10 Easy Things Scientifically Proven To Make You Happy

By Jennifer Elizabeth Masters

“Happiness is a state of activity. Kahlil Gibran

Happy people are more productive and accomplish more. Once we become happy with ourselves and our life, we feel a sense of satisfaction, fulfillment and joy just by being. When we are unhappy, we consistently focus on what we don't have and the
problems that surround us. Shifting our focus is one of the fastest ways to feel happier. The following suggestions are based on Scientific studies. Try doing one new thing each week and watch how differently you feel about life and you. 

1. Exercise. Daily exercise of even 7 minutes can be enough to shift you from feeling sad, or depressed. What works for me is daily dancing. I dance to three songs, and I am good for the day! Music raises our spirits while exercise raises our mood, heart rate, and vibration. (Pick happy songs like Happy by Pharell Williams). Make exercise a daily priority and be happier every day.

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Anchor sites a study on depression. Three groups were studied those on anti-depressants alone. Those with anti-depressants and exercise and those only doing exercise. The biggest surprise came with the relapse rate. Those on anti-depressants had the biggest relapse rate, where the ones exercising alone had the lowest, only 9 percent.

Science backs the efficacy of regular exercise. People who exercise regularly feel better about their bodies even when there is no physical or noticeable change.

You don't have to be depressed to reap great rewards from exercise. You increase your brain power, ability to focus and bathe your brain in endorphins with regular exercise. What's not to like? Play this video while you read and feel happy while you read.

“The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom." Confucius

2.  Get more sleep. Your focus will be on positive emotions. Sleep-deprived people have been scientifically proven to be more negative and depression prone. In a ground-breaking book NurtureShock, by researchers Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman they site sleep deprived people failed to recall happy memories but were easily able to recall negative or sad memories just fine.

Your mood early in the day affects the rest of your day says a study on Customer Service employees.

3. Focus on Friends and Family rather than money. The money will not bring you happiness. In fact, the focus of money and material gain can reduce your happiness.  One of the biggest regrets of the dying is not spending more time with friends and family.

Quality rather than quantity of our relationships is what matters. We only need one close personal relationship with a network of friends where we can have full disclosure of our feelings and issues not to feel lonely. In elderly patients loneliness can lead to depression and death.

4. Get outside. Sunshine makes us feel better as do warmer temperatures. Twenty minutes outside on a beautiful day broadens thinking and increases positive attitude. In fact, a meteorological study found that temperature of 57 degrees and higher make us feel better. Give

yourself a triple-dose of goodness by exercising outside in a beautiful environment increases telomere length and slows the process of aging. Park settings are more pleasing to the senses than urban environments.

5. Help Others. Those who spend over 100 hours a year, or just two hours a week helping others are the happiest. Wharton Business school professor Adam Grant in the book Give and Take, says you only need to spend five minutes helping others to feel happier and more productive. Those in service industries, healers, and those who help others have the highest sense of fulfillment and happiness.

Spending a windfall on others has been proven to have a lasting effect versus spending it on yourself. Martin Seligman writes in his book, Flourish, a book which illustrates the change in the human psychology movement from merely relieving suffering to improving the human condition. 

6. Smile and mean it! Smiling has been proven to reduce pain, improve brain functioning and improve your mood. A real smile versus a fake grin will make you feel better offering the same change in brain chemistry that exercise does. A fake smile will cause you to feel worse as your day wears on. I smile to my heart when I meditate which gives me the triple whammy I so love of endorphins, brain chemistry changes and relaxation of stillness. The Nineteenth-century psychologist William James went so far to say that if an emotion hasn't been expressed it has not been felt. 

Just because you are divorced doesn't mean you can't have fun!

7. Plan a vacation! Planning a vacation gives you more of a rush of feel-good hormones than actually taking your vacation - even if you never take one. Those studied did not feel happier after their vacation, as they returned to their old life. I travel at least five times a year to places I love to visit friends and family.

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I resolved differences with ex's so that we can spend time with our children at the same time. I focus on the travel before I leave home, which expands my level of happiness and satisfaction. 

8. Meditate daily to re-wire your brain for positivity and stress reduction. Meditation reduces cortisol levels, can help with addictions and relationship issues. Daily meditation can take as little as ten minutes a day, sitting in quiet stillness merely focusing on your breath or involve repeating a mantra in the background of your mind. 

Massachusetts General Hospital studied brain scans of sixteen patients over and eight-week period while they participated in a mindfulness course. In each of the participants their compassion and self-awareness increased, where the parts of the brain associated with stress shrank.

I recommend meditation to all of my clients to help them feel more connected, grounded and happy.

9. Practice Gratitude Daily. Humans can easily focus on what is wrong. Gratitude will shift your focus quickly to your blessings and gifts faster than anything. Spending a few minutes each day recognizing the good in your life and giving thanks for it will raise your happiness quotient and open your heart. 

Writing letters of gratitude will do even more to make you happy. Expressing your thanks to others for what they do for you makes you both feel good. 

10. Move closer to work or work from home. The benefits of living close to work will make you happier than a bigger house. A long commute adds stress, tension and creates a longer work day. Traffic can be trecherous raising stress levels for years. 

Many of us buy homes in places far from work because of economics. Over the long haul those hours of driving cannot be returned. It has been twenty years since I had a long commute, yet when I think of corporate America, my commute is what I remember rather than my success.

Interested in hearing more from Jennifer - in person? Join Jennifer this Wednesday for a new format - VIDEO LIVE! 

Happiness and Love are the focus on Wednesday. Looking to be happier, or find love? You won't want to miss this ground-breaking event. You must sign up for the link to the video. There are only fifty seats available, so sign up early or you will miss it!

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