Happiness Break: 3 Practices for Happy Mind, Body and Soul

“Happiness is a state of mind. It’s just according to the way you look at things.” Walt Disney 

What is the ultimate goal of everything we do in life? To be happy.

Whether we want to get married, have children, build a business or a career, build a home, have a big family, etc. The driving force behind all these desires is a simple goal – feeling happy. 

Although our natural state is to be happy, our mind is great at playing tricks on us through our imagination and unnecessary psychological drama. 

One of the most life-transforming lessons I learned from my recent Indian trip was the importance of discipline and commitment in everything we do. Isn’t it true that when we get into a new relationship or get married, maintaining our obligations toward the other person is at the forefront of our attention? 

However, when it comes to ourselves and the commitments we make to our health and well-being, overriding them becomes the easiest thing. 

Since a car can’t run on an empty tank, it is silly for us to believe that we can show up and feel like the best version of ourselves without filling our cup first. 

Happiness and your spiritual practice

My recent trip to India solidified the importance of daily habits for our mental and physical health. Since happiness is a state of mind, our mental stability is the foundation of creating a happy and fulfilling life. 

If you don’t have regular daily practice, something from your daily tasks will need to give in. Whether it is your favorite show on Netflix you watch every day, prolonged time on social media, or long phone calls with your girlfriends, you will have to take time out of something and put it into your routine. 

Happiness and its healing power 

By putting your happiness practice in place, understanding how your mind and thoughts work, and then implementing tools and techniques for better mind management, you feel happier while healing yourself.    

To better illustrate how happiness contributes to our healing process, here are three practices to feel happier. 

Happy Mind

Our thoughts create our emotions which eventually drive our actions. Therefore to live happier and make healthier choices, we must become in charge of our minds. 

The first thing to practice is the awareness of the mind. In the recent article, I went into more detail about how our mind works, how we can use it to heal ourselves, and what it means to disidentify with our mind. 

But to give you an overview – your mind runs wild if unmanaged. It runs on old programming, triggers, and beliefs. Therefore learning how to manage it through mental awareness, self-forgiveness, and choice of different thoughts is at the forefront of deep inner transformation. 

One of the best practices for creating a happier mind is meditation. It not only builds more self-awareness but also regulates anxiety, depression, and overthinking and allows you to be more present.

 Happy Body

 How we feel physically directly impacts our happiness level. You may know too well that once you get sick, suddenly all the deadlines, a moody boyfriend, or what your mother said last week doesn’t matter. You only want to feel good.

A happy body represents various things like feeling fit and physically strong, having a well-balanced diet, or having a healthy relationship with your physical self. 

One of the practices that have the power to support all these three areas is yoga. Since yoga is a form of physical fitness, it builds you up and makes you physically fit. A well-built physique is probably the most visible benefit. 

One of the most valuable lessons I learned during my yoga training was to accept my body and respect it. Instead of comparing myself to other yogis, I stopped striving for perfection and accepted where I was. 

Eventually, I began developing a healthier relationship with myself and felt more confident in my skin. 

Regarding healthy eating, we want to look at the role of neuroplasticity and how it alters our mindset. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to mold and change because of different experiences. 

Once you start practicing yoga regularly, you send a signal to your brain that you are taking healthy steps to care for your body. It is not uncommon for people who begin practicing yoga to start adjusting other habits, like healthy eating, implementing meditation, spending more time in nature, etc.

Happy Soul 

So far, we have talked about mind management, discipline within our spiritual practice, and physical happiness. Now it’s time for the fun stuff. Maintaining a happy soul is doing what you love and what brings you joy. Often it involves using your creativity like painting, writing, going to a pottery class, and so on. 

One of the things I do is I go on Instagram and put into the search box “funny videos”. Then I keep laughing at the silliest things I find. I realized that by taking care of the “serious stuff” I often get sucked in and forget to laugh. 

Laughing or being creative is what makes life fun and enjoyable. It reminds you why you are here- to feel and be happy.