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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
Benefits of Mindfulness: Mindful Living Can Change Your Life
Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide
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Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.
Today, we're going to talk about
the idea of toxic positivity.
So this term 'toxic positivity'
is it refers to an unhelpful
fixation with positive thinking
and pleasant, emotional states.
For instance, a person may try to
appear happy all the time and put
a positive spin on all experiences,
even those that might be deeply
painful, traumatic, or even tragic.
So they might do this with themselves,
putting pressure on themselves to
pretend to be happy, even when they're
really struggling, but also with others.
So they might tell someone who's
grieving or really heartbroken to
just get past it and look at the
positive side of their situation.
So what happens with toxic
positivity is it often suppresses
authentic, emotional expression.
It demeans grief, makes people
feel under pressure to hide
what their true experience is.
Now I'd like to also acknowledge here
that of course, positive thinking can be
wonderful, empowering, and strengthening.
It's really wonderful to focus
your thoughts on things like
gratitude and the goodness in other
people, yourself and the world.
And, you know, a generally positive
outlook in life is a helpful thing.
However, it's when we start to
believe that we should be positive
all the time, in all situations
that things become problematic.
We might actually ignore serious issues
in ourselves and also in our lives.
And sometimes, you know, the, the reality
is we're just not doing okay in some way.
And seeing and acknowledging that
really clearly is often the catalyst
for healing and the beginning of change.
So when we demand positivity from other
people, from our loved ones, instead
of giving them understanding, empathy
and compassion, we may also make them
feel quite stigmatized and judged.
So the point here is just to know that
while positivity can be really helpful in
some situations in life, it's really not
a panacea for all of life's challenges.
Because the reality is, is that
we humans do feel a wide range
of emotions, each of which is an
important part of human experience.
The part of what it actually means,
you know, to live a full, rich and
meaningful human life means that we need
to allow ourselves to experience the
full spectrum of human emotion as well.
And in the harder times, it's
compassion, authenticity, and kindness
that are our really good companions.
As researcher and author, Brené Brown
said, you know, "What we know now from
the research is that when we deny our
emotions, they tend to own us, but when
we can own our emotions, we can rebuild
and find a way forward through the pain.
So here are some ways to avoid toxic
positivity, a few tips, if you will.
One is to remind yourself that
unpleasant emotions are just as
important and natural a part of the
human experience as pleasant ones.
Another thing is that when unpleasant
emotions arise, one thing you can do
is just mentally name them to yourself.
So, this is a way of acknowledging
that they're there and a sort of
helpful way to honor them and meet
them with compassion rather than
ignoring them or pushing them away.
Another way to avoid toxic positivity is
to seek support from trusted people when
you're struggling and talk to them and
open up about what you're going through.
And lastly, giving empathy and care to
someone who's hurting rather than trying
to fix or change them is really valuable.
Really giving them compassion,
just focusing on that.
I hope these tips are helpful for
you going forward in your life.
And as always, thank you for your
practice and your presence here.
Let's settle in for today's meditation.
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