Happiness – paying attention to your emotions
Emotions good and bad are part of being human and they help us to survive and take action. Being emotionally intelligent – in order words – being able to name, articulate and understand our emotions is good for our relationships, wellbeing and happiness, because we are then more able to act appropriately to an emotional trigger.
We all know that positive emotions are good for us, in terms of our health and wellbeing. But unfortunately humans have a natural tendency to feel negative emotions more strongly and this can undermine our wellbeing, our self confidence and self esteem.
Luckily we can cultivate and nurture our ability to feel positive emotions. We can re-train ourselves to feel more positive by noticing what is good in our lives on a daily basis. By expressing gratitude our brain releases dopamine and serotonin, two crucial neurotransmitters responsible for our emotions and making us feel good. They enhance our mood immediately and make us feel happy from the inside with the following known benefits:
- Improves the quality of your relationships
- Improves physical and psychological health
- Enhances empathy and reduces aggression
- Improves sleep
- Improves self esteem
Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.
Kahlil Gibran
The practice of gratitude is a simple but powerful force for happiness and wellbeing. By opening your heart to feeling grateful for all that is good in your life, whether it is small or large, you can magnify your happiness and resilience.
Trying finding a time each day to practice gratitude by doing the following:
- Notice, good things, look for them, appreciate them
- Savour absorb and really pay attention to those good things.
- Express your gratitude to yourself, or write it down in a journal and express it to others by thanking them.
Of course, if writing in a journal is not your thing, then simply thinking of three or four things that your are grateful for on a daily basis can be just as beneficial. Practicing gratitude can be done at any time of day, but can be particularly beneficial just before you go to sleep and can help to settle your mind and body into a relaxed state.
Here is a yoga class to help you put into practice these idea,
