A THRIVE Podcast

Welcome to our third episode on Resilience, as part of UoL's Thrive Podcast.

Missed the previous episodes? No worries, find the playlist here.

Listen below, or scroll down for the episode transcript!

Transcript

Hello! And welcome back to our seven part series on Resilience! I’m Gemma, I’m part of the Student Health and Wellbeing team at the University of London and this is a THRIVE podcast. In the last episode we continued explaining the Sailboat metaphor. This is episode three, where we’ll be talking about Mastering Attention. As a reminder, if you need a transcript please head to campus life dot London dot ac dot uk.

The content of this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. This is not medical advice and it is not a substitute for treatment or diagnosis. Please contact your general practitioner for professional medical advice.

While we cannot control all the events that happen in our lives, we can be intentional and consider where we use our energy and put our attention. If you focus on the negative, you’ll often feel negative. But if you focus on the positive, you’ll end up feeling positive.

If you’re the kind of the captain who pays a lot of attention to bad weather, then your compass will read negative, and you’ll not give yourself a chance to feel positive in the first place. However, if you choose to take in the refreshing breeze and appreciate what’s around you, you’ll feel good about the journey.

As the captain, you get to choose where you put your attention. With your binoculars, you can point them in any direction. And the way you pay attention can be either internal or external.

Internal might be thoughts that come to mind. Whereas external refers to our five senses – sight, touch, smell, taste and sound.

A positive internal way of paying attention may include daydreaming about our goals, feeling relaxed after stretching or thinking about a happy memory.

A negative internal way of paying attention includes ruminating on your weaknesses or limitations, going over an imagined scenario about you failing, or the persistent feeling of pain in your body.

A positive external way of paying attention may be watching a video that inspires or interests you, receiving a kind message from a friend, or enjoying the current moment.

Whereas a negative external way of paying attention may be consuming a lot of news about crime and conflict, reading through angry and hurtful comments online, or the long to do list for tomorrow.

Paying attention also be neutral, though. Breathing can most certainly be neutral. The sound of chatter outside can be neutral. Paying attention to the neutral phenomena can help ground us when we’re caught up in a negative spiral.

It’s so easy to forget that we can actually choose what we pay attention to, especially when we’re stressed out or overwhelmed. But you’re the captain and you’re the one holding the binoculars. Point them where you choose.

According to research, humans are more sensitive to the negative side of life. We’ve got a negativity bias. We’re more likely to hold on to criticism from someone than we are to hold on to praise.

This leads us to also feel more negative. These are feelings like fear, anxiety, sadness and anger. This then causes us to focus on even more negative things. Negativity feeds into itself.

If you have a negativity bias, you’re a captain who’s only watching the dark clouds ahead. It can make the whole journey feel doomed. And being pulled into this negative cycle is normal. That’s why it’s so important to remember that we choose to pay attention to the negative. Paying attention to the positive is always a choice too. Choosing the positive can improve our wellbeing and our resilience.

While we can have a negative cycle, we can also have a positive cycle. Paying attention to the positive, means more positive feelings, and then more positive experiences.

Adopting a positive focus has three key benefits.

One: It broadens our perspective on our problems. Then, we can come up with more flexible and creative solutions.

Two: It helps up gain resources to support ourselves in difficult times. This can include improving physical health, creating more supportive connections with others, and building on our own knowledge and skills.

And, finally, three: It can help us undo the tension and stress our body has been holding on to from previously being in a negativity bias cycle.

A captain with a positive focus doesn’t just see sunny skies, they see safe passage through their binoculars. They build on their strengths and feel better prepared for stormy weather.

Remember, you are the captain and you choose where to point your binoculars – where to place your attention. Humans naturally have a negativity bias, so we must choose to have a positive focus. The negative will happen – that’s life – but we can choose to approach it differently and look for the cloud’s silver lining. A positive focus opens up your mind, increases your resources, and reduces stress in the body.

Alright, here’s your Call to Action: Be aware of your emotions and responses this week. If you feel yourself becoming overwhelmingly negative, throw out an “anchor”. Earlier, we talked about neutral phenomena. This can be your anchor. What can you smell, taste, hear, touch and see right now? Take time to focus on your breath too. Slow, intentional breathing and checking in with your senses will bring you back to the present and out of that negative spiral. It can also be helpful to find things that make you feel positive – what’s a happy memory you have? A smell you like? A sound you find calming?

Now, keep a logbook of those negative and positive experiences and emotions. This way you can track how often they come up, where and why. As well as keep yourself aware of how you’ve pulled yourself out of negativity and what experiences have built up to cause overwhelm.

Okay, that’s it for the third episode on Resilience. In the next episode we’ll be talking about the power of thoughts.  Thank you for listening, check out our Campus Life site, follow us on Instagram at wellatuol, and keep thriving.