7 ways to make yourself feel HAPPY

SadneSS is a natural part of being human. If it’s a response to an upsetting life event then the emotion tends to ease with time. However, if you are generally feeling low, happiness is something over which you can have more control. Here are some simple but surprisingly effective exercises that will help.

1 TIME TO LOOK UP

CHANGING your line of sight — getting into the habit of looking forwards and upwards instead focusing only on what is immediately in front of you — will make you much happier.

People who feel low tend to look downwards and they don’t see much further than a few yards in front of them.

It makes them feel like they are being hemmed in, and is strongly associated with feeling bad.

People who look up often, stretch their gaze all the way to the sky or the horizon and that automatically suggests space and the freedom of lots of possibilities.

Scientists have found that there is a hard-wired connection between our eye movements and our patterns of thought and feelings.

You can see a change in brain activity when people look upwards that is associated with the visual cortex and tends to cause the brain to generate more alpha waves which develop feelings of peace, comfort and well-being.

2 STEP INTO A NEW LIFE

Think of someone you know or admire who is very happy. Vividly imagine them standing in front of you. notice what they are wearing, how they are standing, where they are looking and what they are doing.

now imagine them turning around so you are behind them, and now imagine stepping into that person, so that you see through their eyes, and actually physically copy their posture now.

Stand as they stand, breath as they breath and experience their feelings. notice where the good feelings are strongest in your body and spread them all around to the top of your head and to the tip of your toes. imagine taking this feeling into your everyday life.

3 WHEN THE WORLD’S ON YOUR SHOULDERS

TRY this when you are feeling low: 1. REMEMBER a time when you felt unhappy and relive that feeling. 2. LOOK upwards at the ceiling for at least 30 seconds as if you were trying to see the tips of your eyebrows until you feel a slight strain on your eye muscles. 3. KEEPING your head still and holding that feeling, move your eyes from side to side, so you are looking up left and then up right, back and forth, 20 times. 4. NOW, with your head still, look up and down 20 times. 5. Staying aware of the feeling as it diminishes, move your eyes in a figure of eight 20 times first in one direction then the other. 6. FINALLY, look straight ahead and notice how much you have reduced the feeling. Repeat as often as necessary.

4 LAUGHTER IS BEST MEDICINE

My Friend dr robert holden, who is often referred to as the ‘happiness psychologist’, came up with a remarkably simple formula to help increase happiness in people suffering from depression.

it requires adding just three elements to your day-to-day life: laughing and smiling more, 20 minutes of exercise every day and using sticky coloured dots to spark postivie memories.

robert’s work was the subject of a BBC documentary. he took a group of depressed people and had them follow this formula for a month. at the end of that time, every single one of them reported that they felt happier. But the programme didn’t just take their word for it.

at the beginning of the experiment all the subjects were all given an Mri scan. The scan focused on the activity in the

left pre- frontal lobe in an area that corresponds with happy thoughts and feelings and it showed they had all the signs associated with depression.

Incredibly, an MRI scan at the end of that month showed they had all increased activity in the left pre-frontal lobe area significantly. In that short time committing to carrying out three simple daily actions managed to change the physical activity of their neural networks and brain chemistry.

These people successfully changed their habits of thinking and behaviour, and so can you.

Key to the success of this simple formula was repetition — it became a habit. and now I’m going to show you exactly how to develop that same habit too.

Laughter, even when you fake it, also releases serotonin and endor-phins. Research has found that it boosts the immune system, something we’re all keen to do now, and helps the body clear out toxins.

5YOU’RE SMILE WHEN SAD

DR ROBERT HOLDEN’S happiness study also required volunteers to smile for at least 20 minutes a day.

Whenever you smile you release serotonin, a neurotransmitter that makes you feel good. The serotonin is a signal from our body which lets us know that something good is going on.

The more you smile at others, the more they smile at you. Once it becomes a habit to be smiley it adds a steady stream of happy moments to your life and it helps you to permanently raise your overall levels of happiness.

6 GET MOVING OUTDOORS

Happy people are more active than unhappy people. That’s because exer-cise stimulates your body to produce two chemicals that change how you feel.

as you start to use your muscles adrenaline is released, which increases your alertness and triggers a release of energy. Then when you finish exercising endorphins are released which give you a sweet, soft feeling in your muscles and a sensation of satisfaction.

Exercise removes the stress chemicals from your body and re-balances your neurology and body chemistry. It physically changes the state of your mind and body and releases chemicals that make you feel good.

Exercise also makes you sleep well. and is proven to be a highly effec-tive treatment for depression. So when you get into the habit of taking exercise every day, it gives you a relia-ble base of good feelings to support your happiness. Gyms are closed, but exercise does not mean you have to go to run on a treadmill or pump iron.

It is any movement of your body, and walking is a great way to do that.

Dr Robert Holden’s research involved volunteers getting outside to exercise for at least 20 minutes a day,

When I was developing my weight-loss programme I checked on the precise amount of exercise that people were taking. Researchers found that the difference between an overweight person and a naturally thin person was just 2,000 steps a day. That is a 15-minute walk!

Research shows that people taking exercise outdoors in a natural, green environment have a rapid boost in mood and self-esteem.

7 SPOTTING THE SPOTS

LITTLE dots can change your life. Dr Robert Holden asked his subjects to stick coloured dots all around their house — on the hall mirror, the fridge, the bathroom door and in the hall.

When they saw a dot, they had to think a positive thought. Here is an easy way for you to do that, too:

STICK at least a dozen coloured dots around your home so you see them daily.

MAKE three lists that reflect your values to cover three happy memories, three people whom you love or who love you and three things that could make you happy in the future. REMEMBER each item on each list vividly. Recall each memory, hear what you heard and feel what you felt then. For each person on your list, imagine being with them, and how good they make you feel. Imagine each future event happening. WHEN you see a coloured dot, think of an item on your list. The more you do it, the bigger the impact. This exercise has a powerful effect as it does not try to block bad thoughts. You’re making strong positive thoughts part of daily life.