Unlike some well-being boosters, journaling can be done when you’re feeling too self-conscious or depleted of energy to do other things. Journaling can be done from bed, can draw focus from frazzling, and can help you better understand yourself. That latter perk is perhaps a slow burner, but also profoundly helpful.

For these reasons and more, journaling can be a great self-help tool all around. For anxiety, it can be particularly beneficial. This article discusses some of the reasons why, as well as reasons journaling can be great for your well-being generally.

Journaling for anxiety

Journaling can be a great tool to deal with anxiety.

Journaling doesn’t require great effort or any sum of money beyond that of a notebook and pen. You simply write what’s on your mind and gain relief, comfort, and other therapeutic benefits. It’s as simple as that.

Whether you’ve had a bad day at work, a good evening with friends, or a falling out with a relative, you can always confide in a journal. Unwind the tensions of your mind by giving the restless thoughts somewhere else to be.

Otherwise, they rattle around in your head, unfocused and ignored but not expressed. This can result in varying forms of stress or distress.

Studies show the impact of journaling for anxiety

Studies on journaling as a self-help tool have demonstrated its value. From the workplace to hospital patients, journaling appears to reduce stress and improve resilience and well-being.

Here are just a couple of examples of how journaling has helped.

Journaling helps you deal with negative emotions

Anxiety, like all mental health issues, can leave sufferers feeling overwhelmed. The emotions can weigh heavy on you and – over time – can eventually become too much to bear.

Talking to loved ones, friends or therapists can help alleviate some of the pressure that is otherwise purely internalized and perpetuated.

The benefit of journaling for anxiety is that it can in some ways achieve this without having to talk to someone. You still express your concerns and emotions, thereby letting them go.

One study notes that journaling has even been found to have clinical benefits with patients suffering a range of conditions, from irritable bowel syndrome to lupus. It has also been found to have beneficial effects on blood pressure.

Talking therapy is in some ways superior, especially with the right mental health professional, but journaling has its own advantages:

• Journaling does not require public vulnerability.
• Journaling is available at any time and as often as you need.
• Journalers may feel more comfortable being completely honest and raw, thereby offloading in a more cathartic manner.
• Journaling is practically free.
• Journaling comes without external pressures or restrictions.
• Journaling is discreet and easy.
• Those who suffer from anxiety in particular might find it easier to journal than to talk to someone.

Journaling helps to identify your triggers

Participants in this study on journaling and reducing anxiety found that it enabled them to better identify their triggers. By recounting situations in detail, participants could better see the minor triggers and coping strategies that took place.

Without journaling, these finer points may get lost or forgotten. It’s good to draw attention to them to better navigate similar situations in the future.

For example, if you note that having water with you in an anxious situation or a backup plan ahead of time helped reduce stress, you can consciously repeat these things another time. Conversely, if not having the right equipment for a task worsened the anxiety of the situation, journaling helps you know better to be prepared for next time.

By recounting and visualizing situations when writing them down in a journal, you can see these things more clearly and learn from them. It’s otherwise all too easy to forget and move on, pegging it as a bad experience but not learning from the details.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

5 ways journaling helps with anxiety

There are many reasons journaling can help you better deal with your anxiety. Here are five big ones.

1. Journaling allows you to focus when anxious

I have found journaling personally useful during periods of high anxiety. In large part that’s due to the focus required to do it. Instead of ruminating and perpetuating anxiety, journaling requires a degree of presence and focus.

In a way, it’s almost a form of mindfulness. It draws you out of your haze of garbled worries and into the real world a little more.

In order to write you need to order your thoughts into a coherent narrative so that you can jot them down. This dissipates the haze of passive anxiety and background noise somewhat. Narrowing attention down to a quieter, single line of thought.

When writing your thoughts out, one by one, they take form in the present moment and no longer feel overwhelming. You can see them in the here and now rather than in the clouds of your mind.

2. Journaling helps you remember practical information

When you journal, you might write down things you come across that help you get past the anxiety.

The more you do this the better you remember them – A) because it’s like revision, cementing the idea deeper into your brain through more active cognition and repetition, and B ) because you have literally documented the idea and can revisit it later.

I often find pieces of information about something that eased anxiety that day. It helps me to feel uplifted, but more importantly, it is of practical use.

It’s not advisable to overindulge your entries if they tend to be penned during negative times. But it can be helpful to come across tips you’ve written for yourself that you otherwise had forgotten. Just remember to take negative narratives with a pinch of salt, and revisit such entries when you are in a more balanced and resilient frame of mind.

Tip: In order to create a more uplifting journal to revisit, among other great benefits, practice gratitude in your journal. Write about things that have made you happy or that you are grateful for, either that day or in general.

This could be anything from a magnificent animal you saw to an act of kindness from a friend. When you put things like that routinely into your journal it can really brighten its tone – and as a result, yours!

3. Journaling can relieve you of worry

Journaling can work kind of like a shopping list. It works well with anxiety because once you write your anxieties down, you may no longer feel the need to keep dwelling on them.

You write a shopping list for fear of forgetting things. Well, anxiety is our brain’s way of constantly reminding us about things we ‘need’ to worry about.

Juggling an entire list of worry items in your mind is stressful. Delegate them safely into a journal and see if it doesn’t relieve you of some mental strain.

4. Journaling can give you hope

Journaling can help nullify some concerns that may crop up in an anxious mind frame.

For example, I often thought that the anxious sensations I experienced were new and therefore more frightening in their unknownness. On more than one occasion, I have leafed back in my journal to compare these sensations with other times of high anxiety. What I found would console me significantly – I had written down all the exact same fears and concerns during those periods too, evidently coming out the other side sooner or later to find them unfounded.

Rediscovering these truths, that you have gone through things before and survived them, can be greatly sobering for a mind with existential fears.

5. Journaling is like consistently having someone to talk to

Anxiety can make you feel alone and isolated. It can prevent you from reaching out to friends, family members, or professionals. We are social creatures by nature and in trying times our need to talk, whether about the problems we’re facing or about something completely different, is even greater. To be isolated at such a point can drive you up the wall.

Having a journal to open up to is a great way to still have those conversations. To feel heard and held, like someone is there to catch your cascading thoughts and feelings.

To have this reliable, safe space to mull things over at any time is a great comfort. It can feel particularly important to have that familiar security when things otherwise feel chaotic, confusing, and scary.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

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Wrapping up

For anxiety, being able to reap the benefits of journaling can be invaluable. You can take a journal to the office or confide in it late at night when you can’t sleep. You can get a form of therapy without exposing yourself to someone. Journaling may not be the holy grail that will end all of your anxiety, but no one thing ever is. But since it’s practically free, why not give it a try?

How have you used your journal to help you deal with anxiety? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Henry Collard Author

Mental health blogger with a passion for learning ways to improve wellbeing. I also love to write fantasy, learn about history and play video games. Which I suppose makes me an all-round nerd.

The post 5 Reasons Why Journaling Helps Relief Anxiety (With Examples) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

If you’re not genuinely yourself and authentic in your interactions, your emotional needs are being suppressed. They may later bubble up in displays of anger or sadness that we don’t link to the cause.

In this article, we’ll take a look at some examples of genuine behavior and how we can be more genuine in life.

What being genuine really means

When you’re not being genuine, you drain the joy from your life. Not being true to yourself means at least in part living against your true feelings.

It’s as simple as that, and though it might be easy to understand, we rarely tend to think about it.

We tell a white lie or nod along to something we dislike or don’t want, without missing a beat.

Why being disingenuous is bad

The problem is, the more you get used to this behavior and allow it to continue, the more you allow a life that doesn’t sit right with you emotionally.

For example, if you took it to the extreme and hung around with people you deeply disliked and worked a job that stood against your core values, you’d be very unhappy.

The only reason you’d even allow this to happen would be if you were telling yourself and others, on some level, that it was fine – if you were being untrue to yourself.

Doing so would be the only thing perpetuating your unhappiness.

How to be more genuine

So, how can we live life more genuinely, thereby nurturing a life we will actually be proud of and enjoy?

Here are 4 simple tips to be more genuine, starting today.

1. Tell the truth

The first step in leading an authentic life is, unsurprisingly, telling the truth.

• If you don’t find something funny, don’t laugh.
• If you don’t agree with what someone says, don’t.

This John Lennon quote sums it up really nicely:

Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it’ll always get you the right ones.

By not being genuine, you begin a chain reaction of dishonest approval of what you dislike, encouraging more of it in the future.

In this way, you can help to create an atmosphere in your life that you don’t actually like. It’s like going along with a shade of blue for the living room that you’re not actually that keen on.

It’s important to stand up for your true feelings to avoid living in a cold blue living room.

Not only that, but once a web of white lies has been spun, you can find yourself in quite awkward and uncomfortable positions once your truth is found out.

I’m not usually one to lie, but have found myself in instances where I have done so and regretted it. The facade usually gets torn down by follow up questions. It’s easy to tell a single white lie, but having to keep up with multiple lies is hard, trust me.

Nobody likes these situations. The liar (or truth omitter) is found out to be somehow different than expected, not to mention dishonest. Those they’ve not been entirely truthful to feel scandalised, and maybe even stupid for having had the proverbial wool pulled over their eyes the whole time.

Lies, or ‘bending the truth’ to put it nicely, distort the realities of what people believe, and cause us to continue acting based on that distortion. Therefore, when the veil is shattered, we discover that we have wasted time reacting to a fantasy, feeling quite foolish for doing so.

In 2012, an experiment studied the difference over ten weeks between participants instructed to tell the truth and others with no such instruction.

Those who avoided white lies and larger lies found that their mental health, physical health and relationships were significantly improved.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

2. Say no

Practice saying no, acknowledging your typical knee-jerk ‘yes’ reactions and moving away from them.

If, like me, you’re very used to the knee-jerk yes response, try to use someone asking you a question as a reminder to pause. Once you’ve paused and determined whether you do or don’t want to say yes, before doing so anyway, then give your answer.

If you don’t want to say yes, don’t. This again is telling your truth, which as we’ve discussed is important. But saying no can for some be more difficult than telling the truth.

Saying no is confrontational, you worry you might offend someone or come off as a bad or selfish person.

If you worry about this, it’s probably safe to say that saying no doesn’t make you a bad person. It just means that you want to care for yourself.

Sometimes it’s just important to put our needs first. You don’t then begrudge whatever it is you’ve said yes to, and do it but with a resentful, false enthusiasm.

Furthermore, saying no and setting boundaries then sets a precedent. People know how you truly feel and ought to respect that, assuming you’ve expressed your true feelings with care and whilst being polite. They will then know what you will and won’t do, and why, and they won’t ask too much of you.

What it really means to say no

In James Altucher’s book The Power of No, he asserts that saying ‘no’ more often is really saying ‘yes’ to life. A life more meaningful for you.

Whereas too much ‘yes’ can leave us drained emotionally and physically from overcommitment to others. That kind of commitment leaves little for ourselves.

People who say yes all the time have no respected boundaries by others, who may assume they can ask of them whatever they want, whenever they want.

If they do so, it will of course leave you feeling run down and drained. Living according to the wishes of others and against your own needs, growing more resentful by the day.

This will lead to higher levels of stress, and even depression and anger.

We have an entire article dedicated to people pleasers, and how to avoid being one. If you find it difficult to say no more often, you might find it an interesting read!

3. Think about what you want

Saying no and telling the truth is dependent on knowing what your truth is. In order to do these things you must be more in tune with yourself, or practice checking in with yourself more often – particularly at the moments you are asked.

It can be good initial practice to start with smaller things. For example, if a friend asks you to join them for badminton one week, an activity which you usually partake in but sometimes out of obligation rather than genuine enthusiasm.

This might not seem like a big deal, but if you don’t have a lot of time in a week and would prefer to be doing something else with the time you do have, doing that could improve your week every week from then on.

You might feel in this situation that there’s no real reason to say no and that you don’t know what you would rather do instead. It’s a good opportunity to check in with yourself and think about what you might rather do.

When you’ve discovered an activity or pastime you would rather engage with each week, you’ll have your clear reason to turn down the badminton. A good friend will be understanding of this, and you can find someone who might want to do your new thing instead (if it is a shared thing).

Tweaking small things like this in all walks of your life will eventually harmonise all of it to your needs, to your truths.

Once you aim more for them, and less for going along with other people’s, you will establish a better relationship with yourself and a better life all-round. You will be living your genuine life.

Other ways of discovering your true needs, in order to lean into them and become more genuine, could include:

• Counseling and psychotherapy.
• Journalling.
• Mind mapping.
• Bucket lists.
• Five-year plans.
• Meditation.

4. Lean into positive thinking and away from negative perceptions

One thing that can complicate the matter out of white and black thinking around ‘truth’, is what truth it is we decide to indulge.

A lot of us tend to focus on the negative, whether it’s about something that has happened or about our identity and life.

Without delving too deeply into themes of mindfulness and presence (that would be a whole other article), none of these perceptions are quite our truths. They are in fact just that: perceptions. Ideas conjured by us. Ideas can be changed.

Negative perceptions can sometimes feel like our truth, but in reality, are simply things we tell ourselves. We can balance this negative dialogue out and live a different truth through things like:

• Meditation.
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy.
• Positive self-talk.
• Affirmations.
• Gratitude.

It’s worth looking into these things in order to transition into a more balanced and more positive truth, if we otherwise tend to believe negative things about ourselves or our lives.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Being happier by being genuine

All in all, we can see how becoming more genuine suits not just us but also those around us.

A happier, more genuine you, leads to happier and more genuine relationships and other aspects of life.

When we stop to think about this it may seem almost obvious. But the trick is not dismissing its importance. To then discover how to make changes in our lives necessary to live life more honestly, and therefore more fully.

Telling the truth, saying no and thinking about what we really want are excellent ways to make those changes.

Wrapping up

We can start small and incorporate these practices around things that won’t have an abrupt and dramatic effect. Telling someone we trust that we don’t want to go for coffee that day. Eventually, though, we deserve to have boundaries and follow our dreams in all areas of life, no matter who we fear it might upset or unbalance. The alternative is becoming quite unbalanced ourselves.

Are you living genuinely? Or do you find it hard to speak your mind and maintain your boundaries? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Henry Collard Author

Mental health blogger with a passion for learning ways to improve wellbeing. I also love to write fantasy, learn about history and play video games. Which I suppose makes me an all-round nerd.

The post 4 Simple Ways to be More Genuine (With Examples) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

To anyone who has not tried either, I would always recommend considering both. The truth is, it’s all relative and we all have struggles. Sometimes the smaller and ‘unimportant’ they seem, the more likely we are to keep them to ourselves. Despite the ongoing, niggling effect they might have on our happiness.

For some, journaling might seem preferable to therapy, and not without reason. But in a choice between the two, can you responsibly replace therapy with journaling?

Journaling vs therapy

As mentioned, journaling and therapy are invaluable tools for self-reflection.

They can lead us to a greater understanding of ourselves and resultant positive changes. But even in the immediate term, journaling and therapy can provide relief from bottled-up emotions, by allowing them a voice through which to vent. This, even in the short term, significantly reduces stress.

Countless studies have shown the positive effects of both journaling and therapy, respectively.

How effective is journaling?

A study on medical patients who were exhibiting symptoms of anxiety found that through months of ‘positive affect journaling’, patients showed reduced anxiety and depressive symptoms, and increased resilience.

How effective is therapy?

Therapy, as with journaling, can take many different forms and has even more studies on its efficacy in relation to well-being.

For example, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be an effective treatment for depression, psychotic disorders, and anxiety disorders.

Other talking therapies, such as psychotherapy and counseling, have been shown to improve well-being and patient satisfaction. Some might dismiss counseling and even specialized psychotherapy as simply sitting and talking to another person, which one might believe they could do with anyone.

The research suggests, however, that due to the nature of patient-therapist relationships, the result is quite different.

This is not hard to conceive. The benefits of both therapy and journaling are that one can disclose information regularly in an open and honest way. Something they might not be able to do in other aspects of their life.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Differences between journaling and therapy

The differences between the two are numerous, and some are obvious.

For instance, therapy involves not just another person’s input but one who’s specially trained. This rather pronounced distinction unveils advantages and disadvantages on either side.

On one hand, journaling can provide a limitless and cheap outlet for expression and reflection.

Almost anyone can afford a pad and paper. Furthermore, journalers might find they can discuss issues more candidly and openly on paper, alone. These are thoughts that nobody has to know, so it’s easier to put difficult truths under the microscope.

For some, even entering a therapist’s room can be incredibly daunting, let alone discussing personal issues with a stranger.

On the other hand, writing your thoughts and feelings down without direction can in some circumstances be harmful. For example, monitoring only negative thoughts and feelings, and doing so excessively, can simply build a more negative mind frame.

And without direction, it’s possible to work ourselves into a distorted view of our situation without a light of hope. This is something a therapist will always be helping us to work against.

The pros and cons of therapy

As someone who has tried many forms of therapy and journaling over the last ten years, I have experienced the benefits and negatives of both.

To see if journaling could replace therapy would require a breakdown of the pros and cons of each, and then weighing up the different factors and how they affect you personally.

So can journaling replace therapy? I would encourage anyone considering the query to do their own assessment.

For me, the pros of therapy are:

• A professional third-party perspective helps to avoid circulatory. introspection, and see things we can’t on our own.
• Nudging in a constructive direction.
• A real-world relationship and actively comforting company.
• Structured, periodic support.

And the cons of therapy are:

• It can be hard to express verbally to an audience of any kind.
• Can be hard to find a therapist that suits you.
• It’s time-restricted.
• Is usually a significant ongoing cost.

The pros and cons of journaling

On the other hand, the pros of journaling are:

• The easiest way of giving form to feelings and venting them, whilst maintaining the deepest honesty.
• Leads to a greater understanding and connection with ourselves.
• Limitless use.
• Meditative/mindful practice.
• Practically free.

And the cons of journaling are:

• Can be unstructured and as a result, reinforce cyclic and negative thinking.
• Purely insular; not benefitting from fresh, outside perspectives.
• Lacks expertise and unbiased analyses.

Ultimately, when weighing up the positive and negative factors, it depends on what your purpose is.

If someone was generally looking for a journey of self-awareness, in order to manage well-being, a journal could suffice. Particularly if they couldn’t afford therapy or even stomach walking into the consultation room.

However, if the person weighing up the two was looking to overcome mental health disorders, journaling on their own without expertise is unlikely to do the job. For this, they would need to look into cognitive-behavioral therapy or other talking therapies and therapeutic treatments.

Even within the journaling and therapy worlds, there are various forms to consider. So, it’s a matter of refining your goal, doing the research, and finding the most appropriate outlet for you.

Personally, I would always choose to do both journaling and therapy (if I can afford the therapy), as there is no reason not to do them in conjunction with each other, reaping the benefits of both. Overcoming the drawbacks of one that might not be found in the other. Covering all your bases, as it were.

Examples of therapeutic approaches to consider

It’s easy to learn about countless types of therapy and journaling. A quick couple of Google searches can help to find what may be relevant to your situation or tastes. Below I’ve listed just a few types of journaling and therapy, and what they entail.

1. CBT

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is widely regarded as an effective shorter-term treatment for various mental health issues. The idea is to change the way you think through practice.

With intrusive, unwanted, or negative thoughts, it teaches us to note and challenge such thoughts rationally. For anxiety disorders, it may include gradual exposure therapy to the things that make patients anxious, in smaller manageable steps.

2. Psychotherapy

Unlike CBT, psychotherapy is supposed to be a longer-term but longer-lasting form of therapy.

Patients learn to explore themselves on deeper levels over time, their patterns and behaviors, and their causes of them. This deeper understanding has lasting, long-term effects with patients less likely to relapse, but can take years (and as a result be much more expensive).

3. Counseling

Counseling is generally less expensive than psychotherapy, and often the two can come hand in hand.

After all, counseling is a personal talking therapy, not so practical and pragmatic as CBT, that can reap many of the same benefits as psychotherapy.

The difference is the level of training and more specified approaches psychotherapists have. Psychotherapists go through many more years of training to be accredited and often focus on a particular approach.

4. Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy is quite different from the rest. It relies on putting the patient into a more susceptible state to work directly with the subconscious.

The subconscious is, after all, where our emotions and inner truths are often bottled up.

Other forms of therapy have to work with our conscious, often guarded and deflecting mind, before they can start to access what’s under the surface.

Examples of journaling techniques to consider

1. Standard journaling

This is the simplest thing on the list to do. Simply writing your thoughts and feelings, whatever they might be, down on paper. You don’t need to think about what you’re writing or why, only express what you want on paper.

I often write about stresses and worries, ranting to my heart’s content until I feel that I’ve let off some steam. Other times, however, I might merely write my views on something I heard that day or a list of things I want to do in the future.

The beauty of this type of journaling is its freedom, which I believe is the easiest way to continually express what you might otherwise be keeping inside.

2. Gratitude journaling

Gratitude is a powerful way of changing the way you think and feel for the better. Unlike standard journaling, its focus is on things you might be grateful for and appreciate.

Doing so as a practice, and especially when feeling less than happy, keeps us anchored to a more rounded and positive view.

Our emotional subconscious mind believes whatever narrative our conscious mind feeds it.

This is why incessant worrying can make us feel so bad emotionally. It’s also why changing that narrative with gratitude journaling can make us feel better.

3. Self-parenting and inner dialogue

Self-parenting and inner dialogue journaling is where we have actual conversations with ourselves. Like with hypnotherapy, the idea is to gain direct access to our emotions and issues.

It’s all too easy to believe everything we tell ourselves in our head but rarely do we stop and check in with how we really feel. Rarely do we try and understand and unpick these feelings by directly discussing them with ourselves. It may sound far-fetched to some, but this is a powerful and therapeutic process for greater self-awareness, without therapy.

Of course, there are many other styles and approaches out there for both therapy and journaling, like future-self journaling.

The key is finding one (or multiple as long as they don’t clash) that resonates with you, your situation, and what you want out of it.

Can we really substitute therapy with journaling?

It would be irresponsible to suggest that someone could replace professional help with journaling. Especially with regard to clinical disorders.

However, as a form of expression and self-awareness, a case can be made for journaling in some circumstances for some people, over therapy. It could never replace therapy exactly, but it can afford us many of the same therapeutic benefits without some of the hurdles.

In the end, the main thing is to explore the options of each against our purposes and means. But if we have the means of doing both, it’s preferable to do so.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

I hope by now you have a good sense of whether or not journaling can replace therapy. There is a lot to consider here. This article should give you a good idea to get started.

What did I miss? Was there anything you disagreed with in this article? Or do you want to share your own experiences with journaling vs. therapy? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

Henry Collard Author

Mental health blogger with a passion for learning ways to improve wellbeing. I also love to write fantasy, learn about history and play video games. Which I suppose makes me an all-round nerd.

The post Can Journaling Replace Therapy? (and 10 Tips to Help You Pick) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Well, first of all, we need to recognize when someone is stealing it. Weigh up if they bring joy or take it, and in what ways. This will naturally lead us to be more pragmatic around the culprit. To make things even better, we can practice checking in with ourselves and being a little more assertive, changing how we interact with people.

Wondering just how to do that? Fortunately, in this article, we’ll pin down some clear, usable techniques to help you become resistant to juggers. Those dastardly joy muggers.

Examples of how people can steal your joy

There are a lot of different ways someone can steal your joy. Some of them may seem obvious, some less so. But even the obvious ones can be less obvious when it’s someone you’re used to in your life. Someone you’re now less discerning with.

Think about the people in your life and whether they might be one or more of the following:

Critical – nothing you do seems to be good enough, they often poke holes in even the small things you do.

Comparative – show boaters who always think they could have done things better or would have done it another way, or flaunt their successes over yours. These are especially active on social media!

Uncompromising – people who refuse to ever see your point of view or to back down from a disagreement.

Aggressive/antagonistic – people who hurt you with words or even physically to somehow make themselves feel better.

Overly Negative – those that never see the silver lining and seem to go out of their way to bring up the negatives.

Guilt Tripper – people who emotionally manipulate you in order to control your feelings or actions.

It’s not that these people are evil or you need to demonize them. In fact, these joy stealers are probably not doing so intentionally. However, that doesn’t mean you have to suffer the distress they put you through.

They deserve happiness, but so do you.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

How the negativity of others can steal your joy

The problem with all this negativity is that it’s contagious (don’t worry, positivity is contagious too!).

Many studies have shown the ways we humans are affected emotionally by external negativity.

Negativity in the media

In 2018 a study of 95 participants from North Eastern University showed that more negative language in the media led to a significant increase in participants’ mental and physiological issues. Sometimes, the effect lasted for weeks after consuming the information.

The study showed that we’re not only susceptible to the content itself but also to how we hear it.

It’s no surprise to me that a member of my own family, who consumes news compulsively, has a fairly negative outlook sometimes. Or that he passes that negativity on to me by regurgitating the same information.

We’ve published another article that focuses on how the media you consume affects your mental health.

The negative effects of social media

Another study from the Gothenburg Research Institute, Sweden, showed that people comparing themselves to others on Facebook were likely to suffer low self-esteem and depressive symptoms.

Social media could be a whole other topic in itself, but the study showed the negative impact of the way people compare themselves to others. So it’s important to think about those who flaunt any aspect of superiority, and how that has a knock-on effect on the self-esteem (and joy) of those around them.

This is a trait that can be hard to be consciously aware of, and therefore to manage.

Emotional manipulators, passive-aggressive, and controlling people can be equally detrimental to your happiness. These character types take away our energy or time, and simply obstruct and drain our joy.

These are some of the ways in which different people, consciously or not, can spread negativity and suck the joy from our lives. So there are quite a few things to watch out for.

This all sounds really bad, doesn’t it?

Not to fear, we’ve devised some ways in which you can shield yourself from the mess of “joy-stealers” out there, to prevent them from infecting you and seriously harshing your vibe.

3 tips on how to not let people steal your joy

So, you want to hold on to your joy and arm yourself against the thieves who steal it. What can you do?

Well, just by reading this article you’ve switched on your awareness of their existence in your day-to-day life. Seeing them for what they are automatically helps to diminish their effect on you, so you’re not unknowingly taking their negative energy onboard.

Good for you! But in order to really rebuff the thieves you’ll want to put some active thought in, and perhaps make some changes in your interactions.

So to increase your joy, and hold onto it for longer, you might think about actively assessing, modifying, and distancing.

1. Assess who is really stealing your joy

The first step you’ll need to take is to move from a vague perception of how people impact you. To really think person to person, perhaps write down a mind map, and see if they are one of the negative influencers, the joy-endangering types, for one or more of the reasons previously outlined:

• Critical.
• Comparative/superior.
• Uncompromising.
• Aggressive.
• Frequently negative.
• Emotionally manipulative.

If someone fits one of these criteria, you can then assess how much they are affecting you.

• How much joy they are taking from your life instead of adding to it?
• How do they really make you feel? Are they having a positive influence on you?
• What’s your emotional takeaway when you see them?

Maybe tally up the frequency of positive vs negative interactions with them. If the odds aren’t positive, perhaps action is needed to prolong and preserve your joy.

2. Modify your own behavior

Learn how to modify your own behavior to stop others from stealing your joy.

To use my family member as an example here (the one who consumes lots of negative news), I might modify my interactions with them. How?

If he brings up the subject of a political issue or an international disaster, I can change the topic. Or even outright tell them I don’t want to talk about that particular issue with them.

This may seem an obvious solution, but until we’re conscious of these joy-stealing tropes when they occur, it can be our natural state to keep on engaging with them. And in the meantime, we can be completely unaware of the immediate and lasting effect on our joy.

If someone is aggressive or overly critical, even if the person is getting under your skin, you might try asking them what’s wrong.

Something’s not right with them, or else why would they go out of their way to put down others?

It could be the projection or repression of something else in their lives, but no matter what, they’re doing it because they are unsatisfied in some way.

You might not have strong feelings of affection for this person because of the way they treat you, but I think there’s a lot to be said for “killing them with kindness“.

In other words, show them compassion and understanding even when you think they might not deserve it. The chances are, they need it more than most. Kindness is disarming, and that can be especially important for people who are aggressive in their manner.

3. Distance yourself

If you’re unable to manage or avoid too many negative interactions with this person, perhaps it’s time to get some distance from them.

One sure way not to subject yourself to the joy-sponging of their presence is to have fewer interactions with them.

It’s always worth trying to improve conditions with people in your life, after all, they’re in it for a reason. However, if you feel that you have already tried countless times and you still can’t see a way of mollifying them, you have to put your happiness first.

You might not need to cut someone from your life completely, or may not even be able to, but you can limit your interactions with them. If they’re not bringing you joy, and are frequently stealing your joy instead, the best thing you can do for both your sake is to step back.

Let your joy continue unaffected.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

By now, you should have an idea of what your new anti-theft system should look like. You know, for preventing other people from stealing your joy. If you want more joy in your life, build up your awareness of those who steal it. Negativity is contagious, but you can trim its impact on your day-to-day. Cut or change many of the moments with those that would otherwise continue to sap your happiness. And if all else fails, simply engage with them less, or not at all.

What’s your favorite way to not let someone steal your joy? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Henry Collard Author

Mental health blogger with a passion for learning ways to improve wellbeing. I also love to write fantasy, learn about history and play video games. Which I suppose makes me an all-round nerd.

The post 3 Tips to Not Let People Steal Your Joy (With Examples) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

By doing so, you might simply deny yourself opportunities assuming you won’t or can’t achieve them. You might actively tell yourself you’re not good enough for certain things. The result? You are running your self-esteem down and denying yourself happiness. To achieve greater well-being and a better lease of life, it is important to challenge and change this self-inflicted negativity. Doing so can help boost relationships, careers, mental health, and even physical health. Presumably, that notion appeals to most of us. So how do we stop being negative about ourselves and become more positive? This article will show you 6 actionable tips.

Identify in what ways you are negative about yourself

Before challenging or changing negative perceptions of yourself, you have to be able to identify them clearly.

Being more aware of your negativity is sometimes all that’s required to stop them from self-feeding unchecked. What otherwise may have become a usual, uninterrupted flow of background thoughts and feelings bringing us down can be prevented by simple acknowledgment.

Some examples of negative self-perceptions to watch out for include:

• I’m not capable of…
• I’m undesirable because…
• I wish I was…
• Why am I like…
• I hate…

Some of these may resonate with you. Think about your specific grievances about yourself under each one that resonates, and when you think about them or they bother you. Use those moments in the future as a reminder to be aware of them.

You might just find that awareness alone stops the negativity from spiraling unchecked.

Be aware that sometimes it may just be a feeling, rather than a conscious stream of thoughts. Wordless feelings are naturally harder to pinpoint, but it is still very possible to do so.

Meditation and mindfulness practices are great ways to become more aware of our thoughts and feelings. They have also proven to be effective ways of maintaining a more balanced and optimistic view.

Negative self-thoughts in your subconscious mind

Part of you will believe what you tell yourself. Your subconscious mind, for better or for worse, will drink in all information like a sponge.

It also does not differentiate well between reality and the imaginary. This is why you can wake up sweating from a nightmare or feel your nerves prickle and your heart rate increase during a tense moment in a film.

It’s also why you can feel anxious about something that has not happened yet or happened in the past. You react emotionally in real life to things that are only being conveyed to you, even if by you.

This is also why telling yourself you’re bad at something will make you feel bad, make you worse at it than you actually could be, or avoid it altogether. Part of you believes what you are told instinctively.

Fortunately, this works both ways and is the reason things like positive self-talk, hypnotherapy, and affirmations can have a positive effect even if you don’t believe they will.

A study found that positive self-talk and visualization resulted in its participants experiencing significantly fewer intrusive negative thoughts. This in turn lessens anxiety and lengthens periods of joy.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

6 ways to stop being negative about yourself

With that in mind, here are some ways you can actively practice positive self-talk, whether you believe it or not, and reap the benefits.

1. Talk to yourself as though you were your own child

One way to inspire better self-talk is to talk to yourself as though you were your own child or a loved one.

Sometimes I think of someone I am deeply fond of, a cherished friend or beloved family member for example, and think about what I’d say to them if they made the complaint I’m making to themselves.

If they told me they thought they were hideous, I’d tell them how much of a drop-dead gorgeous mega babe they were, and to never ever think differently.

If they told me they were untalented or unworthy of something, I’d tell them that they were very talented and clever and that they deserved the world.

This is the sort of support, encouragement, and love that you should show yourself. Especially seeing as you are with yourself all the time. It’s no wonder that the opposite will stifle you and bring you down.

When you’re not used to championing yourself, it might not be natural or easy to conjure such a sentiment. Thinking about how you would talk to someone you cherish enables you to immediately find the type of words and compassion to transfer to your own self.

2. Praise the little things that you do

To inspire this positive self-talk regularly and as a daily practice, it’s good to do so even with the little things.

In fact, the bigger things can be harder to tackle right away. This is again easier if you talk to yourself as you would to a small child, who deserves all the encouragement and support you can give.

It helps massively to build self-esteem because the praise is so constant. For example: ‘well done for remembering to brush your teeth!’ or ‘good job making yourself dinner, I’m so proud of you!’.

It may seem ridiculous at first or maybe even for a long time after, but if the result is improved mood and self-esteem, I think it’s worth feeling a bit silly. Besides, no one else has to hear you praising yourself for doing your laundry, it’s just a little booster from you to you. 

3. List and remind yourself of your positive attributes

Another way to let your subconscious drink in more positivity and lighten its load is with this simple exercise.

Practice often and your disposition will change to a more resilient and proactive one. It lessens any natural tendency to doubt yourself as the negativity holding you back is balanced or diminished by shedding more light on your positives.

There are two ways you can do this:

One is to write out a list of all the things you like about yourself. This can be anything you can think of and be different from time to time. In fact, the more variety of things you can say the better. But reminding yourself of the same ones is no less important.

Another great way to focus and believe in the positive aspects of you is to have a friend or loved one write out a list of things they like about you.

They might surprise you with a genuine appreciation for things you hadn’t considered or take for granted, that they themselves cherish and love you for. In fact, even having a friend write out a few words that each describe you might yield surprising, positive, and heart-warming results.

For some of us, hearing these words from another can give them more power and validity than when we hear them from ourselves.

4. Challenge negativity

Practicing positive self-talk could do wonders to improve your general mood, and lessen negative perceptions of yourself automatically. Becoming aware of negative self-talk can help in itself. However, it can be likely to crop up regardless. When it does you can use it not only as a reminder to be aware of it, but to challenge it too.

If I think ‘I’m not good enough for this job’, for example, it could naturally flow into telling myself that I am unskilled or unintelligent somehow.

I try to use such moments as a beacon to remind myself to A) be aware of what I’m thinking before allowing thoughts to continue and B) make a case against such thoughts.

I like to play devil’s advocate in many conversations to try and see things from both sides. Why not do at least this in an otherwise very one-sided narrative in my head?

Well, perhaps I am skilled enough, I know a thing or two and am not unintelligent.

Perhaps it’s actually highly likely the role does not expect the world of me, perfection, that they are used to real people who have real limitations and needs – people who can also learn and improve and need support. Perhaps in many ways, I can even exceed their expectations.

The more you practice challenging negativity, the more naturally it will come to you. And if you were to balance each moment of doubt and negativity with a well-reasoned opposition, you could enjoy your life much more. You would more naturally throw yourself into positive circumstances with vigor and success, and rebuff negative ones without as much damage to your well-being.

5. Let go of ideas of perfection

Awareness of negative thoughts, challenging them, and balancing them with positive ones might almost seem like the whole cake. In essence, though, these approaches can be like putting out fires without locating and removing the source.

Often, thoughts like ‘I’m not [insert adjective] enough’, are borne out of superlative ideas of what we should be. It’s impossible to be the best because the best is ultimately subjective anyway, so there’s always more room for improvement.

This is a good thing. If you really were the best, where would you go from there, what would you do? Striving for perfection doggedly leaves us exhausted and never feeling good enough, which constantly hamstrings our self-esteem. 

Ironically, when self-esteem suffers it allows less chance to succeed. If we already believe we will fail, how can we put our best energy into our positive energy?

Letting go of perfection and being happy with our real selves is actually the way to unlock our true, unhampered potential. If you want more tips, here’s our article on how to stop being a perfectionist.

6. Don’t compare yourself to others

Similarly to not holding yourself up to impossible ideals of perfection, it’s important to not compare yourself with others.

Everyone has different good and bad attributes. It’s easy to look at someone else and only see the good, with envy.

If you practice appreciating your own attributes more often you might not feel the need to do so as much. You can more easily see that everyone is simply different and that there are two sides to each coin.

The things you feel are your negative traits will have the counterpoint of something positive – which are merely the side of the coin you focus upon when looking at others.

If you feel this tip is especially difficult, don’t worry: here’s our article that focuses entirely on how to not compare yourself to others.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

If you have issues being negative about yourself, try some of the steps outlined, put your spin on them, and see if it doesn’t make a difference. If you manage to adopt and practice some of these ideas, you can become less negative about yourself and absorb more of the joy life has to offer.

Are you often negative about yourself? If so, what tip are you going to try to stop this behavior? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Henry Collard Author

Mental health blogger with a passion for learning ways to improve wellbeing. I also love to write fantasy, learn about history and play video games. Which I suppose makes me an all-round nerd.

The post 6 Simple Tips to Stop Being Negative About Yourself! appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

There are many ways people can change their mindsets about things. They could change their job, do more exercise, and seek meaningful relationships. Some things work from the outside in and some the other way around. But one way or another, it is widely believed and often shown to be true that we can change our mind frames and create happier ones.

What does changing our minds mean, though? Does it mean changing things in our external lives to consequently change our internal mindset? Or does it simply mean changing your mind directly by thinking differently? In this article, we’ll look at some of the ways people do it, and how by using real examples.

Can we really change our mindset to be happier?

Our emotions, our minds, and our lives are all inextricably dependent on each other. If we lose our job we may become unhappy and think negatively. If we cultivate happy emotions, it can translate into positive thinking and doing well in work and relationships.

It would follow, then, that changing our thinking directly could change our emotions and our lives.

A 2005 study, among others, demonstrated just this. Though it isn’t as easy as simply thinking positive thoughts one day. It’s a practice, if not already a default, through which the rewards are significant but perhaps gradual.

Therein lies the issue, as it can be hard to practice something without knowing if or when it will pay off. It’s hard to cultivate and maintain positive thinking patterns while feeling otherwise.

There are many ways to do so, however. It’s simply a matter of finding the thing that works for you.

Thorough research by The British Psychological Society in 2001, showed that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) improved mind frames and outlooks on a plethora of issues. From depression to physical illnesses and negative life-changing events, people found that after practicing MBCT they experienced significantly less negative mental and emotional fallout.

Therapeutic and mental practices like this can help with a range of issues, such as:

• Relaxation.
• Coming to terms with things.
• Distress and depression.
• Acceptance.
• Breakdown.
• Difficult thoughts.

Both mindfulness and CBT respectively can be useful tools to change the way we think and emotionally react to our thoughts. Particularly this is useful when dealing with negative thoughts and emotions, to reduce both the potency and duration. As a result, this leaves room for a more balanced view and a positive outlook.

I myself have used such coping strategies and found them to be useful. Having practiced mindfulness, meditation, and CBT, more and more often I find I am able to deal with negative mental, emotional, and even physical experiences better.

For example, I recently had a significant toothache that was quite distressing. To even my surprise, when I took a mindful approach I reacted less negatively, both emotionally and mentally.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Perform activities that improve your mindset

Conversely, it has been found that an outside-in approach to improved wellbeing is also effective.

People who routinely exercise or practice yoga improve their happiness as a result. Building more of these elements into our lives, especially ones that might otherwise be unaddressed, also naturally creates a more positive mind frame.

Exercise is perhaps the best external practice for improved mood. Due to its simplicity and little to no cost, it is universally prescribed as an effective course of action for mental illness.

It has been shown in studies to not only improve physical health (which itself has a knock-on effect on our mental state) but to reduce stress and improve moods. All of this ultimately leads to a changed mentality and increased happiness.

Another external factor is that of personal fulfillment, which can build up our positive outlook, self-esteem, or self-worth. This might include:

• Doing things that give a sense of achievement or accomplishment.
• Expressing creativity.
• Feeling valued in and valuing relationships.
• Helping people.
• Indulging pleasures.
• Self-reflection.
• Self-care journaling.
• Doing things that give a feeling of control.
• Expressing personal values

Working on these important aspects of our lives, putting more time and energy into them, can produce long-standing existential improvement.

It can build resilience to life’s curveballs and increases happiness throughout.

Examples of mind-changing practices that create more happiness

Whether we want to change our minds and increase happiness through external action or internal inspection, the point is it can be done. By whatever means, our happiness or unhappiness is not beyond our control. It may simply be a matter of finding the right course for us.

I believe that direct change in our thoughts is the best way to change our minds and moods permanently. Changes in our lives can and do build happiness but may not teach us for good how to avoid destructive, negative thinking.

No matter what life throws at us, by practicing direct change in cognitive processes, we can be better equipped to deal with all situations. Even if we’re out of practice at the gym and other parts of our lives aren’t going the way we want them to.

For that reason, I’d start with examples of the introspective practices that can change the way we think, improving our moods and livelihoods as a result.

1. Practice mindfulness and meditation

Mindfulness and meditation are powerful ways to train our minds. Because of this, it breaks down resistance to ourselves and to negativity when it arises, thus building resilience and avoiding cycles of suffering.

2. Practice gratitude

Gratitude trains our brains to recount the positive things in life, the things we appreciate and are thankful for.

The more we do this, the less we allow negativity to affect us, as it is balanced against our focus on the positives. In this way, an unbroken fog of doom and gloom is prevented.

3. Practice positive affirmations

Affirmations can be said to work in a similar way to gratitude, only instead of valuing positive things in our lives, we draw attention to things we value in ourselves.

The more we actively value ourselves, the more self-worth, self-love, and esteem we manufacture. I don’t think I need to point out the effect improved opinions of ourselves would have on our happiness.

4. Try therapy

Therapy is an excellent way to change the way we think over time. Instead of going through the same negative spirals over and over, a therapist can lead us out of such loops and into a more helpful way of thinking. Though it can take time to do so, the effects also last a long time.

If introspection isn’t your thing, however, fulfilling our personal needs is the way to go to change outlooks and create happiness.

5. Exercise more

Exercise is good for our physical and mental health. It creates endorphins, a sense of achievement, or even improved social lives. It’s easy to turn a nose up at exercise and avoid dusting off the running shoes, but I don’t believe it has to be as laborious as it might seem to some.

Exercise can be anything from badminton to rock climbing, from martial arts to yoga, or even just a walk. There are a million ways to reap the happiness that exercise can cultivate, it’s a simple matter of finding the exercise that appeals to us.

6. Fulfilment & aspirations

The most well-rounded way of changing our life’s perspectives is by paying attention to our personal needs.

Hitting all of our personal needs can be difficult, but doing so does improve well-being in perhaps the most effective way possible.

A quick google of ‘wellbeing wheels’ and the like can bring up some good examples of all the different parts of ourselves that need attention. It can be helpful to get an idea of what we’ve got going right, and what may need more attention to improve our happiness.

7. Social relationships

Nurturing relationships in life can have numerous benefits. We are social creatures by nature and generate endorphins through simple social interaction.

Furthermore, socializing can bring us back down to earth and out of the stresses or rumination that might otherwise be plaguing us.

Time with others can provide a normalizing, real-world escape, a place to vent, or a place to help others and feel good about that (not only bringing you out of your own worries but inspiring a sense of value).

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

Though simply changing our minds in order to feel happier may seem simplistic and farfetched, it is something we can do.

The simple part (okay, maybe not that simple) is finding and choosing a way to do so that suits you. Whether it’s mindfulness, CBT or working on entirely other aspects of our lives to have a knock-on effect, the good news is we’re spoiled for choice with ways to create more happiness.

No matter what path we take, the end result will be an improved mentality. It’s only a matter of taking a path, and if it’s not to our liking taking another. Sometimes, doing so can feel counter to how we feel, but as someone once told me, motivation comes after action, not before.

Henry Collard Author

Mental health blogger with a passion for learning ways to improve wellbeing. I also love to write fantasy, learn about history and play video games. Which I suppose makes me an all-round nerd.

The post 7 Tips to Change Your Mind to Be Happy (With Examples!) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Without some time for ourselves and allowing some well-earned relaxation, we may end up having a negative impact on the things we’re trying so hard to maintain. For example, we can end up resenting the things we’re trying to maintain or develop. In order to avoid such things, we need to check in with and focus on ourselves more regularly.

That can seem difficult, of course. In this article, I’ll explore how to turn that around and why it’s important to focus on yourself every now and then.

The benefits of focusing on ourselves

Taking the time to focus more on ourselves not only helps to avoid burnout but brings more joy and contentment to our lives.

Workaholics and people pleasers are far more likely to have stress-related breakdowns. And those who actively seek self-awareness and pursue their own pleasures are much more likely to be resilient and content.

Dragging our feet over and over again through a sense of obligation can leave us feeling run down, depressed, and depersonalized. It can cause us to no longer care about the very things we keep throwing ourselves into. But that’s not all.

Studies on the importance of focusing on yourself more

Between 2000 and 2001, a study in Finland showed that burnout not only causes depressive symptoms and depersonalization but physical issues too.

Burnout was linked to higher cases of cardiovascular diseases and musculoskeletal disorders. So not only is over-devotion to external things bad for our emotional wellbeing, but our physical well-being too.

Conversely, creativity, hobbies, and other leisure activities have been shown in studies to improve general wellbeing. And there are countless others that demonstrate the countless benefits of self-care and self-reflection i.e. focusing on one’s self.

The negative effects of self-negligence and burnout are hard to ignore from these studies but all too easy to allow in our individual lives. Thinking of ways to circumvent them requires actual effort, stopping and taking the time to do so.

So, what does focusing on ourselves really mean and how do we go about it?

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

What focusing on yourself really means

Focusing on yourself doesn’t mean disregarding others and sitting around watching Netflix all the time. Nor does it mean excessive self-reflection and journaling.

Like all things, it’s about finding a balance.

Our other obligations are important and still require time. And outside of those commitments, perceived or otherwise, there are different aspects of self-care that need attention. An increase in bubble baths is all well and good, but not going to encompass everything.

Focusing on different areas in our lives

Focusing on ourselves means focusing on all our needs, which include:

The physical:

• Some form of exercise.
• Good sleep.
• Healthy eating.

The emotional:

• Self-love.
• Intimacy with others.
• Allowing and feeling emotions.
• Psychotherapy.

The inspirational/spiritual:

• Time in nature.
• Pursuing our interests.
• Creativity.
• Meditation.
• Community (support groups, volunteering, etc).
• Helping others.
• Making others happier.

The occupational and intellectual:

• Taking time off; from lunch breaks to holidays, mental health, and sick days.
• Considering what we do and why we do it.
• Learning new things.
• Discovering new interests.
• Leaving work at work.

The personal:

• Actively taking time to relax.
• Indulging pleasures.
• Maintaining a routine.
• Journaling.
• Maintaining and forging relationships.

8 ways we can focus on ourselves and build contentment 

If you’re someone who pays a little too much attention to things outside your own life, you might already be looking for ways to pay attention to yourself. Or, at least realize it’s important to do so.

In that case, you might find some of these suggestions helpful.

1. Designate time for yourself

Instead of hammering out work emails at home, or taking precious free time to facilitate the desires of loved ones, it’s good to take some free time for yourself. Time to just be.

A direct way to relax is to make specific time available in your calendar for free time. For example, take designated time to take a bath, meditate, go out for dinner with a friend, or to go shopping.

We recently asked out Instagram followers what’s on their to-do list that never gets done.

2. Start journaling

Journaling in varying forms can be a great practice for self-identification and self-care. Through continual journaling, you can discover your inner voice that may otherwise go unheard in your day-to-day living.

This can help you to discover what it is you really want, and separate it from the needs of external people and factors.

Furthermore, journals can be a great place to practice gratitude and affirmations, which may help build confidence and self-esteem.

3. Look into psychotherapy and counseling

Possibly one of the greatest ways to focus on ourselves is with professional assistance. A counselor or psychotherapist is trained to help us with ourselves. Therapy can really help us to focus on ourselves more and less on others.

If you’re wondering how therapy can help you become happier, here’s a specific article on the topic!

4. Set boundaries and say no

In order to work on yourself, especially if you’re busy or have a tendency to put others first, you must practice assertiveness. Some ways to do this are:

• Saying no sometimes instead of yes.
• Allowing specific circumstances in which you will do something for others, and determining circumstances in which you won’t.
• Turn your phone off if necessary, and pour some of that time and effort back into yourself.

Here are more tips on how to be assertive that can help you focus on yourself more instead of on others.

5. Actively do things for you

Focusing on yourself doesn’t mean sitting around disregarding everything else.

But it’s important to indulge in our passions and interests, to take ourselves out and engage in activities that inspire and satisfy our innermost needs.

This might be as simple as going to the cinema to see that film you’re interested in. Or as big as taking that volunteering opportunity in Costa Rica that’s always called to you.

6. Practice checking in with yourself

In order to discover what you want, you need to actually listen to yourself. Instead of automatically saying yes to something, take a moment to reflect. If you don’t want to do it or would rather do something else, listen to that feeling.

Meditation, journaling, and mindfulness can certainly help build this practice. Tuning into our true feelings more often can be hard, but it’s difficult to overstate its value.

7. Avoid idleness and false self-care

The object of this article is to promote a focus on one’s self, but it would be a mistake to confuse this with self-obsession or idleness. These things don’t help you focus on yourself in a productive way. They’re simply more ways of ignoring the inner needs of our emotional selves.

To improve well-being, we must find a balance, and focus on things that truly bring us more joy and contentment. Passions, hobbies, creativity, exercise, and even socializing and helping others (though on our terms) are all great ways to truly focus on ourselves in an important and positive way.

8. Find the right balance of self-care

Instead of bending over backward for others every day, balance and streamline your life by focusing on yourself more often. Focusing on ourselves doesn’t mean working ourselves to death with things we should do, nor does it mean lazing around and ruminating. It means finding the balance of work, play, self-fulfillment, and self-care.

How to focus on yourself FAQ

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

Taking care of ourselves actually improves relationships with work and others, as it improves our general happiness and fulfillment. Without focusing on ourselves enough, we become depersonalized and eventually depressed. So really it’s a no-brainer to do so. Focus on yourself instead of others, and become a happier person in the process. By following the tips in this article, you’ll be a more positive person to be around, and in turn, will share more happiness in your life.

Was there anything I missed? Do you want to share a tip that has worked for you personally? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Henry Collard Author

Mental health blogger with a passion for learning ways to improve wellbeing. I also love to write fantasy, learn about history and play video games. Which I suppose makes me an all-round nerd.

The post 8 Ways to Focus on Yourself and Not Others (With Examples) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

This is sad, as this journey often takes most of our lives, which means we can only reap the benefits when we’re old. We often forget the things that make life more worthwhile in the “now”. But, how can we use these things to enrich our lives?

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the ways our lives can be enriched right now, without needing to wait for wealth or ‘success’. No one should have to wait for decades for happiness and fulfillment. We have to enrich our lives right now.

9 ways to enrich your life

Let’s dive right in. Here are 9 study-backed ways to enrich your life. This will show you what it means to enrich your life and why it’s so important to do so!

1. Go on multiple smaller holidays to enrich your life

There are many studies on well-being and what affects it. We recognize that more fresh air, travel, scenery, and sun can bring joy – hence holidays.

This study showed that pre and post-holiday happiness is the same regardless of the length of the trip. It would therefore be more beneficial for wellbeing to have multiple, smaller trips spread over time rather than one substantial one, with then a large gap before the next. It’s postulated that this may be due to social comparison, or due to a Homo sapien need to wander and travel.

Both make sense, but I for one am sure that new experiences and surroundings have a positive effect on my mentality. Changing things up can bring us out of stagnation (which otherwise breeds rumination), stimulating and revitalizing the mind with renewed awareness.

When you are too used to the same surroundings and routines, less awareness and presence are necessary. We can switch off and let our thoughts run in circles because we don’t need to be as alert.

2. Social stimulation

Speaking of stimulation, this Harvard study also showed that positive social relationships have a rich positive influence on mental health.

Friends, family, spouses, and other social groups that we value bring us joy, so maintaining and cultivating them is important.

Dr. Waldinger states:

Personal connection creates mental and emotional stimulation, which are automatic mood boosters, while isolation is a mood buster.

3. Do what makes you happy to enrich your life

The same study claims that the other main contributor to happiness across the entire group was focusing on what they enjoyed and valued, and less on what they didn’t. Picking up hobbies and active engagement with interests reminds us of what makes life worth living.

As both social activity and personal interests have been shown as core components when enriching our lives, why not hit two birds with one stone? Both of these factors could be combined by periodically engaging with:

• Group sports or activities, such as rowing, bowling, rugby, climbing, martial arts
• Intellectual or creative classes, like art, writing, photography, pottery, languages
• Other group interests, such as chess clubs, group therapies, choirs, communal religious worship, and activity

It’s worth taking some time to think about all the things that interest or are important to you and ways to incorporate more of them into your life – perhaps with other people who share those same interests and values!

Once we’re reminded of our possible interests and outlets they may start to feel obvious. It’s easy to forget things that we need but thankfully easy to remember as well. It can be fun to get back to exploring the different dimensions of what we value and enjoy, to better niche down into what we want and can do.

With all this said, something that we don’t think about as readily when it comes to improving our lives is improving the lives of others.

4. Being good to others enriches your life

Altruism is related to happiness and has a strong correlation with ‘the well-being, happiness, health, and longevity of people who are emotionally and behaviorally compassionate, so long as they are not overwhelmed by helping tasks.’

A fantastic way to enrich our lives is to enrich that of others.

It is in our nature to support each other for the betterment of our collective humanity. It’s a way to be humble and ground ourselves, forgetting and not obsessing about ourselves for a while.

Not only that, but altruism also makes us feel that we’ve made an observable, positive impact on the world. We feel valued and useful, thereby boosting self-esteem as well as happiness.

Doing things for others doesn’t have to mean uprooting our entire lives to build schools in developing countries, however. Small acts of kindness and compassion are enough to lift our moods by feeling helpful and valued.

Simply asking how others are, lending a helping hand, or volunteering on small local projects can be enough.

5. Playing to your strengths

Whether it’s work, exercise, mindfulness, self-improvement, or social activity, it’s good to make these things work for you – to incorporate your ideals, values, interests, and skills.

In order to get the most out of anything, we need it to work for us. Otherwise, it can become more of a chore or a challenge than a pathway to enrichment.

In order to play to your strengths, you must know what they are! Here is one of our articles that will help you identify your strengths.

6. Take time for yourself

Whether it’s participating in hobbies and interests as discussed, or just taking ourselves out to catch a film or having long baths.

It’s important to take more time for ourselves more regularly, doing whatever it is that we do to simply recharge our batteries and soothe our souls.

7. Play more

The further we journey into adulthood, the more we seem to let go of fun. Play is doing something, anything fun, without a need for meaning or reason. It’s playing with lego or on the monkey bars, not to hone our problem solving or athleticism (though these things are actually improved by doing so), not for a prize, but just to enjoy it and feel revitalized.

In Dr. Stuart Brown’s book ‘Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul’, the importance and positive impact of play is explained. Through neuroscience, social science, psychology, and other perspectives, it is demonstrable why play is natural and good for us.

8. Get a pet that will enrich your life

An animal companion can be a great way to enrich our lives, for anyone but particularly if we struggle with the social, altruistic, or even exercise concepts raised earlier.

Not only do pets help owners feel happier, relaxed, joyful, and even more secure, but they also require care (altruism), exercise facilitated by us (if the pet is a dog, for example), and even encourage social interaction. Not to mention play, which has plenty of additional benefits as I discussed before.

9. Practice gratitude

In gratitude, we practice drawing attention to the positive things in our lives. This can be anything from a raise to a sunset.

The more consciously we recognize and value these things, the less we take them for granted, and the more we can balance out and ground otherwise negative headspace.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

It’s always worth finding and labeling your own versions of what’s important in life, as well as taking inspiration from others. When we map out what’s important in all areas, we can see what we ourselves might be neglecting and is in need of attention. We all deserve to flesh out our lives and live to the fullest, so we deserve to take those first steps and figure out what that means for us.

What’s your go-to method to enrich your life? Do you go on small holidays, or do you sign up for a race? I would love to hear from you in the comments below!

Henry Collard Author

Mental health blogger with a passion for learning ways to improve wellbeing. I also love to write fantasy, learn about history and play video games. Which I suppose makes me an all-round nerd.

The post 9 Ways to Enrich Your Life (What it Means and Why It’s Important) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

At times like these, it’s easy to fall into despair. Things don’t seem to be working out and there doesn’t seem to be anything you can do about it. Perhaps you feel you’ve already exhausted all your options. There’s nothing left to do but lay defeated and feel sorry for ourselves or rage at the injustice of it all. But sooner or later we realize that these things aren’t exactly helping the situation.

Self-pity can be a natural response to life’s lows. Yet is never actually a remedy for them. In fact, it makes us feel worse. So how can we put an end to our self-pity? You’ll find the answers in this article!

Are you self-pitying?

Self-pity is more pervasive and more subtle than spending a day crying over the end of a relationship. In fact, it’s more of a problem when occurring over long periods of time for various different reasons.

So what should you be watching out for? And what really is self-pity?

Self-pity is the negative self-belief that the world has been unjust to you. It can take a few different forms but it’s an essentially solutionless focus on the bad aspects of your personal life.

For example, some traits might be:

• Feeling like you are a failure.
• Feeling like life is unfair.
• Thinking you deserve bad things.
• Not accepting compliments as genuine, but people just being nice.
• Convincing yourself people don’t like you.
• Feeling like you’re unable to change.
• Reliving bad experiences.

If any of this sounds like you, it’s possible you’re delving into a serious case of self-pity. A negatively warped, self-focused mindset.

Excessively indulging in these ways of thinking is extremely detrimental to your life and your vibrancy!

The futility of self-pity

Being emotionally vulnerable is important. But the difference between self-pity and simply experiencing our emotions is huge. Truly feeling our emotions, rather than obsessing over them, allows them, and then allows them to pass.

It’s the difference between hanging onto and being immobilized by thoughts like ‘no one understands’ or ‘why does this always have to happen to me’ and thoughts of ‘I feel sad for justified reasons, and that’s okay’.

One is acceptance and one is resistance.

Though a pity party might seem like rock bottom and giving up, it’s actually a form of intense emotional resistance and non-acceptance. And resisting our state of being is an exercise in futility. It’s like having an arm-wrestling match with yourself.

Simply wishing things were different and trying to avoid how they are will burn you out. You can’t win this mental arm-wrestling match with yourself.

All the while, the effort expended doing so prevents us from moving on with our lives.

Why self-pity is terrible for you

Perhaps you feel you don’t even want to overcome self-pity. That you deserve it, and that no one else understands. No one else is going to give you the sympathy that’s proportionate to your suffering. Maybe times truly have been harder for you than others in your life.

Feeling sorry for yourself seems justified. The thing is though, whether it is or isn’t, it’s not putting you in a better position to not feel so upset. Let alone regain some happiness.

Self-pity is like that analogy for anger and resentment; taking poison and waiting for the other person to keel over. Or, in this case, whatever the cause of your strife is. It does nothing, of course, except cause you further harm.

It’s no surprise that this negative spiral, affecting no positive real-world change, can lead to depression and chronic stress.

This negative spiral of self-pity can even be detrimental to our physical health. According to a study in Finland, it can cause conditions that even result in heart attacks and strokes.

How to overcome insidious self-pity

Even if we understand self-pity’s insidious nature, it’s easier said than done to stop, right?

It’s not as simple as snapping your fingers and changing from rumination to allowing our feelings and moving on. So what measures can we take to develop a life free from damaging, immobilizing self-pity?

The good news is there are many, many different ways. Here are 7 things you can do to change to a healthier and more productive state of mind:

1. Try mindfulness and meditation

Mindfulness and meditation are perhaps the best, most direct practices that teach awareness and non-resistance to our thoughts.

Through mindfulness and meditation, you can learn to recognize trains of thought and not to follow them endlessly. Learning instead to come back to ourselves and the present moment. A reality in which thoughts are just that – thoughts.

Things that we can allow to come and go rather than living in them, resulting in prolonged stress.

2. Practice gratitude

In gratitude practice, the aim is to remind ourselves of the good things in life. What are you truly thankful for?

It can be anything, from a sentimental ornament in our bedroom to a gesture of kindness from a friend.

Refocusing our attention on things that remind us of the good in life helps to dismantle a chronically negative mind frame. It disproves the idea that everything is wrong. Instead, it allows you to focus on positivity instead of negativity!

3. Start therapy

Various forms of therapy and counseling can be good to combat perpetual negative thinking and self-pity.

For example:

• A psychotherapist may help nudge towards acceptance and reframing.
• A cognitive-behavioral therapist will teach us to catch and challenge negative thoughts rather than be consumed by them.
• A hypnotherapist might instill positive mindsets into our unconscious minds.

Here’s a good read if you’re looking for more info on how therapy can improve your happiness.

4. Recognize and challenge negative thought spirals

One element of CBT is catching and challenging thoughts, but it’s something we can practice on our own: recognizing the signs of self-pity and rumination.

The more we practice, the more we’re able to recognize and challenge thoughts of self-pitying. This allows us to contest the negative thoughts when we do so to maintain a more balanced mindset and avoid rumination. 

Journaling is a great tool that can help you recognize your thoughts and become more self-aware of your state of mind.

5. Reconnect to the real world

Self-pity really only has room to thrive in our heads, where we can continue to stoke its flames. When we interact with our external reality, the flames die down. We realize that our perception is not everything, not all-consuming, and quite extinguishable.

So, refocusing our attention on our external realities – a catch-up with a friend, a trip to the cinema, etc – deflates and undermines chronically negative perceptions.

Try something new and perhaps you’ll get to learn something about yourself that you may have never known before.

6. Engage in cathartic exercises

Cathartic exercises are a good way to process and channel emotions in a proactive and productive way. To release them and do something rewarding.

For example, rather than putting all our energy into thinking obsessively about our situations, we can channel our feelings into an activity. Put that energy into physical exertion such as running, yoga, or boxing.

This allows you to vent frustrated energy and urges you to do something good for your physical health at the same time.

Exercise releases endorphins and gives us a sense of achievement, a kind of affirmation – which in turn helps to see everything is not purely doom and gloom.

If you need more convincing, here’s an entire article on why exercising is so good for your happiness.

7. Practice affirmations

Affirmations are a form of positive self-talk. It’s used to keep reminding ourselves of our positive attributes and worthiness. Its purpose is to balance out negative beliefs and build resilience and self-esteem.

Though it may feel false to speak or write positively about one’s self when feeling the exact opposite, research has shown this to be effective. Thoughts can and do translate into feelings, so ‘fake it until you make it’ really can work. It just requires practice.

Kamal Ravikant’s book Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It works on the simple affirmation mantra ‘I love myself’. It might appear a little wishy-washy at a skeptic’s glance, but it’s been well-reviewed by thousands.

If you’re irked by positive self-talk, that might be the very reason you need it.

So, do you deserve to pity yourself?

Next time the ruminating self-pity train runs you down, and you think you deserve to be angry at yourself or the world, remember that you don’t. What you’re actually saying is you deserve to continue to suffer by indulging a sense of injustice or hopelessness.

What you really deserve is to feel your feelings, accept them and move on – whether you feel good or not. You deserve happiness, always. Though that’s not realistically possible in life, you can cultivate it more often through practice.

You can find ways to feel like you can carry on even when times are tough, to get stuff done regardless. It is more helpful than kicking up a storm of futility in your mind.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

Self-pity is like punching yourself in one leg to get rid of the pain in the other, only giving yourself two painful legs. If you didn’t deserve the first injury, you certainly don’t deserve the next.

If you have any questions or wish to learn more about a specific subject of self-pity, please let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear more from you!

Henry Collard Author

Mental health blogger with a passion for learning ways to improve wellbeing. I also love to write fantasy, learn about history and play video games. Which I suppose makes me an all-round nerd.

The post 7 Strategies to Effectively Stop Self-Pity (With Examples) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Meditation is more than simply calming the mind for a little rest and recuperation (though who doesn’t frequently need and deserve that?). Meditation can teach you profound resilience to negative thoughts and feelings. It can teach you to find more joy within yourself and your life. It can also give us the gift of improved sleep and physical wellbeing. Not to mention that feeling of connection and vibrancy, which is nice.

This is not all hot air. I’ve learned from personal experience, despite past skepticism, how valuable meditation could be to anyone. If you don’t want to take my word for it, there are also countless studies evidencing this. Whether you’re a skeptic or a fan looking to reaffirm, here are 5 reminders of how valuable/important meditation is.

What is meditation?

Meditation is the practice of training your focus and awareness of the present. That might be of your breath, your thoughts, your senses, or your bodily movements.

These are things we might do sometimes anyway, but practicing them actively teaches us to do so intentionally and mindfully. The benefits of this are numerous. You can:

• Distance yourself from your thoughts and feelings, when they might otherwise overwhelm and consume you.
• Create space to live in the present and relax, as opposed to worrying over future or past problems.
• Build a deeper connection with yourself and your values, improving self-esteem and decision making.
• Drift to sleep more easily at night.
• Set yourself up with more vibrancy and resilience for the day.

Meditation can simply be focusing on your breath or physical sensations. These things ground us, bring us to the here and now, and away from overthinking (the cause of a lot of mental distress). 

But meditation can also bring that awareness and focus back on the mind itself.

When you do this with the same level of calm and control, you can become much more self-aware, experiencing negative thoughts and feelings much less acutely and often. When you don’t over engage with thoughts and feelings, which can otherwise be a default inclination, you don’t feed and perpetuate them.

This is why it can be beneficial for so many reasons, not just for mental health.

This type of mindful fortitude and resilience can teach you to withstand pain, emotional upheaval, and all manner of other negative stressors. The upshot of this is a far greater lease of life, with less turmoil, more balance, and more joy.

Reasons why meditation is so important

If you’re not convinced yet, here are 5 reasons why meditation is important. I assure you that these reasons will make you more open-minded about the benefits of meditation. 

1. Meditation can improve your physiology

Many stress-reducing practices have been shown to also improve physical problems. Particularly with stress, for example, reducing it often reduces blood pressure and chances of things like heart disease.

It’s no new knowledge that the mind and body are inextricably linked. When agitated by imagined concerns – what will happen in the future, what has happened in the past – you may find your heart racing, your brows sweating, or stomach-churning.

It’s not hard to conceive, then, that prolonged mental distress may affect us long term.

Meditation is a great way to calm nerves and reduce blood pressure. This study showed that it reduced the level of grey matter atrophy in long-term meditators. This atrophy is the deterioration of brain matter which causes functional impairments and neurodegenerative diseases.

2. Meditation is a growing treatment for mental health issues

Anything that helps you to relax could be good for your mental health at times. The practice of meditation though has profound and lasting effects. 

When you learn to control your focus and awareness of thoughts and separate yourself from them, it’s easy to feel like you could conquer any mental health issues that come your way.

Meditation and mindfulness are fast becoming among the top treatments for various mental health disorders. It’s effective, safe, and free. Something that can’t be said for talking therapies and medication.

Meditation has been found to be an effective treatment for sufferers of major depressive disorder (MDD) with an inadequate response to antidepressants. Antidepressants and psychotherapy are frontline treatments for MDD, but supposedly only 50-60% of patients respond well to the initial course.

Though study into meditation as a treatment for suicide prevention is in its early days, the potential is promising. Meditation is becoming ever more explored and regarded by the scientific community as a means for treating various mental health issues, and indeed in the army as a preventative measure for suicide. It has exhibited positive results in the reduction of suicidal symptoms.

I myself have found meditation deeply soothing and affirming most of the time, but counterintuitive and counterproductive during some instances of high stress.

3. Meditation can help you understand yourself and build confidence

Due to meditation’s introspective awareness, the practice also teaches us how to monitor ourselves. Many thought processes and emotions often sail us by without acknowledgment.

When we stop to experience and observe them, we can learn our truths and build our understanding of them.

For instance, you might give an answer to something without really pausing to consider your emotional response. I myself am guilty of this. A friend might ask something of me and my knee-jerk reaction is to say yes.

It’s hard to be confident, assertive, and get what you want and need when not considering yourself for even a moment. In a way, mediation helps to slow down and pull apart threads of thought and emotion. When you do this you recognize underlying feelings and needs that might otherwise be squashed by day-to-day activity and unconscious tides of thought.

Becoming more in tune with everything going on inside enables you to make better judgments and decisions based on your genuine needs and desires.

In effect, it enables you to make better choices for yourself and to more confidently pursue what you need and want.

4. Meditation can help you find joy

Through the process of becoming more in tune with yourself, you can also discover the constantly changing and layered emotions and feelings within. Even when feeling a total absence of joy, you can find it through meditation by exploring a deeper level where joy still resides.

Greater resilience and reduced inclination for negative spirals automatically allow more room for joy. But meditation can also help you to mine beneath the clouds of sadness and stress and find unexpected pools of joy and love. You might find more tolerance and compassion for others in your life as well.

Meditation is not about shunning negative emotions and thoughts but about accepting and moving past them.

Negativity feeds well of itself, and can quickly seem like it is the only feeling present. Through meditation and a deeper understanding of thought impermanence, you can easily discover just how false this is.

5. Meditation can help you relax but also bring you more energy

Many people meditate before bed. 

In sleep, your conscious mind switches off and you rest physically as a result. Meditation is almost like a halfway house between conscious thought and unconscious sleep. While practicing simple awareness but moving away from active, conscious thought, you can allow the mind to wander more freely as it does in sleep.

For some (like me) lying in bed in darkness can allow maximum energy to go into thinking. If you move away from this and observe thoughts instead, they drift in and out and you can almost count them like sheep.

In the morning, many people find that meditation is most beneficial, for similar reasons. In the morning, your mind has not had time to collect a day’s worth of thoughts that you would otherwise have to ease out of. Instead of jolting out of bed and into your phone and future worries, it can be a good wake-up routine to instead ease into your waking awareness.

This can ease us into the day in a healthier, less abrupt way. I often find that after a meditation session I feel lighter and with a stronger mental fortitude. Like a good breakfast, it can set you up for what’s to come.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

Meditation is safe and free. It can swell your confidence, improve your health, sharpen your mind, bring you greater joy and improve your relationship with yourself. Who doesn’t want to be happier, calmer, more confident, and better attuned with themself and their surroundings?

What’s your favorite form of meditation? How has meditation helped you live a better life? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Henry Collard Author

Mental health blogger with a passion for learning ways to improve wellbeing. I also love to write fantasy, learn about history and play video games. Which I suppose makes me an all-round nerd.

The post Why is Meditation so Important? (With 5 Examples) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.