This post was originally published at - https://waldorfacademy.org/rudolf-steiners-esoteric-development-positivity/
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If you follow our blog, you’ll be familiar by now with Rudolf Steiner’s theory – and practice – of esoteric development.
If you’ve just come across this blog, we encourage you to go back to the first in the series about The Control of Thought, and start there to get the full benefit.
As a bit of a series recap, Waldorf Academy is a Toronto Waldorf school, and one of the hundreds of Waldorf schools around the world that are based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, an early twentieth century Austrian philosopher and writer.
Rudolf Steiner And Positivity
Rudolph Steiner believed strongly, as we do at Waldorf Academy Toronto, that positivity can be channeled by choice in order to impact one’s life.
Steiner himself had very humble beginnings – as a young child, his parents emigrated to a small town in what is now Hungary, so that his father could be the station master for the latest technological advance of the time – the railway.
Despite living in a small village that he described as “medieval” in its community, infrastructure and customs, he maintained enough positivity that he was able to work his way to university in Vienna, and end up one of the foremost thinkers of his time.
Later in his life, he faced skepticism and harsh criticism, but he believed so strongly in the benefit of his actions that he persevered, nevertheless – displaying the very positivity and integrity that won him thousands of followers and fans.
His positivity lead him to believe that he could achieve any task that he set his mind to, which lead him to take up architecture in order to build a theatre.
He painted, because he believed his art had something to offer.
He did rounds with doctors at a local clinic, because he had studied enough that he could offer suggestions and help.
He even designed an agricultural model that is still used today, because his local farmers asked him to.
Each of these tasks he achieved as a result of his positive attitude.
What Is A Positive Attitude?
A positive attitude is characterized as having the ability to choose to see the good in a situation, or perhaps: the ability to find that silver lining.
Most will agree that one has to actively work to maintain a positive attitude, since life - or the world - is quite likely to hand you lemons at times.
A crack in the side of your favourite coffee cup, a beloved potted plant that your cat decided would be a good chew toy, or a flat tire on your way to work – these are all frustrating experiences, and a positive attitude isn’t meant to blind yourself to that reality.
However, there are ways to influence your thoughts, such as by fitting in some exercise, or having the mental rigor to acknowledge and displace negative thoughts with more positive ones.
The Science Behind Positivity
There have been studies that have measured the effects of conscious positive thinking on even mental illnesses such as GAD, or generalized anxiety disorder.
In one particular study comprised of 128 volunteers, the subjects were put through a manipulation check, a breathing focus task, and were then taught to replace their worries with specific alternatives over the space of one week.
These alternatives included rehearsing images or “verbal thoughts” with positive outcomes, instead of their more typical negative ones.
Interestingly, there was also a control group who did NONE of these activities – all they did was to spend time imagining positive and pleasant thoughts – but this group ALSO reported a significant decrease in the amount of worry they experienced after just one week.
What’s so fascinating is that they weren’t trying to re-hypothesize positive outcomes for their specific worries, which is a very demanding mental task, and requiring a great deal of self-discipline and integrity to complete.
Simply the act of thinking positive thoughts was enough to change their perception of their daily lives to one that was significantly less stressful.
Rudolf Steiner's Method
In order to unlock the potential of positivity, Steiner suggested you incorporate the following exercise into your everyday life:
He suggested to seek the “good, praiseworthy and beautiful” in the people, experiences and things you encounter; it may take time and practice, but in time you will automatically see these qualities that are hidden to so many other people.
A hint in how to start - if you find this difficult – is to consider that you can choose to either characterize or criticize.
Criticism leads to negativity, whereas characterizing something is merely recognizing it as it is without assigning a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ judgement upon it.
As Stephen Hawking said, in a statement of very characteristic positivity for a man with so many challenges, “Although it was unfortunate to get motor neuron disease, I have been very fortunate in almost everything else.”
Contact Waldorf Academy
At the Waldorf Academy Toronto, we believe that the education of children goes far beyond just teaching them math, science, English and the like.
The Waldorf system teaches children to be responsible, mindful adults who are far more resilient, as a result; the esoteric development program is a major part of this.
Contact Waldorf Academy to book your tour, and experience the difference for yourself.
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