Four years ago, at Kripalu, my colleague and friend Michele Tamaren and I taught a weekend program titled, “A Woman’s Sacred Journey.” We presented our work from the perspective of Positive Psychology combined with intuition; This blog combines some our thoughts about finding happiness on your life’s soul journey–whatever your gender.
Happiness as a path of scientific study was inspired by the work of Dr. Martin Seligman, chair of the Psychology Dept. at the University of Pennsylvania, about 35 years ago. Now research and courses throughout the world are rapidly expanding our knowledge of what it means to flourish with happiness as individuals, groups, and organizations.
Are some of us born happier than others? You bet! Some babies come out content and relaxed while others are far fussier. We each have our own happiness set point, but that’s not fate. It accounts for only 50% of our sense of happiness. Life circumstances account for another 10% assuming our basic needs are met, and a full 40% of our happiness is based on the choices we make. Brain scans prove that our brains are plastic, changeable, and that by being aware, grateful, compassionate, and kind, in other words, in making healing choices, we have the power to change our thoughts, to change our minds, to change our lives…for good!
These healing changes have to do with becoming aware of phenomena of what makes you happy. You can learn to bring into your conscious mind the somatic, mental, emotional, and behavioral aspects of a state of happiness, including past experiences of what it felt like to have a felt sense of being “happy.” Then you can memorize what it feels like when you remember or recognize this state. Later, recalling this inner experience can help you manage stress, recover from negative emotions and even trauma. These memories will bring into your life, a greater sense of well-being and increased peace of mind.
Now we know that a state of happiness is not frivolous, nor selfish, nor mindless. Happiness is not a thing, but rather a state of the Self, an embodied process that includes patterns of thinking, feeling, sensing, experiencing, and behaving, an experience of energy moving through you, speaking to you on a non-conscious level, in an intuitive dimension, a soul place often beyond conscious awareness.
Here’s even better news about happiness– research reveals that as we become happier, we grow more creative, productive, energetic, altruistic, and genuinely more interested in others. Our relationships become stronger and more resilient, as do we. Happier people are engaged and engaging! Who wouldn’t like more of that?
Now as you reflect on your own experiences of happiness, as you define them, can you begin to understand more fully what makes you truly happy? This is not hedonism, this is not just pursuit of pleasure, this is happiness in its most essential form, the essence of what gives life the fullest extent possible of true happiness.
You don’t have to wait until the end of life to wish you had allowed yourself to be happier. How can you be happier now?
For your personal life journey, stay tuned for further thoughts and wise guidance for your soul’s path.
