The stresses of everyday life can be overwhelming. Maintaining relationships, getting a promotion at work, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle all take time, effort, and can be difficult to maintain.
Fortunately, there are quick and easy ways to help reduce stress and anxiety. First, ‘Give yourself a chance to feel the emotions,’ say happiness experts. jessica weiss. She suggests spending 15 to 20 minutes a day taking time to feel sad, angry, or whatever you need. Use this time to share your feelings with friends or exercise to circulate your feelings.
The next step is to “flip the script on that overwhelming situation” and increase the joy in your life, Weiss says. Here are three easy methods.
1. Start a joy diary
Keeping a fun journal is an easy way to start feeling better right away.
Grab a blank notebook and “at the end of each day, write down three things that made you happy that day and why,” says Weiss.
Moments of joy recorded in your diary don’t have to be monumental. “You might be like, ‘Oh my god, I had the most delicious cappuccino,'” she says. “Or maybe you say, ‘My boss finally acknowledges this work I’ve been working on for six months.'”
The key is to take a quick look back at your day to see if anything, no matter how small, lifted your spirits. Doing so can boost your overall mood.
2. Create surprising moments of gratitude
“But those moments of surprise and gratitude are the moments that add to the joy,” she says. Surprise gratitude, she says, refers to the moment when you thank someone long after the event you’re grateful for has ended.
Let’s say you went to the hospital for surgery a few months ago, and now you’re sending a thank you card to the nurse who helped you with your care. This would be an example of showing your appreciation for the surprise. Because so much time has passed, it’s so unexpected that it can feel like “gratitude on steroids,” Weiss said.
She recommends a surprise thank you note every quarter.
3. Savor the moment
Finally, Weiss recommends savoring the special moments.
Whether you see a beautiful sunset on your way home or just get a compliment, “you can’t let that wash your mind,” says Weiss. “You need to take a moment and acknowledge the joy you’re feeling.” Visualize what you’re seeing in your mind and notice the sensations in your body. Anything that helps you really incorporate that.
Weiss says research shows that savoring the moment can help increase your sense of well-being. “Savoring is one of the best exercises for building your happiness muscles.”
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