In honor of the summer, when we chill out and look for ways to take a break, today I'm going to blog about some practical tips for leading a life of more ease and happiness. "Happiness" is a loaded term, but in this case I don't mean pleasure, but rather the freedom of a centered life. Less anxiety, more awareness. So here we go!
1. Get Some Sleep - studies show that lack of sleep has wide, wide ranging consequences. In addition to the obvious, such as inability to operate a motor vehicle, there are consequences for health and happiness as well. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see that operating on less sleep increases cortisol levels, raises anxiety levels and can even cause us to gain weight. So why do we do it? Well, sometimes there are genuine health issues, such as sleep apnea. If you wake up tired after 8-9 hours of continuous sleep, see a doctor. But if you're just not going to sleep - stop it! Go to sleep!
2. Don't Get Attached To Your Stuff - OK, none of us wants to be a Buddhist monk and renounce all material possessions. I'm kind of fond of this laptop I'm typing on, for example. But the key is not to get too hung up on them. At Dharma Punx last night, founder Noah Levine had this to say: connect to your possessions, enjoy them, but remember that someday they will break. His advice: look at them as if they are already broken. Imagine what that will be like, and then let go of it and just enjoy the moment. How to know when it's not going well? When you feel like your possessions own you. The next time you find yourself driving to the storage shed to drop off another box, ask yourself: could I do without?
3. Exercise - Along with sleep, this is a no-brainer. Literally: one of the best ways to shut off the anxiety and cortisol loop is to elevate the heart rate and burn it off. Exercise improves blood flow and enhances sleep (just don't do it too close to bedtime). And even a little bit helps: there's no minimum. If you don't have time to work out, trying jogging to the car, or lifting arm weights while sitting at your desk.
4. Meditate - OK, so this is where I lose some people. Isn't meditation religion? Isn't it creepy? Won't I just get bored? Well, no, no, and probably not. Meditation is nothing more than just letting your thoughts flow for a minute. Like a river that's been dammed up, your thoughts often circle around, building up pressure until they break through. With meditation, we don't dry up the river, we just encourage it to flow, regarding what moves past with casual interest but no particular attachment. It's really the art of genuinely doing nothing. Not watching-30-Rock-and-eating-ice-cream-and-thinking-about-the-mortgage nothing, but real honest nothing. Our grandparents would probably have called this "sitting down". If you live in San Francisco, try SF Insight on Sunday nights, Dharma Punx on Fridays, or the SF Buddhist Center's beginning meditation classes on Thursday nights. Or just do it in the comfort of your own home!
5. Give - One of the best ways to get perspective is to get out and do something for somebody else. Volunteering at the soup kitchen, helping kids with their homework, boxing up clothes for Salvation Army - all of these things force us to take a step back. And they make us feel better about ourselves.
6. Don't Work So Hard - America is one of the most overworked countries in the world. So take a break. Honestly. Nobody will miss you. Leave an hour early and just sit in your car and space out. Take Friday afternoon off and go fishing. Seriously, nothing will happen. Except you might get a little less stressed out.
7. Don't Look To Other People (or Things) to Solve Your Problems - this is called "externalization", and it's just not helpful. You probably already know this, but you do it anyway. Try this exercise: imagine your biggest problem suddenly going away. Would everything be better? Or would something else just become the "biggest problem"? Of course, sometimes we really do have big problems. But think back over your life: how many times in your life did you honestly have a really big problem? Once? Twice? A half dozen times? And how many times have you worried about things that didn't turn out to be such a big deal?
8. Tomorrow Doesn't Exist - Really. It kinda doesn't. So don't put off your own happiness and pleasure. Waiting for something? Enjoy the journey, not the destination. Being miserable about it probably won't make it happen faster. All we really have is this moment - I bet if you think hard enough you can find a way to enjoy it.
9. Put The Keyboard Down - And the phone, and the tablet. It's really not surprising that humans require human interaction. After all, it's what we had to do to survive for millions of years. We haven't adapted - at least not yet - to all this computer stuff. So get back to basics - find a friend, get a frisbee, throw that sucker around. There's no e-frisbee.
10. Go Have a Hot Fudge Sundae - or a plate of french fries, or a funnel cake with strawberries, or whatever it is that floats your boat. Just get the small - you don't need the large. And savor each bite. After the first couple, you might be full, so just stop eating. But do nice things for yourself - you deserve it, and giving yourself the freedom to be good to yourself will help you be good to others.
That's it for now - take all these tips with a grain of salt. I hope it helps! Enjoy!
--Adam
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