Heroes Not Zombies

I’ve been collecting positive emotions recently. The Heartmath technique involves re-creating the heart felt, positive feelings you experienced in your life. So what are these heart felt, positive emotions? I’ve read a number of authors who write about positive emotions – from the perspectives of positive psychology, Heartmath itself, neurobiologists, mindfulness practitioners and so on.

What’s emerged is a short consensus list. Ten of these twelve feelings are mentioned by all the authors I read, all were mentioned by more than one author.

Contentment – pretty self-explanatory

Gratitude – it’s easy to establish a gratitude practice….worth doing at least once a day. What do I feel grateful for?

Hope – no life worth living without it?

Interest – I am insatiably curious. I’m never far away from interest!

Love – unconditional preferably

Pride – not what comes before a fall, but those moments when you know you’ve done well, when you are pleased with what you’ve achieved

Amusement – laughter is the best medicine

Compassion – it builds bonds

Sexual desire – again, pretty self-explanatory

Joy – just sheer pleasure and delight

Inspiration – those moments when you feel just, well, inspired!

Awe – or, as I prefer in French, émerveillment

What I really recommend is creating your own personal resource book of these feelings. Jot down in a few words, and/or gather photos, which capture your own personal experiences of these emotions. You can then draw on these feelings as you need them.