Why Your Brain Is A Zombie And What To Do About It!

Let’s be honest. When it feels like most of the world sucks (like RN), stress can derail the best of intentions and it can seem difficult insurmountable to find the good…

But we want to let you in on a secret:

The number of positive moments we experience in a day actually outnumbers the negative, even when it doesn’t feel like it.

"Wait, what?! Why?"

So glad you asked!

Our brains are hardwired with something researchers refer to as the negativity bias -the annoying phenomena when a single rude comment or frustrating event can ruin an entire day regardless of how well it was going.  It's like your brain is a zombie on autopilot towards the negativity apocalypse!

Consider this: you wake up feeling energized, you complete your yoga/meditation practice, traffic is light, and you are absolutely killing it at work. Then someone makes a sh*tty comment about your appearance… what are you going to be focusing on for the rest of the day?

Not all that awesome that happened before the comment!

In the most basic sense, the negativity bias means our brains are engineered at their core to register, focus and dwell on negative stimuli way more than positive AND it takes way more effort for our brains to recognize and remember positive stimuli or interactions. Our brains automatically fixate on the one negative comment rather than all of the good things that happened.

Back in the Pleistocene, having a negativity bias kept us on our toes, alerting and hardwiring all the dangers of wandering the plains in search of food and survival. The events that led up to Cave You getting stung by a wasp, the near miss of getting attacked by a lion or eating some questionable fruits that upset your stomach was wayyyyy more important to register than Cave Friend telling you what a nice smile you had as you watched the sunrise.

Negativity bias was helpful for survival of early humans, though, not so helpful for modern day thriving.

Thanks to neuroplasticity -the brains ability to adapt and change in response to new information- you can start creating more supportive patterns of awareness to integrate, heal and get you to living your best life.

This week, we challenge you to begin to override the automatic negative focus by intentionally looking for and noticing the positive.

Here’s how:

Take a moment at the end of each day to name or journal three good things in your life. Notice what comes up and whether there are any patterns.

• Maybe you consistently feel gratitude for the lunch dates you have with a friend. Keep showing up.
• Maybe it’s the walk you go on every evening. Keep going.
• Maybe it's the way your dog, cat, human looks at you. Keep loving them.
• Maybe it’s simply the fact that you are alive. Keep being mindful of your breaths.

When we chose to shift our focus and pay attention, we can always find light, even in the darkest of times.

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

-Maya Angelou

This practice is not necessarily easy, because, negativity bias! AND... It can be hard to feel gratitude when the world is experiencing so much pain. But ultimately, it is so worth the effort.

If you are needing more support, dive into our blog for guided meditations and dope content, binge our Youtube channel or download the free resource we created for you, NAVIGATE: A Guide for Uncertain & Painful times.

Remember, we are here for you.

We care.

And we will be cheering you on always.

Love,

Star & Ruby

P.S. Practicing gratitude is just one of many ways to start overcoming negativity. To gain more tools, tips, and personalized tricks on how to build the life you dream of, consider applying for Life Camp today! We’ve made it even more fabulous and more accessible than ever before. Why? Because we’re mad extra and you know it!