your day, wherever you may be in the world. "Lying is done with words and also with silence," a quote by Adrienne Rich. Have a nice day and enjoy the video.