7 quick happiness tips in times of recession 

Money is a critical trigger for depression. It’s no news that we, as a country, are currently navigating through a recession. In order to avert depression in this recession you must take personal responsibility in CREATING HAPPINESS and STAYING HAPPY.

Alex Korb, a UCLA neuroscience researcher shares some very interesting perspectives about Neuroscience and Happiness. I have adapted his 7 quick tips for Happiness

7 Quick HAPPINESS Tips:

1) Be GRATEFUL for EVERYTHING.
You’re still breathing and living (This is the source of ALL things good)
According to Neuroscientists, GRATITUDE does the following;

A) Activates the brain stem region that produces dopamine.
Additionally, gratitude toward others increases activity in social dopamine circuits, which makes social interactions more enjoyable…
Happiness Tip 1a: Learn to say THANK YOU to yourself and others daily. Show gratitude everything; for your breath and life; for your little and great blessings and achievements; to others for their kind acts of service.

B) Boosts your serotonin levels.
Gratitude compels you to focus on positivity, which simply increases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex.
Happiness Tip 1b: Develop and maintain an “Attitude of Gratitude”.
Always see things from 2 perspectives; the good and the not so good.

Learn something new and positive from every situation, even the not so good
What else can you do to create and maintain Happiness daily?

2) Eat a Banana every morning.
Why should you eat banana, I’m sure you’re asking?
I) Bananas are an excellent source of cardioprotective potassium.
II) They’re an effective pre-biotic.
III) They enhance the body’s ability to absorb calcium.
IV) They increase your dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin LEVELS – the brain chemicals that counter depression, sadness and gloom.
Happiness Tip 2; Eat a banana a day it takes away mood swings and feelings of sadness etc

3) Name and Shame negative emotions in the MOMENT.
To name the emotion in the moment you must have an emotional grid or spectrum chart around you (I.e a list of all emotions running from the lowest negative emotions such as grief all the way up to the highest positive emotions such as Love)
It’s impossible to be happy all the time hence you will certainly have your low moments, the key however here is self awareness and self regulation.
Once you feel down ask yourself;
What exactly am I feeling ?
What exactly was I thinking before the feeling?
Then ensure that you think the positive opposite – Focus creates State !!!
Change your focus and your state will change from negative to positive INSTANTLY !!!!
Happiness Tip 3; Don’t deny the emotion; Expose it immediately. Name, shame and address it, before it infects you any further.

4) Create a New Goal or Vision regularly.
Picture a New Future.
Set New Goals.
Make new decisions.
Live today but strive for a brighter, better tomorrow
Affirm that you deserve it; AFTERALL who else does but you.
Alex Korb says “We don’t just chose the things we like, we like the things we choose”
When we set goals and create new visions, our brain is tricked to feel that we’re in control.
Hope, Faith and a sense of control of ones life, increases rewarding dopamine levels.
Happiness Tip 4; Always strive to attain new things for yourself and with others.
Leave yesterday behind with all its challenges, failures, joys, successes etc.

5) Seek Transcendency.
Transcendency is the HIGHEST of ALL human needs. It’s all about living for things not physical.
It is a state of being or existence above and beyond the limits of material experience. It is also the state of perpetually helping others attain their true potential and achieving their dreams.
Happiness Tip 5; Don’t live for material things that you can’t take away from this earth when you die.
Live to Leave a Legacy.
Create and maintain a good name.
Support someone else’s dream.
These are great sources of happiness.

6) Hug and touch more.
Physical human connections are great boosters of feelings of happiness.
When you physically touch or hug people, you release oxytocin.
Even small genuine contacts such as handshakes or pats on the back can release good measures of oxytocin.
Relativity, Interactivity, Relationships are very important to feeling of happiness.
Do you know that regularly touching someone you care about or love actually reduces pain.
In a recent study done with married couples, the stronger the level of care and love in the marriage, the more powerful the effect of painlessness.
Happiness Tip 6; Touch and hug daily.
Hug and touch people you care about and care about you.
Touching and hugging are very powerful happiness triggers.

7) Smile more.
There is a direct correlation between a smile and a cheerful heart.
There is no way that you can be sad, unhappy or depressed if your heart is cheerful or merry heart
Cheerful hearts make happy people.
The more you genuinely smile the genuinely happier you will become
Happiness Tip 7; So guard your heart and keep it cheerful and merry by smiling all the time
Final Happiness Tip; Do all these 7 things daily. Make them a lifestyle and your Happiness LEVELS will increase even in the deepest recession.
Shalom

The Catalyst