Mindfulness - can you learn happiness?

Are you are looking for a recipe for happiness? Try mindfulness. Read this blog to find out why:

I've been thinking a lot about happiness as I have been watching the young lambs leaping around the fields without a care in the world. They seem to ooze happiness and vitality, exploring the world with curiosity, safely guarded by the ewes. Their carefree exuberance somehow rubs off on me and I can't help feeling joyous.

Looking at these joyous lambs made me think about what makes me happy. Initially I started thinking about things that make my heart race and take my breath away but then I realized that the kind of happiness I like the most has a warm, glowing feeling, a kind of sustainable joy that I feel when I notice the small things in life; the chit-chat of the birds, a flower popping up in an unexpected place, a smile or someone offering me a gesture of kindness, like a gentle squeeze of my hand when things are difficult.

What makes you happy? Either heart-leaping breath-taking happy or the gentle warm-glowing kind of happiness....

Now what has happiness got to do with mindfulness?

Mindfulness has been shown in studies to naturally diminish negative mindstates and enhance positive ones. So why would mindfulness have this effect?

One of my favourite books on happiness is Maci Shimoff's Happy for No Reason*. In this book, the author describes how to build our capacity for happiness: how to handle our thoughts and make peace with ourselves, the role of gratitude, forgiveness and loving kindness, tuning into the wisdom of our bodies, contributing to something greater than ourselves and our relationships with others and a higher power.

Many of the things Maci Shimoff describes are actually addressed in mindfulness. In an eight-week mindfulness course, like the Mindfulness-Based Living Course, we learn strategies to calm our mind, to handle our thoughts and cultivate an attitude of non-judgement, kindness and compassion. We notice the wisdom of our bodies as we bring awareness to our sensations. Most participants comment on how in just a few weeks they find equanimity, a sense of peace, calm and composure even in difficult situations and how this benefits their relationship with themselves and with others.

So what exactly is mindfulness and how does it help us cultivate all of the above? And why can it have such a profound effect on our emotions?

First and foremost, mindfulness is a practice of being fully present, of noticing what is happening as it is happening.

As we start to meditate, most of us notice how distracted our minds are, how busy our thoughts are with the past or future and how rarely we are actually fully present in the here-and-now. And yet, being present is really a fundamental skill of happiness. How often have you missed the birdsong or the smile of your child or grandchild because your thoughts were so busy thinking about an issue at work or what you should be making for lunch tomorrow?

So we start our mindfulness training by learning strategies that help us to be more present, to be in the here-and-now. That can guide us away from becoming entrapped in a web of thoughts about the past or future with associated emotional reactions like anxiety, fear, despair, anger or shame.

Focusing on breathing, the sensations in our body, or our senses, say the sounds around us, in our meditations can be useful anchors that help us stay present whilst, at the same time, help us feel a sense of calm and peace.

We don't use these anchors to block out our thoughts or emotions. Quite the opposite because switching off our thoughts and emotions would not just stop us feeling emotions, such as fear or sadness, it would also stop us from feeling joy and happiness.

So practicing mindfulness can teach us how to find a sense of equanimity in this topsy-turvy life, to notice what is happening as it is happening and to be open to our full experience. And somehow, most mindfulness practitioners would probably tell you, that leads to that warm, glowing sense of happiness....

Now that is not all: A moment of mindfulness can also help us step away from habitual patterns of feeling, thinking or reacting.

Many of us feel trapped by a behaviour we dislike, say whenever we feel insecure, anxious of sad, we may overeat or we may say something we regret immediately. This can lead into a spiral of feeling bad about ourselves and unhappiness.

Mindfulness allows us to step out from these habitual responses and offers us the space to find new a response that is more appropriate. By knowing what is happening as it is happening, we are less trapped by our habits and can respond to what is actually happening. So if you have been feeling insecure since you were a child because something happened when you were 5 years old, mindful awareness allows you to know that and also to be aware of what is actually happening in this particular moment. You can let go off the baggage of the past and respond to what is actually happening in the here-and-now. This can help you let go off unhelpful behaviour patterns, supports healthy relationships, and can help you make better decisions, whether in your private life or business.

So mindfulness is also an active approach to step into more joy and happiness.

If you want to find out more, countless studies support the benefitical effect of mindfulness on emotional and even physical health.

Mindfulness has been shown to support mental health. As mentioned above, mindfulness increases positive states of mind and decreases negative ones. Studies show that it can improve mood, help with anxiety, depression and other emotional issues, affect our confidence, improve our sleep and our relationships with other people. Mindfulness is even a motivation, helping us to make healthy lifestyle choices, such as regular exercise, eat healthy food, regulate dysfunctional eating patterns and maintain a healthy weight. There is also evidence for the benefits of mindfulness on a range of physical health conditions, such as digestion, reproductive health, menopause, neurological conditions and much more.

If you are curious to learn more about mindfulness, why not sign up to a transformative eight week mindfulness course with me. Courses are online. If you have any questions, contact me via this link and/or, if you are just looking to be contacted whenever a new course is starting, join the mailing list via this link

The Mindfulness Based Living Course (MBLC) is an 8-week course that introduces a wide range of mindfulness meditations and techniques. Each weekly class is typically two hours long.

The weekly themes are:

Week 1 – Start Where We Are
Week 2 – The Body as a Place to Stay Present
Week 3 – Introducing Mindfulness Support
Week 4 – Working with Distraction
Week 5 – Exploring the Undercurrent
Week 6 – Attitude of the Observer
Week 7 – Self-acceptance
Week 8 – A Mindfulness Based Life

You can find out more about the Mindfulness Based Living Course in this book* that accompanies the course.

Kat is a fully qualified Mindfulness Teacher with the Mindfulness Association and has a Post-Graduate Certificate in Mindfulness from the University of Aberdeen. She is also a movement teacher (Yoga, Pilates, Feldenkrais, Somatics), an intimate health practitioner and has a degree in herbal medicine.

I started my own Mindfulness Practice when I underwent treatment for cancer.

At the time, thoughts were wildly racing through my mind: "what would happen next?", "would I survive?", "Had I brought this on myself?", "How would I earn a living if the treatment left me weak and unable to work?", "would my husband still love me with my bald head" etc etc. These thoughts were irrational and yet they filled my head, leaving me unable to enjoy the love and friendship, the support I received from everyone, from my friends, family, clients, the NHS. The moment I started practicing mindfulness, I felt as if this knot of thoughts and emotions was starting to gently untangle. Slowly, over the years, I found this sense deepened and a sense of ease and calm that I had never experienced before would be accessible to me whenever I felt I needed it: a three minute breathing meditation, a twenty minute morning sit or a weekend retreat. It didn't matter which one I chose, they all would bring me back to the present moment, give me the space to breathe and notice the good things around me.

I decided to take this further by taking a teacher training with the Mindfulness Association as well as a post-graduate certificate with the University of Aberdeen where I investigated how mindfulness could support my clients with intimate health issues as well as those who have problems with weight and health (mindfulness as a motivation technique for healthy living).

*As an Amazon Associate, I will receive a small percentage if you order your books via this link

Categories: : mindfulness