Day 19 Waking Up, METTA Meditation & Positive Emotions
Today I did Day 19, I read a passage out of The Daily Stoic, and I completed some of the positive psychology course. Harris had us try a new kind of meditation called META meditation. It is the practice of wishing someone well, wishing for them to be happy and free of suffering. This helps connect to the social part of meditation, after all it is your mind that interacts and has relationships with people. Harris had his audience picture someone who they care about and who brings them joy. I thought of my best friend Maya. I pictured her being happy and getting what she wanted. It made me feel a rush of joy, but a different kind of joy, one that is separate from any kind of selfishness. This pure feeling made me feel genuinely happy and less anxious. Next I pictured my boyfriend Mickey, who is leaving soon for the Israeli army. I pictured him being happy, free from suffering, and getting what he wants in life. I started to cry when I did this and the feeling I experienced was bittersweet. It helps me process him leaving, because I do just want him to be happy, even if that may not involve me. I felt some personal growth by doing this meditation. Lately I have been so self focused and trying to help myself, but I see now that sometimes helping myself means helping others and reducing selfishness. I’m definitely going to do more META meditations to help me process Mickey leaving.
Something else that broadened my thinking today was a passage from The Daily Stoic. I read Protecting Our Inner Fortress from Fear. It talked about how we have this Inner Citadel, that protects our soul and how it can be impenetrable but it can be breached if betrayed from the inside. The passage stressed the importance of not giving into fear, and not betraying our fortress. We can be our biggest enemy - it’s important to not self sabotage or continue self destructive tendencies. It is up to ourselves to protect our soul and feed it positivity.
Today I also finished week one of the Positive Psychology course by Barbara Fredrickson. I was blown away with what I learned and how I can apply it. I see the real value of this course now, and I’m recommending it to my friends. I watched two videos on The Ten Positive Emotions and “The Broaden and Build” theory, then I read an article about Barbara Fredrickson that explained the fundamentals and the importance of this course. I learned that negative emotions are usually about survival and they offer aid in the moment, while positive emotions are about thriving, and they help get rid of lingering negative emotions because they help us in the future. Positive emotions broaden a person's momentary mindset, and by doing so help to build enduring personal resources. There has been a trend where scientists are studying more positive psychology as there have been shifts in people's mindsets where they’re more centered on thriving not surviving. They started studying why we have positive emotions, and how they aided our ancestors. One would think only negative emotions would help our ancestors because they can cause fight, flee, or expel, but scientists researching positive psychology have found that whenever positive emotions are experienced they later increase the chances of survival or living long enough to reproduce because people gain personal resources (ex. resilience). This reiterates the concept that the benefits of negative emotions are in the short term and positive emotions in the long term. By practicing and learning about positive psychology, you can help others around you experience it. I learned that positivity in communities occurs by creating a chain of events that create positive meaning for others. Positive emotions can trigger upward spirals that transform communities into more cohesive, moral and harmonious social organizations. Speaking of upward spirals, there is also a correlation between feeling a positive emotion and then later in time feeling more positive emotions. Positive emotions create upward spirals and open-mindedness because they create more positive emotions. This just makes it more important to experience positivity within your life. After learning about the importance of positive emotions and why we should have them, now I find myself wanting to know how to have more of them. Fredrickson says the best way to create positive emotions is to create positive meaning within current circumstances.
Which takes us back to concepts introduced to me by Sam Harris when mediating. Awareness, consciousness, and noticing are key stepping stones to finding positive meaning because positive meaning is becoming aware of something positive within a circumstance and awareness of its meaning to you.
It’s so fulfilling and reassuring to have important concepts overlap in many fields. It makes me feel like I am on a path to better health and happiness. I talked a lot about tricky concepts, so I would say the best way to understand them is to experience them for yourself. I advise doing these courses and readings that I’ve mentioned, and I encourage you to join me on the path to health and happiness.