Exercise is one of the best strategies for overcoming depression.
Indeed, it can have a dramatic impact on your mental health. For
example, in one study of three groups that tried exercise only, exercise
plus drugs, and drugs only, to see what treatment best treated
depression, it was the exercise-only group that was most
successful in maintaining wellness and avoiding a depression relapse!
Defining happiness is difficult, as happiness is actually a state
of mind. What brings on happiness is therefore unique to the
individual person; what makes you happy may be quite different from
what makes your neighbor or your officemate happy.
Still, despite being hard to define, there’s something about
happiness that has universal appeal. Virtually everyone strives for
it, but not everyone will reach it.
One recent Harris Poll found that, despite an ostensibly
recovering economy, only one in three Americans said they’re very
happy,1
which means, of course, that two out of three are not.
Yet, as abstract, and at times as elusive, as happiness may be,
there are proven ways to make yourself happier, and you can do many
of these things starting today.
1. Exercise More Often
Exercise is one of the
best strategies for overcoming depression. Indeed, it can have a
dramatic impact on your mental health. For example, a Duke
University team studied three groups that tried exercise only,
exercise plus drugs, and drugs only, to see what treatment best
treated depression.
They found that 10 months later, it was the
exercise-only group that was most successful in maintaining
wellness and avoiding a depression relapse!
Yet, exercise may still make you happier even if you’re not
depressed. It can help you to feel better about your body,2
for starters, while also boosting levels of health-promoting brain
chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which may
help buffer some of the effects of stress.
Rather than viewing exercise as a medical tool to lose weight,
prevent disease, and live longer – all benefits that occur in the
future – try viewing exercise as a daily tool to immediately enhance
your frame of mind, reduce stress and feel happier.
2. Get Proper Sleep
A lack of sleep makes it more difficult to recall pleasant
memories (but gloomy memories are recalled just fine).3
Lack of sleep may also make you more susceptible to negative
emotions like fear and anger, while taking a nap in the afternoon
may enhance positive emotions.
Not to mention, sleep deprivation is linked to psychiatric
disorders, such as anxiety and bipolar depression, while getting the
right amount of sleep has been linked to positive personality
characteristics such as optimism and greater self-esteem, as well as
a greater ability to solve difficult problems.4
3. Shorten Your Commute
If you can move closer to where you work, or work closer to where
you live, do it. A long commute is stressful and draining, even if
it allows you to buy a bigger house or have a better job. Such
factors do not make up for the unhappiness created by a longer
commute, according to research by two Swiss economists. Generally
speaking, it would take a 40 percent increase in pay to make up for
a job with a longer commute.5
4. Nourish Your Relationships
Friends and family mean everything in life, and research shows
spending social time with your friends and loved ones generally
makes people much happier. One study even found that relationships
are worth more than $100,000 in terms of life satisfaction, while
actual changes in income buy very little happiness.6
5. Spend Time Outdoors
Simply going outside to get some fresh air and sunshine boosts
mood, broadens thinking and improves working memory. One study found
that it takes just 20 minutes outdoors to make most people happier,
while other research showed that happiness is maximized when it’s 57
degrees F outside7
– so keep an eye on the thermometer!
6. Help Others
Volunteering can lower your risk of depression and anxiety,8
and significantly boost your psychological well-being.9
Not only does it keep you active and on your feet, but there’s a
definite social aspect as well, both of which contribute to
happiness. Volunteering to help others also gives you a greater
sense of purpose and can even lead to a so-called “helper’s high,”
which may occur because doing good things releases feel-good
hormones like oxytocin in your body while lowering levels of stress
hormones like cortisol.
7. Smile
Putting on a fake smile can
worsen your mood, but thinking positive thoughts and then
smiling as a result can make you happier.10
When you smile at others, they’re also more likely to smile back in
return, creating an ongoing feedback loop that may lead to more
positivity in your life and the lives of others.
8. Plan a Vacation
It might be that the simple act of planning a vacation
can make you happier, even if you don’t actually go on one. Research
showed that people were happiest during the planning stage of their
vacation, when their sense of anticipation was peaked.11
After the vacation was over, levels of happiness quickly returned to
baseline.
9. Meditate
Meditation helps you keep your mind focused, calms your nerves
and supports inner peace. Research shows it can even lead to
physical changes in your brain that make you happier, including an
increase in areas associated with compassion and self-awareness and
a shrinking in areas associated with stress.
10. Practice Gratitude
People who are thankful for what they have are better able to
cope with stress, have more positive emotions, and are better able
to reach their goals. The best way to harness the positive power of
gratitude is to keep a gratitude journal or list, where you actively
write down exactly what you’re grateful for each day. Doing so has
been linked to happier moods, greater optimism and even better
physical health.
If there is one common thread to the tips above, it is that the
factors that increase happiness tend to do so from the inside, as
lasting happiness is not something that can be achieved from
external sources. It may be helpful to remember that happiness
doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely
upon what you think.
This is part of the power of affirmations, which can also help
you to boost your happiness.
For example, starting each day by thinking of all the things you
have to be thankful for is one way to put your mind on the right
track. Also, remember that your future depends largely on the
thoughts you think today. So each moment of every day is an
opportunity to turn your thinking around, thereby helping or
hindering your ability to think and feel more positively in the very
next moment.
Most experts agree that there are no shortcuts to happiness. Even
generally happy people do not experience joy 24 hours a day. But a
happy person can have a bad day and still find pleasure in the small
things in life.
Postponing your happiness until you reach a certain goal, like
getting a promotion or pay raise to go on vacation, is a sure-fire
way to stay stuck in misery. Instead, consciously spend a few
minutes every day thinking about the good things in your life, such
as eating a balanced meal or getting enough rest. Practice this
every day and each day try to extend the time you spend on positive
thoughts.
Additionally, while there is no rule or special formula that can
make a person constantly happy, happiness tends to come more easily
when you focus on developing positive social relationships and
enjoyable work, and have a sense that life has meaning. Overall,
having a spiritual dimension tends to be an essential component of
happiness for most people as well.
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.