5 ways you can increase your happiness.
What is Happiness?
Wikipedia describes happiness as an emotional state including positive and pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.
Happiness is also used in the context of satisfaction and wellbeing.
Through Intuitive Eating we look for satisfaction from the food we eat, this creates joy from food and stops that niggling feeling of craving for something more when what you have eaten hasn’t satisfied you.
You can read more about this in my past blog post Everyone need Satisfaction.
The Importance of Happiness
Research shows that 50% of our ability for happiness can be down to genes but only 10% is down to income and environment, that leaves a massive 40% that we can affect with with our lifestyle choices.
Positive emotions make us more resilient.
Happy people experience overall better health and live longer.
However, not everyone is a naturally happy soul and this is ok. Where there is light there is dark, we are all entitled to a little ‘down’ time it’s part of living in balance.
Emotional wellbeing is about being able to identify when enough is enough and put actions in place to be happier. Happiness is a skill you can learn according to neuroscience.
How to be Happy
When you have negative thoughts ask yourself:
- Are these thoughts based on fact or a feeling?
- What is a positive thought to counteract the negative?
Everyone has the power to make small changes in how they behave to create a more positive and happy life.
Is anxiety stealing your happiness?
I love the quote from Lao Tzu, If you are depressed you are living in the past, if you are anxious you are living in the future, if you are at peace you living in the present.
A great grounding exercise to bring you to the present is the 54321 technique, try it now, acknowledge:
- 5 things you can see
- 4 things you can touch
- 3 things you can hear
- 2 things you can smell
- 1 thing you can taste
This exercise helps to move your focus to your surroundings in the present moment and distract you from what is causing you to feel anxious. This technique can help interrupt unhealthy thought patterns.
What makes you happy?
How can you include more of this in your life?
Here are my top 5 ways to increase happiness:
- Use a journal to write down your negative thoughts and feelings or problems. Read them back to yourself as though a friend is telling you. What would you tell this friend? Treat yourself like a friend, brainstorm ways to improve a problem or situation, for every negative thought create a positive. Open your mind and look at things from a different perspective.
- Move! Go for a walk, turn on some music and dance it out, step onto your yoga mat and perform a few sun salutations, get those endorphins moving. Get outside as much as you can. Our best supply of Vitamin D comes from the sunshine on our skin.
- A study from the British Medical Journal states one can feel happy just being around other people who are happy. Happiness is infectious. Being in and out of lockdown for over a year has made this social connection difficult, virtual gatherings just aren’t the same! As restrictions start to ease make sure you start to reestablish connections with a circle of positive people, if just the thought of this causes anxiety, revisit the 54321 exercise above and think of the postive effects of meeting up.
- Take good care of yourself. Make sure you are filling your own bucket. Get enough sleep. Take time out for yourself, last week I described creating a ritual to make even just a quick 10-minute cuppa a relaxing and rejuvenating experience.
- Feed yourself happy. Antidepressants are used to increase serotonin absorption. You can do this naturally by ensuring you have vitamins such as B6 and D as well as minerals like magnesium in your daily diet. Include probiotic foods too, a healthy gut = a healthy mind!
Food for Happiness
- Oily fish (or a good fish oil supplement)
- Linseeds (flaxseeds) – ground are best
- Chia seeds
- Lean meat
- Bananas
- Walnuts
- Legumes
- Wholegrains
- Leafy greens
- Dark chocolate – just a few squares a day is enough
- Kefir/Kimchi/Sauerkraut
- Cake! 🙂
Ask for help
If you (or someone you know) are unable to create your own happiness you must ask for help. Mentalhealth.org.uk have lots of resources available.
In my monthly newsletters, I have been sharing the Action for Happiness monthly calendars which have different themes each month with simple actionable activities you can implement into your daily life to increase happiness.
How can I help?
Are you fed up of dieting and no longer seeing the results you once did? Are you looking for joy and satisfaction from you food, to heal your relationship with food? You could benefit from learning to eat intuitively.
Are you in a family meal rut and need some ideas to create a nutritious and satisfying meal plan?
Arrange a virtual cuppa and chat with me to discuss your individual needs, I would love to help!
With love
Sue x