If you’re happy and you know it……

 

The summer months are flying by all too quickly (as they always tend to do!), and it’s a shame as it’s generally associated with feelings of wellbeing and happiness.

So what is happiness and how do you know if you’re happy?

It seems like an easy question, but did you know that there is a school of thought that says there are three definitions of happiness?

  • Emotional happiness – this type of happiness is an emotional feeling, an experience.
  • Moral happiness – if you feel you lead a good and proper life, you might feel deeply satisfied and content.
  • Judgemental happiness – it involves making a judgement about the world as a source of potentially pleasurable feelings past, present and future. For example, you could be happy that you have a new home or happy you’ve been invited to party!

 

Happiness List

 

It has been reported that apart from satisfying relationships, other behaviours that predict happiness are

  • A steady dose of unselfish acts
  • Listing things that make you grateful which generate feelings of happiness
  • Cultivating a general attitude of gratitude
  • Being able to forgive

Interestingly money doesn’t appear on the list. The reason being that it only affects happiness when people are experiencing poverty. Research has shown that generally, increases in salary or a small windfall are short term and don’t make people happier.

 

 

For years psychology looked at problems and the root causes of unhappiness. Until a researcher named Martin Seligman, who was originally researching helplessness, slowly realised that studying optimism and the aspects of positive thinking was more beneficial than focusing on the negative emotions.

So, what does this mean for my clients?

Everyone wants to be happy, but those that come to see me usually do so because they have been unhappy for some time. Sometimes my clients come to see me as a ‘last resort’.  If we are unhappy, then we may suffer from aspects of anxiety, depression or anger.  So, understanding about our brain and its role in creating happiness is important.

During an Initial Consultation I always take some time to explain how our minds work so we can understand how we can change the way we think and feel.

 

Brain

 

The primitive mind/limbic system – this is where our ‘flight or fight’ survival responses sit. This part of our brain was developed a couple of million years ago and still operates as it did then, it’s never had an update. It’s responsible for our inappropriate behavioural patterns or habits.

The intellectual mind – this is the area where stuff gets done and when we’re operating from here, we generally feel positive.

Having the ability to recognise the connection between the primitive mind and stress and anxiety, helps us then to regulate it. We know that our primitive mind can ‘step in’ if our anxiety levels are high. When this occurs, we don’t have access to the intelligent part of our brain that can direct us to our future happiness.

 

Relaxation couch

 

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is a natural technique that helps to reduce the anxiety and stress levels and returns the intellectual mind back to being in control. It allows you to become open to the positives again. This could mean doing some things differently, seeing friends more, taking more time to relax and do the things we enjoy, learning something new or giving our time to help others.

With some relaxing hypnotherapy sessions, the process of becoming happy is within our control. By focusing on the positives to set your goals, we can make some real and lasting changes.

 

Happy in yellow flower field

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072