I’m still reading the book Positivity by Barbara Frederickson. It’s been very enlightening! Here are some ideas she has about changing your negative spiral to a positive, uplifting one:
• Do a “Loving Kindness” meditation: Start by thinking about someone you really love, and all the wonderful feelings associated with that person. Then after a few minutes, expand that love to encompass yourself. Think of all the wonderfulness of you, don’t hold back, and don’t allow anything negative about you to intrude. Then, when you’re feeling very good about yourself, expand that to include other people you like, then your whole community, then the world. Bask in the love and kindness you feel for a while, then bring yourself back. Throughout the rest of the day, if you start feeling negative thoughts intrude, bring back that feeling of Loving Kindness.
• Do a Gratitude Journal – but don’t write in it every day. Pick a couple of days a week to sit down and write everything that you’re grateful for. If you don’t like writing in a journal, just sit quietly and think about everything good that’s happened in the last couple of days, and feel the gratitude swell up inside. Start looking for things to add to your journal.
• Create a Positivity Portfolio: Take a week to thoroughly explore feelings of positivity, like Joy, Gratitude, Fun, Peace, Serenity, Pride (in the wonderful accomplishments you’ve had), Love, etc. During each week, find magazine pictures, quotes, articles, photos etc., that encompass the meaning of that particular feeling and paste them in a scrapbook. This could also be online if you so wish. Make it as creative and full as you wish! Whenever you start feeling negative, go to your portfolio and bask in the positivity you see there.
There are many more ideas to help boost your positivity, but these ones really stick with me. I can’t wait to start my Positivity Portfolio!