Why are we so hyper-focused on parenting annoyances like butt wiping and nose cleaning and forget the fun games we play and snuggles we share? Surprisingly, the crusty noses of toddlerhood inspire self-development in this science-packed episode, featuring the Negativity Bias as its star.
The Negativity Bias is our brain’s automatic habit of looking for and evaluating threats, prioritizing this hyper-focus over other types of thinking. Learn how to use gratitude to help you notice and readjust your perspective so you can learn the art of savoring: intentionally stepping outside an experience to observe and enjoy it in a deeper, richer way.
Join the 90-Day Gratitude Challenge here and start training your brain to notice the good - today.
Referenced in this episode:
Professor Robert Emmons – author of Thanks! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier says: “When times are good, people take prosperity for granted and begin to believe that they are invulnerable.”
James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, says: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
Dr. Bruce Berry, co-author of the book What Happened to You? says: “The brain organizes from bottom to top, with the lower parts of the brain (brain stem/diencephalon aka “survival brain”) developing earliest, the cortical areas (thinking brain) much later,” and “The majority of brain organization takes place in the first four years. Our brain functions from the bottom up - the instincts first and then the sorting and reasoning after.“
The Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas, Dallas, neuroplasticity definition: “The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life.”
And the science behind savoring:
Replaying experiences increased positive emotions with effect felt four weeks after - Lubrymoski (2006)
Savoring helps to thwart hedonic adaptation - Jose et al. (2012)
The science behind why we are actually happier after experiences versus buying stuff - Van Boven & Golvich (2003)
Follow along for more gratitude and parenting advice:
Buy my bedtime book: “The Middle of the Night Book, “here.
Subscribe and share so you can ALL listen as a parenting expert and author, Stef Tousignant, offers you a sneak peek into her journey to normalize imperfect parenting and discover the gifts a committed gratitude practice can bring to modern family life.
Parenting with gratitude is not the end goal - it's the method. 🎟 It's the means to achieving the goal of parenting differently.
🎧 Listen to this podcast if you want to parent differently than you were raised.
🎧 Listen to this podcast if you want to parent differently than you did 5 years ago.
The kids of my good friend Alison Mountford of Ends and Stems, a family meal planning and food waste expert, provided our fantastic and giggly intro. More about her here: https://endsandstems.com
