Summary

The website content discusses methods to retrain the brain to focus on positive experiences by leveraging neuroplasticity, counteracting its natural negativity bias.

Abstract

The human brain has an inherent negativity bias, favoring survival by focusing on potential dangers, which often leads to stress and anxiety loops, causing us to overlook the positive aspects of life. Neuroscientist Rick Hanson explains in his book "Hardwiring Happiness" that the brain fails to recognize positive stimuli due to their lack of intensity compared to threats and the habituation to routine occurrences. To counteract this, Hanson suggests that individuals must not only notice good events but also emotionally internalize them as embodied experiences. This practice helps to create new neural pathways that make it easier to maintain a positive outlook. Similarly, author Debbie Hampton emphasizes the importance of developing a habit of consciously recognizing the good while limiting exposure to negativity.

Opinions

Rick Hanson believes that the brain's tendency to overlook positive experiences is due to the lack of strong stimuli associated with them and the habituation to everyday positives.
Hanson suggests that to effectively rewire the brain, positive experiences must be not only acknowledged but also deeply felt and integrated into one's emotional and physical state.
The article advises that instead of ignoring life's adversities, individuals should acknowledge them but then shift focus to the positive aspects of life, including seemingly mundane events.
Debbie Hampton argues that making a conscious effort to notice and internalize the good becomes a habit that helps sustain a positive mindset amidst chaos.
The article implies that by actively seeking out positive experiences and reducing exposure to negative influences, individuals can train their brains to develop a more optimistic perspective.

How To Spot and Experience the Good Things in Our Lives

Neuroplasticity will train the brain to look for good things in our lives

The human brain’s negativity bias is rooted in our evolutionary history. The brain favours survival over flourishing. It kicks off a fight-or-flight mode of thinking when faced with what it perceives as a danger to our safety.

The brain’s deep-rooted negative orientation lands us in loops of stress and anxiety, so we miss noticing and acknowledging the good things in our lives and those around us.

Negative news peddled by the media stimulates our brains powerfully while good things fly under the brain’s radar.

In his book, Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence, neuroscientist Rick Hanson says the brain doesn’t automatically recognise good things because of two reasons.

First, the brain fails to catch the good things because they lack powerful stimuli like threats and fear.

Second, through habituation, the brain filters out routine things like the background noise of machinery. The brain doesn’t automatically notice bad things that didn’t happen.

How to counteract the brain’s negative orientation

“Your brain is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones.” ( Rick Hanson)

It’s possible, however, to train the brain to notice and acknowledge good things existing in our lives and good tidings happening around us. Hanson says,

“Often we see a good fact but don’t have any feelings about it. This seemingly small step-from idea to embodied experience- is critically important, for, without it, there is not much to install in your brain. In terms of building neural structure, what matters is not the event or circumstance or condition itself but your experience of it.”

How to spot the good things

Hanson doesn’t ask us to ignore adversities in our lives. He says we ride out the storm and then start looking for the good things in our lives when it feels right for us.

We must look for good facts in the current settings or the past without leaving out seemingly mundane things.

You woke up alive in the morning and ate a good breakfast. Your wife smiled at you. Your friend called you and talked about the old days. Your commute to the office was pleasant. Your boss patted you on the back. You won a medal in college. Your health check-up was regular.

Hanson says we must intensely feel these small good things and tune them into our bodies as embodied experiences. We must sensitively feel the emotions and sensations accompanying the good thoughts.

Our positive thinking will acquire a salience, which the brain will automatically notice.

Final thoughts

We fail to notice good things in our lives or good events around us because parts of the brain that evolved in the Stone Age continue to operate as if we faced daily dangers from predators or enemy tribes.

We can create new neural pathways that will automatically notice good things through the process of neuroplasticity.

In her book, “Beat Depression And Anxiety By Changing Your Brain With Simple Practices That Will Improve Your Life”, author Debbie Hampton writes:

“With practice, making a conscious effort to notice the good and internalising it becomes a habit which makes it easier to maintain a positive state of mind even when chaos is swirling around you. While you’re establishing a practice of looking for the good it will help if you also limit the bad.”

Train the brain to look for the good, and you will find it.

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