Five Ways to Practice Happiness
We are individuals, each living life our own individual way. Every single day, we make choices–some conscious and some unconscious–that affect us. Day-in and day-out, we live a series of habits that become our way of life.
Some of those habits are good and promote our health, well-being, and happiness, while others have the opposite effects.
If you’re not feeling vibrant or happy, compassionate or peaceful, then look to your habits to show you what needs to change.
It’s small changes in the manner in which you live that will yield big results in your happiness.
They say that “what you practice grows stronger,” and this is so true of life.
You can choose happiness as a way of life–but you must adopt the practices of a happy life to support your choice.
Here are my top five practices that awaken and nourish joy:
- Accept responsibility for your own happiness. If you’re feeling in a funk, look to what needs to shift on the inside in order for you to return to joy.
- Meditate daily and take your Golden Pause. Foster the habit of coming into your body with your breath. It’s difficult to feel anything but peace and contentment in the present moment.
- Spend more time thinking about what you have to be grateful for than what you’re missing. Journal your gratitude; speak your gratitude; live in gratitude. Your joy will rise ten-fold when you feel grateful for what you have.
- Speak your happiness. Spend more time talking about what’s positive in your life than what’s negative.
- Wake up every day and begin your day with a peaceful start. Developing happy habits early in your day primes you for a positive experience.
To awaken to your most vibrant life of peace, gratitude, and joy during the holidays, I invite you to listen in to my podcast series, Practicing Happiness, where I’ll interview some of the top experts in positive psychology about the art and science of practicing a happy life.