‘Noticing the good’ aspects of life is a key part of mindfulness and indeed happiness.
But considering the negativity bias of the human mind, and the fact that it’s primarily concerned with keeping us alive – and doesn’t give a crap about whether we’re happy or not – means that this isn’t always as straightforward as it sounds.
Recently, I discovered Rick Hanson. Watch this 6 minute clip to take away some practical steps as to how we can ‘take in the good.’ I’ll summarise below.
According to Rick, we can ‘Take in the Good’ by following these steps:
- Look for positive facts and let positive moments become positive experiences. Let yourself feel good.
- Savour the positive experience for 10 – 30 seconds. Really amplify this feeling.
- Sense and intend that this positive experience is soaking into your body and mind. Register this emotion into your deep emotional memory. Visualisation can help with this – personally I like to imagine that my blood has turned to gold, shining honey, running through my entire being, making me glow like a human light bulb.
You can apply this to any good thing, thought, moment, situation or interaction that you choose, whether this is finishing the ironing, listening to the rain on the window or performing a kick-ass presentation.
Anxious-Ambition.com 