9. How Positive Emotions Make You Stronger

Positive emotions do more than just feel good, they help you grow, recover, and build lasting resilience. In this episode of Redefining Happiness, we explore why positive and negative emotions feel so different, and what those differences mean for your health and happiness.

Drawing on Dr. Barbara Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build Theory, you’ll learn how emotions like joy, interest, and contentment expand your thinking, create long-term benefits, and even help undo the effects of stress on your body.

We’ll also talk about why increasing positive emotions isn’t indulgent, it’s essential. It strengthens your relationships, your creativity, your well-being, and even your longevity.

This week’s Happiness Challenge: Build Your Positivity Reset Kit

This week, I invite you to create your own Positivity Reset Kit, a go-to collection of things that help lift your mood and ease stress, so that they’re already available for you the next time you’re having a tough day.

Here are a few ideas to get started:

A playlist of songs that always make you feel better, bonus if they’re fun to sign along to

A folder of funny cat videos (or whatever makes you laugh)

Photos from good times that remind you of the what you love and value most, or just make you happy

A list of people you feel safe reaching out to

Quotes or messages that help you feel grounded or inspired

Then, when you’re feeling anxious, stressed, or down, pull something from your reset kit and see how it shifts your state.

To help you build and test this, I’ve created a FREE Positivity Reset Kit inside the Free Podcast Resources Hub with templates, worksheets, and journal prompts that together build an effective tool to help you reset your mood and calm your mind. 

This kit is only available in the hub, so head to karencastillo.org and click on Podcast, or find use this link to get started.

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Music: "Be Happy" by danamusic