Meditation: Retrain Your Brain to Focus on the Positive
Learn to savor the good experiences in life. This meditation will retrain your brain to focus on the positive instead of jumping right to the negative. By Karen Sothers.
During the past hour, what has your attention been focused on? The 10 things you have accomplished or the one left to do? The relationship that is challenging or the three that are supportive and loving?Savoring the Good Unless you have intentionally trained your mind to give at least equal attention to what is working, wonderful and satisfying, you probably tend to focus first on what is negative.
Rick Hanson, PhD, neuropsychologist, author and founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom, describes the brain as Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones. According to Dr. Hanson, as humans evolved over millions of years, it was essential to their survival to focus heavily on avoiding predators, natural hazards and aggression from others. It was less essential for early man to focus on positive experiences, such as finding berries and nuts. It is this early brain patterning that created the built-in bias we have today to notice, react to, and remember the negative experiences while missing out on noticing, responding to, and remembering all the positive, wonderful moments.
Retrain your brain to focus on the positive by practicing these two simple steps:
1. Set your intention. Begin your day by setting your intention to notice five positive, beautiful, uplifting experiences throughout your day.
2. Savor the good experiences. When a positive experience occurs, take at least 20 seconds to focus on the goodness of that moment. The more time you spend focusing on this pleasant experience, the more it begins to change your brain.
Learn to savor the good experiences in life. This meditation will retrain your brain to focus on the positive instead of jumping right to the negative. By Karen Sothers.
During the past hour, what has your attention been focused on? The 10 things you have accomplished or the one left to do? The relationship that is challenging or the three that are supportive and loving?Savoring the Good Unless you have intentionally trained your mind to give at least equal attention to what is working, wonderful and satisfying, you probably tend to focus first on what is negative.
Rick Hanson, PhD, neuropsychologist, author and founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom, describes the brain as Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones. According to Dr. Hanson, as humans evolved over millions of years, it was essential to their survival to focus heavily on avoiding predators, natural hazards and aggression from others. It was less essential for early man to focus on positive experiences, such as finding berries and nuts. It is this early brain patterning that created the built-in bias we have today to notice, react to, and remember the negative experiences while missing out on noticing, responding to, and remembering all the positive, wonderful moments.
Retrain your brain to focus on the positive by practicing these two simple steps:
1. Set your intention. Begin your day by setting your intention to notice five positive, beautiful, uplifting experiences throughout your day.
2. Savor the good experiences. When a positive experience occurs, take at least 20 seconds to focus on the goodness of that moment. The more time you spend focusing on this pleasant experience, the more it begins to change your brain.
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