Why Positivity?

When we begin to lean onto the things that are going well around us, we teach our brain and nervous system that we are safe. This is why we begin the program with introducing wins and continue to practice throughout the course. Positivity works against our nature, our goal is not to be perfect, but to recognize that even through moments of suffering, there are wins and beauty in life. The aspects that we give attention, will grow louder. We have a choice if we want to amplify the emotional toll pain has brought on, or focus on what matters in our life, like our values. Positivity also does not mean toxic positivity, the goal is not to be always optimistic but to offer a supportive hand in moments of struggle.

Over time, this practice of focusing on positive, safety-focused experiences builds new neural pathways. Putting our focus in the positive direction helps to allow the pain/fear pathways to weaken, reducing pain along the way.

Research has shown that laughter and joy change our biochemistry. Joyful emotions can cause shifts in hormone and endorphin levels, and may even impact the health of blood vessels and other bodily tissues.

Go back to Module 2 and notice what values you wrote down. How many of these have you added back in so far? What have you noticed improving? What areas would like like to improve more?

The practices in this module will help your brain start to recognize the positives around us. I like to call them sneaky ninjas, they are often more settle and harder to recognize. You might be surprised how many are there and not getting noticed.

We will also celebrate when we are having moments of relief with our symptoms. So often we wait till our symptoms are completely diminished to celebrate, that puts a lot of pressure on our system and our ability to live our life anyways. By celebrating along the way, we teach our system that we are on the path towards healing.