How to be Happier!
Here are 6 tips to help you be happier, more in control, and able to cope better with life's ups and downs:
1. Managing your stress and anxiety levels by using time-management techniques, regular exercise, breathing techniques and time to yourself.
2. Doing things that you enjoy is good for your emotional wellbeing. Try to avoid things that seem enjoyable at the time but make you feel worse afterwards, such as drinking too much alcohol or eating junk food.
3. Boost your self-esteem by treating yourself as you'd treat a valued friend, in a positive but honest way. Self-compassion is the key!
4. Have a healthy lifestyle by:
limiting your alcohol intake - when times are hard, it's tempting to drink alcohol because it "numbs" painful feelings but it can exaggerate some feelings and make you feel angry or aggressive. It can also make you feel more depressed.
choosing a well-balanced diet - making healthy choices about your diet can make you feel emotionally stronger because you're doing something positive for yourself, which lifts your self-esteem.
doing some exercise - even moderate exercise releases chemicals in your brain that lift your mood and can help you sleep better, have more energy and keep your heart healthy.
getting enough sleep - around 7 to 8 hours is the average amount of sleep an adult needs for their body and mind to fully rest. N.B. writing a "to do" list for the next day before bed can organise your thoughts and clear your mind of any distractions.
5. Talk and share - communication is important, whether it's with a friend, family member or therapist. Talking things through helps you to release tension, rather than keeping it inside. It helps strengthen your relationships and connections with people. Lots of people find talking to a therapist about things that are troubling them very helpful.
6. Building resilience allows you to cope with life's ups and downs. Making something worthwhile out of painful times helps your resilience grow. Joining a support group, or making something creative out of bad experiences by, for example, writing, painting or singing, can help you express pain and get through hard times.
Clearly there are a lot of things we can do to help ourselves through our life - but sometimes we need some external help to shift negative emotions, thoughts or behaviours. Hypnotherapy can help! Get in touch for a free 30m chat.
Kirsten
Freedom Hypnotherapy