Happiness Blog

If you had a day to go wherever you want, where would it be? Would it be a day trip to the beach to relax in the sun, or to the mountains for a long hike? Maybe you’d wake up and prepare a delicious picnic, grab a book, and go relax outside all day. Do you like tubing on the river, or visiting botanical gardens? Maybe you just want a day at the spa or shopping mall. We have a challenge for you and your partner, or best friend, or whoever you want to spend more time with. We want you to both name your perfect day trip, and then take turns accompanying each other on your dream day. It’s June and the weather’s warm and sunny, so what are you waiting for?

When’s the last time you did arts and crafts? Almost every kid enjoys it, but we rarely see adults allowing themselves the same fun. The truth is, many of us stop doing art when we become more self-aware and self-conscious of what we’re making. We only want to do what we’re good at, and we find it embarrassing to make something child-like. In our teenage years, many of us stop being praised for our creative spirit. We stop exploring artistically and maybe even forget why we loved it in the first place. But more and more research is showing that adults need fun and play as well, and art is one of the easiest ways to do that. A good first step to get back into it is to allow yourself to make something silly with no judgment. You could make paper plate masks, sock puppets, origami, paper lanterns, or dream catchers. You could paint rocks, splatter paint, finger paint, or even draw with your eyes closed. If you know you’ll be too concerned with how the final product looks to enjoy making it, you can vow to throw away your project at the end, regardless of how it turns out. This will allow you to focus on the process. You could do this with kids if you have any in your life, plan a night with friends, or simply get into it alone. There’s no harm in trying!

Many of us meet with our friends over coffee or drinks. Does it ever feel like you meet just to catch each other up on your lives and then go your separate ways? If this sounds like you, we challenge you to reapproach your time with friends, and actually make some memories doing activities together. It can bond you to go on an adventure, such as camping, hiking, or kayaking. Maybe you want to satisfy your inner children by doing art together or going on a picnic. Perhaps you want to explore the town by going to museums or site-seeing. Or maybe you want to see a movie that you can discuss afterwards. There are plenty of ways to shake up your time together. While simply sitting down for a conversation is a very important element of friendship, so is going out and exploring the world together, and creating beautiful memories and stories that you will cherish.

Research shows that having regular family dinners is linked to positive mental health for all family members, and linked to better behavior in children. The busyness of modern life and family members’ varying time commitments may make it difficult for everyone to come together at the same time, so we don’t want parents to feel stressed about having a family dinner every single night. But perhaps you can set a goal of having three to four family dinners per week. It may be a good idea to have a little family meeting the weekend prior to go over everyone’s schedules and note which evenings you will set aside to eat together. You can also do some menu-planning during this time. Sometimes it can be fun to have everyone contribute a different dish. This meeting itself can be good family bonding! If you don’t have a family, planning a weekly dinner with friends is a great alternative.

Modern life requires many of us to be on our phones a lot—and the addictive nature of them often causes us to stay hooked even longer than necessary! Going phoneless for a day can help us reconnect with ourselves and our sense of inner peace, and help us feel more present in the world around us. It may help your concentration and decision-making. While you won’t be able to communicate with friends or family far away, staying off your phone can help you deepen your connections to the people who are right there. If you are used to using your phone at night, going phoneless will likely improve your sleep. Even a brief break can help you get back on track with these things, and remind you of what really matters in the here-and-now. We recommend choosing one day a month to go phoneless, perhaps the first Sunday of every month. If necessary, you can warn friends and family you will be off your phone on that day. If you need to be around your phone in case of an emergency, there is an iPhone setting with which you can put your phone on silent, and if someone calls twice, it will ring. Taking a break from your phone is an act of self-care that may benefit you more than you know, and it is at least worth a try!

Music has the power to touch us deeply, to move us to tears, and to lift our spirits. It can make us nostalgic, sad, happy, motivated, relaxed, reflective, etc. Science shows music activates regions of your brain involved in movement, planning, attention and memory. It can release the brain chemical dopamine, which relieves anxiety and improves mood. Thus, music has the capacity to improve your attention span and memory, and to help in healing your mind and body. So, which songs should you listen to to get these effects? Songs with an upbeat tempo, a cheerful major key (rather than a gloomy minor key), and lyrics about fun events or love, are most successful at making us happy and having positive effects on our body and mind. Some songs scientifically shown to make people happy are “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys, “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees, “Dancing Queen” by Abba, “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and The Waves, and “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel. But, as most things are, the way music affects us is highly personal, and also depends on our individual history (for example, a song that reminds you of childhood, or a happy time in your life, could evoke strong emotions of joy). A great way to learn what music makes you feel best is simply to pay attention to how you feel before and after listening to a song—and if it makes you feel great, add it to a “Happy Songs” playlist for later!

Most people know that the foods we choose to eat affect our physical health, but overlook the effect they have on our mental health. If you learn how foods affect you, you can be more strategic about what to eat when in order to keep you in a better state of mind. Carbohydrates release the “feel good” hormone serotonin. It is important to keep in mind that simple carbs, such as pasta, white bread, and sweets, will cause only a short surge in energy, followed by a crash. Complex carbs, such as whole grains and vegetables, are better for your mood. Foods high in protein, like meat, fish, eggs, legumes, and dairy products, release dopamine and norepinephrine, which can elevate your mood, energy, and concentration. They also keep you feeling satisfied for longer. Highly processed and deep-fried foods can leave you feeling down. Salmon, oysters, berries, and fermented foods are all shown to be great mood-lifters. Dark chocolate has many mood-boosting compounds, so it may be helpful to swap fried or sugary desserts for dark chocolate. All that being said, it is okay to treat yourself to sweets and fried food on occasion. Just be mindful of when you are doing so. Perhaps you avoid treating yourself in the middle of the workday, and save it for a Friday night when you don’t have much to do besides relax and watch a movie. Also, keep in mind that everyone is different, and it may be a trial-and-error process for you to figure out which foods leave you feeling your best!

You have a free evening, your pizza was just delivered, and you decide it’s the perfect night for a movie night. You suddenly forget every movie you’ve been wanting to watch, so you go on your streaming site to browse, watch about 15 different trailers, and still come up with nothing. Now your pizza is cold and you’re not so interested in a movie after all. Does this sound familiar? We’ve got a suggestion, and that is to be proactive with deciding which movies and shows you want to watch next. Every time you come across one that piques your interest, take a couple of seconds to write it down on a list. If you have a phone with a notes app, this can be a good place to do so. You may want to write a couple of notes next to the title, such as the name of the person who recommended it to you, what it is about, or why it caught your attention, so you remember what it is when you go through the list later. You can do the same thing with books or articles you’d like to read as well. This way, when it’s time to sit down and consume some media, the work is already done for you, and you can truly relax.