Archive for: Our Happiness Blog

Sometimes our lives feel so busy and crowded that we tend to focus purely on our own feelings, emotions, and situations. Although this can be done in a healthy self-reflecting manner, we can also let this stray us away from one of life’s greatest gifts: kindness! Random acts of kindness, complimenting someone, or taking time to volunteer for your local community can be beneficial for both those you help and yourself. Research has shown that showing true and genuine kindness can increase your emotional wellbeing, happiness, self-esteem and can help reduce any stress you are experiencing in your everyday life. These acts of kindness can be as simple as calling a friend you haven’t talked to in a while, telling your family how much you appreciate them, offering some time to a friend that needs to talk about a certain situation, or even giving a compliment to a stranger at your local coffee shop. Regardless of what it may be, notice how these acts of kindness make you feel as you make the world a kinder and more emotionally healthy place!

Mindfulness journaling is a great way to get in touch with your thoughts and emotions. Journaling can increase gratitude, increase optimism, and decrease stress. One study even found an association with improvement in working memory! Even a few minutes of mindfulness journaling daily can change how you feel about yourself and your life. 

And remember that this writing is for you! It doesn’t have to be perfect or eloquent. Let yourself go on rants or tangents if you feel the urge to. Don’t suppress anything. The act of writing your thoughts is more important than the outcome. 

You could start journaling in any notebook, but there are also specialized journals for those that need more of a guided approach. Having a structured notebook (specifically for mindfulness journaling) is an excellent option for beginners, as it helps you stay on track. Amazon has some great options, including this one!

It’s not uncommon to suffer from seasonal downess or depression, especially after the busyness of the holidays ends and we enter into January and February. It often feels like we’re in the depths of winter, but something that can help is realizing that, since we are past the winter solstice, the days are only getting longer and longer! We are slowly getting to the point where the sun sets after the work day ends, so try and get out for a little walk after work. Even just standing outside in the light for a couple minutes can give us joy. Whether you are a winter person or a summer person, a daytime person or a night owl, getting some sunlight is good for us. It helps our circadian rhythms, Vitamin D absorption, and release of serotonin, dubbed the “feel-good hormone.”

According to Dr. Murray Grossan and Dr. Sivan Finkel, the act of smiling makes you more happy. Signals are set off in your brain that trigger neuropeptide release, fighting off stress. These signals also release neurotransmitters including dopamine, endorphins and serotonin, lifting your mood. So, basically, smiling tricks your brain into thinking you are happy by releasing neurotransmitters. Additionally, Multiple studies have found that smiling leads to longevity and lowers blood pressure in stressful situations. 

Smiling can also improve the moods of those around you. When you see someone smile, your brain automatically wants to make you smile, too. And then when you smile, you get all the benefits mentioned above. So, smiling at someone else helps them too!

Do you ever catch yourself feeling bored, down, and in need of an activity to boost your spirits? Baking something might be a great way to boost your mood, both temporarily and over time. Smithsonian Magazine cites multiple studies and theories by psychologists on the association between baking and better mental health. 

According to a study in the Journal of Positive Psychology, people who regularly participate in small, creative projects have higher levels of relaxation and happiness. They also felt like they were “flourishing,” in the journal’s words. Creativity is also generally associated with better emotional functionality. 

Due to these benefits (and others), baking can also be used to help treat depression and anxiety by acting as a sort of meditation. Baking won’t cure you, but it might be a relaxing way to relieve stress and take your mind off your worries.

Here we are in 2023, and many of you are probably wondering how another year sped by so fast. Sometimes time seems to go by so fast that you don’t feel in control. Sometimes it feels like life is in control, and you are just along for the ride. But it is possible to take the reins and be in the driver’s seat of your own life. However, this takes self-reflection on your patterns and tendencies, both positive and negative. You have to know yourself to be able to support yourself and steer yourself in the right direction. So this new year, take some time to reflect on the past year. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What did you accomplish this year that you’re proud of?
• Who did you become closer to?
• What relationships or goals fell to the wayside? 
• What did you forgive yourself for? What are you still holding onto?
• What did you forgive others for? Are you still holding any grudges? 
• What, on a personal level, are you really proud of yourself for?
• What did you struggle with? 
• What is one fear you overcame?
• What problem is still weighing heavily on your mind?
• What is one thing you wish you started last year, that you could start now?

While the hustle and bustle of the holiday season calms down, and we transition into a new year, it often becomes a stiller time of self-reflection. This is when we think about what we want to change, and set resolutions for the new year. But how can we set resolutions that last beyond the first couple weeks? We have to start small. For example, if you want to be closer to your mother, try putting a weekly call on the calendar, rather than expecting yourself to check in every day. If you want to improve your health, try implementing a small change, like committing to home-cooking one or two nutritious meals per week. It all depends on where you’re starting from. Don’t compare yourself to others, but to the 2022 version of yourself. Habits are hard to change, and the smaller the habit you try to incorporate, the more likely you are to see success, which will increase your self-efficacy and spur greater changes in the future!

Do you ever feel like people around you don’t truly know you? Maybe you only know basic facts about the coworkers you’ve been working with for years, or you never scratch beneath the surface with a certain family member. Many conversations stay surface level, and it can be hard to go deeper. One way to start is to look at the questions you are asking others. We  often don’t give the people around us the option to be more open. People are accustomed to reciting pre-formed responses to common questions like “How are you?” instead of truly answering it honestly, so instead you might ask “How have things been going for you lately?” or “How are you feeling?” Try open-ended questions like “What were you up to this weekend?” instead of close-ended questions like “Did you have a good weekend?” Another thing to consider is that asking people about their feelings and inner-world often results in deeper responses than asking about their actions and outer-world. For instance, instead of asking someone what they like to do in the city or town you both live in, you might ask what about the city/ town they connect with the most. Getting creative with your questions often allows for more creative, deeper answers. 

Get Up and Dance!

Along with burning calories and getting physical benefits, dancing helps your mind. Any type of dance helps, but there are different benefits to different kinds of dancing. Free-flowing dancing improved 98% of participants’ mood and increased their confidence and compassion. Choreographed dancing positively affects “wiring and gray matter of the aging brain.” Synchronized dance created and fostered friendships. 

According to VeryWellMind, the following are the mental health benefits of dancing, in general:

• Keeps mind sharp
• Improves self-esteem
• Involves social skills
• Increase endorphins
• Easy to bond with others
• Improves your mood
• Lessens loneliness
• Eases depression
• Lowers anxiety
• Decreases rumination
• Helps memory
• May prevent dementia
• Raises pain threshold
• Reduces pain perception

So, the next time you feel like you are in a rut, try moving your body!