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Health Author: Admin User
4 easy ways to increase happiness Elizabeth Morgan
Everyone wants to be happy -- or at least says they do -- but they're not always sure how to do it. The good news is that the latest research indicates we can choose to increase our level of happiness rather than being dependent on outside circumstances bringing to us. Here are four simple ways to boost your happiness. Smile. It sounds simple but if you smile for at least 60 seconds – even if you don’t fee like smiling – your body starts to produce the “happy” chemicals like serotonin, which regulates mood; oxytocin, which increases feelings of trust and intimacy, and reduces fear; etc. This is one case where “faking it” can have benefits. Work it into your daily routine by smiling while making the bed, getting dressed, etc. Do it for at least a week or two and see if your mood improves.
Play upbeat music with positive lyrics. Music can quickly shift our moods to the better, but you’re undercutting your results if you listen to a song with a bouncy beat that talks about he broke your heart, and you’ll never recover (Kelly Clarkson has too many of those songs whereas Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” is empowering). Make an iPod playlist or CD with songs that make you feel good and get your feet tapping, then listen whenever you need a lift. Play the positive “what if” game. The mind often goes to worst-case scenarios. Flip that and start pretending, “What if I got a surprise bonus? What if I was really lucky today? What if everything I did fell into place? What if I felt really good and stayed in a great mood all day?” Obviously, it’s even more powerful if you personalize it to your life but this pretend game can help you focus on the positive instead of the negative. Take it a step further and imagine positive outcomes. For years Olympic athletes and NASA astronauts have used positive visualization as part of their training routines. In addition to physical practice, they also spend time mentally rehearsing their activities, seeing them turn out perfectly. Now a study published in the Journal of Neurophysiology reported that people who imagine performing specific actions trigger the same parts of the brain as are used when the activity is physically performed. The researchers had volunteers imagine doing specific finger strengthening exercises for month without actually doing the exercise. At the end of the month, those who imagined doing the exercise improved their strength 22 percent. This sort of visualization also boosts confidence, which improves mood and lowers anxiety. Reader Comments |
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