Find what's right about what's wrong - some simple ways to overcome negativity bias. As winter storm Grayson kicks up its howling winds outside my room, my thoughts swirl and drift. Sometimes nature’s storms press the pause button by surrounding us in a white cocoon. On my note of thanks, I can’t help but wonder about the lesson. Many years ago, I found a poem online called “Instructions to Myself” by Sue Silvermarie. It begins: “First you have to stop complaining. When you hear the grievance coming in your mind, that big wind that's about to fill your sail and send you flying – Haul in. Say hello. Let it spin by. Then you have to find what's right about what's wrong. What's curious or strange, what to note on your card of thanks.” I have kept this tattered poem taped to my bathroom mirror for the past fourteen years. And, as I sit listening to and feeling the storm’s energy pulse, I am more aware than ever of the value of this simple, life-altering message. In Rick Hanson’s Positive Neuroplasticity Training, he shows us ways to adjust the setting on our alarm bell amygdala by using awareness to plant flowers in the garden of the mind. He explains that our inherited ‘negativity bias’ is an outdated tendency that kept our early human ancestors alerted to potential threats in their environment. Our bodies, therefore, tend to react more intensely to negative stimuli than to positive experience, and even reinforce it. According to Dr. Hanson, Ph.D., psychologist, and Senior Fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, “the brain is like velcro for negative experiences but teflon for positive ones. With his gentle voice and cadence, he shares his practice of Installing the Good, a simple method that can gently adjust the amygdala set point to soften reactivity, stress, and negativity bias. By staying with beneficial experience or memories an extra 30 to 60 seconds, we can reinforce a healthier landscape in our mind. Positive experience not only feels good, he says, but also helps to keep our brains healthy. Being happy can accelerate personal growth and human evolution by installing and “transforming temporary positive states into lasting neural traits.” While negative experience or mood disrupt our capacity to recognize, recall or reinforce neural connections, positive events and exposure makes us more attentive, cognizant and productive. He reminds us that, while many of us may presuppose that our thoughts are random and unmanageable, we can, in fact, decide which thoughts to keep, reinforce or “install,” and which to deemphasize, minimize or neutralize. Circulating happy, optimistic thoughts reduces cortisol and increases dopamine and serotonin. This helps your brain to function at peak capacity, supporting more mental alertness, creative problem-solving, and an overall sense of well-being, Awareness is key to rebalancing this predisposition to negative experience that can distort reality and undermine quality of life. Research shows that simply labeling with a single word a negative state of mind - pain, anxiety, irritation - calms activity in the amygdala. And, by intentionally and repeatedly registering beneficial experience, we can actually slant our amygdalas in a new direction. Mindfulness expert, Shauna Shapiro PhD says "What you practice grows stronger. Kindness bathes us in dopamine, turning on the learning centers of the brain and giving us the resources we need to change. True and lasting transformation requires kind attention." First, remind yourself of the human negativity bias and the extent to which your brain is wired toward fear and anxiety. Next, notice the inputs coming in from your various environments - mind, body, family, colleagues, community, and world. To the extent possible, engage in and savor joyful, beneficial experiences in ways that allow them to take up residence in your body and mind. When you begin to ruminate or become bogged down by negative thoughts or commentary, ask yourself: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? Is it helpful? Then, gently reframe any harmful thoughts and shift gears in your mind to positive thoughts, memories, or affirmations. 3 Tips to shift negative thought habits from Rick Hanson’s Positive Neuroplasticity Training:
There are 100 billion neurons in the average human brain, and each makes 5 thousand synaptic connections with other neurons. Learning occurs when these neurons begin to associate with one another. Hanson says this system offers us countless opportunities to influence how our neural net is groomed. “You can develop, over time, a joyful amygdala.” By installing the good, we lean more into who and how we want to be. Awareness of both our inherited negativity bias, as well our capacity to absorb positive experiences simply by staying with them longer, has the potential to shore up our personal power. Remember, neurons that fire together wire together, and our thoughts are a choice. What we think, do, and say matters. You can retrain your brain to install, absorb and harness the positive in your life for more joy and less suffering. With repeated practice, we can gradually resensitize our brains to the good. I am learning so much from Dr. Hanson’s and Dr. Shapiro’s kind, hope-filled philosophies. Awareness of our inherited negativity bias, as well as our capacity to install good experiences simply by staying with them longer, has such life-enhancing potential. Storms can whisper wisdom, if we listen. Let’s recalibrate our brain's negative tendencies, grow inner resources, and expand into our shared potential. Finding what’s right about what’s wrong simply feels better. References: http://www.rickhanson.net/take-in-the-good/ Hardwiring Happiness - Dr. Rick Hanson - TEDxMarin 2013 The Power of Mindfulness: What You Practice Grows Stronger | Shauna Shapiro | TEDxWashingtonSquare Bio: Sheryl is a Certified Health and Lifestyle Coach who inspires people to transform limiting habits into mindful choices that express their values. As a curious empath, she invites others into connection through her co-creative style of writing and relating. Her coaching enthusiasm is shaped by an instinctive curiosity for what propels us toward potential, and a sincere delight in partnering with extraordinary people on their path to self-discovery. Sheryl is a Boston College alum who has also lived and worked in London, Oregon, Hawaii and Maine. In her free time, she loves to dance, kayak, zoodle, listen to people’s stories, and explore the sights, sounds and smells of her seaside town. [She can be reached at [email protected]
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AuthorCertified Health and Lifestyle Coach, Sheryl Melanson, partners with people to transform limiting habits into mindful choices that express their values, create action plans and recalibrate their lifestyle to optimal well-being.
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