"The alarm bell of your brain — the amygdala (you’ve got two of these little almond-shaped regions, one on either side of your head) — uses about two-thirds of its neurons to look for bad news: it’s primed to go negative." The amygdala is involved in the processing of emotions, memories, and reactions such as the fight-or-flight response that kicks in when we feel threatened in any way. "Once it sounds the alarm, negative events and experiences get quickly stored in memory — in contrast to positive events and experiences, which usually need to be held in awareness for a dozen or more seconds to transfer from short-term memory buffers to long-term storage. In effect, the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences but Teflon for positive ones."
This certainly explains why the news media fixates on bad news...our brains lap up bad news like a cat does tuna water! This is also why a more conscious effort is required to reach and maintain emotional equilibrium when faced with disconcerting circumstances. Here are two suggested ways to interrupt your amygdaloid reactions so that you can transfer a more pleasant experience into your memory file, while enhancing the guest experience:
1) Know thyself. Learn to recognize your own physical sensations when you are beginning to feel reactive or overwhelmed so that you can interrupt the cycle. Awareness is key here. Perhaps your heart begins to pound; maybe you get a knot in your stomach or your face feel
flushed. These are telltale signs that your amygdala is kicking in and you should slow down and allow your more mature and evolved brain to take over. A few deep breaths or a foray into your mental "happy place" will help defuse your brain's negative reaction.
2) Learn to meditate and make time to do it every day for at least 10 minutes. Meditation actually increases brain volume, particularly in the areas related to emotion regulation, positive feelings and self control. Hundreds of studies suggest that meditation doesn’t just decrease stress levels but that it also has tangible health benefits, such as improved immunity, lower inflammation and decreased pain. Additionally, brain-imaging studies show that meditation sharpens attention and memory. Perhaps most importantly, it has been linked to increased happiness and greater compassion. We all know that when Mama and Papa Innkeeper are happy, everybody's happy. Click HERE for more information on the benefits of meditation, along with 2 Free Guided Meditation MP3s by Emma Seppala, PhD.