Welcome to this savoring exercise.
Rick Hansen,
A brain researcher and psychologist,
Defined the negativity bias,
Which is an unfortunate neurological circumstance that we all need to radically accept because it's how our brains work.
Our brains are wired up to focus on threat and other negative material in our environments.
This gives us clear advantages when it comes to survival.
If you miss the beautiful sunset,
That won't kill you.
If you miss the wild animal that wants to eat you,
You might be dead.
So if you do nothing at all and just go about living your life,
You're gonna focus on negative things more than positive things,
And this will affect your well-being.
So Rick Hansen developed savoring to help us cultivate a positivity bias to rebalance our brains,
And I want to walk you through this now.
It's a simple exercise and one that he encourages us to practice on a regular basis so that we lock in our positivity bias to give our brains a helping hand.
Think of the nicest thing you did this past week.
Zero in on the best moment,
Whatever it was.
Take some time to relive that moment,
Where you were,
Who you were with,
What was happening,
And practice taking a neurological snapshot of it so you can find your way back here whenever you need it.
We take this snapshot by immersing ourselves in the memory.
Notice what you could see,
The colors,
The textures,
Whatever's in the visual image.
Notice what you could hear,
Sounds or voices,
Whatever was part of the original experience.
Notice any smells in the memory,
Any tastes in the memory.
Notice where your body was and what it was doing.
Notice what you can feel in your body when you remember this memory.
Notice any sensations on your skin,
Whether you're hot or cold or just right.
Notice your posture and notice what emotions are part of this memory.
Let yourself get really into these,
Diving right into the pleasantness of this moment.
Where do you feel it most?
What happens to your breathing when you relive this event?
Can you detect any changes in the action of your heart?
Any feelings in your chest or your throat?
Any changes in your face and your head?
What about your shoulders and arms and hands,
Your hips and your legs and your feet?
What overall is going on in your body as you remember this moment?
And you might notice some aspects of your thinking as well.
What thoughts come up in this memory?
Do your best to let the positive feelings here grow and enjoy the glow.
Let yourself memorize this feeling in your body and your mind and tuck it in in your body,
Leaving it there in feeling form,
Making sure you can find your way back here.
Whenever you have need of this feeling,
It's yours to treasure and yours to keep and that's savoring.
Rick Hansen encourages us to take some time to do this whenever something nice happens and that's how you cultivate a positivity bias,
Which your brain definitely needs.
See how you go with this practice.
Good luck.
