Finding our "happy place" can give us pleasure, the freedom to lose ourselves in the moment, time to build relationships with our loved ones, opportunities to find meaning, and a platform for achieving greatness.
I love the concept of a personal "happy place" — somewhere you can escape the stress and constraints of everyday life and feel completely at ease with who you are.
This is a place where you allow yourself to be more present in the moment. Being present often welcomes in thoughts of gratitude. Gratitude increases overall life happiness and minimises anxieties and anger.
Here's where things get interesting: Your happy place doesn't even need to be real. If you've got a perfect cabin on a scenic bluff overlooking the ocean that sets your mind right—or even just a bench in a nearby garden where you can cool your head—that's great. But your happy place can be anywhere, so long as you know how to get into the correct mindset.
Here's how to find your happy place, no matter where you are.
Find your happy place.
How to clear your emotions for higher energy levels and increased wellbeing.
If you have ever tried T'ai Chi or Qi Gong, you may be familiar with the practice of the inner smile, where you direct healing energy to each organ in the body. According to traditional Taoist beliefs, emotions are energy in motion, always communicating with your body's cells. If this flow meets resistance, then the flow is blocked, causing illness and disease. On the other hand, we can choose ways for it to sweep through with love and enthusiasm, cleansing and energising as it goes.
Resistance can come from many sources but is usually created when we are not at ease with our life choices. When we do things that don't bring us joy, life can feel like a struggle. We lose connection to what we really want and why we are here. Of course, we all have to do things we don't love – every day brings mundane tasks necessary to get us through life, but it's our attitude towards them that counts. If we approach unwelcome commitments with resentment, boredom, frustration, anger, or irritation, we are creating a feeding ground for negative energy.
Find more ease
Being more aware of our emotions is a great start. When we start to sense resistance, we can take action. We can also mindfully strive towards creating time and space for activities that bring us joy.
Practice acceptance
Accept what needs to be done! Procrastination is terrible for our health and wellbeing. It sets up inner conflict, our bodies become tense, and our focus wanes. We find our mind nagging us to get on with the task at hand, instead, we are surfing the internet, making a snack or binging on Netflix box sets. This erodes our self-esteem and drains our energy. Look at what needs to be done, break in down into small manageable steps, and enlist some help if you need it.
Find the fun
Where possible, try to make routine stuff fun. Play your favourite tunes while doing the hoovering, diffuse your favourite essential oil while doing admin, or listen to an inspirational podcast while commuting to and from work. You can even learn a new skill, like picking up a new language while doing the washing. Challenge yourself to pack as much fun as you can into your day.
Create balance
Try to balance routine tasks with enough creative activity and physical exercise you need to feed your mind, body and soul. It's not our To-Do-List that creates a problem; it's not finding a balance with fun and joyous activities.
Be Mindful
Most people switch to automatic pilot mode and allow their mind to drift while doing something routine or boring. Stay present as much as you can. One of the greatest causes of anxiety is overthinking the past or the future. Dwelling on the past can evoke regret, guilt, nostalgia or melancholy. If you focus on the future, you worry about things that haven't even happened yet. Happiness is always in the now.
Always find time for the things that make you feel happy to be alive.
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