happiness keys

7/29/2019 happiness keys

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Ways to Rediscover Happiness

Find your direction:

A life without purpose can be painful. So the next time you have a totally “free” day, use it to really think about

your direction in life. What do love doing? What gets you out of bed? Where does your sense of accomplishment

come from? With a clear direction, you can build towards success in a linear fashion. Every day, every moment youmove further in your direction, you’ll get a boost of happiness-producing dopamine. Good job, you! You know you

feel happier and present a better side of yourself when you feel successful. Direction is where it all starts.

In my case? I found blogging two years ago and now love it more than bacon. A new comment on the blog is all I

need to brighten my day, and I rush home from work each day to log in.

Practice gratitude:

Gratitude is a strange sensation. It comes from acknowledging someone has helped you and having the grace to

thank them, both internally and externally. Understanding gratitude can help you in two ways. You’ll “get” that

others care about you, and you’ll form a bond with someone who has helped you. Both lead to a stronger sense of belonging. Gratitude is not to be confused with indebtedness, which can lead us to avoid those who love us. It’s all

about how you perceive the help you receive.

For me? I find saying thank you important, but not as important as following up. When someone helps me, I see an

open door to help them back, perhaps in a funny or unexpected way.

Adopt more optimism:

We all know a “happy-go-lucky” lifestyle can lead to problems. But with the right balance of optimism and

responsibility, one can feel invincible going through the day. Understand that things won’t always work out, and

don’t let negative results in one part of your life spill into other areas. Realize the road will be bumpy, and embracethe challenges ahead. Laugh at them. If your current strategy isn’t working, find a new one. Don’t dwell. Do, not,

dwell.

My strategy? I know I often dwell on stress, it’s a problem of mine. Stress is like a warm corner of a cold, damp,

room that I should be escaping from. Stress can give me purpose, but it’s the wrong kind. Knowing this, I try to

seek-and-destroy stress creators wherever I notice them.

Consider religion:

I’m not a very religious person, though I will say a quick prayer before a flight or long bus ride. While I’m 99%

practical and scientific, I have known friends to find peace of mind through spiritual outlets. Plus, the recent work

of Sonja Lyubomirsky suggests that religion helps people recover from aversive events and return to happiness.

In my case? Religion wasn’t my focus growing up, but it did provide some framework for solving problems and

certainly helped me help people. Helping others is a sure-fire path to more happiness.

Reduce material wealth:



It’s tempting to spend heavily, especially if we’re wealthy or supported by someone else. But surrounding

ourselves with new TVs, the latest Apple products, clothing well beyond our means, and a closet full of shoes will

only cloud the path to happiness. In fact, reducing our material possessions can free up our sense of being and

make us realize what actually makes us happy. Buying a new possession will bring short-term satisfaction but when

that feeling vanishes you’ll be worse off than before.

Personally: I love donating to Goodwill and though it’s a thankless deed, I feel great afterwards. My apartment

looks a bit neater too.

Put your health first:

Your health should always be number 1. Yet in a world where that new bar is right around the corner and social

pressure through fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) is everywhere, we often forget how much we’re stepping on our

health. Try seeing how a weekend full of herbal tea, yoga, and extra sleep feels compared to a weekend full of late

nights at the bar trying to impress your friends. Despite how strong and smart we think we are, much of our

happiness begins with health.

For me? Simply keeping myself in on Friday is enough to make me healthier and happier the next day!

Face stress head on:

This is a BIG one. We’re all bound to have bad days. People crap on our desks, don’t thank us, and treat us like

garbage. Moreover, we have to deal with ourselves. Doubtful, insecure, and depressed at times. At the end of the

day we’re sometimes so drained even our favorite things look ugly. How we deal with these issues and release

them from our minds is crucial. Drugs, alcohol, and other vices will worsen the problem. Healthier outlets like the

gym will help. But most important of all is how we process our problems.

How do I cope? I often remind myself how meaningless and random my life is. It’s an odd technique but it helpsme realize that the world doesn’t hate me, or purposefully throw me a bad day.

Communicate often:

As simple as it sounds, some of the happiest people are the ones who can stomach their pride and talk through

problems. Communication, just like going to the gym or considering religion, is a positive coping mechanism that

helps us find the source of unhappiness instead of burying it.

In my case? Phone calls are free in the evening…

Seek out family members:

As we grow up and move to new parts of the world, it’s harder to stay in touch with family. But we all have email.

If we’re lucky, our family members live in the same country. Making an effort to check in, listening to your sibling

or parent’s problems, and actively helping them will actually generate more happiness in your own life.

What do I do? I try to stay current with my grandparents. Just a phone call to them creates some happiness in their

life and I can’t help but feel happier because of it.



If all nine methods fail you, I have a final question you can ask yourself. Where do your strongest talents intersect

with the world’s greatest needs? Find this point in life and you’ll surely have arrived at happiness.

15 Reasons to Run for Your Life

Start running from…

People who keep hurting you. – Stop wondering why people keep hurting you. Ask yourself, “Why am I

continuously allowing this to happen?” Speak up. Stand up for yourself. Sometimes we suffer, not because of the

violence others inflict on us, but because of our own silence.

Love that lies. – If another person steals the heart of the person you love, be thankful that you learned the truth

sooner rather than later. Because their love was never true – true love can’t be stolen. We have to accept the fact

that some people are going to stay in our hearts for a long time, even if they don’t stay in our lives.

Procrastination. – Sometimes we ask questions not to seek answers but to affirm something our soul knows

already. You’re not doing yourself a favor by merely hearing the same answer from people over and over again. Itis accepting the truth, making a conscious change and finally moving on to other things that is your answer. Give

your soul a chance to explore the life you are meant to live. Stop asking the same questions – at some point you

have to make a decision and take action.

Impatience. – The principle part of faith is patience. When we walk by faith there will be times when we hear and

see nothing, and are tempted to aggravate a situation in the best effort to make things happen faster. We are

tempted to sway from being faithful and patient, and attempt to create more options for ourselves, without

pausing long enough to notice what is. A faithful mind requires a patient will. Things will not always seem to move

fast enough in your life, but they are usually moving as fast as they should be.

Superficial stereotyping. – If you judge others by their skin color, their body size, and their outer beauty, you willmiss EVERYTHING about who they really are.

Materialism. – No matter where life takes you, big cities or small towns, you will inevitably come across small

minds – people who think they’re better than you – people who think that material possessions, dressing a certain

way, driving a fancy car, etc. makes you a worthwhile human being. But material things don’t matter. What

matters is having strength of character, integrity, and a sense of self-worth. And if you’re lucky enough to have

any of these things, never sell them. Never sell yourself short.

Rushed relationships. – Don’t rush into any kind of relationship. Work on yourself. Feel yourself, experience

yourself and love yourself. Do this first and you will soon you will get the attention of the right people, and

gradually attract them into your life.

The reckless expectation of perfection. – Don’t berate others for not being perfect. Admire them for not being

fake. Even though you probably sometimes get confused, you don’t really want your friends and lovers to be

perfect. What you do want is people you can trust, who treat you right – people you can act silly with, who love

being around you as much as you love being around them.



People who only tell you what you want to hear. – It’s so easy to believe someone when they’re telling you exactly

what you want to hear. But you have to watch what they do too. Actions speak louder than words – actions speak

the whole truth.

People who continuously overlook your worth. – You are not a back-up plan. You are worth more than someone’s

second choice. You can’t force yourself to stop loving someone, but you can tell yourself that you deserve better.Never settle for second best. Always look out for number one. Because you can’t expect to be someone else’s

priority if you aren’t your own.

Situations that force you to be someone you’re not. – In this crazy world that’s trying to make you like everyone

else, the toughest battle you’ll ever have to fight is the battle to be yourself. And as you’re fighting back, not

everyone will like you. Sometimes people will call you names because you’re “different.” But that’s okay. The

things that make you different are the things that make YOU.

A long-term situation or routine that you hate. – It’s better to be a failure at something you love than to succeed at

doing something you hate. Don’t let someone who gave up on their dreams talk you out of going after yours. The

best thing you can do in life is follow your intuition. Take risks. Don’t just make the safe and easy choices becauseyou’re afraid of what might happen. If you do, nothing will ever happen.

The easy-street mentality. – Most great things must be earned. There is no elevator to success; you must take the

stairs. So forget how you feel and remember what you deserve. Right NOW is always the best time to break out of

your shell and show the world who you really are and what you’re really made of. Chances must be taken,

mistakes must be made, and lessons must be learned. It might be an uphill climb, but when you reach that

mountaintop it will be worth every ounce of blood, sweat and tears you put into it.

Self-doubt. – When you become your own best friend, life gets easier. There is nothing to hold you back except

you. You are limited only by your imagination. Rest in the knowledge that you don’t have to prove yourself to

anyone’s heart but your own.

Negativity. – Sometimes life sucks. Sometimes life gets so hard that you don’t want to get out of bed in the

morning. Sometimes life is so stressful that all you want to do is cry. But sometimes life is beautiful. Sometimes

life is so awesome that all you want to do is smile. Sometimes you just have to stay positive, and push through the

hard times. Why? Because life is worth it. The good times are worth it. You are worth it.

How to Energize Your Brain

Main Practice

1. Breathe in through your nose slowly while silently chanting Sooo… in your mind.

2. Breathe out slowly while silently chanting Hummm… in your mind.

Try it right now for 9 slow breaths and experience what happens to you.

How So Hum Works

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Prana, or Chi, is pure energy filling the air around us. Your complex nasal passages have the wondrousability to extract prana from the air as you breathe in. The extracted prana goes straight up into yourbrain.

By slowing your breathing, and chanting So Hum, you can enhance the process and become consciouslyaware of it.

The slow out breath releases accumulated negative energies like stress and tension.

You get energized on the in breath and relaxed on the out breath.

So Hum Add Ons

There are several easily learned additional techniques that will amplify your So Hum practice. Each ofthem will add another powerful dimension to your experience.

Proper Breathing

Use abdominal breathing. Breathe with your belly, not your chest. As you breathe in, your belly goes out.As you breathe out, your belly goes in. Your emotions will calm automatically. Singers breathe like this.They call it diaphragmatic breathing.

Allow your breath to become smooth without jerking or roughness. If your breath flows smoothly, so willyour mind.

No pauses between breaths. Just allow each breath to flow smoothly into the next.

Let your breath become very quiet so that the only sound is the silent mantra ―Sooo… Hummm…‖ playingin your mind. Sound like a conundrum? Try it.

Visualization

On the in breath, see brilliant white light flowing into your nostrils and up into your brain as you silentlychant Sooo… The brilliant light transforms your brain into radiant blue/white light.

On the out breath, see dark dirty energy going out of you as you silently chant Hummm… You free upmore space to breathe in more light on the next in breath.

As you become accomplished with this visualization, you can take it to a higher level.

Sweep the light up through your brain then down through your body on the in breath.

On the out breath, the light settles into your body.

With each breath you become lighter and lighter –more and more energized.

Counting

Count your breaths from 1 to 9. Then start over again at 1.



Counting your breaths gives your mind something to do. Your mind will be happy instead of creatingcomplaints and negative thoughts about your meditation practice. And your mind may begin letting go ofits all consuming thoughts and worries.

Mudras

Mudras are hand positions. There are hundreds of different ones. Each mudra allows energy to flowthrough you in a different way.

Gyan mudra has become very popular in the West. It inspires expanded wisdom. Hold your hands palmsup with the backs of your hands resting on your knees. Touch the tips of your first finger and thumbtogether, forming a circle. Your other three fingers should be extended, but relaxed.

Relaxing mudra. This mudra allows tension and stress to drain away. Hold your hands palms down onyour knees. All your digits should be extended but relaxed and pointing towards the ground.

The ancient practice of silently chanting So Hum can be done anytime without anyone knowing you’redoing it. This makes it ideal for quickly energizing yourself while relaxing. And, with daily practice, yourconsciousness grows and grows, expanding towards realization.

Top 10 Ways to Sleep Smarter and Better

10. Reduce Screen Time Before Bed Stop checking your email or watching TV just before bedtime and you’ll sleep better. A recent studyshows that people who consume electronic media just before bedtime report lower-quality sleep evenwhen they get as much sleep as non-pre-bedtime screenheads.

Using a light-emitting device before bed like a flickering TV or computer monitor stimulates the brain in adifferent way than the way the body was intended to move towards sleep (gradually as the sun set).That’s why it is so easy to waste sleepless hours flipping from channel to channel. The exposure to light

stimulates the brain and creates a false alertness and stimulation.

9. Exercise to Enhance Sleep You already know that exercising provides lots of good health benefits—a good night’s sleep being one ofthem. But make sure you exercise in the morning or afternoon, not at night, to see the benefits while youdream. CNN reports:

The National Sleep Foundation reports that exercise in the afternoon can help deepen shut-eye and cutthe time it takes for you to fall into dreamland. But, they caution, vigorous exercise leading up to bedtimecan actually have the reverse effects. A 2003 study found that a morning fitness regime was key to abetter snooze. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center concluded thatpostmenopausal women who exercised 30 minutes every morning had less trouble falling asleep thanthose who were less active. The women who worked out in the evening hours saw little or no

improvement in their sleep patterns.

8. Eat to Enhance Sleep Some foods are more conducive to a better night’s sleep than others. You already knew about warm milk,chamomile tea and turkey, but Yahoo Food lists others, like bananas, potatoes, oatmeal and whole-wheatbread. You find yourself fighting off afternoon droopy eyelids at the office? Here are some pointers oneating a less nap-inducing lunch.

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7. Master the Power Nap Slowly but surely, the benefits of the classic, 20-minute power nap are getting more recognition, with bigcompanies installing sleep pods at the office and more software applications like Pzizz helping to set theright power nap aural scene.

6. Avoid the Soul-Shattering Alarm Buzzer

No one likes starting the day by getting ripped out of bed by that evil BEEP BEEP BEEP of the alarmclock, but some sleepyheads ignore anything gentler.

5. Solve Problems in Your Sleep Wrestling with a tough decision, stuck in a creative rut or having a hard time solving a complex problem?Studies show that a little shut-eye can help you tackle problems and make tough decisions.

4. Beat Insomnia with Visualization There’s nothing worse than laying awake throughout the night, watching the clock tick away secondsknowing you’ll be a zombie the next day. When insomnia’s kicking your sleepy butt , use a self-directedmeditative visualization technique to quiet the whir of a racing mind.

3. Shortcut a Long Nap with the Clattering Spoon

Artist and napper Salvador Dali had an interesting nap technique, based on the idea that your bodybenefits from just getting to sleep as much as a couple of hours worth of shut-eye. He purportedly used aspoon to wake himself up just as he lost consciousness.

Lie down or sit in comfy seat holding a spoon in your fingertips. you should be holding it in a way that -when you loose consciousness (sleep) you drop it… the Clatter (put a big plate on the floor under your hand) will wake you…. and you get woken JUST as you enter the best ―dreamy‖ bit of your sleep.Alternatively, hold a bunch of keys: same effect.

2. Take a Caffeine Power Nap Need a turbo boost to beat the sleepy doldrums pinch? Try a cup of coffee followed by a quick 15-minutenap to reboot your brain and get you going again.

1. Teach Yourself to Lucid Dream Arrive at school naked in that terrible dream last night? Turn nightmares around by knowing you’redreaming while you do it. Lucid dreaming opens up all sorts of possibilities for controlling where and howyour dreams go. Teach yourself to lucid dream by keeping a dream journal and learning reality checksand dream extending techniques.

8 Ways to Simplify the Pursuit of Happiness

1. Lose yourself in something that moves you.

To truly flourish in life you have to let go a little, lose yourself in the moment and become fused with other people,

experiences, and tasks.

This happens sometimes when you are engrossed in a challenge, or when the artist inside you becomes one with

the creative task at hand. It happens sometimes while you’re playing sports, or listening to music, or lost in a good

book, or when you feel completely enveloped by another’s love. And it happens most when you emotionally

connect with someone who shares your visions.



In other words, long-term happiness isn’t just about conscious achievement; it’s also about the unconscious part of

your mind naturally intertwining with the ideas, passions, work, people, songs, and stories that move you. Read

The How of Happiness.

2. Know what you want and commit to it.

The words ‘aware’ and ‘commit’ are so powerful. It’s amazing what you can do once you’re aware of what you

want and you commit to doing it. If you can honestly say that you are fully aware of your desires and what they

entail, and that you are devoted to doing what it takes, you are already in a high spirited state of mind.

Being aware and committed means you are informed – alert, knowledgeable, prepared – and you have the

mindset to visualize, strategize, focus, and achieve.

The more aware you are of life and its difficulties, and the more committed you are about how you handle both

good and bad situations, the less stressful life will be in the long-run.

3. Guard yourself against dream crushers.

Stop sharing your dreams with people who try to hold you back, even if they’re the people who are supposed to

support you – parents, siblings, friends, etc.

If you’re passionate about something out in the world that you want to explore – an interest that’s a little different

than the norm – something that makes you a bit EXTRA-ordinary, you’ll never get there if you listen to people who

keep telling you you’re not extraordinary. Instead, you’ll likely settle into the comfortable, ordinary role they

expect of you. And that’s not likely a happy place for you.

4. Find the right day job.

Lack of passion is fatal. Happiness is spending your life in your own way. This is especially true when it comes to

lifelong work.

Your day job should be the place where your interests meet the world’s needs.

If you want to pursue happiness through your work, don’t look at a list of popular trades, p ick one at random and

dedicate your time to learning it. Rather, find something that truly interests you… like writing, and indulge your

mind in the infinite possibilities of fusing your thoughts with the written word. Or maybe for you it’s boating, in

which case pursue a position in the maritime industry and allow yourself to long for the endless immensity of the

sea. Or…

You get the idea. When you appreciate what you do for a living, happiness and success tag along. Read The 4-

Hour Workweek.

5. Focus on the way you want to feel.

You will begin to become happier and more successful the minute you decide to be.



Knowing how you actually want to feel is the most potent form of clarity that you can have. Generating these

feelings is the most powerfully creative thing you can do with your life.

Your thoughts create your reality: A positive context leads to positive actions, thoughts, and feelings, which

gradually lead to positive results. This mindset is the magic ingredient that helps you persevere in the face of

challenges, setbacks, pain, and even personal injury.

6. Maintain a flexible, constructive perspective.

Forget all the reasons it won’t work and figure out the one good reason it will. It’s possible that you won’t get the

exact results you had anticipated, but that’s OK – it’s still progress as long as you learn from the results you do get.

And perhaps with your newfound understanding you’ll discover a way to achieve even better results than you had

originally thought possible.

Your choice of perspective has the power to build or demolish. Your mind has the uninhibited ability to take any

experience and create a meaning that deprives you or one that can literally make you jump for joy. Read Awaken

the Giant Within.

7. Drop the comparisons.

Sometimes the hardest part of the journey is simply understanding that you’re OK just the way you are. Don’t let

the silly little dramas and dilemmas of each day get you down. There is no reason for you to feel sorry for yourself,

and there is no point in acting in such a way that others feel sorry for you.

Forget about where others are in their lives. You aren’t competing against them; you are supposed to be right

where you are. Every life is unique. You were born to do things that have never been done, to understand things

that have never been understood. And you’re doing it. The aches and pains you feel are the side effects of

personal growth.

How would your life be different if you stopped making negative judgmental assumptions about your life and how

you think it should be? Let today be the day you look at the positive aspects of this journey that is uniquely yours.

8. Help others smile.

In your pursuit of happiness – as unique as it may be to your own specific needs – don’t forget that you’re a

member of a world that is far greater than yourself.

There are simple things you can do daily to lift the human spirits around you – things that are effortless and free

and related to your pursuit. And best of all, happiness begets happiness; when you do these things to help others,

you don’t just lift their spirits, you lift your own as well.

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