The Beginning of Positive Psychology

Tuesday
Ah! The first day of Positive Psychology! Our first day was all about setting up our J-Term and making our daily schedules. We started off the day by writing down about 20 of our biggest values. Then we broke down the values and organized them into each other, making them into broader topics. as we got down to fewer categories, we learned about what our biggest values are.
    Next we took about 15 minutes to meditate. By meditating every day, we hope to live in the present moment more, and become more calm. We used a song that had uneven beats called binaural beats and would draw us back to being in the moment more easily. After a lunch break, we decided to go for a walk to Hermann Park. Once we got to the park, we explored the lesser known Japanese garden. We saw a crawfish, a lot of birds, a frog (well we only heard it), two lizards, koi fish, turtles, fish, ducks, some squirrels, and a few dogs. We took our time, savoring the experience of nature and really enjoying being outdoors. When we just stopped and looked, and took everything in, we noticed so much more than we would have.

Wednesday
    Our second day started off with a guided meditation for around 18 minutes. I prefer meditating with music, but I do like hearing another voice, to bring me back from trails of thought. We also got our books, Before Happiness by Shawn Achor. For lunch we all went out to Nippon to savor the food there. We tried to slow down and really enjoy the food we were eating. I’d say we were pretty successful.
    It was pretty cold that afternoon, so we decided to stay inside, and we watched some fascinating Ted Talks about positive psychology. One of the talks that really stood out to me was by a woman named Jill Bolte Taylor, who was a neuroscientist. When she had a stroke, she was a bit excited to be able to study “from the inside out” as she said. One of the most interesting things that happened during her experience, was that she could “turn off” her left brain. The left brain is a negative voice inside your head, telling you about all the negative outcomes a situation can bring. With some time and practice, Taylor is now able to control when she turns on her left brain, and when she can turn it off.