The influence of positive emotions on our ability to flourish!

This is an interesting video series from Barbara Fredrickson, author of Positivity, on the importance of tapping into our positive emotions.  She reflects on a variety of techniques we can use to align with our positive emotional side.  Getting aligned with our positive emotions can influence our body-mind balance.

These are two universal influences of tapping into our positive emotional side:

• “They open us.  Change the boundaries of our minds and hearts, and change our outlook on our environments.”
• They help change our perspective on our surroundings by allowing us to take in more information..”see the big picture.”

She reflects on people being more open, creative, and resilient when they are experiencing positive emotional images.

She references a beautiful poem by Rumi:

There is one way of breathing that is shameful and constricted.

Then there’s another way: a breath of love that takes you

all the way to infinity.

Not sure I buy into her “bag of candy” inducer of positive emotional energy.  But there are clearly other prompts that induce positive energy in people.  She refers to the power of meditation to bring out the positive emotional energy in our beings.  I think we know the enormous benefits of meditation, yoga, and exercise in creating a balance between positive and negative energy.  These techniques re-center us in important ways.

I think the ideas she presents in these series of videos is very powerful and could be used by students, teachers, and leaders to improve the culture within a school or classroom. What do you think?  Do you see the value of this work in your world as a teacher and administrator?  Share your thoughts, comments and questions.