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“With neurons firing 5 to 50 times a second you can build resilience and wellbeing several times a day.” It is called working the brain muscle.
Rick Hanson with his son Forrest Hanson describes 4 ways to meet our needs of wellbeing in his book ‘Resilient’. 

Recognizing | Resourcing | Regulating | Relating

It does not matter how successful, accomplished, or adept you are.  You have to lay a strong mental foundation to build a sturdy structure that will withstand the jolts of life.  Begin by laying bricks of self-acknowledgement first. 

Continue reading “Laying Bricks of Self-Acknowledgement”

Rick Hanson uses the acronym HEAL to explain planting positivity in our lives. 

1)      HAVE: a positive experience

* Notice what is around you that is obviously positive.  Sitting across from a friend sipping a hot cup of tea. 
* If not, create a positive experience.  Notice what is in the foreground of your mind.  You can still hear your laughter as you chatted together last week. 
* Focus on what is in the background of your mind.  She has been a good friend to you over the years and you feel so loved and grateful.   

Continue reading “Planting the Positive”

AVOIDANCE | APPROACH | ATTACHMENT.  In the previous newsletter you were introduced to the 3 operating systems in your brain.  You know you have the choice to decide which one you wish to use at any given time.   

1)  Avoidance:
Your boss calls a sudden meeting with you within the hour. Your heart starts to pound about the implications of being summoned abruptly.  It is about the major project you had just submitted. 

Continue reading “Shifting Gears in the Brain”

“Eat lunch today;don’t be lunch today”:  it has been the cardinal rule of the wild.  Survival comes first.  Psychologist Rick Hanson  in his book ‘Hardwiring Happiness’ goes on to outline how we grew into beings with a Negativity Bias. 

“The brain is like Velcro for negative experiences but Teflon for positive ones”.  It has been laced into our DNA since the Stone Age to react to negative experiences so as to avoid danger and pain.  Safety was our primary need.    

Continue reading “Offset our Natural Bias”

Psychologist Rick Hanson in his book ‘Hardwiring Happiness’ lays out the wonder of positive neuroplasticity.  “The brain takes its shape from what the mind rests upon”.  The exciting news is we can change our brains.  

Science tells us that how we feel and act rests on 3 factors:

Continue reading “Managing your Mind”

Barbara Fredrickson gives us core, promising truths about Positivity:

1       It feels good.

An uplifting moment of goodness, however fleeting and transient, is always welcome.  The ‘feel good chemical’ dopamine is being released in the brain and we are flooded with joy. 

Continue reading “Broaden & Build”

Barbara Fredrickson in her book ‘Positivity’ says it is not enough to simply look like you are happy, or to just utter words of joy, but to genuinely feel positivity at a deeper level.  “Heartfelt Positivity” is her mantra.   

Continue reading “Sincere Positivity”

Cultivate the 5 seeds of Big Potential says Shawn Achor.  

Seed #5: Sustain the Gains: 
Creating collective momentum

Newton’s Law “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.”

Continue reading “Sustain the Gains”

Cultivate the 5 seeds of Big Potential says Shawn Achor.  

Seed #4: Defend against Negative Influences: 
Protect your System

STRATEGIES

1)  Build a tidal moat:  In the Middle Ages, a castle had a moat around it to discourage the approach of an enemy.  A tidal moat was one that allowed high tide to fill it up at night when everyone was asleep and most vulnerable to an attack.

Today, our enemy is the non-stop barrage of noise around us.  It prevents us from staying focused and moving towards our greater potential.  We want to be aware of our vulnerable times: half hour before getting into bed and after getting out of bed till breakfast.  Turn off all media, social feeds, news, emails, alerts, and notifications.  They are the enemy that attack our safe castle.  Music, reading or conversation is preferred to electronics.   The moat of self-protection is ‘powering down’. 

2) Build a mental stronghold:  We prepare for a storm forecast by stocking up on water, non-perishables, gas, candles etc.  Similarly, we need to stock up our ‘mental reserves’ for unexpected events that can catch us off guard.  Build a positive mental grip.

Continue reading “Build Strong Defenses II”

Cultivate the 5 seeds of Big Potential says Shawn Achor.  

Seed #4: Defend against Negative Influences: 
Protect your System

Having positive emotions at all times is neither realistic nor practical.  We need negative emotions like sadness, fear and anger to alert us that our ecosystem has been trespassed, or our rights have been violated. (*See reference below). They are a signal that change is needed; one that we have to initiate ourselves and not wait for the world to begin to do so.

Continue reading “Build Strong Defenses”