Let’s get happy!

Is your happy place a state of mind… or a tangible place?

I wish I could say it was a state of mind for me! I do. The thing is, it doesn’t always work like that for me. I’m still learning. I think for a lot of people if they could snap their fingers and feel bliss they’d be snapping all day and have the calloused fingers to show for it. And maybe it is that easy for some people… but not without practice.

I know yoga makes me feel pretty freaking blissful. Meditation too. But it takes that ominous first step to get there, and some days it just seems easier to choose apathy – or even sadness- instead of effort.

You know those people that are obnoxiously happy and cheerful and bubbly all the time? Don’t they suck, sometimes? I agree. And in those times they are so incredibly irritating it’s only because you’re not feeling that happy, right? It just seems exhausting to see them so peppy. How is it even possible?!

They’re not. They’re not that happy all the time. They are pretending! It’s true. At least, I’m pretty sure it’s true. I’ve been that person so many times. It’s a little trick one of my parents taught me that I use to make myself pretend happy in hopes it will turn into real happy if I try hard enough. Some people call it ditzy or living in a fake world.. but on good days I just mentally (usually mentally) give them the bird and move on. Live and let live, eh?

Fake it till ya make it is obviously not just used when trying to suck some bliss into your life. People use it all the time.. how about the whole, “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” quote… same principle, no?

Happy places take a little effort sometimes. Here are some ways I cheat my way to a zenful day-

Awesome music. Is there honestly anything that can change your mood as quick as music does? It’s magical, really. Some great happy music places for me: Spotify, Pandora, Youtube, Last.fm, and random music website perusing of course.

Self pampering. Self care, whatever you want to call it. Maybe a pedicure or new nail polish if you wear it, maybe a reflexology massage for your feet or a haircut. Maybe just a nice long hot bath.

Aromatherapy. Candles, incense or making a big pot of water with spices on the stove and turning it on simmer. There are a ton of recipes online for soothing scents. The one for Williams Sonoma is:

2 cups water

1 sprig rosemary (or more)

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/2 lemon, juice squeezed and rind thrown in

Nature. This is honestly the biggest one for me. Going outside and being surrounded by plants, dirt, mountains, ocean, sky… whatever is around is all around the most soul gratifying thing I can think of doing. The ocean, especially, is one a lot of people can agree on. Research is being done on the effect of the ocean on human emotion. Here is an intriguing article about “blue mind” http://www.onearth.org/article/this-is-your-brain-on-the-ocean. Also, a simple Google search can bring many more articles and findings on the different ways nature makes us feel.

Exercise. Whether this is yoga, lifting weights, going for a run, hike, or just walking your pups (or just yourself) sweating and or movement makes your brain happy. Another one of those highly researched topics that is natural, easy and effective. Score!

Meditation. Of course! Hyper zen! But when I’m not feeling like I can quiet my mind- I reach for a meditation book, I try a mantra, I do yoga instead, I just lay there.. or I try a yoga nidra. My main squeeze loves yoga nidra and prefers to do it soon after a stressful work day.

Tea. Or something to that effect. Maybe a glass of wine or a beer, if that’s your thang. The point is something you can savor and feels calming though. The added benefit of tea as opposed to the other beverages is that, if choosing herbal tea, the herbs have specific ways in which they interact with your body. Some can keep you up, some can bring you down. We’re not talking homeopathic medicine here- we’re talking old school tried and true remedies.*

So.. what’s your cheat for hightailing your way to happiness? Do you have any ways to quickly get yourself out of the slumps? Or maybe just to get yourself into happy-hyper-mode? Maybe volunteering, helping others, helping yourself? I’d love to hear them!

I’ve just come back from a week in the Gulf Coast, where I had never been before! It was amazing and I learned a lot. That’s for another blog post though, when my SD card decides to work so I can upload some white sand beach pictures! AKA Totally my happy place.

xoxo

*Sidenote: Do you know the difference between homeopathic and naturopathic medicine? A lot of people don’t and automatically lump the two together. I personally feel like it’s a damn shame when people claim quackery without doing their own self experimentation or research. But whatever the case, nutritional therapy is becoming more and more popular. Hurray! HERBS & TEA FOR ME! 🙂

Saturday’s thoughts! –

& a little humor-

So cute! 😉

Mind – choose yours!

Mindfulness isn’t just about keeping my head clear and my goals in sight. Mindfulness isn’t just tapping into my source and feeling aware.

Mindfulness, in part, is about actually giving a damn!

Yep! I said it. It’s so easy to get sucked up into the little trivial things. Believe me, I know… Which is exactly the reason why I won’t watch TV shows, especially reality TV. If I allow myself to become emotionally involved with things that don’t matter,  then I won’t have as much energy for the things that truly matter in my life and the world.

So for me, one of the ways I practice mindfulness is by not having cable. I’m not going to lie here, I have Netflix and I’ve watched all of Game of Thrones… (I mean, c’mon, that writing is amazing!) But the thing is, really being mindful and choosing exactly what I want to watch, paying an extra price per episode on series I choose to watch, and being aware and critical of what I’m watching is really important to me. I don’t want to be able to just come home, plop down, and put on Keeping up With The Kardashians. (That’s still a thing, right!?)

The awesome thing is escapism is still escapism, even if it has some sort of moral or artistic message. So I choose the latter! I love documentaries, thought provoking movies, and you know what? Definitely some mindless drivel mixed in there as well… an 80/20 balance, I tell myself.

So what’s my beef with today’s media?

Well, my big issue I have with television and most movies produced today is that we are quite literally being fed propaganda everywhere we turn. A lot of it is fear-based and fear does absolutely nothing for us…. When has fear ever helped you to evolve? I know it has never helped me. It’s both enthralling and upsetting how prevalent “Hollywood” is in the day-to-day. It’s as if most of us live in a glass cage hidden away from the natural world, where our main focus is instead on who wore what on the red carpet. Silly, isn’t it?

It seems like too many of us are just absorbing this information and never truly critiquing it. I truly believe a big part of being mindful is always asking, “But…why?” Questioning everything is a trait I wish no one would lose! You see it alive in children, ad then what happens? We’re humans. We can think critically, debate, and decide for ourselves what we believe. It’s pretty awesome. Critical thinking seems to be a dying art and one that needs to be revived. And you know what? I think we can do it.

I adore film! I really do! I think it can be a profound and amazing thing.. and one that is truly great at manipulation, be it good or bad. I’m not here to judge what kind of films or television shows people watch. That’s not the point here, it’s instead what we choose to do with whatever it is we consume.

While studying for class today I realized that just as we can dissect writing (as we do in class) we can also dissect film or television and divide each piece into two different labels: commercial or literary. Commercial is the fluff, it’s the kind of stuff that is purely for entertainment, to get your rocks off, or whatever may be. And then there’s literary. I’ll quote what Perrine’s Story and Structure’s definition is,

“Literary fiction plunges us, through the author’s imaginative vision and artistic ability, more deeply into the real world, enabling us to understand life’s difficulties and to empathize with others.”

…that is art! A beautiful and provoking kind of art.

I know for me even if I’m watching the “commercial”, I’m always debating what is said or done. Why is this funny? Why is this sad? It all comes down to mindfulness. It’s not about making life or things less fun, it’s about seeing the true colors of it all. When we are mindful and attach meanings to things in our life, I think it enriches us and adds more to our character and being. The awareness of consumption helps us define who we are, don’t you think?

On a side note, I’m sure my significant other finds it really annoying that I’m always analyzing things.. but what was it Socrates said? “The unexamined life is not worth living” Ha!

I think any life is worth living, but I’ll take mine mindful and curious! What about you?

Couple a’ quotes for your pondering

Enjoy the holiday today &may your week be zenful!

Xxoo

How do colors make you feel?

Colors have always been fascinating to me. When I was a kid I’d ignore my toys and play with my markers, not even necessarily drawing with them but by creating little color families! I think I instinctively knew, even then, that color is influential on our emotions. However, black will forever and always have a special little place in my grinch heart. But! If we’re getting real here it’s a pigment… a pigment whose abilities are totally downplayed. We’re often told it’s a depressive color but I think it can definitely be a bold power color. Imagine black shiny lacquered walls with white crown molding. Is that depressing? Hell no! It’s bold and luxurious! It’s all in how you perceive it.

This photo is taken from sarahsarna.com, it’s such a great example of a subdued glamorous interior with black walls.

A quick way to put a little pep in your step is to close your eyes and visualize a certain color. It’s true! It’s used in design frequently to give a room a certain feel. It’s also used by certain therapists to delve deeper into the psyche or to heal through Chromotherapy. On the same token, some say visualizing a certain color can help with energy blockages in your chakras.

You know who already really knows all the ins and outs of psychology of color? Businesses, corporations, marketers and advertisers of all kinds. Color helps with branding and to create personality or rapport with the potential buyer or voter. Color is wild in that it can be used in therapeutic ways but is also now largely used to appeal to emotions for purposes of consumerism. Isn’t that a delight? Not really…

But what IS a delight is the ability to create your space with colors that make it shine however you want it to. Livening up your space in your house is easy, all you have to do is infuse certain colors into the furniture, walls or decorations.

Let’s talk some colors, shall we?

RED is known to raise your blood pressure. It speeds the heart rate and is super stimulating. Often used in warnings, it beckons your attention. Red is good in touches but may not be the best for full wall colors. Sometimes it’s used in dimly lit clubs or bars to create a sexy environment. If you want some splashes in the bedroom, add some throw pillows or red paintings or pictures. Add candles and it’s insta-romace.

YELLOW is generally a happy color. The color of the sunshine, it uplifts your spirits. It’s a great color to visualize when you’re feeling in the dumps. Again one of those colors that’s usually best in small doses. Maybe not the best color to use on every wall in the house… It’s really nice in kitchens, bathrooms, and rooms with many windows. Large doses of yellow are known to cause irritability, so recognize what yellow makes you feel first.

BLUE brings down the blood pressure! Especially light blue, who seems to be the opposite of abrasive red. Blue is calming and relaxing, often used in soothing spaces like hospitals and therapy rooms… but not as often as green.

GREEN brings down your blood pressure and heart rate as well. It’s a relaxing color (as long as it’s not neon!) and can be used pretty much anywhere as a main color. Certain greens make you feel like you’re sitting outdoors, which is the best way to calm yourself down. Think: Nature, forest, grass.

I l-o-v-e green, blue and yellow together. It reminds me of the ocean and sunshine. Anytime you decorate your interior to mirror the natural world it’s guaranteed to be a relaxing environment. In an ocean room adding sea shells, sand, aquatic creature’s skeletons (you collected on the beach I’m hoping) or branches from trees near the ocean are all wonderful ways to bring the outdoors in.

Next time we’ll talk about purple, orange and neutrals and get more into what Chromotherapy* is all about. Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll be happy to research it

*I’m not certified in Chromotherapy, just interested & learning right along with you!

Zen –

Although the word zen is used often in modern culture, it’s roots are in Mahayana Buddhism. The definition from Merriam Webster is, “A Japanese sect of Mahayana Buddhism that aims at enlightenment by direct intuition through meditation.”

Just as with anything else, philosophies are open to interpretation… I am not attempting to attain enlightenment here per say, but I am attempting to attain an inner stillness. To me the feeling of zen is peaceful. An oasis of sorts. Finding (or awakening) to the true “you” without allowing any outer noise to get in the way of pure understanding.

A lot of times people meditate to get in touch with themselves, to feel their center, and to literally clear their mind. People also practice yoga, attend spiritual or religious group gatherings, read self help books, take a vow of silence… the list is endless! Religion, spirituality and “self help” are alike in so many ways. They’re there to help a person find the higher truth, the reason we’re here, to love others as ourselves and to BE!

I don’t think the important part is – what – you’re doing, but that you are… Or at least you’re trying! This quote from John Lennon speaks volumes:Zen to me is feeling so high on good stuff that the bad stuff can’t get me down.

As someone who has dealt with depression through my adolescence and adulthood, it’s worth finding something that lifts your spirit up! It’s those deep breaths and connecting with what is real that helps. It’s closing your eyes and visualizing your center or feeling grounded to the earth that helps. Those are things that both calm me down and make me feel alive at the same time. It seems so easy, right? But it takes questioning things that are tangible and realizing that we are more than flesh and bone. It takes becoming aware that we are our thoughts and our actions, both! We can control that feeling inside. It’s liberating, especially in the culture we live in now.

That being said, I am a child of the 21st Century! I love technology, the material world can be fun, I don’t lead a life of silence and I can definitely be armed for battle when it comes to debate… But the important thing is finding the balance.

Two books I am reading right now are: Spirit Junkie by Gabrielle Bernstein and Meditation Express by Nancy Butler and Michael Suib. Both are absolutely fantastic. Here is an excerpt I found especially helpful on how to quiet the mind in M.E:

Imagine a rushing mountain stream flowing through your mind. Every time a new thought enters your mind, throw it into the stream and watch it flow away from you.

A way I am finding my zen right now is by taking my dogs on daily long walks. I found a forested area and we walk an hour to an hour and half. Sometimes at a slower pace, sometimes we jog, and sometimes we run and walk- but it’s always in silence, in nature and pace dependent to how I feel. It’s a great lesson for me on listening to my intuition.

As a kid I was raised by pretty metaphysical parents and grandparents but it’s taken me until my early 20s to fully focus on self improvement and raising my own consciousness. It’s all okay though, and this practice of finding my own little piece of zen has taught me that.

Finding your inner happy place doesn’t have to follow any rules but your own. Whether it’s organizing your house so the clutter is gone, deciding to take up painting, or meditating for one minute… Go out there and give it a try!

Leading a zenful life is a practice! This post is the first in a series of mindfulness.

xoxo