Ideas to get to a happy place

LAST weekend I had a break through, not a breakdown, or a break up, but a break THROUGH!

After months of doing the same thing over and over again, and continually getting it wrong, I started to get it right. It was a truly beautiful moment when I realised that practising was actually paying off.

This got me really inspired, and I went on to have a fabulous day all round, like a magical chain reaction of happy. I find that when I am happy and positive that many more happy and positive things seem to happen around me, or perhaps I’m just in a better mental position to appreciate them.

Back in the day, when I was a bit sadder than I am now and I didn’t really know how to deal with difficult things in my life, I learnt the hard way that having something every day which I could look forward to really made a difference to me.

In a sense it’s a routine, but also these things could be treats as well, like meeting up with a friend you haven’t seen in a while, or going out for dinner.

Some things though have become non-negotiable in my life. I have to exercise every day, I train every morning if I can, or if not in the morning then I get it in somehow during the course of the day.

My friend Chetana who runs Bodhana Wellness in Portals tells me that this is my form of meditation. There are a lot of different forms of meditation which are on offer at the festival which she organises every year in June (search Mallorca Meditation Festival if you want info).

Here’s a few ideas for you if you need a pick-me-up, doing some of these should help you get into a happy place, and then you’ll start to see many more nice things happening around you as well. Enjoy!

1. Meditate 2. Have sex 3. Say yes (to something that feels right), or say no (to something that feels wrong) 4. Have truly quiet alone time in nature 5. Hold a baby 6. Listen to music 7. Making art, or writing, taking a photo 8. Energy healing (reiki, healing touch, quantum touch, acupuncture etc.) 9. Move your body: Yoga, Tai Chi, Chi Gong, dancing, walking, running 10. Playing on the floor with a small child or a pet 11. Reading, studying 12. Listening to our intuition 13. Choosing not to be intimidated about money 14. Being close to or in water (still or moving, inside or outside) 15. Giving all of our attention to what we are doing (also called mindfulness) 16. Scanning our body from our feet to our head and relaxing any tension 17. Walking slow and steady 18. Feeling heard 19. Taking a siesta 20. Lying in the sun 21. Saying and hearing “I love you” 22. Realising everything is interconnected and using this for inspiration 23. Breaking a habitual pattern 24. Getting a massage 25. Going to a sauna 26. Preparing and eating a healthy meal