Connection & Harmony
Content
Below you will find additional reflection exercises inspired by positive psychology. These activities explore how we think about the past, how we experience the present moment, and how we imagine the future.
Positive psychology is a research-based field that studies what helps people thrive. Instead of focusing mainly on problems or illness, it explores habits of attention and reflection that support well-being, resilience and meaningful relationships in everyday life.
Feel free to explore one exercise or several of them. You are always welcome to adjust the exercises in ways that feel meaningful for you.
• Learning From Past Challenges
• Enjoying The Present Moment
• Reflecting On A Shared Experience
• Best Possible Outcome
• Reversed Bucket List For Children
Positive Psychology
For many years psychology focused mainly on understanding problems, stress and mental illness. Positive psychology emerged as a complementary field of research asking a different question: What helps people live well?
Instead of focusing only on difficulties, researchers began studying what supports well-being, resilience, meaning and happiness in everyday life.
One important insight from this research is that the way we think about the past, the way we imagine the future, and how present we are in the moment all influence how we experience our lives.
We can strengthen well-being by:
• learning from the past instead of only replaying difficulties
• noticing and appreciating what is happening in the present moment
• allowing space for hope, imagination and positive possibilities for the future
The exercises below invite you to explore these perspectives in a simple and reflective way.
Learning From Past
Challenges
CATEGORY: Reflection
TIMEFRAME: 10–20 minutes
PEOPLE: 1–2
LOCATION: Inside or Outside
MODE: Silent or Dialogue
PURPOSE
This exercise invites you to reflect on past challenges from a learning perspective. In positive psychology, looking at how we grow through experiences can strengthen resilience and self-understanding. The purpose is to gently recognize how challenges can also shape skills, insights and strengths that become part of who we are.
INSTRUCTIONS
• Preparation:
Find a comfortable place to sit with a notebook or a piece of paper. Choose three situations from your past that were somewhat challenging or demanding. It is best not to choose the most painful experiences in your life. Smaller challenges often work best for this exercise.
• Describe The Situation:
Write a very short description of each situation. Try to keep it brief, just a few keywords or a short phrase. The purpose is simply to identify the situation, not to retell the whole story.
• Shift The Perspective:
Now turn your attention to what the experience may have given you. Ask yourself questions such as:
What did I learn from this situation?
Did I develop a new skill, strength or understanding?
Did this experience help me grow in some way?
Did it lead me to make a change or decision that later turned out to be valuable?
What did I carry forward from this experience?
Repeat this reflection for each of the three situations.
• Reflection:
When you finish, take a moment to notice how it feels to view these experiences from a learning perspective. If you are doing the exercise with someone else, you may choose to share your reflections.
Enjoying The Present Moment
CATEGORY: Reflection
TIMEFRAME: 10–20 minutes
PEOPLE: 1–2
LOCATION: Inside or Outside
MODE: Silent or Dialogue
PURPOSE
This exercise invites you to explore how attention shapes your experience of the present moment. Often when we are doing something enjoyable, our thoughts drift to the past or the future. We may think about what already happened or what still needs to be done. Positive psychology highlights that well-being often increases when we allow ourselves to fully notice and experience what is happening right now.
INSTRUCTIONS
• Preparation:
Choose a simple activity you can do for about 10 minutes. It could be going for a walk, sitting outside, having a cup of tea, or another quiet moment during your day.
• Focus On The Senses:
During the activity, bring your attention to your senses. Notice what you see, hear, feel, smell or taste. If your thoughts move to the past or future, gently bring your attention back to what is happening right now.
• Speak About The Present:
If you are doing the exercise with someone else, try letting your conversation stay in the present moment. You might describe what you notice around you or what you experience in your body and senses.
• Example: A Walk
If you choose to go for a walk, notice colors, shapes, sounds and movements around you. You may also pause and explore something you encounter along the way. It could be a leaf, a stone, a flower or another small object. Hold it, look at it closely and describe what you notice. If you see an animal, you might talk about what you observe or what you know about it. The idea is simply to stay curious about what is present in this moment.
• Reflection:
After the activity, take a moment to notice how it felt to keep your attention in the present moment. Did anything feel different from how you usually experience a walk or a quiet activity?
Reflecting On A Shared
Experience
CATEGORY: Reflection
TIMEFRAME: 10–20 minutes
PEOPLE: 2 or more
LOCATION: Inside or Outside
MODE: Dialogue
PURPOSE
This exercise invites you to revisit a shared experience through reflection and conversation. In positive psychology, taking time to reflect on experiences can deepen appreciation, strengthen relationships and support personal insight. When we pause and talk about how we experienced something together, we often notice details we might otherwise overlook. Sharing these reflections can also amplify the positive aspects of the experience and strengthen the connection between the people involved.
INSTRUCTIONS
• Choose The Moment:
This exercise works best when done shortly after a shared experience, while the impressions are still fresh. For example after watching a movie, returning from a walk or excursion, visiting a celebration, or some other activity.
If that is not possible, you can also choose a recent experience and revisit it together.
• Take Time To Revisit The Experience:
Instead of immediately moving on to the next activity, set aside a few minutes to talk about what you just experienced.
• Explore The Questions:
You might reflect on questions such as:
What did I enjoy or appreciate the most?
Was there anything I did not enjoy as much?
Did something surprise or provoke me?
Did the experience make me see something in a new way?
Could I recognize something in myself or in my life through this experience?
Is there something I learned from it?
• Listen To Each Other:
When sharing your reflections, listen with curiosity to how others experienced the same situation. Often people notice very different things.
• Reflection:
Take a moment to notice how it feels to revisit and reflect on the experience together.
Did anything new become clearer?
Did the conversation deepen your understanding of each other or the experience itself?
Best Possible Outcome
CATEGORY: Reflection
TIMEFRAME: 10–20 minutes
PEOPLE: 1–2
LOCATION: Inside or Outside
MODE: Silent or Dialogue
PURPOSE
This exercise invites you to explore the future from a hopeful and constructive perspective. Our minds often focus on what might go wrong. Positive psychology shows that imagining positive possibilities can strengthen motivation, creativity and confidence. Research also supports that expectations influence perception, attention and behavior, which can play a significant role in shaping outcomes. The purpose of this exercise is to gently shift attention from worry toward the best possible outcomes that could also unfold.
INSTRUCTIONS
• Preparation:
Find a comfortable place to sit with a notebook or a piece of paper.
• Identify Three Future Situations:
Write down three specific situations, scenarios or challenges in your life that you experience as uncertain or somewhat worrying. Try not to choose the most serious concerns in your life. Smaller or medium-sized challenges often work best for this exercise.
• Imagine And Write:
For each situation, imagine that things develop in a positive and supportive direction. Write a short description of what the best possible outcome could look like if the situation unfolds well.
While writing, you may ask yourself questions such as:
What might happen if things develop in a good way?
What solutions or opportunities could appear?
How would I feel emotionally if this outcome became reality?
Repeat this process for all three situations.
• Reflection:
Some people hesitate to imagine positive outcomes because they want to stay realistic or prepared for difficulties. However, allowing positive possibilities does not prevent you from planning or thinking practically.
Take a moment to reflect:
If you allowed the best possible outcome to exist as a real possibility, would you approach or plan for these situations differently?
If you are doing the exercise with someone else, you may choose to share your reflections.
CATEGORY: Reflection
TIMEFRAME: 10–20 minutes
PEOPLE: 2 or more
LOCATION: Inside or Outside
MODE: Silent or Dialogue
PURPOSE
This exercise invites a child and an adult to reflect together on things the child has already experienced, learned or done that they can feel proud of. Just like adults can benefit from noticing past achievements, children can strengthen confidence and well-being by remembering moments where they tried something new, learned something, or showed kindness or courage.
INSTRUCTIONS
• Preparation:
Sit together with a child and a piece of paper. The child can write or draw their answers, or the adult can help by writing down what the child says.
• Look Back At What Has Already Happened:
Explain that a reversed bucket list is a list of things we have already done, learned or experienced that make us feel happy or proud.
• Explore The Questions Together:
You can invite the child to reflect on questions such as:
Something I learned this year
Something I tried even though it felt a little scary
Something I am proud of
Something kind I did for someone
Something that made me laugh a lot
A moment when I felt loved
Something I learned how to do
Something I enjoy doing
A place I really liked visiting
A moment when I helped someone
You can reflect on as many of these questions as you like, and you are also free to make up your own questions together.
• Reflection:
When you finish, take a moment to notice how it feels to look back at these experiences. You might talk about which moment the child remembers most clearly or which one made them feel the happiest.