Have you noticed that positive experiences seem more fleeting than negative experiences? You may have a fabulous vacation or give the most brilliant speech and get rave reviews, but the next day find that your mood has deflated. On the other hand, when you make a mistake in public or have a misunderstanding with a client, you likely stress about it for a lot longer than that.
This natural brain bias towards focusing on the negative makes sense from a survival perspective. Those of our mammalian ancestors who were relaxed and focused on enjoying the good things in life were more likely to get eaten by predators than the nervous ones who were constantly looking for danger. Primates who remembered what was dangerous and taught their young to be anxious about danger had more success in passing on their genes.
The good news is that a very simple practice will systematically rewire your brain to replace your negativity bias with a positivity bias. This practice was developed by Rick Hanson, PhD, a neuropsychologist and Buddhist teacher, co-author of Buddha’s Brain and author of Hardwiring Happiness.
You may have heard the phrase “Neurons that fire together wire together.” What this means is that neural pathways that are used frequently grow stronger connections. Our positive and negative experiences over a lifetime shape our neural habits.
For example, if you suffered trauma in your childhood it’s likely that you faced background anxiety as part of your emotional state growing up. On the other hand, if you meditate daily it is likely that you experience a resilient field of stillness in the background of your emotional state.
Rick Hanson’s practice of “Taking in the Good” takes your brain into a baseline state of enjoying the abundance that’s actually available to us. New discoveries like these are exciting because brain scientists have identified shortcuts to make changes that used to take years of therapy or coaching.
Here are the steps of this practice:
- Set aside 5 minutes.
- Choose something that is available to you right now that makes you happy. It could be that you are loved by people that are special to you. It could be that you have a wonderful meal planned for this evening, or that you are paid to do work you love. Even if you are sick or injured, you can focus on the harmonious functioning of every other part of your physical body.
- Focus your attention on receiving this positive experience steadily for at least 20 seconds.
That’s it! It’s that simple. If you’re like most of us, your mind will wander and resist focusing fully on a positive experience. But what this 20 seconds does is to give the brain enough time to transfer the experience of savoring what’s good from short-term memory to long-term memory, and thereby learning from it.
Notice that there’s a difference between having a fleeting positive experience for 20 seconds, and actually focusing on savoring the results of the experience for 20 seconds. That’s what makes all the difference in the world, allowing you to build a positively oriented base for your inner state. With this positive baseline, your resourcefulness for transformation becomes more fully available. If you have a gratitude practice, you may have already noticed this benefit.
Try it! It only takes 5 minutes at a time. If you invest in this easy practice on a regular basis and get curious about anything that shows up to block it, the results can be life-changing. Let me know how it goes!