In exploring how to be happy, we can experience more happiness by cultivating positive mental and emotional states through mindfulness and meditation practice. It really is true that whatever we rest our attention on grows. If we wake up and focus our attention on the difficulty in our lives, we will cultivate a state of worry or dissatisfaction. If we rest our attention on things that promote positive mental and emotional states, we feel more positive.
But if we wake up and focus our attention on what brings happiness, we will cultivate a state of happiness. Try waking up to a pleasing sound instead of a blaring alarm. Develop a practice of doing something as soon as you get up that cultivates wholesome states of heart and mind—like mindfulness, yoga, meditation, writing, practicing generosity, practicing gratitude, listening to birdsong, going for a walk. Try these tips for how to be happy every day for three weeks and notice what happens.
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The basic root of happiness lies in our minds; outer circumstances are nothing more than adverse or favorable. –Matthieu Ricard
Jen Johnson is a mindfulness teacher, coach, and therapist teaching meditation for healing, creativity, and resilience.