Wondering how to get rid of that “blah” feeling?
Science shows you can boost happiness by taking time to savor brief moments of delight throughout the day.
Did you know that you have the power to ‘rewire’ your brain for happiness? It’s not just a theory; it’s a scientifically proven approach. By practicing particular emotions, you can develop new connections in your brain. These connections make it easier for you to cultivate these emotions automatically in the future. So, when you start to feel a negative emotion, such as sadness or frustration, you can more easily swap that negative feeling for a positive one, such as awe or gratitude.
Building Mental and Emotional Fitness
Think of ‘cultivating positive emotions’ like developing muscle memory. If you practice the finger patterns for a chord on the piano for a few minutes each day, eventually, your fingers will play those chords without you even thinking about it. It’s like magic! These skills become ingrained in you and become second nature.
You build mental muscles like your biceps, triceps, and glutes. Lots of reps!
To start on this journey towards joyous living, we need to integrate mindfulness and optimism into every hour of the week so that it becomes easier to cultivate positive emotions in the future.
Here is an example you can follow to help you get momentum!
Happy Hour Neuro-Tip:
Let’s dive into the ‘Happy Hour’ exercise. This exercise is designed to help you take mini breaks during your day and focus on cultivating positive emotions.
The key is to set the intention and commit to practicing this exercise throughout the day, every day.
It is a good idea to set a timer to remind you—at least initially—to take small moments to engage in this practice once every hour.
Then,
Take 2-3 deep, deliberate, and mindful yawns, slowly stretch your body, deeply relax, and allow your eyes to close.
Engage in a super slow, mindful movement, and bring your awareness into your body- noticing any thoughts or sensations that arise with each movement.
Next, retrieve a loving memory or images of past experiences that make you smile and fill you with gratitude; then immerse yourself in the joy that memory brings you. Try visualizing and feeling gratitude and joy filling your body.
Savor it and crank up the volume!
Be creative: try this exercise with any positive, uplifting experience you may have had. Here’s to joyful living,
Love and blessings,
Fanny