happiness Archives - Emerging Women

Five Easy Tips to Move from Theory to Practice

Have you ever started a new exercise regime to improve your health? Have you ever dedicated yourself to reaching a certain goal in your career? What about the dream of having a partner who is just the right fit for you?

Most of us relate to having dreams, goals and hopes for our lives. After all, these aspirations are what ignite the fire that drives you to get up and go after your deepest desires.

I believe big dreams create the magic of your life and are meant to be approached with a curiosity and thirst to fully experience life—bumps and all. By opening up to the idea that the journey is the magic, rather than reaching the actual dream itself, you open the floodgates to love your life right now.

When you give yourself the gift of seeing and experiencing all that is amazing in your life at this very moment, you no longer need to delay happiness until you meet some future goal.

In an effort to simply love life exactly as it is right now, no matter what dreams are in the works, I made this list of reminders and inspirations to put into practice each day. I encourage you to give them a try and see which ones work best for you:

1. Self-Awareness

When you step outside of yourself and take a good honest look at how you are showing up, over time you begin to take yourself a whole lot less seriously. There is a real lightness and sense of ease that comes from being able to laugh at yourself and see the humor in a situation.

By regularly checking in with yourself, you may also start to notice the patterns in how you show up and where there may be room to shift and grow.

Being self-reflective in a healthy way helps to strengthen your relationship with yourself. It also builds your self-confidence and resourcefulness in trusting yourself to take steps that are congruent with who you are at your core. Meditation first thing in the morning and writing at any time of the day have become essential tools in building my self-awareness practice. Have fun choosing the tools that most suit your style in order to create meaning and consistency in your self-awareness practice.

2. Give

Give what you can, whenever you can. It could be spreading kindness through your words, smiles, and helpful acts, or merely being present for those you share space with. When you adopt a generous attitude, it becomes easier to let go of beliefs and judgments that create an ‘us against them’ mentality.

Giving without strings attached or ulterior motives not only brightens the receiver’s day, it also fills up your heart and the moments before you with joy. It feels good to give, so do it as much as your heart desires. If there are times where you can extend your reach out to your local or global community, then do that, too.

Approaching your life with compassion and love may very well be the greatest gift you could give yourself and your community. The ripple effect you create by being content and happy with your life will be felt and may very well become contagious.

3. Move

Your health and well-being is deeply connected to your feelings and overall attitude. When you feel good in your body, it becomes natural and easy to be happy with life.

We all vary in our abilities and the types of physical activities we enjoy. What may feel great for one person may not for another. The key is to engage in activities that you enjoy and movement that fits your lifestyle and needs. Do what works best for you to create a regular habit of moving your body to help you feel the very best you can.

4. Breathe

Deep, intentional breathing is one of the most powerful ways to calm yourself and ease feelings of stress and anxiety. The best part about this particular tool is that it is “built-in,” and pretty straightforward to engage!

When you find yourself in a stressful situation, you are more than likely holding your breath. In these situations, if possible, take a few deliberate deep breaths, holding each for the count of four. Doing this helps calm your body and creates space to refocus your mind away from destructive or overwhelming thought patterns.

The more you practice focusing on your breath, whether that is through yoga, meditation or routinely scheduled times throughout the day, the more likely it will become a habit and natural place to go to transform stress.

Breath may not solve the world’s problems, but it certainly helps to soften the daily stress and tension that often accompanies a busy life.

5. Gratitude

Gratitude is my number one favorite way to get out of any funk and into the joy of life. When you focus on what you are thankful for, you relive all of the beautiful stories and reasons why your life is worth loving right now–and that feels so good!

There are countless reasons to be thankful. Getting to wake up each day to the miracle of being alive is just one of them. There’s also the air you breathe, the sights you see, and the opportunities and possibilities before you. Your list of reasons to be grateful is as unique as you are, and is yours by design.

I love to start my day reflecting on three reasons I am grateful to be alive, and end it by reviewing three reasons I am grateful for my day. The more you engage in a gratitude practice, the more natural it becomes to scan your world and see new evidence of things to be grateful for.

Being genuinely thankful on a regular basis helps you to see why your life is worthy of loving right now at this very moment.

Don’t delay your happiness for later. Jump in and love the life you are in. You are worth it!

Emily Madill is an author, professional coach and motivational speaker. She lives on Vancouver Island, Canada, with her husband and two sons. She has a BA degree in business and psychology and completed her coach training through Erickson International College. She blogs for Huffington Post and has published multiple esteem building books for children. Emily enjoys an active lifestyle including running, fitness, yoga, and keeping up to the adventurous pace of her family. She is a firm believer in stretching comfort zones and Dreaming BIG! Check out her new book, Fall in Love with Your Life, One Week at a Time.

This week in Juicy Bites, discover:

How to start a 2014 “Happiness Jar” practice with Elizabeth Gilbert
Children’s book editor Ursula Nordstrom’s witty approach to New Year’s Resolutions
The benefits of resolving to be more generous in 2014
10 TED Talks to inspire achievable, process-based resolutions
Why 2014 will be the year of mindful living

At the end of this post, we encourage you to join us for a conversation. This week’s Juicy Bites question for you, dear emerging women, is:

1. End of the Year HAPPINESS JARS! via Elizabeth Gilbert

“Happiness comes in the sideways moments, the humble moments,” says author Elizabeth Gilbert. Making those moments tangible, something you can hold in your hand on a rainy day, can be a powerful practice. In this post Gilbert explains how to start your very own 2014 Happiness Jar to celebrate the simple moments in life that otherwise might be forgotten.

“They are almost always nearly invisible moments when suddenly I just felt in my bones the very best aspects of my humanity — gratitude, peace, hope, contentment.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

2. How Ursula Nordstrom, Beloved Patron Saint of Childhood, Did New Year’s Resolutions via Brain Pickings

Children’s book editor Ursula Nordstrom had a witty approach to New Year’s resolutions. Half a century later, her funny and compassionate take on trying to better herself is still relevant and worth thinking about when styling our own resolutions.

“My New Year’s resolution is to be more loving. I don’t know how it will work out as I have been quite loving up to now with some disastrous, or at least misunderstood, results. Anyhow, I will try even more love and I will let you know what happens. So far not so good. But then it is only the second day.” – Ursula Nordstrom

3. A New Year’s Resolution Worth Making via Psychology Today

Lisa Firestone, Ph.D., has a radical idea for 2014 New Year’s Resolutions. Instead of fueling our inner critics with rigid goals meant to produce better versions of ourselves, Firestone suggests we turn our attention outward. In this article, she explains the benefits (not just to others!) of resolving to be more generous.

“Let’s stop buying into the notion that we need to be fixed. Instead, let’s resolve to do the one thing that’s been scientifically proven to make us happier, more fulfilled individuals – let’s shift our focus outward and become more generous.” – Lisa Firestone

4. Your TED-inspired New Year’s resolutions via TED Blog

Need some help making your meaningful and achievable New Year’s resolutions? Watch these TED Talks for ideas on making process-based changes in the way we think instead of focusing on specific desired outcomes.

“The perfect tools aren’t going to help us if we can’t give and receive fearlessly.” – Amanda Palmer

5. Why 2014 Will Be The Year Of Mindful Living via The Third Metric

One of the world’s largest marketing communications brands has declared that 2014 will be characterized by a movement toward mindful living. This article explores why trendsetters, search engines, thought leaders, corporations, and scientists all seem to have mindfulness on the brain.

“What the culture is craving is a sense of ease and reflection, of not needing to be stimulated or entertained or going after something constantly. Nobody’s kicking out technology, but we have to regain our connection to others and to nature or else everybody loses” – Soren Gordhamer