PositivityQuestions to answer:

1. Why is mindfulness important? It increases positive emotions by decreasing our mind chatter. You cant’ look for positive experiences in your day to day life if your mind is constantly preoccupied with the negative.

2. How do I raise my positivity ratio? Aim for a positivity ratio of at least 3:1. This means that for every heart wrenching negative emotional experience you endure, you experience at least three heartfelt positive emotional experiences that uplift you.

Rest assured that no matter how good you are at negativity, you’re also capable of positivity.

When you come in calm, it goes much better.

A tipping point is that sweet spot between where a small change makes a big

difference. FACTS ABOUT POSITIVITY:

1. positivity feels good 2. positivity changes how your mind works. 3. positivity transforms your future 4. positivity puts the breaks on negativity 5. positivity obeys a tipping point 6. you can increase your positivity 7. positivity produces success in life as much as it reflects success in life 8. the way to pursue happiness is to pursue positivity each day, wherever we are.

Downside of negativity: It forecasts heart attacks, strokes, eating disorders, obesity, suicide, violence, and more.

What is the broad and build theory? It suggests that positivity opens us. Positive emotions broaden people’s ideas about possible actions, opening our awareness to a wider range of thoughts and actions than is typical. Scientists have shown that because positive and open mindsets produce exploration and experiential learning, they also come to produce more accurate mental maps of the world.

What is the difference between real smiles and fake ones? All smiles involve the zygomaticus major, the muscle on each side of our faces that raises our lip corners. Non enjoyment smiles stop there. They do not also involve the orbicularis oculi, the muscle that circles each of our eyes.

Positivity can lead to a mental change, affecting your image of yourself and others, and practical, affecting how you act and interact with others on a daily basis.

What are the ten forms of positivity? Joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love. When was the last time you felt this feeling? Where were you? What were you doing? What else gives you that feeling?

How to I build positive emotions? Ask yourself, what is right about my current circumstances? What makes me lucky to be here? What aspect of my current circumstances might I view as a gift to be treasured? You can’t simply will yourself to feel a positive emotion. Try to do something or think of something that promotes positivity.

Alice Isen, a psychologist, showed that when people feel good, they are more likely to be kind and offer help to strangers. Doing so increases positivity in yourself and others.

By design, negativity inspires you to protect yourself.

On average, people did not report any reliable increases in their positive emotions until their third week of meditation practice.

Your habits can change with the accumulation of negativity or positivity in your life.

How often do you find yourself doing one think but thinking about another? Do you ever get so wrapped up in your own head that you fail to fully appreciate the beauty of nature that surrounds you?

Learn to savor what is good in your life!

What are some of the benefits to positivity? The practice of positivity sends out more dopamine and opioids, enhances immune system functioning, and diminishes inflammatory responses to stress. Positivity brings lower blood pressure, less pain, fewer colds, and better sleep. Positivity can undo the cardiovascular aftereffects of negativity. This is your hidden reset button.

Characteristics of resilient personality styles: They react to what is happening now, not to what ifs. They don’t spend energy worrying about the future. Instead, perhaps appreciating that they can cope with whatever comes their way, they adopt a wait and see attitude. They don’t over generalize or overreact. They minimize their angst by cutting out advance worry and afterglow obsessions, focusing instead on the reality of the present moment.

Learn to adopt a “wait and see attitude.”

Gottman: What did he learn about marriages? He divided the marriages he studied into two groups. One group was made up of marriages that lasted and that both partners found to be satisfying. I call those flourishing marriages. The other group was made up of marriages that had fallen apart. The partners had become dissatisfied, estranged, separated or divorced. Among flourishing marriages, positivity ratios were about 5:1.

What are the findings regarding the positivity ratio? The consistency here is extraordinary. For individuals, marriages, and business teams, flourishing-or doing remarkably well-comes with a positivity ratio of 3 to 1.

Try the 14 day Reconstruction Method: complete the positivity self test during an ordinary day, making no special effort to make yourself look good.

1. Record when you woke up and when you went to sleep. 2. Think about your whole-and divide the day into episodes such as “eating

breakfast with the kids”, “commuting to work”, etc. 3. Typical episodes last 10 minutes to 2 hours. 4. Revisit each episode to paint in the emotional details. Relive each in your mind

for a moment. Once you’ve done so, complete a positivity self-test. www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression/nimhdepression.pd f

For Depsy Group: Hundreds of scientific studies tell us that when people change the course of their thinking, they change the course of their emotion. Studies in the field of neuroscience find that as you create new habits of thought, you fundamentally rewire your brain. This is called neuroplasticity.

What are three ways to increase your positivity ratio?Increase the numerator, decrease the denominator, or both.

Quote: Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment. This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious supervisor (or employee), every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of garbage, every breath. Charlotte Joko Beck

For Depression Workbook and Depsy Group: Goal of decreasing negativity not eliminate it. Appropriate negativity keeps us grounded and honest. Your best goal is to reduce inappropriate or gratuitous negativity. Gratuitous negativity is neither helpful nor healthy. Does it help to snap at the cashier after you’ve waited in line longer than you expected?

What is rumination? It happens when you go over and over your negative thoughts and feelings. You examine them from every angle. You question them. Your thinking gets stuck in a rut of endless questions. Studies show that when people experience negative emotions, they selectively call to mind negative thoughts.

Ways to increase positivity: savor goodness, count your blessings, be kind, follow your passions, dream about your future, apply your strengths, connect with others, connect with nature, open your mind, open your heart.