Happiness jump

The above photo was taken for Sivananda Tel-aviv organization.

Practical Recommendations to increase happiness in your life

In my previous blog – How to be happy, I wrote about the known definitions of happiness, a total of three major branches: the pursuit of pleasure, meaning, and engagement.
While pleasure may be obtain from joyful activities, it does not last for long. If you want a more sustained feeling of happiness, the following tips may help tremendously, obtaining engagement or meaning, and finally happiness.

  1. Creativity.
    Think of something you would like to create, something that is achievable, not a far-fetched dream, and work on it. For instance, as a photographer I enjoy every aspect of my creation. From the initial stage of planning the scene in the right place, with the right clothing, setting and makeup, while coordinating with the crew, through the actual process of the photo shooting and real time changes in order to produce the best results. The final stage of image retouching is also an amazing creative stage that transform a beautiful image to an amazing one. This is my happy place. What is yours?
  2. Altruism.
    If you ever tried doing something for the good of another, a selfless act of goodness, than you have surely experienced a sensation that may be described as fulfilment. Possibly a sensation of fulfilling a purpose.
    That may be because in our most basic essence we want to contribute to the environment, to the life around us. So seeing how our actions or words contribute to the happiness of others, may in turn bring joy and happiness to ourselves.
  3. Practice the HSC model to sustain happiness.
    Practice the framework for sustainable happiness, the four stages of the HSC model presented in my previous blog – How to be happy.
  4. Positive thinking.
    The power of positive thinking has been recognized with an abundance of research [1]. There are many advantages to positive thinking, from improving the mood to even curing diseases.
  5. Surround yourself with positive energy.
    This means positive people, stuff that connect you to positive thoughts, etc’.
    Our subconscious absorbs messages from our environment, even when we are not aware of it.
    Try it. Take one day in which you surround yourself only with positive elements, and see for yourself.
  6. Positive language.
    The words we speak, as well of the words we hear, affect our consciousness. Similarly to the previous point, even if it is subconscious. Therefore, try consciously to avoid negative words, focus on positive words to express yourself.
    Try it. Listen to a happy song, even without paying attention to the words, and examine your feeling afterwards. Next, if do the same experiment with a sad song, you may see a different emotion than the previous happy feeling.
  7. Meditation.
    The power of meditation may entirely change your quality of life. Meditation has a positive tremendous effect on happiness [2]. There are lots of materials and resources on meditation and how to meditate, and this can be the topic for at least another blog. If you practice meditation on a regular basis it you may see tremendous positive effects. From achieving calmness and reducing stress, to even curing diseases. Everyone experience it his or her own way.
  8. Smile.
    Studies found that facial muscles also initiate emotions [3]. That is, smiling may actually increase positive emotions.
  9. Connect with animals.
    Especially if you consider yourself an animal loving person. The connection with animals can generate many emotions [4]. Some may want to adopt a pet, and other to help animals in a non-attached way. For example, see the photos in my blog open your heart for animals which I took in a dog adoption day. Look at the face and the emotion of the person holding the dog.

References

  1. Scheier, M.F. and C.S. Carver, On the power of positive thinking: The benefits of being optimistic. Current directions in psychological science, 1993. 2(1): p. 26-30.
  2. Campos, D., et al., Meditation and happiness: Mindfulness and self-compassion may mediate the meditation–happiness relationship. Personality and Individual Differences, 2016. 93: p. 80-85.
  3. Dimberg, U. and S. Söderkvist, The voluntary facial action technique: a method to test the facial feedback hypothesis. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 2011. 35(1): p. 17-33.
  4. Martens, P., M.-J. Enders-Slegers, and J.K. Walker, The emotional lives of companion animals: attachment and subjective claims by owners of cats and dogs. Anthrozoös, 2016. 29(1): p. 73-88.

How to cite this article (recommended)

Eckhaus, E. (2019). Tips for Happiness. Blog section on www.artistila.com. Retrieved from www.artistila.com/tips-for-happiness.