“Love is when your name sounds safe coming out of someone’s mouth.”
~ anonymous child’s quote
I spent last week at the Embodied Positive Psychology Summit held at Kripalu Center in Stockbridge, MA. It was a smorgasbord of ideas, techniques, and stellar presenters. Connecting with friends I know and meeting new friends was a real boost to my positivity. My only regret was that I couldn’t go to every workshop — we were challenged by needing to decide as many workshops were happening at the same time.
I’m writing about this to whet your appetite and encourage you to plan to attend the next Summit a year from now. The topic on this Summit was Love within the framework of embodied positive psychology. I attended the one last year and have decided that it will be part of my schedule for every one. I’d love you to be there!
Note: this is my synopsis from my own notes & experience. Apologies if I wasn’t able to attend your workshop.
We began on opening night with Megan McDonough of Wholebeing Institute asking us to consider what we wished to gain, give, and grow into during our time at Kripalu and the Summit. We were asked to consider our own growth within a larger ecosystem of ‘we’. We looked at love as so much more than romantic love — how we love one another in micro-moments of connection that reaches beyond romance to our daily interactions.
Neal Mayerson spoke of VIA strengths and our personally unique imprint through our own strengths. One of his pearls that remains with me is that “Deep love requires BEING in order to be SEEN.” In other words, the importance of being ourselves.
Caroline Miller talked about grit and hard goals which both nurture and require resilience. She talked at length about how our children don’t take risks anymore and our educational system is, sadly, dumbing them down to a fearful degree.
Joan Borysenko inspired us with her wisdom on compassionate presence, empathy, humans as social animals, and how we require the shelter of one another in order to thrive.
For me, Lynda Wallace’s workshop on ‘Love and Work’ helped me clarify an idea I’ve been tossing around for a few years. I’m excited to see where my exploration and research lead.
Howard Martin, of the Heartmath Institute, reminded us of the critical juncture we, as humans, have reached where disruption is the new constant. From there he talked about heart coherence of positivity and our hearts natural intelligence.
On Thursday morning, Stephen Cope enlightened us about friendship and, even with its risk, is important. To know more, consider reading his newest book, ‘Soul Friends’.
I went to listen to Karen Whalen-Berry present her inspirational wisdom on intentions, goals, and working toward our ideal or best self. I appreciated her handouts which we could explore our own intentions and ideal self.
Later in the day, my own workshop on the impact of eye contact for deep connection and trust was an honor to present to so many open hearts, open minds, and open eyes.
Friday morning, Barbara Fredrickson spoke of positive emotions unlocking other-focused thinking or more ‘we’; less ‘me’. She then spoke of the upward spiral of Positivity Resonance and cardiac vagal tone. She reminded us of the importance of mindfulness and awe. Barbara Fredrickson ended with encouraging us to bring more positivity resonance into our lives by making a plan to do so.
Ending the Summit, Megan McDonough left us with a question, “What value do we take into the world?” She let us in on next years theme by reminding us to become leaders by aiming for our highest and our best.
I left feeling full, inspired, and plans to continue my own positivity resonance and creating micro-moments of love throughout my day.
(The Summit was book-ended with Masterclasses which I will write about in a future post)
Happy, Healthy, & The Prepared Mind 