7 Exercises That Train Your Brain to Stay Positive

As a daily positive thinker,  life’s distractions, negative people, and other external “brain drainers” can leave you faced with challenges to conquer. The good part is, you can learn to train your brain to help stay positive when times are tough.

Try these 7 tips to help train your brain to stay positive:

1. Daily Gratitude

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.” – Henry Ward Beecher

Place your journal, a pad and pen or your phone with the gratitude app next to your bed each night.  When you wake up each morning, make it a habit to write down at least three things you’re grateful for. It can be anything from family and work to a good night’s rest or the morning sunrise. Whatever is positive in your life deserves a little thank you note from your soul. When we focus our attention on gratitude, that thankfulness will expand.

If it’s difficult to think of something right away, realize that something JUST happened that you can be grateful for…  you woke up today.   Not everyone gets that opportunity.

2. Stay Centered

Staying centered throughout the day will help keep you from being derailed by negative energy that tries to consume your confident, positive attitude.  You can find balance in many activities, such as yoga, meditation, deep breathing, walking in nature or any other activity that puts your mind at rest.  When the mind ceases the negative thoughts, you permit your soul to speak. The calming energy produced from a good centering exercise surrounds the body. Thus, you develop an unshakable spirit that will surely help you stay positive.

“Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” – Hermann Hesse

3. Stay Active

The adage “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop” couldn’t be more true.  When the mind is focused on completing the day’s schedule successfully, negative energy is powerless.  Now you may ask “but what about the external shocks from other people or experiences that go sour?”

There are always things that may come up when you are staying active and focused on positively completing your day, but that’s where the other exercises like staying centered are ultimately going to help you stay positive throughout.

4. Eat, Drink Well & Sleep Well

It has been known for hundreds of years that our intake of food, water, and sleep can greatly affect our mood and mental health.  A study has found that just vitamin deficiencies alone can cause declines in mental health that can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, and other psychological disorders.

Use this article and vitamin reference to learn how to use food to stay positive

And when it comes to sleep, evidence suggests that when people are sleep deprived, they feel more irritable, angry, and hostile.  Sleep tight rather than stay up all night and you’ll be feeling happier, more friendly, and more refreshed each day.  Little tweaks and additions to your routine like these can make a big difference. Eat whole foods, drink lots of water, and sleep 8 hours or more as often as you can.

5. Help others

Sometimes, the best way to help yourself stay positive throughout the day is to help others stay positive as well.  When others are down, that’s when they need positivity the most. Instead of avoiding their negative energy in fear of it spreading to you, jump in headfirst. Use your positive mindset and help shine the light to brighten their day!  You will leave the situation knowing that you have created a ripple effect and multiplied the positive energy in your environment. In turn, this energy will return to you tenfold.

6.Subconscious re-training and inner healing work

Sometimes, to have a positive experience on the outside, we have to uncover and release the past negative experience trapped on the inside.   Exercises like tapping, affirmations, NLP and mirror work are all great places to start.  The journey of discovery from within has the ability to heal the original wound that could have been created from our childhood, a bad relationship, or a traumatic experience.

“The fact is, you can transform your life. You really do have that power.”

When the affected area is showered with love and positive energy, the emotional wound can be healed and the fear released.  This work will help you not only attain a true positive mindset without facade. However, this will make it easier to maintain positivity moving forward.

7. Follow your passion

One of the greatest things you can do to stay positive throughout each day is to make sure you’re doing what you LOVE!  If your job or hobby involves something that makes you feel guilty, or something that takes you further from where you desire to be in life, it’s time to switch it up.

Write down three things you love to do, followed by three positive changes you’d like to see in the world.  Compare this to your current lifestyle and see how they match.  Being in alignment with what your soul calls for is one of the most important aspects of staying positive throughout life. Trust us, it makes it a WHOLE lot easier!

Practice these 7 exercises to retrain your brain to stay positive through any challenge and live a life you truly desire!

If you already practice some of these exercises, share with us how they’ve improved your life – we love hearing from our community! 

We L-O-V-E quote pictures and we know you do too! They are fun and inspiring to share with family and friends. If you are a page admin on Social Media then inspiring quote pictures are important to your engagement. Finding a viral quote image that is also under creative commons license isn’t always so easy.

Happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give.
-Ben Carson

Creating quote pictures can be fun if you’re into that, but that’s not always an option. We realize this and want to help! So here it is. 🙂 This is the first series of our free quote memes we’ll be offering. We’ve gathered some of the most VIRAL statements and made them into eye-catching, unique pictures.

Quote Memes for your Social Media & Blog

These quote pictures are Royalty Free and Photos and Illustrations under the NonCommercial Creative Common License.* Feel free to download and save, print, copy and share any quote pictures you like. Hey, you can even add your own website to them to help spread your brand. Yep, that’s right. We encourage it. They are here to be shared and enjoyed, not sold.

Feel free to tell others about these or link back to us if you’d like on your blog or on social media (but you don’t have to). Our co-creator here at Power of Positivity, Kristen Butler, loves designing and creating quote pictures and felt the desire to share and release these as a GIFT to you for your love and support in this community. 🙂

We would LOVE to hear from you! Comment with the number of your favorite quote picture. If you have a quote you’d like to see for the next free quote pictures collection, let us know in the comments, too. We REALLY look forward to hearing your feedback. Especially, Kristen! 😉

Share & Enjoy!

#1. Positive Quote Memes:

Think like a proton. Always Positive.

 

#2. Life Quote Pictures:

There is nothing in a caterpillar, that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.

– Buckminster Fuller

#3. Life Quote Memes:

Find joy in the ordinary.

 

#4. Positive Quote Pictures:

The greatest prison people can live in is fear of what others think.

 

#5. Positive Quote Memes:

Just Let it  Go…

 

#6. Positive Quote Pictures:

Amaze yourself.

 

#7. Positive Quote Memes:

Out of difficulties, grow miracles.

– Jean De La Breye’re

 

#8. Positive Quote Pictures:

Live Life Out Loud!

 

#9. Positive Quote Memes:

Miracles always happen when you believe.

 

#10. Positive Quote Memes:

I am realistic. I expect miracles.

 

#11. Positive Quote Pictures:

Be the good.

 

#12. Positive Pictures:

Be so good, they can’t ignore you.

-Steve Martin

#13. Positive Quote Memes:

Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself.

 

#14. Positive Quote Pictures:

Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come.
Remember everything you have faced, all the battles you have won, all the fears you have overcome.

 

#15. Positive Quote Memes:

Be. Be prepared to be who you were created to be. And trust… that you will be given the
resources, relationships, opportunities, and strength, to bring your purpose to fruition.
– Carren Smith

#16. BONUS: Positive Quote Memes:

“No” is a complete sentence and it doesn’t require justification or an explanation.

 

These images can be used under the Noncommercial Creative Common License which states – You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work — and derivative works based upon it — but for noncommercial purposes only.

Marguerite Johnson, who became known as Maya Angelou was brought into this world on April 4, 1928. And on May 28th, 2014, Maya returned home. Maya Angelou was a beacon of light for the people, shining brightly and inspiring them to find compassion, humanity, forgiveness, and live their best life. To honor her eternal spirit, we are sharing 25 of our favorite Maya Angelou Quotes that will continue to inspire all who reads them.

Shine ON, Maya!

25 Best Maya Angelou Quotes

1. If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. – Maya Angelou

2. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. – Maya Angelou

3. Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope. – Maya Angelou

4. Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. – Maya Angelou

5. You can’t forgive without loving. And I don’t mean sentimentality. I don’t mean mush. I mean having enough courage to stand up and say, ‘I forgive. I’m finished with it.’ – Maya Angelou

6. You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive. – Maya Angelou

7. Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud – Maya Angelou

8. I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me. – Maya Angelou

9. I know that when I pray, something wonderful happens. Not just to the person or persons for whom I’m praying, but also something wonderful happens to me. I’m grateful that I’m heard. – Maya Angelou

10. I work very hard, and I play very hard. I’m grateful for life. And I live it – I believe life loves the liver of it. I live it.

11. During bad circumstances, which is the human inheritance, you must decide not to be reduced. You have your humanity, and you must not allow anything to reduce that. We are obliged to know we are global citizens. Disasters remind us we are world citizens, whether we like it or not. – Maya Angelou

12. It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody. – Maya Angelou

13. Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time. – Maya Angelou

14. I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.

15. How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! – Maya Angelou

16. I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself. – Maya Angelou

17. The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.

18. Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: ‘I’m with you kid. Let’s go.’ – Maya Angelou

19. Those of us who submitted or surrendered our ideas and dreams and identities to the ‘leaders’ must take back our rights, our identities, our responsibilities. – Maya Angelou

20. The only thing is, people have to develop courage. It is most important of all the virtues. Because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtues consistently. – Maya Angelou

21. I know for sure that love saves me and that it is here to save us all. – Maya Angelou

22. Don’t let the incidents which take place in life bring you low. And certainly don’t whine. You can be brought low, that’s OK, but don’t be reduced by them. Just say, ‘That’s life.’ – Maya Angelou

23. When a person is going through hell, and she encounters someone who went through hellish hell and survived, then she can say, ‘Mine is not so bad as all that. She came through, and so can I.’ – Maya Angelou

24. All of us knows, not what is expedient, not what is going to make us popular, not what the policy is, or the company policy – but in truth each of us knows what is the right thing to do. And that’s how I am guided. – Maya Angelou

25. In all my work, I try to say – ‘You may be given a load of sour lemons, why not try to make a dozen lemon meringue pies?’ – Maya Angelou

 

Shine On!

Please add to this tribute with your favorite Maya Angelou quotes in a comment below. 

Shine ON Maya, you have risen for the people, and your spirit will forever be remembered by everyone here, and all over the world.

“You are quite the inspiration…
You have a story inside that could help someone else RIGHT NOW!”

 

Hello. You’re just the person I wanted to talk with today. Yes… YOU!  I think you are just what this world needs.

You’re a person that never gives up. Throughout the triumphs of your life there are still trials and tribulations, but you’ve always looked for the positive and get by (and very well, too).

You’ve a beautiful heart and a strong spirit. Helping others is your nature and you strive to contribute to the expansion of a better world and future generation.

So, how do I know? Because you’re reading this right now!

There’s no coincidence that we found each other. 😉 Your soul is drawn to the light.

It thirsts to absorb more positivity, inspiration and knowledge for expansion.

But, psst. . . I have a little secret. You’re quite the inspiration. You have a story inside of you that could help someone else RIGHT NOW!

Actually, I would say it could probably CHANGE the direction of another person’s entire day; maybe even change their life. The very act of sharing that story is part of the purpose of your day today.

Your Soul led you here to share and shine the Power of Positivity.

In the comments below, talk about a time in your life of victory in the face of adversity. I know there’s a story in your heart that will help another person who might be feeling very down, discouraged and maybe even ready to give up.

We know it’s in there and we are looking forward to reading it and sharing it with the Power of Positivity Community that is 700,000 STRONG.

INSPIRE others today. . . READY, SET, GO!! 

P.S. Our favorites will be chosen for an upcoming blog and project on Power of Positivity. Please be sure to comment from Facebook or include your email in the field provided. Thank you!!!

 The limit of your present understanding is not the limit of your possibilities. – Guy Finley, bestselling author

What is the secret of being successful in all worlds?  This story from world-renowned author Guy Finley teaches an important lesson, and secret to being successful in all worlds – no matter what your past may hold.

“A reporter who had a deep and personal interest in higher spiritual matters heard of a certain teacher of truth who was held in high repute. But, what caught his attention, more than anything else, was that this modern-day master was not only considered to have the wisdom of a Solomon, but apparently had Solomon’s wealth as well. Although the details were sketchy, word on the street held that, in his earlier years, he was the successful CEO of an equally successful corporation that he founded. Then, for reasons unknown, he retired and started his philanthropic and spiritual school around the same time. And so it came to pass that the reporter sought out an interview with this man of mystery, hoping to learn the secret of his success in both worlds. Shortly thereafter, he was granted a personal audience with the master.

“Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to speak with you personally. I won’t take much of your time.”

“Not a problem, at all; how can I help you? What is it you would like to know?”

Something in the presence and manner of the master told him that there was little point in trying to mask his real reason for wanting to speak with him, and so the reporter came right to the point.

“Sir, what I really want to know is how in the world were you able to amass such a fortune, not to mention becoming so respected, world over, as being one of the wisest men on earth?”

The master gazed directly into the eyes of the reporter. After many years of sitting with inquiring visitors of all levels, he could easily see into the heart of those who had come to see him with such questions. What he found there determined how he answered their questions.

In this instance, he could see that this young man seated before him had sufficient self-knowledge to understand the subtlety of the answer he was about to give. The master leaned forward, and spoke:

“In every sense of the word, the abundance in my life can all be attributed to a very simple method, something I started to practice when I was still a fairly young man. If you wish to know this secret I would be glad to share it with you.”

The reporter nodded “Yes!”

The master continued his thought: “Every time I got ready to give someone my two cents… I learned to save them instead.”

 

(Excerpted from Guy Finley’s new forthcoming book, The Secret of Your Immortal Self, published by Llewellyn Worldwide, to be released March, 2015.)

 

Many of us have learned more than one lesson in love from the same source–Mr. Fred Rogers. The man behind the fame of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” was a special individual with a kind and caring heart. He has been gone from us for some time now. But still, his lessons and legacy live on in so many of us.

His selflessness was remarkable. Today, we are sharing a short video of Mr. Rogers accepting an award. And, even at the moment that was his time, he used the moment as a lesson in love.

Many of us know someone special who gave us the confidence to hold onto hope and achieve our dreams. They built your confidence, gave you a strong voice, told you they loved you, or maybe just hugged you when you needed it most.

So, once we saw this video of the one and only Mr. Fred Rogers giving an acceptance speech for a lifetime achievement award at the 1997 Emmy Awards we knew that we must share it with you.

This 10-second lesson in love will stick with you forever.

Many people have helped you to where you are right now,  whether you’ve realized it or not.  The direction life takes is guided by individual offerings of love that has guided you into your current state of being.

So ask yourself, “Who has loved me into being?“

We understand the emotions that may have just come up, and if you would like, please share your 10-second experience with us below.

Those who have cared about you and wanted what was best for you in life. And, it doesn’t matter where they are right now.  Those special people are happy to know of the difference you feel they’ve made in your life.  Allow your light to reflect the likeness of those who have loved you into a more positive, natural state of being – the way you were always meant to be.  Shine ON!