I think it's safe to say that we human beings like to be happy. In fact seeking happiness is an inherent human trait. Living in 4D means fully expressing ourselves physically, emotionally, intellectually and intentionally. But most people will experience happiness as an emotion and it will often be their emotional self experiencing it. If we are past 30 years old this may a be a younger version of ourselves. But what about our intellectual, intentional and physical selves?
If you enjoy exercising your intellect by doing puzzles and processing information and knowledge you will be able to increase your happiness quotient by engaging in intellectual pursuits like reading, debating issues with others and watching intellectually challenging documentaries and films.
We can certainly increase our subjective intentional happiness by expressing and embodying our deepest values, ideas and beliefs in our behavior and actions.
The interesting thing to consider here is that the emotional, intellectual and intentional selves are predominantly psychological processes. They are the feeling and thinking capacities of the mind.
So what about our bodies? How does physical behavior impact on our ability to be happy?
The study of genetics has suggested that our genetic make up accounts for around 50% of our happiness levels. Not much you can do about that you might think. Or is there?
Recent research in the field of epigenetics suggests that over generations our DNA does in fact change our bodies as a result of our experiences and environment, impacting then our future generations. So, what about in the here and now? If we discount a 10% influenced factor for our environment, the remaining 40% of our happiness levels are within our control. And one way to start impacting this for the positive is through your physical self.
Can we create positive, happy emotions just by changing our physical behavior? The answer is Yes!
Did you know that if you smile, even faking it your brain releases a message to release endorphins – the very neurotransmitters that cause us to smile! Our brain is constantly receiving messages resulting from our physical behaviours so just by smiling, laughing, using high energy joyful body language we are effectively tricking our brains into feeling those happy emotions – as well as reducing our stress levels. Our happiness levels in turn affect our health, ageing and even our longevity. Recovery times from illness have been shown to be reduced for those individuals expressing more positive emotions and even susceptibility to the common cold is lower in happier people. And at the very crucial level of life longevity, research has demonstrated that happier people (as defined through their higher use of positive language) live longer – between 4-10 years longer. So keep smiling!!
Post by Penelope Waller
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