http://www.care2.com/greenliving/4-tips-for-happiness.html
4 Tips for Happiness
While you might already be familiar with some feel-good tips, like exercising regularly and making time for families and friendships, research has uncovered more ways to build on these fundamentals. Here are four things you can do right now to take your well-being to the next level.
1. Use your brain
“When it comes to brain chemistry, if you don’t use it, you lose it,” says Joe Dispenza, DC, author of Evolve Your Brain, (Health Communications, 2007). “When you think differently, you create new circuits in the brain, which creates new patterns in behavior and feeling.” Meditation can open up those circuits and boost happiness by cultivating contentment increasing blood flow to the frontal lobe of the brain–the source of the higher-level thinking that enables us to chart our own course instead of just reacting to our environment. It also enables you to recognize and minimize thoughts that lead to unhappiness–such as those that center on guilt, blame, judgment, and pessimism–and favor those that foster a more positive state.
2. Foresee and reflect on happiness
It’s true that happiness is in the now, but thinking about positive things in the past and those that you anticipate in the future can actually boost your present happiness. “Savoring past pleasurable experiences boosts your positive emotions in the present, and positive emotions are the key to happiness,” says Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness (The Penguin Press, 2008). Relish in the contentment the event triggered, not rue the fact that the experience is over. Anticipating happy events–like watching a funny movie–can also lift your mood. Research has even shown that you don’t need to laugh to reap the effects: Men who were planning to watch their favorite funny movies saw a significant increase in mood-enhancing hormones even before the movie started.
3. Buy someone a present or give to charity
Whether having more money boosts happiness over the long-term is up for debate. But research from the University of British Columbia has found that using your own money on someone else’s behalf produces a happiness surge. The researchers gave students either $5 or $20 and told half the students to buy something for themselves and the other half to spend it on someone else. Those who donated their money to charity or bought a gift for a friend reported a significantly bigger increase in well-being. And there was no difference in the uptick in good feelings between those who spent $5 and those who spent $20, suggesting that even small gestures have a big impact.
4. Eat dark chocolate
Food feeds your brain in addition to fueling your body. “Dark chocolate is the perfect brain food,” says Cheryle Hart, MD, author of The Feel-Good Diet (McGraw-Hill, 2008). While you don’t want to overdo it, indulging a little can give you an extra boost just when you need one. Sugars fuel the brain, caffeine provides an energy lift, and magnesium helps the body manufacture serotonin. Hart suggests one or two ounces of organic, high-quality dark chocolate in the midafternoon, when serotonin typically dips to its lowest level of the day.
Delicious Living is the go-to resource for the natural and organic lifestyle, helping readers eat well, live green, and stay healthy. Visit deliciouslivingmag.com for more articles and free recipes.
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13 comments
add your comment »Happiness= To be Respected,To Be Loved,To Give Adoration,To Be Helpful,To Breathe!
Some people find it hard to do the things that are naturally human we are all born with this silent blessings... what and how we choose to use it ..is really supposed to come natural and when our world has something wrong with it it disturbs our happiness and then the ball takes off and we find our happiness depleting. Some humans find happiness in food and other in excercise or some other creativity...Who are we to judge anyones happpiness and their approach to it. Caring is sharing and thats what this is all about. Our opininons of what one thing is may be helpful to another and then again it may not . We should all let it be and Peace ,Love & Light!
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Happiness also comes from not causing unhappiness to others, including animals. So glueing ultrasuede to the inside of your shoes is not really happiness at all, as it comes from leather.
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Thanks much for sharing. It seems to me daily praise and gratitude for our ancestors uplifts our well-being too.
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Great Article!!!!!
http://yoowin.blogspot.com/
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Exercise too helps to increase the amount of feel good endorphins in the brain but to not overdo it. I really like the comment to increase foods high in tryptophan. Other foods that increase seratonin in the brain are natural figs, bananas, fresh salmon, mung bean sprouts, turkey, asparagus. Probably more too. Oh, & whole food grains.
Giving presents or even compliments or even a smile to someone or a hug is very loving & helps. When you help another you automatically help yourself. I love to give compliments or even some sort of acknowledgement to others I feel need help. I love it too when I get advice from others which helps to feel a sense of care amongst eachother.
I have just done a Green Smoothie Challenge where you drink a blended drink for a meal with fresh fruit + 3 handfuls or so of greens & this helps to increase energy & increase your mood too. So raw food helps.
I also like to watch the sun go down & the beautiful colours of the sunset. Makes me smile.
Also, not suppressing your true feelings but accepting them & 'saying it like it is'. It doesn't cover up any saddness or depression & allows the root cause to be dealt with ! Now, when I feel sad I just am like that for a while & focus on contented happiness & work on what it is that is creating unhappiness. It isn't natural to be happy 100% all the time I don't think ?
Many smiles of happiness to everyone.
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I think that the tips for happiness pales in comparison to the list I wrote to one of the gals here the other day. I wrote somewhere in the range of 25 things to do to become happy.I rather take a cheap pair of sandals and hot glue some ultrasuede inside so I can "walk on clouds" rather than get fat as a house by eating chocolate! I notice that articles are always FOOD oriented. I'm personally "BORED TO DEATH" with people sticking things in their mouths constantly and the lamentation of fatness etc. Doesn't anybody kayak? How about pump iron? I LOVE going to a club. Concerts? Come on, stop eating all the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Don't get me started on Drinking either. Drinking as a be all end all to the exclusion of everything else is also a total bore.
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The Endangered Species Chocolate is my favorite but I have to limit it due to the soy added. Since you are reading this blog--how about a truly healthy chocolate-NO Soy added. The natural cocoa butter is all that is needed! I alternate with your brand and Lindt because they don't have soy but they are not organic. And how about chocolate chips?
Also, I would add --gratefulness to the list. Every day I meditate on all that I am grateful for--I make a list. some things are the same(like my family members), and I add others each day.
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When serotonin typically dips to its lowest level of the day, I typically dip into some hoummus (chickpea dip), known for providing a sort of 'high' due to its high content of serotonin precursor tryptophan.
Google chickpeas and serotonin, or goto:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article1886926.ece
This article quotes a team (Zohar Kerem and colleagues in the Journal of Archaeological Science) which studied the reasons for domesticating the wild chickpea and concluded it probably had to do with tryptophan and its serotonin benefits.
The team is quoted: “trytophan availability may affect cognitive performances related to social behaviour and emotional processing, especially under stress. This implicates tryptophan in lowering of aggression and decreased quarrelsomeness in healthy human volunteers.”
Fortunately, this is a staple food in Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine..
Can you imagine what our region would look like without it..?
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Thank you, Mel, this is a helpful and delightful article.
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What a great article! It is true that chocolate releases endorphins in the brain, making you "feel good." Now, if you want to kill to metaphorical birds (animal rights) with one stone, try Endangered Species Chocolate. Not only is this delicious premium dark chocolate, but it's 100% ethically traded which means we are actively working to improve the living conditions for our cocoa farmers. All of our cocoa comes from small family-owned farms, where we have installed numerous water pumps and filtrations systems as well as donating school and medical supplies. Check us out at www.chocolatebar.com for more information about our company's mission or our premium chocolate products. Eat chocolate, feel good and do good. And as always...Savor Chocolate. Save Our Planet.
Kyle
Endangered Species Chocolate
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