Previous Weeks: Week One
Week Two - Softening the Grip of Negativity
Welcome back, beautiful soul! This second week is all about beginning to shift away from negativity toward positivity. Being able to step out of negativity helps us practice gratitude more easily and, in turn, practicing gratitude helps us feel less negative. It is a beautiful self-strengthening cycle!
How strong is your negativity bias?
  • We talked last week about what we can't control, but now we talk about what we can control: our responses to each moment. 

  • We have a negativity bias, but it can be overcome. What we put our attention on grows.
 
  • Initially, you might have to put in a little more effort to notice all the positives, but the rewards of that effort are so worth it! 
 
  • The body is designed to feel positivity as much as it is negativity. Notice how gratitude brings about a sense of lightness and expansiveness in your physical being as well as your emotional being.
Next Steps: Let's dive into the workbook! Turn to Week Two on page 20 and follow that up with the reflections in Worksheet 8.
Guided Meditation - Changing Perspective
Before you start this guided meditation, take a few moments to turn to page 25 in your workbook and fill out the 'Before' section of Worksheet 9. You will need about ten minutes to listen to the audio and some time afterward for any reflections based on the experience. Remember to put away the distractions, give yourself plenty of time, and breathe!
Next Steps: Complete Worksheet 9 in your workbook. If this meditation resonated with you, feel free to revisit it as often as you would like.
Going Deeper
Take some time to watch these 'Going Deeper' videos with an open mind and an open heart. There are powerful messages buried in these seemingly simple talks! As the week continues, look for ways you can see these messages playing out either in your actions or the actions of others around you. 
Alison Ledgerwood on outsmarting the negativity bias.
Alison Ledgerwood's research, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, investigates how certain ways of thinking about an issue tend to stick in people's heads. Her talk deftly highlights the effect of the negativity bias while also offering simple solutions for become less entrenched in that bias.

This talk highlights an important fact about the human experience with interesting evidence, relatable personal anecdotes, and a beautiful message to take with you beyond the conclusion of the video.
Next Steps: There's a lot here to think about! Give yourself a little time and space to consider how these themes and ideas might be currently playing out in your life. When you are ready to move on, turn to Worksheet 10 in your Deepening Gratitude Workbook.
Mid-Week Pick-Me-Up
Uplifting messages about gratitude. Just positive things.
HOVERING
by Joseph Straud
​
for Tom Marshall

Tom and I are walking Last Chance Road
down from the mountain where we had been
hunting mushrooms under a stand of coast oaks,
walking down and looking out to the Pacific
shimmering in the late fall sun, the light
on the surface like glittering flakes of mica,
when we see a white-tailed kite hovering
in the air, hovering over a green pasture,
hovering over the day, over the two of us,
our very lives hovering as well, there
on the California coast, in the fall, in the sun
on our way home, with a sack of chanterelles,
with our love for this world, with so much time,
and so little time–all of it–hovering–
and hovering still.
THINGS YOU CAN CONTROL
​by Caleb LP Gunner

Your Beliefs
Your attitude
Your thoughts
Your perspective
How honest you are
Who your friends are
What books you read
How often you exercise
The type of food you eat
How many risks you take
How you interpret the situation
How kind you are to others
How kind you are to yourself
How often you say “I love you.”
How often you say “thank you.”
How you express your feelings
Whether or not you ask for help
How often you practice gratitude
How many times you smile today
The amount of effort you put forth
How you spend / invest your money
How much time you spend worrying
How often you think about your past
Whether or not you judge other people
Whether or not you try again after a setback
How much you appreciate the things you have
Guided Meditation - Sunday Night Release and Re-Center
​Before you start this guided meditation, take a few moments to turn to your workbook and fill out the 'Before' section of Worksheet 12. You will need about ten minutes to listen to the audio and some time afterward for any reflections based on the experience. Remember to put away the distractions, give yourself plenty of time, and breathe!
Next Steps: Sometime between now and the start of your next week, complete the end-of-the-week  reflections in Worksheet 13 found on page 32 in your workbook. If this meditation resonated with you, feel free to revisit it as often as you would like. ​​