Simple Techniques To Boost Your Joy

Posted on February 07, 2024 by Faith Feuer, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

Sometimes happiness can seem elusive and quite frankly difficult to achieve. However, believe it or not, there are a few really simple strategies that you can put to use in your everyday lives to increase your happiness or even just to give yourselves a little joy boost to get you through your day. I’ll start with a couple of physical activities for you to try and then move onto some mindfulness techniques. The first strategy that I have for you relies on a neuropsychological phenomenon called facial feedback. Did you know that when you smile or laugh, your brain releases feel good chemicals like serotonin and dopamine? What your brain “feeds back” in response to your facial gesture is the release of those happy chemicals. So, even if you’re not feeling that great, try putting a big smile on your face, genuine or not. Weirdly enough, your brain will have no idea that you’re not really feeling that smile, it will just automatically respond to that physical act of smiling by producing dopamine and serotonin. The result? You’ll get a little jolt of happiness and feel a bit more joy. So, if you’re having a slightly down day, slap on a fake smile or, if you’re feeling really crazy, you could even try a fake laugh! I guarantee you’ll love the results. Something similar happens when you strike what is called a power pose: back straight, shoulders back, chin up. This automatically signals to the brain, she’s in a good place, she’s ruling her day. Compare this to what your body is signaling to your brain when you’re slumped over, slouched down, head bent! Whether you feel it or not, changing your body carriage can actually change your mood for the better.

Ok, so those were a couple of techniques you can use your body for to immediately boost your happiness level. Now let’s move on to a few mindfulness tips.

One important distinction to make in this section is the one between hedonic happiness and eudaimonic happiness. As you probably know or can guess from its similarity to the word “hedonism” or “hedonistic”, hedonic happiness refers to happiness derived from an external source, the pleasure we get from material things, for example. In contrast, eudaimonic (from the Greek word “eudaimonia” which means “good spirit”) happiness refers to happiness generated from within. There is absolutely nothing wrong with hedonic happiness…in fact, it is usually included in any “recipe” or “formula” for general happiness. However, if we are placing all of our eggs in the hedonic happiness basket, we risk getting stuck on the hedonic treadmill. Let me explain. Studies show that joy boosts that we get from hedonic pleasure only last about 4 months. After that, we are likely to wonder “what’s next?”, “what material thing or external source of contentment do I need to maintain my happiness fix?” This cycle continues indefinitely, thus making it impossible to get off this symbolic treadmill. So, how do we create more eudaimonic-centered happiness? One thing to try is to rely on experiences, rather than material acquisitions, as your source of joy. Yes, it’s hard to believe that the brand new Maserati would ultimately bring us less true happiness than a walk in the woods, but believe me when I tell you that good feelings produced by memories of a positive experience are more enduring than the momentary fix provided by material purchases.

Next: Get connected! Not to your device, but to other humans. A group of psychologists conducted a study in which cultures generally considered more social and for whom connections to others were valued more highly than individual interests were compared to the U.S, in which it is usually all ABOUT the individual. Studies were conducted in South Asia, Japan, Germany and at the further end of the spectrum of this first group, Russia. The results of these studies were then compared to those obtained from a group of Americans. As you have probably guessed, individuals from countries who place a higher value on social connection and relationships reported being significantly happier than we are here in North America. This isn’t me hating on the U.S. I love it just as much as anyone or I wouldn’t live here. However, it is telling that those who hail from cultures that value and foster social connection report feeling a higher level of happiness than those whose cultures tend to favor individualism. Bottom line? If you don’t already, incorporate positive engagement into your life…you’re gonna be a lot happier once you do cuz science says so!

This brings me to my next point, which is simply a formula devised by Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology. According to Seligman, the recipe for happiness is contained in the simple acronym PERMA. This stands for positive emotion, engagement, positive relationships, meaning, achievement. If we can incorporate a little bit of each of these into our lives, we will dramatically increase our happiness on an organic level. What each of these components of happiness means is going to be different for each of us, but if you think about it, the formula makes sense and seems pretty doable, right?

Lastly, there will be those who disagree, but I firmly believe that happiness can only exist in the present and if and when we ourselves are fully present. It’s a bit mind-bending to ponder, but if we really think about it, there is no “past” that we can walk a straight path to and exist in. The “future” is simply another possible version of now that may or not occur. As such, there is really nothing but now and as such now is the only moment in which we can possibly experience happiness. Let’s tell ourselves to, just for a moment or a few moments each day, to stop “doing” and start just simply “being”.