19 Aug Happiness shouldn’t be difficult…so here are 6 simple ways to boost your mood!
Happiness need not be complicated, or difficult, or overly demanding on our time.
There will always be challenges, but happiness can be relatively easy if we stick to the simple strategies receommended by science.
And today we have 6 simple ways to boost your mood. Read them; share them with your friends; try them out…
by Meghan Rabbit from Women's Health
It’s true: some things that affect happiness are out of our control. But studies by psychologist Dr Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness, indicate 40 per cent of the time we’re the ones in the driving seat. Happiness, it seems, is all about the frequency of positive emotion – not the intensity. And upping your levels is easy. Here’s our pick of scientific strategies for an instant hit of bliss.
1/ SMALL STEPS TO BIG RESULTS
Moment-to-moment happiness – those small spurts of joy you get from finding a forgotten fiver in your coat pocket – is disproportionately important for our wellbeing. “They have a cumulative effect on happiness that’s more powerful than big events,” says Dr Lyubomirsky. In a study by the University of Michigan, participants were asked to do some photocopying. In half the cases, a dime (7p) was left on the photocopier – and that was enough to make the people who found it report higher life satisfaction when they took a survey later on.
Get even happier Seek out small treats like nipping out of the office for a coffee, Skyping friends abroad or sleeping in freshly laundered sheets. Two of the most important activities to make time for are exercising and doing nothing. “Day reconstruction” methods, used by psychologists consistently find these rate far higher than watching TV, shopping or surfing the internet. Or just hide 7p around your house to stumble upon later.
2/ HANG OUT WITH HAPPY PEOPLE
On average, every happy friend you have increases your chance of happiness by nine per cent, according to a study by the University of California and Harvard Medical School. Plus it’s possible for happiness to spread from person to person through social circles.
Get even happier Enhance the effect by having a girls’ night out. Research from University College London found that when we hear laughing or a positive sound like a “woo-hoo” it triggers a response in the area of our brain that’s activated when we smile. Working as a group amps up the happy factor too, so try a pub quiz…
…keep reading the full & original article HERE