International Day of Happiness – five ways to happier living

Action for Happiness have released 10 keys to happier living for International Day of Happiness.  The following five factors are really important for our health and wellbeing.
GIVING
Caring about others is fundamental to our happiness.   Helping other people is not only good for them, it’s good for us too.  It makes us happier and can help to improve our health.  Giving also creates stronger connections between people and helps to build a happier society for everyone.  And its not all about the money – we can also give our time, ideas and energy.  So if you want to feel good, do good!  Remember all things in moderation don’t get carried away, ending up losing all your own energy.
IDEAS
Do 3 extra acts of kindness on International Day of Happiness.  Offer to help, give away your change, pay a compliment, or simply make someone smile.
Reach out to someone who’s struggling.  Give them a call to offer your support, let them know you care.

EXERCISE – Take care of your body

Our body and mind are connected.  Being active makes us happier as well as being good for our physical health.  It instantly improves our mood and can even lift us out of depression.  We don’t all have to run marathons – there are simple things we can do to be more active each day.  We can also boost our wellbeing by spending time outdoors, eating healthily, unplugging from tech and importantly getting enough sleep!

IDEAS

Be more active every day.  Park future away from work or the bus stop, add a short walk to your lunchtime, any extra steps count – Get moving.

Add extra nutritious food to your diet, drink at least 2 litres of water a day, sleep for at least 7 hours a night.  Make sure you have alcohol free days.  Notice which actions improve your mood and do more of those.

Awareness – Live life mindfully

Have you ever felt there must be more to life?  Good news, there is!  And it’s right in front of us.  We just need to stop and take notice.  Learning to be more mindful and aware does wonders for our wellbeing, whether it’s on our walk to work, the way we eat or in our relationships.
It helps us get in tune with our feelings and stops us dwelling on the past or worrying about the future – so we get more out of the day 2 day.
IDEAS
Give yourself some time, switch everything off for a few minutes every day and just breathe and be in the moment.
Notice and appreciate good things around you, trees, colours, bird song, smiling, laughter.  We all have our own favorites

RESILIENCE – Find ways to bounce back
All of us have times of stress, loss, failure and trauma in our lives.  How we respond to these events has a big impact on our wellbeing.  We often cannot choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we react to what happens.  In practice it’s not always easy, but one of the exciting findings from recent research is that RESILIENCE, like other life skills, can be learnt.
IDEAS
Ask for help – Confide in a friend, talk to an expert, reach out to a colleague, ask a neighborhood to lend a hand.
When something is troubling you, do something you really enjoy.  Shift your mood and bring a new perceptive on the problem.

ACCEPTANCE – Be comfortable with who you are
No-one’s perfect but so often we compare a negative view of ourselves with an unrealistic view of other people.  Dwelling on our flaws – what we’ve not got rather than what we’ve got – makes it much harder to be happy.  Learning to accept ourselves and being kinder to ourselves when things go wrong, increases our enjoyment of life, our resilience and our wellbeing.  It also helps us accept others as they are.
IDEAS
Ask a trusted friend or colleague to tell you what they think your real strengths are, try to make use of these.
Be as kind to yourself as you are to others, see your mistakes as opportunities to learn.  Notice things you do well, however small.

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