(ThyBlackMan.com) A recent Inc. article I read explored how complaining rewires our brain for negativity. It caught my attention because so many of my clients struggle with staying positive in a negative environment – whether that environment is at home, work or a social setting! So here’s a three-point strategy – based on neuroscience, exercise principles and nutrition – on how to stay positive when you are interacting with a negative boss, spouse or just people in general.
Strategy#1:
Use Breathing to Respond and Not React
Take a deep breath in through your nose as your stomach expands. 
Release the breath through your mouth as your stomach contracts. For better results, try to slow down the release of the breath through your mouth.
Advantage:
Author Steven Parton explains the interaction of synapses in our brains and the role they play in precipitating either a negative or positive charge when immersed in an unfriendly environment: Every time this electrical charge is triggered, writes Parton, the synapses grow closer together in order to decrease the distance the electrical charge has to cross. In other words, the thought that travels the less distance wins! Slow down the negative thought (reaction) and speed up the positive thought (response)! Responding by deep breathing slows down the negative response and speeds up the more desirable positive response.
Strategy#2:
Develop a ‘No Negative’ Center by Training your Positive Muscle
Train your positive muscle by writing affirmations, journaling, meditating and staying as physically active as possible. Make this a lifestyle. Before you engage the world and its negativity, spend a few moments gathering your thoughts and establishing your center. This works best right out of bed first thing in the morning.
Advantage:
Training your positive muscle acts as a deterrent to negative interactions. It does not mean that you won’t come face to face with negative people and environments. It does mean, however, that you will be well fortified and equipped to deal with it. Even more, your ‘center’ attracts other positive-minded people in your environment. As Parton notes, other happy people ‘rewire’ your brain toward love.
Strategy#3:
Eat ‘positive boosting’ foods such as bananas, almonds, walnuts, oranges, strawberries and pineapple.
Advantage:
There is no food that can instantly transform negative into positive, but you can boost your ‘feel good’ factor by eating certain types of food. ‘Feel good’ foods are those that boost the Dopamine hormone in your brain and work to give you a mental boost. Also, add more protein in your diet, especially in the late afternoon hours to control your blood sugar and help you to avoid the dreaded late afternoon energy slump and always stay hydrated
Staying positive in a negative environment is a mind-body undertaking.
Staff Writer; W. Eric Croomes
This talented brother is a holistic lifestyle exercise expert and founder and executive coach of Infinite Strategies LLC, a multi-level coaching firm that develops and executes strategies for fitness training, youth achievement and lifestyle management. Eric is an author, fitness professional, holistic life coach and motivational speaker.
In October 2015, Eric released Life’s A Gym: Seven Fitness Principles to Get the Best of Both, which shows readers how to use exercise to attract a feeling of wellness, success and freedom (Infinite Strategies Coaching LLC, 2015) – http://www.infinitefitnesscoaching.com.