Holidays and the beginning of the year are not always easy times. Many of us miss people who are gone, others are struggling with mental illnesses, which stand in the way of feeling happy. How about exploring 10 proven ways to get rid of stress and feel good? This is a New Year’s resolution that is worth trying! Check out:
How to be a better person
- Try to feel happy
Anyone who has suffered from bouts of sadness knows that “come on, get over it” is frustrating advice. It is never a good thing to tell someone to “just forget,” when that person fails to keep sadness away. No matter what the reason, belittling someone’s emotions isn’t going to help them feel better. What you can advise, however, is that the person focus on their own feelings and try to feel happier.
According to two researchers at Knox College and the University of Missouri (both in the U.S.), just trying to be happy can improve your sense of well-being. In the first of the two studies, the volunteers were instructed to listen to lively music. One group of volunteers should try to feel happy when listening to the music, and the other group should just listen to it. The group that actively tried to feel happier actually felt much more positive than the other group. In the second study, which lasted more than two weeks, one group had to listen and focus on happy music, while a second group had to listen to happy music, but focus on improving their mood. Participants who were instructed to focus on their own happiness reported the highest feelings of positivity.
- Disconnect
In today’s world, people spend more time than ever on their electronic devices. Research from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden has shown that people who spend more time in them are more likely to suffer from physical and mental problems, such as stress, depression and sleep problems. Stress was often the product of being constantly available . People reported feeling guilty because it was their responsibility to respond to texts and take calls.
Not only adults, but children feel the negative effects of constant screen time. Little ones are at higher risk for anxiety and depression when they spend a lot of time watching TV, playing on the computer, or on the cell phone. These mental health problems are most significant when children spend four hours or more on these types of devices, although the effects begin to appear when children spend more than two hours looking at electronic screens.
The solution? Shut down. It is important to find a way to deliberately disconnect from a constantly technological life, even if it is for ten minutes a day. Cooking and eating a meal can be good times for that. Taking time away from social media, responding immediately to messages and emails, can bring big changes to your health, such as better sleep, more productivity and greater self-esteem.
- Leave home
We’ve already covered how much technology can be bad for you, but what happens when you stay indoors all day? We already know that spending too much time in the sun is bad for your health. From burns to skin cancer and immune system problems, excessive tanning is not a good idea. But the opposite is also terrible. The World Health Organization has suggested that more diseases can be attributed to not getting enough sun than the opposite. Many of the main health benefits come from the production of vitamin D, which our skin processes when it comes in contact with UVB radiation from the sun. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a plethora of physical and mental problems, and studies say that vitamin D supplements are not enough to replace natural sunlight. Just 10 to 15 minutes of direct sunlight, without sunglasses, produces benefits.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) agree that staying outside can have more benefits than risks. When the skin is exposed to sunlight, chemical nitric oxide is released into the bloodstream and fights high blood pressure, which reduces the risk of heart disease and can prolong life. In addition, getting in touch with nature can improve mood and reduce stress.
- Meditate
This tip requires some concentration, but the benefits are enormous. Although meditation has been around for ages, it is not well established in Western cultures. The first Western scientific studies on meditation showed, however, that it could be a treatment for physical problems like migraines and even diabetes. These studies have also started to see another positive result of meditation: reduction of negative emotions. The control of positive and negative feelings starts after just two months of practice. Meditation also makes people more lovable and improves the immune system’s response. Meditation may not be an instant fix, but it is one of the most effective long-term ways to make a person happier.
In addition, it can actually alter its gene expression. Researchers studied two groups of people to observe the effects of meditation on a molecular level. One group was instructed to spend a calm and relaxed day, while the second group, composed of qualified meditators, was instructed to spend a day involved in conscious meditation. Before the study started, there were no differences in genes between the groups. Then, experienced meditators showed changes at the molecular level. One of these changes was a reduction in the expression of the inflammatory gene. That is, meditation can not only make you happier and healthier, it can make changes on a genetic level.
- Do something or buy things for others
If you maintain this ideal throughout the year, you are likely to be happier than those who do nothing for others. According to researchers at the University of British Columbia and Harvard University, money can buy happiness, but only when you are buying things for other people. The researchers found that families who earned less than $ 50,000 (about R $ 100,000) annually were less happy than people who earned between $ 50,000 and $ 75,000 (R $ 100 and 150,000), but one more important factor for happiness than income was donating to others.
Daily acts of kindness and altruism can promote happiness and greater satisfaction in global life. In a study published in The Journal of Social Psychology, three groups of people were given different tasks. Every day, for 10 days, one group was forced to perform an act of altruism, another had to try something new, and the third group was told to live as they normally would. The first two groups reported higher levels of happiness after that period, suggesting that new activities and charitable acts can significantly improve our satisfaction in life.
- 10 bizarre ways you’re undermining your own happiness
- Smile like it’s real
Before you say that nobody likes a fake smile, listen to these researchers: smile is not just an answer to feeling happy, it can also make us happy. The physical response to feelings affects our emotional states, and for many of us, it is easier to control facial muscles than our minds. This theory was originally called the “facial feedback hypothesis”, and many studies have been carried out to test the reality behind the facade.
Researchers at Cardiff University in Wales studied people who had Botox injections and difficulty frowning as a result of paralyzed facial muscles. These people reported higher levels of joy than people who had no problem with frowning, regardless of their actual levels of self-confidence. Researchers point this out as proof of the mind-body connection when it comes to happiness – if frowning can make you feel sad, smiling can make you feel happier.
The reason this works is because your facial muscles give neurological feedback straight to your brain. If you are smiling, the combination of muscles in use is associated with happiness and your brain receives these signals. This will trigger great happy feelings because your brain realizes that smiling is about joy. If your smile is particularly big, you work the orbicularis muscle in the corner of your eyes. When this muscle flexes, your brain is even more convinced that you must be feeling good, because this muscle is used only when you are really smiling.
Keep in mind that suppressing negative emotions does not improve happiness in the long run, and being emotionally suffocated can have negative effects on other areas of our lives. It is important to express negative emotions, but trying to open a smile can make you feel better when not everything is going so well and you need to get excited.
- Don’t watch the hours go by
Time flies when you’re having fun. Scientists have a word for that feeling, when you are so involved in an activity that you stop noticing the passage of time: “flow”. Flow happens when we are completely immersed and engaged in an activity. Best of all, this is an active experience that you can create. The things that create flow are different for each person, because everyone has unique skills and preferences. An endurance athlete can have flow during a bike ride, while an artist can flow when painting the sunset.
What creates the flow is not the activity itself, but the circumstances surrounding it and your perception of the activity. The activity, whether mowing the lawn or skydiving, must meet three requirements: it must be seen as a choice, it must be something you find enjoyable, and it must be difficult enough to require skill, but not so difficult that you cannot be successful.
Perhaps one of the most fascinating aspects of flow is the lack of emotion. During the flow, you literally get lost in the moment. It is after you feel the joy of the experience. That is why two of the things that people most regret at the end of life is not living a life true to themselves and working too hard. When you do a job you love, it’s the flow that brings you happiness and it doesn’t feel like work. But don’t worry if you don’t have your dream job; you can create flow in any job. The key is to find purpose in what you are doing.
- Give hugs
Facebook gives people a sense of connectivity, but it does not bring satisfaction or happiness. In one study, people felt much better when interacting with others in real life or even over the phone, than using Facebook. This discovery supports the huge body of research that says touch is a magical healer , and that lack of intimacy is harmful.
Touch has a multitude of positive effects, including improved immune systems and reduced anxiety. From the moment we are born, touch is one of the most important and undervalued basic human needs. Children who do not receive adequate care are much more likely to suffer from social, emotional and behavioral problems. Touch deprivation means that two hormones that play an important role in emotional and social relationships with others, oxytocin and vasopressin, are not released. This can have a lasting effect, for the rest of your life.
The benefits of contact also don’t go away when we grow up. Oxytocin continues to be released throughout our lives when we embrace friends and family. It reduces levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, thus reducing anxiety in general. Holding hands can bring similar positive results. Even petting animals can bring great benefits to you and your pet, such as less pain, better immune system and lasting happiness.
- Exercise
Exercise has been linked to a happy disposition and medical experts extol the health benefits of regular activities. But what about the long term? Can exercise make you happy beyond the initial run?
In early 2013, Canadian scientists found that people who were less physically active were twice as likely to be unhappy compared to those who were continuously active. Similarly, researchers at Penn State University (USA) found that people who were more physically active had higher levels of satisfaction than sedentary ones. There is even a growing body of scientific evidence that exercise can be more effective than antidepressants in treating depressed patients. It may even have the same effect as marijuana, thanks to chemicals called endocannabinoids that our brains produce when we exercise. These chemicals reduce pain, stress and anxiety. The next time you need to feel really good, grab your sneakers and go for a run.
- Don’t treat happiness as a goal
Smiling when you feel unwell is a good way to improve your mood, but don’t make “being happy” your life goal. Happiness is not a permanent state. Setting such a goal is unsatisfactory because happiness is an emotion, not an end that you may know you have achieved. Realizing that happiness is a part of life and working to reduce negative emotional reactions, training the body and mind, are more achievable goals.
Researchers at the University of Denver (USA) have been studying how having a goal of happiness affects our emotional well-being. The results of their studies showed that people who were not stressed but who valued happiness more were less happy than those who did not value happiness so much. According to the survey, people who valued happiness the most set higher goals to achieve it, making it easier to feel disappointed. Another cause may be that focusing too much on your own happiness can cause you to behave selfishly and miss opportunities to create happy moments with others.
