A Boost Of Happiness

I recently read a very interesting piece of advice that I would like to share here. It was originally given to someone who was at the time dealing with a severe depression but I think that in general it is pretty sound advice for when you are just not really feeling up to life.

Basically, it promotes a focus on the basics: our senses. Taste, hearing, sight, smell and touch. When you are not feeling great it is sometimes difficult to determine what it is that is going to make you feel better. If you are like me then it is even quite difficult to determine what it is that is making you feel bad. So what helps then is to get the focus to those basic senses and ticking them off one by one.

What would you want to smell right now? This could be a scented candle or the sea or maybe one of your pets or a nice perfume. What would you like to taste? For example, a nice comforting drink or a snack from the bakery around the corner. What would you like to see? This could be a particular environment or person or maybe just a specific movie you enjoy. What would you like to hear right now? Think of the sound of nature or music or someone’s voice. Finally, what would you like to touch right now? So, maybe you just want to curl up against someone or cuddle with a pet or, alternatively, your favorite soft hoodie.

Now try to combine as many of these things as you can. Focus on the feel of your hoodie as you listen to your favorite music on your way to the bakery around the corner while taking in your favorite perfume that you just sprayed on. Now this isn’t always going to be ideal. For example, right now I would very much like to touch my dog but she’s on the other side of the sea so that’s not happening. Still, I can get as close to that feeling as possible by cuddling up with my soft fleece blanket.

The point is really that this makes you zero in on things that will make you happy. Try to actively look for sensations that have a positive effect and while you work to collect as many of those as you can you will not only enjoy them that little bit extra but you also just might forget a little bit about your worries and anxieties.