Cheat Sheet to a Boost of Happiness
Life Cheat Sheets (1 of 7)
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Welcome to the “Life Cheat Sheets” series in Life Cheat Sheets! For the next weeks I will offer printable cheat sheets you can use for free.
Ever feel crummy? Like you are in a bad mood and you’d like to get out of it but you don’t know how? Certainly a down day is different from something more deep and more chronic (such as depression). But for the time being, let’s just pause and take in a few ways to feel a bit better in short order. Forget about watching TV or tuning into TikTok, try these to get your happiness hormones hopping.
Free to Print
Cheat Sheet to a boost of happiness:
Get moving.
Awaken the Qi.
Create something.
Do an act of kindness for another.
Laugh.
Just click on the button below for a printable copy of this article.
Get moving!
Stand up and go for a little walk. In my experience, the more nature you can access the better, but even a bit of a walk through the halls of your workplace can be enough to shake loose a bad mood. If you can up your pace and get your heart going a little, that’s quite beneficial, too. The point is - get movin’!
Taking a stroll with family. Happiness boost. 2022. Why it works: Science has already discovered that a brisk walk releases endorphins, the happiness hormones. Additionally, Eastern wisdom teaches that imbalances affect mood, too. So, by moving both sides of the body as you swing your arms and legs in opposite directions, you are signaling to your body to recalibrate and rebalance an imbalance.
Awaken the Qi
Stand with feet shoulder width apart, knees soft. Using a gentle, loose closed fist, take three to five minutes and awaken your natural life energy through briskly tapping on your left arm (using your right fist), PAUSE, then move to your right arm (using your left fist). Start at the base of your neck and slowly move over your trapezoid muscles, your shoulder, down the outside of your arm, and over your hand. Then move to the palm, and then the underside of the lower arm to the upper arm. You are making a big loop up one side and down the other. Be sure to PAUSE and FEEL all the energy moving in that arm before tapping on the other arm.
Why it works: Ancient Eastern medicine teaches us that our life-force energy, or qi [chee], is always present in our bodies and moving (as long as we are living, that is). We often don’t even feel our own energy! But by awakening the qi, we can feel more alive, more vital, and more happy, too.
Bonus: If you like the short version of Awakening the Qi, you might also like the long version. Here’s what you do after you finish the arms: Awaken the qi in the whole body by continuing the process with both fists at the same time. Start on the sides of the body, move slowly down the outside of the legs, then switch to the inside of the legs while moving upward, continue the tapping through the torso. At the collar bones switch from tapping with fists to tapping with a few fingers. Continue gently up the neck, to the jaw line, the cheeks, the eyebrows, the forehead, and over and around the head until you end at the back of the neck. Notice the sensations this tapping creates.
Create something. Anything at all!
We are born creators. We are creating all the time. We inherently know how to create. We hum, doodle, arrange M&Ms into shapes and groups, come up with new recipes or new business plans. It’s so easy to create. (No one else even needs to know!) Creating can be as easy as singing a made up tune in the car all by yourself to doodling while you are waiting in a line. But it can be far more (and more fun) too. Color in an adult coloring book and then try making your own design. Dance around your living room to your favorite song. Pick up that guitar sitting in the closet and play a tune. Write a song or lyrics. Decorate a cake. Or even write a poem!
A month-long drawing project from 2022. (I’d not done much drawing in a very long time!) Why it works: Science shows a correlation between happiness and creativity. While creating might not make you feel happy while you are in the process of creating, you’ll likely get a boost of happiness afterward. You might even find you get lost in the creative process, a quality known as “flow.” And that can feel really awesome too.
Do an act of kindness for another.
Acts of kindness to others are actually proven to be one of the most powerful ways to bring happiness to one’s own life as well as to another. Open a door for someone. Spend a few minutes talking to a stranger who seems down or lonely. Pay it forward going through a drive through. Shovel your neighbor’s walk. The next time you bake, make a little extra to share with neighbors or co-workers. Create “gift bags” for the homeless or elderly in your community and give each away when the opportunity arises.
Why it works: The positive hormones dopamine is actually released and increased when you do good, kind acts for others. It’s a natural high!
Challenge: If you don’t already volunteer regularly, consider making the time to do so in a way that is meaningful for you. Dog rescues, food pantries, literacy programs, school reading programs, etc. can all be great ways to take your kindness to a new level.
Laugh.
Laughter IS the best medicine. Take a few minutes to laugh. Did you know that there are now laughter yoga coaches and laughter yoga classes? It’s silly and fun and will make you feel like a kid again. Another option is to find funny kittens or funny puppies or animals online. Or watch your favorite comedian. The thing is to get that real laughter going. Fake it til you make it!
Why it works: Your body responds AS IF you are genuinely laughing, even if you are just pretending. That means you get the benefits of a mood boost from the endorphins released during laughter. Other benefits are reduced pain, increased oxygen to the heart, lungs, and muscles. As you might expect, on average, children laugh far more often than adults.
Resources
Church, Dawson. “Dawson: Qi Gong Demonstration.” EFT Universe. YouTube.
C., Hannah. “What is the Science of Happiness?” The Science Times. 27 October, 2020. https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/27909/20201027/what-scientific-happiness.htm#:~:text=The%20scientific%20breakdown%20of%20happiness%20is%20more%20than,involves%20how%20we%20behave%20and%20choose%20to%20act.
“Laughter: A New Prescription for Good Health.” Kendal at Oberlin. 21 January 2020. https://kao.kendal.org/news/laughter-for-good-health/?gclid=CjwKCAjwiOCgBhAgEiwAjv5whOk7g_GNK4HCy-jxgA8_Xv8rD3tCstSduBslgQEGlkaI-y0VkO1CERoCbMAQAvD_BwE
You can find all of my series in the archives:
Adulting 101 Coupons: A Gift from your Parents
Partnering 101: A Deep Dive into Leaving Kindly
Me-Time: Self-care in the time of Covid
Reasons for Hope
From Fog to Flow
With a Grateful Heart
Lessons in Life School
Life Cheat Sheets
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Writer. Gong Player. Teacher.
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All photos by © Brenda Brayko 2023 unless otherwise credited.