“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.” – Dalai Lama XIV

We have trained ourselves to be unhappy

Our natural state of being is inner peace.

Yet most of us have trained ourself, over many years, to be discontent, and unhappy. That’s right, we have trained ourself to be unhappy.

You can forgive yourself if this feels true for you as there are many forces at play in our society - including the consumerist competitive messages of our society - which have lead us to believe that we can not be happy unless we have more, do more, achieve more, get more….and so on. Its pretty tricky to avoid being affected by these fear based stories of our culture and our world around us.

The great thing is, research has found that you can rewire your brain for the better, to get back in touch with your true nature and cultivate more of a sense of inner steadiness and joy.

This Christmas is a good time to think of the different ways we can have more of a sense of thankfulness, enjoyment and general positive feelings in our everyday life.

The neuroscience of happiness

Dr Rick Hanson is a nueroscientist and founder of the course - The Foundations of Wellbeing. He explains that our brains have a negativity bias where we have become really good at noticing what isn’t going well in our life, but not so good at noticing what IS going well. But we can overcome this by taking in the pleasures of everyday experiences to grow the good inside of us and rewire our brains for the better. Practicing yoga techniques such as mindfulness and gratitude - both in the studio and in daily life - helps us build our inner strengths to become more aware and to have a greater sense of fulfillment in life.

3 Ways to Grow the Good inside of you

Here are 3 ways to grow the good inside of you

Receive the gift
How aware are you of the things you’ve been given? We can open to so many things that have been given to us such as the contribution by friends, the simplicity of clean running drinking water, and even the gift of human life. It’s really helpful to proactively take note of the gifts that we might otherwise take for granted.
Take in pleasure
Let yourself really enjoy whatever daily pleasures are around you. The gift of your sight - to see the bliss of the blue sky - or even the artistic masterpiece of the sky on an overcast day. Or the sound of birds around you, the feeling of sun on your skin. Taking in the pleasures of the ordinary, and making them extraordinary is what matters. I like to really enjoy that comforting feeling of snuggling into my sheets at night and appreciating the simple pleasure of a restful nights sleep ahead.
Help yourself feel successful
Can you recognise the millions of ordinary moments of goal accomplishments in your day? Its easy to get caught in the trap of noticing what else still needs to be done in your day. Its important to carve out moments (or mini habits) to allow yourself to celebrate what you’ve done well. Maybe you notice how you managed to hang out a load of laundry, or how you thoughtfully crafted an email to avoid conflict? We can proactively notice the many successes of daily life and let these experiences sink in again and again.

Being happy and grateful is not an automatically given quality reserved for a few hippy yogis (!) Just like learning to play the cello, we can all get better and better at the practice of gratitude. We just have to feel motivated enough to carve out micro moments of noticing the good - and really let it sink in.

So how will you take in the good, and appreciate the gifts you already have this Christmas?

Jo Jarden is a health coach, yoga teacher, personal trainer and founder of Heart and Mind Yoga Christchurch New Zealand. She helps people find mental peace, physical vitality, and to live with purpose

Services include:

Workplace Yoga - 1 hour yoga session, or wellbeing workshops
Private Session - 1 hour health coaching session, beginners yoga session
Community events - Wednesday weekly classes
Retreats - Beachside Retreat Saturday 21st January (click the image below to learn more)
Book your session here, or contact Jo 022 125 3011

How to Grow the Good Inside of You