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How do we begin to hardwire happiness into our daily lives and experience a deep sense of inner peace more regularly?
Is joy something we only experience in fleeting moments when everything seems to be looking up?
Or is it something we weave into the fabric of our everyday experiences despite what may be happening around us?
What if we understood that happiness and inner peace are a practice that requires a consistent reframing of our thoughts and patterns.
An ability to recognize and bring awareness to the negativity bias already wired into our primitive brain.
Most of us confuse happiness with an outcome, circumstance, or event.
We hold onto the idea that we will be happy when something monumental happens.
We spend so much of our lives waiting for the next big thing to happen so we can feel satisfied.
Endlessly wasting time and energy on hopes and wishes that something external will bring about happiness.
How to feel happy from the inside out?
Happiness is not a destination, but rather a mental state that must be instilled in our minds despite what is happening externally.
It's a feeling we inhabit in our bodies—a connection to the divine source within every one of us.
When we learn to embrace the most authentic part of ourselves and the beauty around us, we come to know true happiness and radiate an inner peace much more effortlessly.
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Why is happiness so hard to maintain?
Think about how much time we spend moving from one task to another throughout our days.
Continuously on autopilot and rarely present.
The constant barrage of information being fed through the television and our electronic devices is enough to make anyone's head spin.
We must remind ourselves it doesn't have to be that way.
We can regain control of our thoughts and impulses through mindfulness and awareness.
We must catch ourselves before reaching for our phones in an attempt to escape rather than feel.
Also, learning to respond to situations rather than react brings about conscious awareness that enables a deep feeling of introspection and presence.
Most of us have not allowed ourselves to experience this
As we strengthen inner peace, fulfillment, and love within ourselves, we stop searching for happiness in the external.
Nor do we allow negative experiences to derail our positive vibration and alignment.
In time, we cultivate a sense of wellness that permeates our existence, irrespective of outside circumstances or conditions.
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How to remain positive during difficult times?
Through this deliberate practice of honing in on the good, we rewire the synaptic connections in our brains, and happiness becomes a part of our natural state.
A mind that imprints positive emotions becomes more resilient and adaptable.
As Rick Hanson, writes in his book Hardwiring Happiness, “Mental states become neural traits. Day after day, your mind is building your brain.”
When we practice absorbing the positive experiences in our lives more frequently, we naturally and easily bounce back from negative experiences.
As a result, we start to emanate joy, deliberately and consistently.
Ultimately, our vibration rises, and we attract more goodness into our lives.
On the other hand, when we operate from a place of scarcity, fear, guilt, shame, or anger, our vibration emanates at a lower frequency, and we subsequently attract more unwanted experiences into our lives.
Neuroplasticity and happiness
It's essential to keep in mind that our brains are indeed malleable.
The neural pathways in the brain are formed based on what we think and how we feel.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to change dysfunctional patterns of thinking and behaving and develop new mindsets, memories, and skills through repetition.
The more we practice taking in the good and experiencing the joy of the present moment, the more we experience deep inner peace and knowing.
Expressing mindfulness and gratitude for the good experiences helps create positive neural traits and characteristics.
These traits then become stronger each time we reinforce and focus on the happiness and positivity in our lives.
How do we change our mental state from negative to positive?
Tony Robbins teaches a model for changing our emotional state from negative to positive known as the emotional triad system.
The triad represents the three ways we can control our emotional state: physiology, focus, and language.
When we learn ways to change our physiology, focus, or language, we can begin to change our state of being more consciously.
This awareness and redirection of our behavioral patterns allow us to regain control over our emotions and behaviors.
We can catch ourselves before the feelings of despair and negativity pull us into a tailspin.
Let's take a look at each part of the triad individually.
Physiology
Changing our physical state is one of the quickest and most effective ways to improve our emotional state. Improving our physical state can look a lot of different ways.
We could go for a run, lift weights, practice yoga, do jumping jacks, dance, take a cold shower.
Even something as small as shifting our posture and holding our head high impacts the way we feel.
The basis of this theory is that when we move our bodies, we shift the emotions in our bodies.
Thus, when you feel yourself slipping into a negative headspace, one of the best things you can do is change your body's energy through movement.
Endorphins are then released in the brain and produce what is known as a "runner's high."
Endorphins are the body's natural feel-good hormone.
Focus
Perhaps you have heard Tony's phrase, where focus goes, energy flows. In other words, what we think directly impacts the way we feel.
The more mental power we expend on negative thoughts, the more charge our negative emotions will have.
When we redirect our focus on something neutral or positive, we automatically begin to shift the negative feelings into a more balanced or positive state.
Both positive and negative thoughts gain momentum so it's essential to redirect our thoughts when we begin to feel stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed.
Choosing gratitude and appreciation over criticism and negativity enables you to attract more things to be grateful for and to appreciate.
On the flip side, dwelling on what we perceive as unfavorable and harboring negative emotions will only invite more of the same into our lives.
Language
The way we speak to ourselves and others impacts our emotional state more than most of us realize.
Saying things like, "I'll just die without him," or "this job is killing me," all influence our emotional state and well being.
Thus it’s so important to be mindful of the language we use and avoid saying things that have a negative charge.
While our brain’s are wired to seek out the negative rather than positive, we can hardwire happiness and inner peace through mindfulness.
The more present we are in our everyday lives, the better we become at absorbing and encoding gratitude and positivity.
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