Cultivating Joy Takes Work: 3 Ways to Turn Happiness Into a Habit

Although some people are starting to test the waters of public life again, planning vacations and socializing more, others may still have lingering signs of what psychologists call languishing. They may feel an emptiness or dissatisfaction in day-to-day life. Or feel like they’re stuck in weariness or stagnation.

Michelle Shiota is a psychologist at Arizona State University and an expert on emotions. When the COVID-19 crisis struck, she began working from home and doing one activity, over and over again, all day long.

“I will be honest, for the past 14 months, I have spent most of my waking hours looking at a screen, either my laptop, my phone or a TV screen,” she says.  All that isolation — and screen time — had taken a toll on Shiota.

Luckily, an emerging area of brain science has a new way to help lift yourself out of languishing — and bring more joy into your life.

Emotional muscle memory

It’s not about trying to force a happier or less fearful feeling in the moment, psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett says. But rather, it’s all about planning ahead. You can stack the deck in favor of your brain, choosing positive, uplifting emotions in two major ways, she says.

By practicing particular emotions, you can “rewire” your brain, she says. “Your brain grows new connections that make it easier for you to automatically cultivate these emotions in the future.” So when you start to feel a negative emotion, such as sadness or frustration, you can more easily swap that negative feeling for a positive one, such as awe or gratitude.

To help pull out of the pandemic blues, it’s time to start “practicing” positive emotions. Scientists say this practice is helpful to prevent or work with everyday doldrums and weariness. It isn’t intended as a replacement for treatments, such as counseling and medication, for serious mood disorders or anyone going through intense or prolonged bouts of depression.

The antidote to isolation

A few decades ago, scientists used to lump together all kinds of positive emotions into one concept: happiness.

The idea of cultivating positive emotions is pretty simple. Choose one of these emotions and then do a specific action regularly that helps evoke it. Psychologists have devised suggestions for how to get started, but it can be as simple as taking time to notice and appreciate the small things around you that uplift you.

Over time, your brain will start to use these emotions more often — and turn to negative emotions less frequently.

Three ways to practice happiness

Psychologists say you can improve your well-being if you recognize moments of positive feelings, value them and seek them out more often.

1) Share some appreciation:  Get together with some friends and write out on cards three things that you’re grateful for in the other person. Then share the cards with each other.

2) Take an awe walk: Take a five-minute walk outside each day where you intentionally shift your thoughts outward. Turn off your cellphone or even better don’t bring it with you.  Look for things that are unexpected, hard to explain and delightful.

3) Listen to a calm concert: A recent meta-analysis from the University of Michigan found that sounds of nature, including birdsongs and water sounds, lower stress, promote calmness and improve mood. Sit down, close your eyes and consciously listen to the natural sounds around you. Allow and enjoy calm to wash over you.

Explore ways to cultivate well-being with NPR’s Joy Generator.

Excerpted from “Cultivating Joy Takes Work: 3 Ways to Turn Happiness Into a Habit” in KQED’s MindShift. Read the full article online for more details.

Source: MindShift | Cultivating Joy Takes Work: 3 Ways to Turn Happiness Into a Habit, https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/58064/cultivating-joy-takes-work-3-ways-to-turn-happiness-into-a-habit | Copyright © 2021 KQED INC

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