Tag: sharehappiness

well-being

Intentions

Mary

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Change is in the air and on the leaves. Wild and carefree summer is turning to cozy and contemplative fall, the season of gratitude and tradition.

In this autumn season of scarves and sweaters and pumpkin-flavored everything, school time routines are settling in, the sun and our children are settling earlier, and it is a wonderful time to reflect on our daily intentions.

Jon Kabat-Zinn writes in his 2011 book Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment–and Your Life that today’s adults are so busy multi-tasking that each of us is “becoming more of a human doing than human being.”* It is easy to be swept away with schedules and responsibilities and to forget the value of simply being.

So as our activities move indoors and crackling campfires turn to cozy hearth fires, let us also turn our intentions inward to nurturing our own well-being. This season of transitions is an inviting time to establish new reflections in your family, which can lead to new conversations around the dinner table or during the bedtime routine.

I offer here a lesson I learned during a week-long mindfulness retreat I attended last month. One of our leaders was Eve Ekman, an emotions researcher for UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. She shared with us five evidence-based habits that lead to greater well-being if practiced every day:

1. MEDITATE or PRAY

2. EXERCISE

3. Identify three GRATITUDES

4. Perform one random act of KINDNESS

5. Document JOY

These are manageable enough goals for both adults and kids, even in busy family lives. Meaningful meditation or prayer can be done in 10-20 minutes a day, and mild exercise can take only 20-30 minutes a day. My family shares our three gratitudes each night as we tuck our children into bed, so they drift off to sleep thinking about the events in their day for which they are grateful . One deliberate act of kindness every day should be something we all strive to perform ourselves and teach our children. And finally, research shows that noticing joy every day makes a greater impact on our well-being if we share that joyful experience or emotion with another person (perhaps during an evening meal?) or record it in a journal.

Remember when you wake each morning, when you review your schedule of things you need to do, to also set an intention of how you want to be. Every day is a great day to establish new habits, for the happiness and well-being of everyone in your family.

* Kabat-Zinn, J. (2011). Mindfulness for Beginners. Boulder, CO: Sounds True.

 

Mindfulness

Earth Day

Mary

During this week’s mindfulness lesson on Generosity, I asked my 5th grade students to share examples of acts of generosity they either performed or witnessed in the past week. The students told sweet anecdotes along the lines of, “my friend shared her snack with me when I didn’t have one,” and, “I helped my little sister clean her room.” Then one student hesitantly raised her hand and said, “I don’t know if this counts as generosity, but over the weekend my brother’s little league team played a double-header so I was at the park for five hours. I wasn’t interested in watching the games, so instead I spent most of the time picking up trash around the ball fields and playground nearby.”

Just in time for Earth Day, I loved this student’s reminder that YES, we absolutely can and should be generous to our Earth. After all, we are stewards of our planet and of the spaces in which we live. Caring for our Earth can make us feel happy and can also inspire others towards stewardship and environmental activism. This Earth Day, I encourage you to be mindful of how our planet has been generous to humankind with all of her resources, and to consider how we can be generous to the Earth in return.

Happiness, Mindfulness

International Day of Happiness

Mary

In 2011 the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted resolution 65/309 which recognizes that “the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental goal” and calls for “a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and well-being of all peoples.”

In 2012 the UN General Assembly convened its first ever UN conference on Happiness and adopted a resolution calling for March 20 to be known as the International Day of Happiness. Past years’ themes have included Happy Heroes (2013), Reclaim Happiness (2014), and Climate Action for a Happy Planet (2016).

The 2018 theme for the International Day of Happiness is SHARE HAPPINESS. I love that this is a holiday that is shared around the globe, and one in which adults and children alike can participate. It carries the simple but important message that happiness can be found around us every day, and even the smallest gestures like smiles can spread happiness.

Does that mean that every person is happy every day? No. Does that mean that we stifle our moments of sadness and pretend that everything is okay when it really isn’t? Definitely no. Mindfulness means being aware of all of your feelings, even feelings of sadness, frustration, anger, or fear. It is okay to be sad, and it is okay to cry. Mindfulness gives us the moment of pause that we need to keep from being overpowered by our emotions–to believe that even in our moments of great sadness, that we will find contentment again.

That is what the International Day of Happiness is all about–finding contentment and joy in every day experiences. You don’t need to skip work or school and spend the day riding roller coasters to be happy. Here are some simple pleasures we can take any time to bring happiness to ourselves and to SHARE HAPPINESS with others:

Thank someone you see every day for what they add to your life.

Play a board game or card game in the evening instead of using electronics.

Walk/ride/drive a more scenic route home from work or school. Get some fresh air and enjoy the view.

Call a friend or family member just to catch up.

Pick up trash in your neighborhood streets or park.

Dance along to music while you make a meal in your kitchen.

Forgive someone for a grudge or resentment.

Leave a kind post-it note on the desk of a co-worker or classmate.

Cook for someone who needs a healthy meal or someone who could just use a break.

Spend quality time with a pet and/or a child.

Take a long walk or ride your bike around your neighborhood. Wave to your neighbors.

Enjoy your 2018 International Day of Happiness and remember to SHARE HAPPINESS!

For more information please check out the fantastic resources at http://www.dayofhappiness.net and www.actionforhappiness.org.

 

You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf — Jon Kabat-Zinn