In this episode, Dr. Alex delves into her recent journey of starting a master's program in positive psychology, a field she has been passionate about for years. She shares insights from her studies, particularly focusing on the significance of positive emotions such as love, gratitude, and joy, and their impact on our overall well-being. Dr. Alex highlights the fascinating connection between the heart and emotions, explaining how the heart operates independently of the brain and has its own "heart brain."

She challenges listeners to start to explore their own relationship to their emotions with three simple exercises they can try over the next week. These include:

Removing significance from emotions by stating "I am noticing that I am feeling..." instead of "I am feeling..."

Starting to create a Positivity Portfolio (coined by Dr. Barbara Fredrickson) this can include photos, memories, smells, music etc that elicit positive feelings for you.

Write down Three Good Things (events) that occured that day.

Listen to the full episode to explore the profound relationship between positive psychology and our emotional health!

What method did you choose to try implementing this week? Send an email to [email protected] and let us know!

00:00:34 - Interest in Positive Psychology

00:00:56 - Positive Emotions and HeartMath

00:01:17 - The Heart's Independent Response

00:01:50 - Heart Development and Intelligence

00:02:11 - Accessing a Range of Emotions

00:02:22 - Society's Focus on Negative Emotions

00:02:55 - Personal Mindfulness Practice

00:03:16 - Building a Repertoire of Positive Feelings

00:03:27 - Dr. Barbara Fredrickson's Broaden and Build Theory

00:04:10 - Benefits of Positive Emotions

00:04:22 - Starting Points for Positive Emotions

00:04:42 - Activity 1: Noticing Your Feelings

00:05:28 - Activity 2: Building a Positivity Portfolio

00:08:03 - Activity 3: Three Good Things

00:09:19 - Impact of Positive Practices

00:09:30 - Connecting with Intuition and Heart Intelligence

00:09:51 - Recap of Activities