“Good health generates positivity, and positivity generates good health.”
– Wellcoaches Coaching Psychology Manual.
How does good health produce positive emotions? When you feel good inside and out, it’s inevitable that this positive energy ripples out to every area of your life. Your positivity is conveyed to your loved ones – family, friends, people at work or in your community, even strangers. And when you have positive interactions and conversations, the result is positive energy and emotion, which leads to positive actions and outcomes.
Positivity breeds positivity.
Think back to a time in your life when you felt inspired, hopeful, and filled with gratitude. Maybe you don’t have to think back since you’re feeling it at the moment. How are you treating the people you see every day? How are you treating yourself? Are you kind and loving?
Dr. Barbara Frederickson, a highly cited scholar in psychology and the author of Positivity, emphasized that, “Positivity broadens and builds. It transforms people and helps them become their best.”
Engage in mindfulness to face negativity
It’s human nature to experience a range of emotions. When we’re frustrated, tense, or downhearted, it indicates that we have a need that’s not being met. If we don’t address the emotion and bury it deep down, chances are it will only make us more miserable.
This is the perfect moment for mindfulness. To become fully aware, without judgment of your experience. To sit through it as an observer, accepting what is. Not as easy as it might sound. Jon Kabat-Zinn points out in his book, Mindfulness for Beginners,
“The challenge of mindfulness is to be present for your experience as it is rather than immediately jumping in to change it or try to force it to be different.”
We know our emotions can vary throughout the day. By being mindful, we tune in to the needs of our inner selves.
Dr. Frederickson’s prescription for positivity is a 3-to-1 ratio to experience the full range of human emotions. 3-to-1 means for every negative emotional experience, there are three uplifting, positive emotional experiences. This was the predictor of whether people languish or flourish.
The health coach approach generates positivity that leads to thriving
One aspect of health coaching I learned and was immediately drawn to was the study of Positive Psychology. This is the work of Dr. Martin Seligman focusing on ‘What’s right?’ instead of ‘What’s wrong?’ with regards to your well-being.
Positive psychology looks at the conditions where people flourish – following the PERMA model with these five components:
Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievement
The PERMA model comes alive when you work with a health coach as you learn more about yourself when engaged with a question like ‘What was the best part of your day?’ or ‘What qualities are you most proud of?’
These coaching questions reveal your values, strengths, and sources of support, cultivating more positive emotions that lead you to a lasting health transformation.
Are you seeking guidance and support to make meaningful lifestyle changes to nourish your well-being? Please connect with me on a free 30-min Self-Care Discovery Session. Click to schedule.
