Mindfulness: Taking in the good – just one drop at a time

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Humans are wired for survival. Our brain is like Velcro for negative and Teflon for positive [1]. Have you noticed that we tend to remember things that went wrong in our day or a negative comment that someone made, and how do we replay these situations in our minds? Yet we may have missed the lovely weather, a kind stranger, or ten other positive comments that the same person may have made. This is the brain’s built-in negativity bias, which means that we experience and remember painful or negative situations and emotions more strongly than positive ones. After all, we can always find another carrot if we survived today.

This is, however, only half the story. Science also tells us that positive emotions play an equally important role in our survival. Specifically, positive emotions broaden our awareness and encourage novel and exploratory behaviours to build our resources [2]. When we feel joy or other positive emotions, we are more likely to be curious about our environment, connect with people, and be more creative. And thus, supporting us to develop well-being and resilience in the longer term.

Fortunately, it is possible to train our brain to take in the good [1]:

  • Noticing the good things in life

    Notice the small facts about ourselves or the world in our daily lives. This may be enjoying a walk in nature, a hug from a loved one, the bus driver waiting for you, a stranger smiling at you, a compliment, solving something difficult, or an enjoyable conversation with a friend. We can recognise many good things, especially if we cue ourselves to look for it! Challenge yourself to find novel positive experiences that you have noticed yet.

  • Enjoy the experience.

    We know that positive experiences tend to be subtler, so spend a little more time savouring them with as many of your senses.

  • Allow the positive experiences to land.

    Take in the compliment, the smile, the warmth of the sun, the sense of achievement or pleasure, and absorb the experience within every single cell of your body. You can visualise it or may just feel it.

This takes 30 seconds to a minute, and no one has to know! Each time we practise taking in the good, it may only make a small difference. Like drops of water on a rock, we are persistent; something as soft as water can carve a hole in a solid rock.

What’s one thing good in your life?

References

[1] Rick Hanson

[2] See Barbara Fredrickson’s work.