FINDING HAPPINESS IN DARK TIMES #7
Other Factors that increase our happiness are shown above.
Exercise, sunlight, gifting (paying forward) and comfort food all help in releasing serotonin (mood), dopamine (pleasure) and endorphins (pain.) Because of Covid- for most of us oxytocin - the "cuddle" chemical is off limits for now. Aroma therapy and incense, love, light, sacred sounds, chanting, song and music arouse the soul. Special techniques like E.M.D.R., Tapping and acupuncture all help.
In addition an ongoing spiritual practice done for its own sake, not to perform or look good, that is regular, sustainable and enjoyable is the most important of all to maintain balance and well being. This does not have to be Eastern in nature and one can invoke more than one practice. Going inward will lead to vibrational coherence of body, mind and spirit and influence the folks around us favorably. It can help open the heart chakra and generate love, not as an emotion or a sentiment but as a commitment. In other words - Namaste - I see the divinity in you.
Love your neighbor's Self as you would love your own Self.
Well-being facilitates gratitude and paying things forward.
The Ancestors endorse the Three L's;
Love, Light and Laughter
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Gratitude Creates Joy
Be grateful and you will be happy. happiness leads to great empowerment. Attend to your well-being, especially to happiness, the cause of which is sometimes found in hidden recesses, always in gratitude. The Ancestors
The sages have praised gratitude over the ages and now neuroscience is broadening our appreciation of the power of gratitude (Robert Emmons, and Michael McCullough.) Gratitude increases dopamine and serotonin, is a sign of emotional intelligence and creates a positive feedback loop i.e. more gratitude. In addition, it induces a parasympathetic relaxation response and accentuates alfa rhythms on an E.E.G. It also increases neuronal density in the prefrontal lobe of the brain (Spacious Mind) on F.M.R.I. studies somewhat similar to that seen in advanced meditators.
We should not neglect to include our ancestors and spirit guides in our gratitude prayers. Gratitude is a profound form of prayer which otherwise tends to be supplication rather than giving thanks. We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors and when we “ask to receive” our spirit guides can help us be much more than we already are.
Remember that you are made not for brokenness and sorrow but for wholeness and for joy.
Spacious mind is about gratitude and joy. Narrow mind is about acquisitiveness.
Paying forward
When we feel good about ourselves we become grateful and more joyful. This helps us pay forward or
"practice random acts of kindness."
The Ancestors
Research shows that if we practice as if we are grateful we become more so and if we pay forward we become happier. If we do a good deed this creates vibrational coherence within, without - around us and even into the cosmic field.
It helps to look back at our own times of deprivation to appreciate what we have. When we look around us at the misery of others less fortunate, all the more so.
Your gifts are only gifts if you find them thus to be - your heart makes them so.
Giving opens, withholding closes.
In giving; is to receive and to welcome the other.
The Ancestors
Paying forward without regard for any return is good karma.
Laughter
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
Marcel Proust
Laughter, especially a good belly laugh, releases endorphins and the belly moving is thought to stimulate the parasympathetic vagus nerve leading to a relaxation response. It has also being described as "internal jogging." It releases muscular tension and creates positive immune and vascular effects.
Norman Cousins cured himself of debilitating ankylosing spondylitis by watching funny movies, described in his book - Anatomy of an Illness.
“Humor is the beginning of faith and laughter the beginning of prayer.” Reinhold Nieuber
"Joy is not only incidental to your spiritual quest, it is vital."
Rev Nachman
“A truly wise person is always joyful. The best way to live joyfully is to believe that life was given for joy. “
… When joy disappears, look for your mistake.” Tolstoy
A sense of humor goes a long way when things do not work out quite like they should. It's good to laugh at oneself.
“Since everything is but an apparition, perfect in being what it is, having nothing to do with good or bad, acceptance or rejection, you may as well burst out laughing.” Lonchenpa
… don't think this transformation is about having the perfect life or the perfect job or the perfect mate or the perfect marriage or the perfect friendship. This is not about perfection.; it is about wholeness. It is not about having things exactly as we want them, but about having things exactly as they are. When we allow things to be, a sense of harmony develops…” Adyashanti
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