Happiness Blog

This past year has meant a lot of canceled plans, but that does not mean you have to miss out on some safe fall festivities. As the weather cools down, the air becomes crisper, and the leaves change color, go on a nature hike with a loved one to enjoy the outdoors. If you live near an apple orchard, make a day of it so you can enjoy some fresh air and fresh fruit. Spending time outside is one of the easiest ways you can improve your mental health and well-being. Studies have shown that being outdoors can lower your cortisol levels, a hormone that is a marker for stress. Vitamin D, which is essential for bone growth, is easily accessible the moment you step into the sun! Breathing fresh air can clear your lungs and lower your blood pressure and heart rate. With these benefits in mind, grab a light jacket and head outside for your daily dose of the beautiful autumn weather! 

We talked last week about how creativity improves mental health, and one way to exercise creativity is to cook! Choose a recipe, gather the ingredients, turn on some music, and get mixing! If you want to be extra creative, you can put your own twist on the dish, maybe swapping out a certain vegetable for a different one you like better, or adding an extra pinch of cinnamon or vanilla. Making your own food can raise your feelings of self-esteem and accomplishment. Once you get comfortable with it, you can serve your food to others, which is a great means for connection. Cooking as a one-time activity is great, but getting into the routine of it is even better, as it can improve your organization, mindfulness, and your relationship with food, and research shows that those who cook at home tend to be healthier than those who eat out. It can take time to get good at it, so don’t be your harshest food critic, just have some light-hearted fun with it! A lot of the benefit of cooking isn’t the final product, but the process of stepping outside your comfort zone and getting creative.

Many psychologists point to creativity as a secret pathway to positive mental health and well-being. Many of us do creative activities when we’re young, but we don’t think to fit them into our busier, more serious lives as adults. Creativity is important in adulthood because it allows us to continue to perceive and interact with the world in new ways. It is good for us to express ourselves, to problem solve, and to put ourselves in a “flow state,” in which we are highly focused on an activity to the point where we lose sense of time. Research shows that engaging in creative tasks can increase positive emotions, mood, and immune system functioning, and can decrease depression, anxiety, stress, and trauma symptoms. Creativity is often compared to meditation in terms of its calming effects on the brain and body. Creativity isn’t limited to traditional artistic activities such as painting, drawing, or pottery. By modern standards, it applies to much more diverse activities, such as coming up with new recipes, planning parties, gardening, and writing code. And, although making something you’re proud of can feel good, you really don’t need to worry too much about the final outcome of your project, because the magic happens in the process! 

Do you find yourself searching the internet or asking around to find the type of workout that gives you the fastest, best results? If you ask us, our advice is that the best type of exercise is the one you’ll actually do. As humans, we’re more likely to do things we actually enjoy. If you are miserable on every run, or have your eyes glued to the clock during every yoga class, you’re not creating a sustainable habit. It’s time to mix it up and find something that invigorates you. If you just can’t get motivated on your own, maybe try workout classes like Orangetheory or SoulCycle. If you dread any type of workout class, maybe try a sport like tennis or pickup basketball. Maybe you’d enjoy something adventurous, like hiking or rock climbing. Maybe you yearn for something creative, like dancing. And if you get bored of one form of exercise easily, no matter what it is, you can make a plan to cycle through different types of exercise each week. And if your budget doesn’t allow for fancy classes or gym memberships, there are all types of workout videos on YouTube that you can do at home for free. We suggest Pamela Reif or Chloe Ting’s videos, which target various muscle groups. They also have cardio workouts, and Pamela Reif provides dance workouts. We also suggest checking out Boho Beautiful’s yoga videos. An effective exercise regime requires commitment, and it’s so much easier to be committed to something that brings you joy. 

Many of us wake up stressed, thinking about everything we have to do that day, and feeling a sense of powerlessness over our moods and our schedules. Science shows that having a morning routine helps prepare you for the day by putting you in the right frame of mind. It helps you feel a sense of control and accomplishment. It also lowers your stress, helping you avoid anxiety and depression down the line. Science also shows it can boost your energy levels, increase your productivity, make you more tolerant to unexpected change, make you less forgetful, and raise your confidence. It can even improve your relationships. If you’re worried about having to wake up earlier, note that even a 10-minute routine has positive effects. So, what should you do for your morning routine? You may want to try journaling. You can do morning pages, a writing practice in which you write for three pages straight, pausing as little as possible. It is like a mind dump–you write anything and everything that comes to mind. You could also make a gratitude list, or write affirmations or intentions for the day. Reading inspiring content is also a great way to start your day–maybe there’s a book that motivates you, or an inspirational instagram account or blog you can sift through. Or maybe something more body-focused is what works best for you, such as a YouTube meditation or yoga video. It may take a couple tries to find what feels best, and a couple weeks of doing it for you to truly reap the benefits of your practice, but don’t give up! Eventually, you’ll thank yourself for that little bit of time you consistently put aside for yourself, and the peace and productivity it brings to your life. 

How often do you think about breathing? If you’re like most people, the answer is not very often. Our bodies breathe automatically, so we don’t have to interfere with that, right? While it is true that you do not usually have to think about breathing in order to survive, understanding how breathing affects your nervous system, and using that knowledge to have some control over your nervous system, can make a big difference in how calm you feel day-to-day. Your autonomic nervous system has two parts—the sympathetic nervous system, which controls your fight-or-flight response, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which controls your rest-and-digest response. Activating one deactivates the other. Shallow, quick breathing activates the sympathetic nervous system, preparing your body for fight-or-flight. If your sympathetic nervous system is overactivated, it can leave you in a stressful and anxious place. By contrast, slow, deep, and controlled breathing indicates to your body that you are safe, activating the parasympathetic nervous system. This helps you feel calm and relaxed. So, doing a quick breathing exercise can hijack your system into calming down. We recommend the square breathing technique, in which you breathe in for four seconds, hold your breath for four seconds, breathe out for four seconds, hold your breath again for four seconds, and repeat. We also recommend the 4-7-8 breathing technique, in which you breathe in for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds, breathe out for eight seconds, and repeat. You can set your alarm for three to five minutes and do these techniques yourself, or look them up on YouTube, where there are many videos that will guide you through them.