According to author Barbara Fredrickson love is neither lasting nor unconditional. She says “The radical shift we need to make is this: Love, as your body experiences it, is a micro-moment of connection shared with another”. As a positivity psychologist studying love she has learned some surprising things. Small moments of emotional connection with others, family, acquaintances, strangers, can lead to disproportionately large biological changes that enhance body health and increase our capacity to love.
“Evidence suggests that when you really “click” with someone else, a discernible yet momentary synchrony emerges between the two of you, as your gestures and biochemistries, even your respective neural firings, come to mirror one another in a pattern I call positivity resonance. Love is a biological wave of good feeling and mutual care that rolls through two or more brains and bodies at once.” Barbara explains that making eye contact is the gateway to connection, so look into one another’s eyes people! As people in her studies learnt to make more micro moments of love in their lives the function of the vagus nerve (connecting heart and brain) improved significantly.
It is an upward spiral. Learn to increase these micro-moments of connection and love with others, you become healthier, and being healthier builds your capacity for love. Little by little, love begets love by improving your health. And health begets health by improving your capacity for love.
Love doesn’t require that you ignore or suppress negativity. It simply requires that some element of kindness, empathy or appreciation be added to the mix. Compassion is the form love takes when suffering occurs. Barbara encourages us by saying “One of the most hopeful things I learned is that when people take just a minute or so each day to think about whether they felt connected and attuned to others, they initiate a cascade of benefits.”
While infused with love you see fewer distinctions between you and others. Indeed, your ability to see others — really see them, wholeheartedly — springs open
– Barbara Fredrickson –
This post connects with dailypost photo challenge: Up See some more, click on the links below:
http://teepee12.com/2013/04/19/weekly-photo-challenge-up-through-glass-to-sky/
http://atomickaleidoscope.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/up-lifting-moments-weekly-photo-challenge-up/
http://catbirdinoman.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/weekly-photo-challenge-up
http://ileanapartenie.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/weekly-photo-challenge-up/
http://shyraven23.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/weekly-photo-challenge-up/
http://margaretsmiscellany.com/2013/04/19/weekly-photo-challenge-up/
http://www.sofacents.com/weekly-photo-up/
http://theurgetowander.com/2013/04/20/weekly-photo-challenge-up/
http://smcbphoto.com/2013/04/20/wordpress-weekly-photo-challenge-up/
To read the whole article about love as micro-moments of positivity: http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=5450
So, someone’s scientifically proving love’s the way to save the world? At last!
Loved the leap to up (and especially the St. Sulpice shot) 🙂
he he, it took the scientists a while! i liked that St Sulpice shot too … youthful fun 😀
I love what Barbara says about love and I think it is so true:
“Evidence suggests that when you really “click” with someone else, a discernible yet momentary synchrony emerges between the two of you, as your gestures and biochemistries, even your respective neural firings, come to mirror one another in a pattern I call positivity resonance. Love is a biological wave of good feeling and mutual care that rolls through two or more brains and bodies at once.”
I really want to remember this quote!! Thanks for sharing. An upward spiral indeed. 🙂
great to hear form you catbird … i had a wonderful positive experience recently connecting with a couple of friends at a yoga training … i sure felt that resonance as we met and talked, or just connected with a look and a grin across the room during lectures 🙂
That’s so wonderful for you! By the way I added Barbara’s book to my Goodreads “Want to Read” list! Thanks for sharing this. 🙂
So, the more you love the more you love… a mantra for the world 🙂
perhaps we can adopt it personally … i could do with remembering that sometimes!
Me too. We all do, we’re only human…
As we sow we will reap.
touche!
What a lovely post, Christine, and a great philosophy. Nice pics too! 🙂
Thanks for visiting……love your Singapore Dawn wheel.
Nice entries for the challenge, up! That wheel in Singapore is amazing!
Mr. John Ferris , inventor of the Ferris Wheel was from our city, Pittsburgh. I wrote that on Colline’s blog too cause she had a photo of a Ferris Wheel in South Africa, but it came to mind as I viewed your excellent shot in Singapore, too.
Thank you for sharing the emotional connection and the capacity to love. Wonderful post!
Eye contact. That’s all it takes.
Love does make the world go round 🙂 Wonderful post Christine and great shots.
I especially enjoyed the helicopter click! such fun, and at the same time, a great moment of enjoyment together. thanks for sharing.
so glad you liked that one kris … in another frame the dog was gazing up too … but this was best of the people 🙂
Beautiful post. I’ve been having an ongoing dialogue with another blogger about love and hate over the past while. Such an interesting and deep conversation that could probably go on forever (I hope so). This added a lot. Thank you!
Wonderful Singapore (Flyer) dawn.. love it.. 😀
😀 we did not go on it bams, but maybe next time!
Perfect.
now to remember as often as possible!
Great post! ‘Synchrony’ is a good word to describe what happened when my wife and I first met!
Thanks for the ‘ping’ too!
you are welcome peter … since your child and our g’child are similar ages i really enjoy your postings!
Lovely post.
That’s surprising, that ‘ love is neither lasting nor unconditional’! 🙂
well we ‘spiritual’ folk know it is … she is talking about human body stuff 🙂
Ah, that’s reassuring. 🙂
I feel positivity resonance with you…