PERMA Course Day 1: Positive Emotion

Day 1 explores PERMA and how we can invite more positive emotion into our everyday life without much effort. We start with an introduction, moving on to contemplation, a mindfulness meditation and finishing with intention setting.

Transcript

Hi there and welcome.

My name is Martha Curtis from Martha Curtis Coaching.

I'm a psychotherapist and ICF certified coach specializing in positive psychology and transactional analysis.

Welcome to day one of our PERMA challenge.

Day one is focusing on the P for positive emotion.

But first let me introduce you to the PERMA model as a whole and tell you a little bit why it is so important.

I guess in some way or another we are all seekers.

We are all looking for the same or at least very similar things.

We are looking for happiness,

A sense of belonging and worth.

Maybe we wonder what our purpose might be in this life.

We are looking for meaning.

We want to have a sense of achievement and we want to connect with others.

It doesn't matter whether you are an introvert or an extrovert.

We are really social beings just needing sometimes more sometimes less contact to other beings.

And there is this wonderful thing called positive psychology.

And one of its founding fathers is Martin Seligman.

And in years of his research,

He and his team have found the ingredients to well-being.

Now,

Well-being is different to happiness because happiness is a moment in time.

You can't expect to feel happy 24-7.

It's just not sustainable.

But well-being is a whole different story.

Well-being includes happiness,

But it is a sustained state.

And the key ingredients are positive emotion,

Engagement,

Relationships,

Meaning and achievement.

Let's talk about the first one,

Positive emotion.

How are you feeling right now?

Are you feeling positive?

Are you feeling relaxed?

Maybe you need to get a little bit more comfortable and just focus on this talk and meditation right now.

Let's take some time to get into a really comfortable position.

Take a few deep breaths.

In and out.

Noticing your body feeling heavier and heavier.

And with every breath,

Any kind of tension in your body disappears.

Now,

How are you feeling in this very moment?

Are you already noticing a shift?

Are you feeling more relaxed?

I hope you do and I hope that you allow yourself to really focus on this very moment and embrace your curiosity.

And there we are,

Positive emotion.

That can be relaxation,

Curiosity,

Empathy,

Joy,

Contentment,

Satisfaction and amusement.

And so much,

So much more.

Basically,

Positive emotion is a pleasant response to our environment.

The first ingredient of power.

Why is it so important to take care of your emotions and especially experiencing positive emotions?

Of course,

They feel pleasant,

But they have a lot of functions.

And one of them is when you are feeling positive emotions,

Your cognitive performance increases.

That means that it's easier for you to focus.

You can concentrate better,

Can lift your spirit and it also lowers your stress hormones,

Which then in turn benefits your immune system.

Going back to focus,

If you focus better,

You might accomplish tasks easier.

And when you accomplish something,

Your brain's reward system gets activated.

And when you have that success experience,

You are straight away forming a positive memory of your achievement.

Or maybe you can think of something positive that has happened in the past week.

Let's try that.

Let's try to think of one really good thing that happened last week,

No matter how big or small.

It can be a big achievement or it can be a stranger's smile on the metro.

Give yourself some time to reflect on a positive experience over the past week.

Was there someone with you?

Do you remember where you were when you experienced this positive emotion?

How did it feel?

How did it feel in your body?

Anchor this memory in your mind and promise yourself to get back to it whenever you need a boost in positive emotion.

Another thing is positivity resonance.

And this is,

You could say,

A shared experience,

A connection between people.

It could be just one moment.

Maybe you and a friend,

Someone else have seen something funny and you laughed.

Or maybe you looked at someone and you looked at each other and you felt this warm sensation of,

I really care about this person.

That's positivity resonance.

And you can set an intention every day to have at least one positive experience like that.

There are more things that you can do.

You can dance,

You can listen to music.

Maybe you have a playlist that reminds you of good times.

And maybe you have a favorite comedian or a favorite movie that makes you laugh.

Or something that you love doing to relax.

Maybe you love exercising.

Or you might be playing an instrument that gives you joy.

Nature is a good place to be in when you want to experience positive emotion.

Because we're not really meant to sit in an office.

Right?

We're not really meant to be staring at a computer screen.

8,

9,

10 or more hours a day.

You can also practice mindfulness and engage all your senses.

Let's do that.

Make yourself comfortable again.

Take a deep breath in.

Hold for a second and out again.

Deep breath in and hold and out.

And one last time.

Deep in and hold and out.

And you notice again how tension is leaving your body.

I'll just focus for one moment on the natural rhythm of your body.

Getting back to your natural breathing.

Shifting your focus slowly to most distant sounds.

Don't try to identify the sounds.

Just imagine their music.

What can you hear outside of the space you're in right now?

Now moving your attention to sounds closer to you.

What do you notice shifting from one sound to another?

Slowly bringing your attention to sounds that are closer to you.

Maybe sounds in the room you're at.

And sounds as close as possible to you.

Now become aware of the room you are in.

Visualizing yourself lying in this room or sitting in this room.

Seeing your body perfectly still.

Becoming aware of the touch points where your body meets the surface you're sitting or lying on.

And shifting your attention from one touch point to another.

Don't concentrate on it.

Just be aware of it.

Now becoming aware of your breath.

Just being aware of the rhythm of your breathing.

That's all you need to do.

Slowly finding your way back into the here and now.

And when you are ready you can open your eyes.

Simple isn't it?

Very very simple.

Having that pure sense of relaxation and just being in the very moment.

And as we are coming to the end of the session I would like to encourage you to reflect on the things you would like to do this week.

Make something that I have suggested today and use it for experiencing positive emotion.

It could be listening to great music that's uplifting or that transports you back to a time when you felt at your best.

Experienced joy or relaxation.

Maybe think back to a good memory whether on your own or maybe you would like to reminisce with somebody close to you.

Pay and engage in exercise.

Or be in nature.

Reflect each day what went well.

Write down three things that were positive.

And maybe you would like to make plans for the future as well.

You can use one of my meditations in the morning.

It's called waking up to opportunities.

And set positive intentions for the coming day and that way you will create positive memories and then lead to positive emotions.

So over the next five to six days try to sprinkle that little bit of positive emotion gold dust throughout your day and see how your overall well-being for this week changes.

And tomorrow I will see you for E-engagement.

Take care.