HOW TO BE A HAPPIER HUMAN

We should, says Ruby, be the happiest species alive – so why do so many of us struggle? And how can we be happier? We delved into Ruby’s manual...

TALK ABOUT YOUR EMOTIONS ‘Many of us don’t realise that emotions were originally created to ensure our survival; they meant well. To avoid danger, an octopus extends a tentacle, while we humans use our emotions to test the waters. We need to vocalise our emotions, otherwise one day, they will erupt out of us like Vesuvius.’ YOU ARE HOW YOU FEEL ‘Your brain and body are one and the same; every thought, emotion and action is a two-way feedback loop. If you pay attention to the sensations in your body, you get a readout of the emotional state you’re in. On the physical side of things, if you practise becoming attuned to how your body feels in each area, you’ll be more adept at recognising when everything is working smoothly.’ LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF ‘If we don’t learn to be compassionate to ourselves first, we can’t feel it for anyone else. Learning to throw ourselves a bone of self-compassion increases our resilience and stability. When you have that security blanket of self-compassion, you feel like you can take more risks, come out of the box and be creative. A selfish reason to exercise compassion is that it makes you feel good.’ TAKE A MOMENT ‘In the future, I hope we’ll still have the facility to pay attention, to focus on things we choose to focus on. Unless we train ourselves to focus intentionally on what we choose to focus on – and hopefully, it’s things that make us feel good – we’ll be in a constant state of distraction and dissatisfaction.’