Tag Archive for subconscious

Meditation and Happiness

August 29, 2012 / / Comments Off on Meditation and Happiness

Can meditation make you happier?

Yes. 🙂

People who practice meditation regularly report feeling less stressed and more emotionally balanced.  Researchers have even seen changes in the physical structure of the brain after regular meditation.

Numerous scientific studies have shown meditation reduces anxiety as well as stress – people who meditate tend to worry less about the problems they are facing in life, and are therefore happier as a result.

Here are some of the benefits that you may get from meditation:

Physiological benefits:

– Leads to deeper levels of physical relaxation
– Decreases muscle tension, aches and pains
– Enhances the immune system and lowers blood pressure
– Helps with pain control in chronic diseases
– Reduces headaches & migraines
– Produces lasting beneficial changes in brain biochemistry

Psychological benefits:

– Increases serotonin level, positively influencing mood and behaviour
– Helps us take control of our thoughts
– Helps with focus & concentration, learning ability and memory
– Increases emotional stability
– Reduces feelings of aggression and anger
– Reduces anxiety and tendency to worry
– Gives composure to act in considered & constructive ways

‘Spiritual’ benefits:

– Provides peace of mind, happiness
– Helps you discover your purpose
– Increases your compassion and wisdom
– Leads to deeper understanding of yourself and others
– Increases one’s acceptance of oneself
– Helps learn forgiveness

– and you might even reach spiritual enlightenment! 🙂

People report a whole range of benefits from meditation, and many of them are backed up by scientific research.

If you would like to try meditation, in the comfort of your own home, for free, then I would highly recommend the website below:

http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/

All you do is register, for free, then you get ten days of guided meditation (just ten minutes a day) for free.  Andy does of course offer paid-for meditation packages on his site, but they don’t pressure you to sign up for them or anything.

I should say that I don’t know Andy Puddicome, but I have tried the 10-day freebie and found it really good.

There are of course plenty of other internet sites and books where you can read about meditation, but I think Get Some Headspace is a good place to start.

Good luck!

And, tell me what you think – share your thoughts on meditation and happiness, and how you have got on with meditating – what difference has it made?  – it’s great to hear your experiences, and I feature some of them in my newsletters.

Leave a comment here, or email me: Mary@Coach-me-Happy.co.uk

Category: Buddhism, meditation / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Beliefs and Happiness

June 6, 2012 / / One comment

Can your beliefs affect your happiness level?  YES.  Beliefs and happiness go hand in hand.

Our beliefs and happiness are both things that we have some control over.

People who focus on choosing positive beliefs over negative ones tend to feel happier.  This is because our thoughts affect our feelings.  And our feelings affect our behaviour and ultimately how we experience the world.

Your subconscious mind tries to support you in whatever you do.  So, whatever beliefs you choose to hold, your subconscious mind supports you by finding evidence to support those beliefs.

For example: if you are running round the house saying “I can’t find my car keys,” your subconscious mind takes on this belief and raises your feelings of stress. The feelings of stress affect your behaviour: you become less observant, and so are less likely to spot where your keys are. Your belief becomes true – it has determined how you experience the world.

On the flip-side, another example: research has shown that people who believe themselves to be lucky actually tend to be luckier – the reason behind this, scientists suppose, is that they tend to spot opportunities that people who consider themselves to be unlucky do not.

So, what can we do?   Change the way we think!

Whenever you catch yourself thinking something negative, grab hold of the thought before it can take hold, and replace it with a thought that will be more helpful to you.

So, for example: if you catch a thought that says “I am rubbish at X,” stop yourself and replace it with “I am getting better at X,” or even, “I am great at X” and keep repeating these positive thoughts so that they sink in and your subconscious can find ways to support them – it really makes a difference!

So too with happiness.  A thought like “life sucks” can be replaced with “my life is getting better” or “I am making my life better” or “I am feeling happier every day”.

The aim isn’t to become a grinning loon and get carted off by men in white coats – no one wants to be smiling 24-7.  It’s about creating more positive thoughts, to change our perception of the world and allow us to get more out of life.

Incidentally, when you are feeling down, try adopting the posture of a happy person (shoulders back, sit up straight, chin-up), and smiling.  It is amazing what a difference that can make to how we feel.  Even the simple act of smiling releases ‘happy chemicals’ that elevate our mood.

So beliefs and happiness are strongly linked.

What positive beliefs can you take on, to improve your happiness?

Good luck!

And, tell me what you think – share what beliefs you have taken on to put more happiness into your life, and how you felt afterwards  – it’s great to hear your experiences, and I feature some of them in my newsletters.

Leave a comment here, or email me: Mary@Coach-me-Happy.co.uk

PS if you live in Manchester and would like to find out more about feeling happier, then book yourself a FREE place on my Happiness Workshop next Tuesday.  Limited to 50 people, so BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW BY CLICKING HERE.

Category: Beliefs / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
 
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