Negativity/Positivity Bias
“Your brain is like Velcro for negative experiences but Teflon for positive ones,” according to Rick Hanson, author of Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence. One of the most ancient parts of the human brain is called the amygdala. It sits on top of the brain stem and regulates our fight, flight, freeze responses. These responses are ancient and hardwired into our brain in order to protect us. In the ancient world of hunting and gathering, one’s survival depended on a quick reaction to potential threats that could kill you.
The amygdala is not the thinking part of the brain; it’s the reactionary part of the brain. It scans the horizon of our human experience looking for threats and warning us by activating limbic system for fight, flight, and freeze. It stores threatening experiences by recording them emotionally. This is how PTSD occurs.
Once a threatening emotional experience is stored deeply in our brain stem our amygdala continues to scan the horizons of our human experience to warn us of another potential threat. The more powerful and threatening the experience, the more deeply it is stored in our brain. It evolved this way to help us survive.
Unfortunately, in the modern world, our amygdala can overreact—an amygdala hijack. The term was coined by Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Today, it is considered a formal academic term by affective neuroscientists. According to Goldman, an amygdala hijack is an emotional response that is immediate, overwhelming, and out of measure with the actual stimulus because it has triggered a much more significant emotional threat.
This is the source of our negativity bias. Negative emotional experiences stick like Velcro. Our minds quickly obsess on negative emotions, replaying past regrets and future fears. It’s the source of my long history with insomnia—my racing brain—which keeps me up at night.
How can we regulate an overactive amygdala? Certainly, some people need professional help (such as a psychiatrist, therapist, and group therapy, myself included), but we can also develop resources within ourselves. This is where mindfulness meditation can help.
Holocaust survivor, Victor Frankl, has famously stated: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Mindfulness meditation helps grow the space.
Rick Hanson has pointed out how we need to nurture and cultivate positivity. Negativity sticks like Velcro, without any effort on our part. Positivity is a different creature. Hanson says we need to reflect on positive experiences for at least fifteen seconds for these experiences to stick, otherwise they slide away like Teflon. We, in a very real sense, have to rewire our brain with spiritual practices like meditation and contemplation.
Here’s a simple practice for you to try. Find a quiet place to sit for five to ten minutes and follow this process for a guided meditation which will help you nurture positivity and happiness. Try it and let me know how it goes.
Find a comfortable posture. Sit and take three deep breaths. Relax and scan your body from head to toe. Focus on relaxing your muscles and places of tension in your body. Take three more deep breaths and allow a half-smile to form on your face.
Bring something to mind that brings you joy. It might be an experience in nature, in a forest or by a lake, stream, or ocean. It might be an experience of dancing with a loved one or a moment with a pet. Take a deep breath and bring this memory to mind. Remember the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations which this memory elicits. Hold this memory for at least one minute.
Bring something to mind that is a blessing. Think of someone or something for whom you are grateful. Take a deep breath and bring this memory to mind. Remember the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations which this memory recalls. Hold this memory for at least one minute.
Bring something to mind that makes you laugh with joy. Think of an experience with a person, a pet, or a circumstance which caused joyful laughter. Take a deep breath and bring this memory to mind. Remember the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations which this memory contains. Hold this memory for at least one minute.
Express gratitude for these experiences. Verbalize your gratitude. Take a moment and journal (or voice memo) your gratitude for these experiences. Take a deep breath and sense the joy of being alive.
This is a simple exercise. It doesn’t take much time. And you will quickly feel the benefits of this mindfulness practice. If you incorporate regular meditation practice over a period of time, just like physical exercise, you will begin to rewire your brain with a greater capacity to experience and cultivate positivity, joy, and happiness.
Shalom
©realfredherron, 2023
