hello there, friend,
i came across something the other day i keep mulling over. 'the brain is like velcro for negative experiences, but like teflon for positive experiences.' our brains have a negativity bias, meaning they latch on to experiences and episodes that affect us negatively. we naturally hold on to and sometimes even look for the negative. the only way to make the positive experiences 'stick' and change our negative thought patterns is to savor them - not just recognize them - but savor them for 10 - 20 seconds or longer.
we do this when we close our eyes and feel the sun on our faces, when we enjoy fully a joke someone tells us, when we notice with gratitude the taste of our food, when we appreciate the kind words of a friend, spouse or child, when we write down what we are grateful for, and when share what we're grateful for with others.
after a blip in our springtime sunshine and warmer temperatures, we are fully in spring mode around here. it is light for so much longer that i can take a walk after cleaning up from dinner. last night i walked, keeping my eyes toward the western sky when i could, the sky changing from saturated to muted within minutes. i thought about savoring and tried to hold on to the way the air felt - cool on my cheeks, the feeling of my soft jeans and sweatshirt, the colors of the sky, and the way it felt to move my body.
xo,
b
(hello there, friends!! please continue to share your gratitude on instagram using our hashtag #htfgratitude. we are hoping to share a collection of these each weekend. and for more on the brain science i mentioned see this article.)
