Cultivating Happiness … From the Inside Out

 

Spring is the time to plant new seeds in the garden.  We leave the winter nest and embrace new beginnings, purchase and lay down new plants.  We can look at how we can use the same concept to cultivate happiness and fulfilment in our own lives.

Spring cleaning

The first stage is spring cleaning or the weeding stage.   We try to understand what’s getting in our way, either through therapy or confronting what’s keeping us stuck – Relationships? Work? Fear? Brene Brown’s TED Talk on vulnerability and courage could be a good place to start if you want to delve deeper https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability

Acknowledging

The second stage is taking a step back and acknowledging the work you’ve done. It’s may not have been pleasant, but you can step back and acknowledge and admire your hard work.  You may feel that a sense of new beginnings.  You may feel re-energised, or a sense of renewal. Practising Mindfulness, can play this role in our own lives, giving a sense of presence, awareness, and re-focusing, without judgement or evaluation.

Cultivating Happiness

The third stage is the real gold – cultivating happiness, planting the seeds. Rick Hanson wrote a book called Hardwiring Happiness, and he talks a lot about the idea that we can build resilience through paying attention to the positive, beautiful moments in our lives. It has now been scientifically proven, that paying attention to those precious moments lays down the foundations for happiness within.  This then builds resilience for when times are tough. I love his words “take care of the minutes, and the years will take care of themselves”. If you pay attention to those small moments of wonder in your life, then you are preparing your mind and body to hold onto positivity and build further resilience. http://www.rickhanson.net/the-science-of-positive-brain-change/
Alternatively if you get stuck in a negative thought process, it’s like a broken record, the needle stuck in the groove, and it’s not a good groove!

I’m not a gardener, but it’s pretty evident to me that if you want your garden to be sustainable and weather the storms, and be the best it can be, you have to start with the weeding before you can plant the seeds. Then plant the seeds of positivity and notice life. Internalising positive and pleasurable experiences through noticing and paying attention, even if it’s only for a couple of moments, is like installing a new software update that gives you new gifts of positive perspectives.