As a young child, I remember a time when you had a choice of tricks or treats during this time of the year. We never wanted a trick because it didn’t include candy – the treat. Did you know we can trick our minds to change our lives? The human brain is a powerful organ that can be trained. The Dalai Lama, Buddhist monks and some of the world’s leading neuroscientists all gather once a year at a conference on the latest discoveries in neuroplasticity: the study of how the human brain can change itself. I decided to list some of my practices that you use to trick or treat your mind into feeling happy.
My Top 8 Tricks and Treats for Your Mind
1. Hang Out with Smiling People
2. Be a Smiling Person Yourself
Each time you smile you throw a little feel-good party in your brain. The act of smiling activates neural messaging that benefits your health and happiness. The feel-good neurotransmitters dopamine, endorphins and serotonin are all released when a smile flashes across your face as well.
3. Treat Yourself to a Tasty and Healthy Meal
Check out this article from ‘Today’
How Eating Right Can Make You Happy
4. Think of Things to Be Thankful For
Maintain a Daily Gratitude Journal
5. Be Present/In the Moment
Take a minimum of 15 mins a day to either pray silently, meditate, breathe, focus on an interesting object or sit with nature
6. Listen to Feel-Good Music
Find that song that makes you feel happy. Here’s a link to a popular one:
7. Exercise
It has been proven that exercise releases chemicals into your brain called Dopamine. It is a neurotransmitter in the brain that’s necessary for feelings of pleasure and happiness.
8. Don’t Resist Negative Emotions
Many of us experience the emotion of fear or hurt. Recently, I had an opportunity to practice NOT resisting fear that overcame me at bedtime when I was alone at a Bed & Breakfast Cottage that was far away from friends and family. After following the steps below while lying in bed, the emotion became weaker and weaker until I was sleep before I realized it was gone. I slept well for the remainder of that night and the next. It works. I dare you to try it for any negative emotion.
Steps to NOT Resisting Negative Emotions:
Stop resisting it – locate where in is in your body and welcome the emotion
Send it love – imagine sending light of love to that area and you can place your hand on that area – imagine that light of love filling up your entire body and going out your fingers
Take a deep breath and realize what’s behind that emotion – ask your fear: Why are you here? and ask yourself: What is the need behind my fear that isn’t being met?
Promise to meet your need – what are other ways that you will fulfill that need
Say Thank you – and let your emotion go (if it hasn’t disappeared already)
I hope that you will practice all or some of these tricks and treats for you mind so that you may live a sweeter life.
Share with us your some of your tricks by leaving a comment.
Here is a link on mind tricks to play alone or with others: http://www.viralnova.com/instant-optical-illusions/
Learn more about this topic from this book: Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves by Sharon Begley
Don’t Mind Me
Queen She
