The Most Powerful Positive Emotion of All
by: Susan Wilkes
An abiding image for me comes from a family trip out west years ago. We left our campground early one morning, just as the sun was rising, heading north in South Dakota. When I looked over the immense plains to my right, I saw sunflowers for acres and acres, all turned away facing east waiting for the sun. They turned not just their flower-like faces but were inclining from the very base of their stems. When I looked to the left, I was moved to see a startling, bright blanket of yellow, brown, and green. Thousands of sunflowers were all facing us, leaning toward the morning light with full bodies and opening their flower-faces fully.
In the same way that sunlight opens flowers, we humans are changed and opened by positive emotions such as awe, joy, gratitude, and compassion. As psychologist Barbara Fredrickson notes, our vision quite literally expands. Frederickson’s research shows that we are not only better able to see the big picture and more options for problem-solving but are also more creative and better decision makers when we are experiencing positive emotions. In one important study, Kareen Johnson and Fredrickson documented how positive emotions lead to an increase in our ability to look past differences, seeing the unique individuality and humanity of people from a different race. Under the influence of positive emotions, we are more able to think inclusively and have a stronger sense of oneness.
Thinking about this, I am coming to understand that these positive emotions have implications not only for our own wellbeing but also for some of our most difficult societal problems. What if we were able to have fully open minds and hearts along with expansive thinking on a more regular basis?
As Frederickson will explain at our spring keynote, love is the most powerful positive emotion of all. She is thinking not of romantic love, but everyday love as realized in moments of shared connection and care with other people. She quotes a lovely poem by Rumi about how we might “open infinitely” by using a “love breath” rather than a breath of shame and suffering.
This “love breath” changes us mentally, emotionally, and even physically. For example, I have been fascinated recently to learn more about the vagus nerve, the 10th cranial nerve that originates in our brain stem. As Frederickson points out, “what happens in vagus doesn’t stay in vagus” (a little psychologist humor for you). The vagus nerve, activated by experiences of love, extends down through the heart and gut. It slows our heart rate, lowers blood pressure, improves digestive functioning, and affects immune functioning. One of her studies showed that daily loving-kindness meditation even reduced the attrition of telomeres, one of the markers of biological aging!
One of the cool things about Fredrickson’s approach to love is that we can use what we learn to improve our wellbeing and flourishing. We can generate loving kindness through meditation and can also build in more of what she calls “micro-moments” of shared human connection. Savoring the laugh with a friend, sending well wishes to the grocery clerk, offering kind word on the next zoom call, and other simple acts add up over time, opening our hearts and minds.
I love a speaker who can talk easily about a randomized controlled trial and, in the next moment, quote a Rumi poem, one who can detail the biology of a cranial nerve and then crack a joke. Please join us for our spring keynote with Barbara Fredrickson on April 29th!