Greetings friends!
Remember that feeling of being in love? You felt great! You believed anything was possible…unicorns and rainbows abounded. We can train our brain for feeling love.
In her book Love 2.0, Dr. Barbara Fredrickson defines love as experienced in the body as micro-moments of connection. Love is an emotion, a momentary state that arises to infuse our mind and body alike. Love as experienced in the body is not exclusive to our close family or friends. It requires three factors: a sharing of positive emotions among two or more people, synchrony between their biochemistry (via mirror neurons in their brains), and a mutual desire for each other’s well-being.
Dr. Fredrickson’s research shows that during these moments of connection, we broaden our own mindsets, allowing for big picture thinking, and enabling our minds to make novel connections. These positive emotions are like a vitamin that nourishes the body. The vagus nerve (which connects our brains to our hearts and regulates the body’s inflammation, glucose, and heart rate, protecting the body from heart attacks) strengthens as the body experiences more of these micro-moments of connection. This in turn improves our capacity to connect with others, improve collaboration and influence, even get along better with our boss (I’m feeling some raises and stock options!).
What does this have to do with mindfulness? When we put our attention on something it expands our experience of it.
This week’s mindful practice is to notice love and connection. To practice this now, take a slow deep breath. The air we breathe is bountiful and free. Bring to mind someone you love and care about. See if something softens in you. Breathe into that. This week, as you connect with work colleagues and loved ones listen more deeply. Notice something you appreciate about them and share that with them. See if anything shifts in you or them. A practice you may want to try is “Lead With Trust & Influence.”
Wishing you a mindful week!
P.S. One-Minute Mindfulness are short reads that give you a practice a week so you can experience being mindful in the activities you’re already doing. If you’d like to learn and create mindfulness habits with teammates and friends, please share this link to sign up.
P.P.S. I would love for you to share your experience or questions from this practice in the comments below.
