8 Mantras Of Joyful Living

In today’s stressful world we all suffer from gloominess and sadness. We often feel negativity around us and lack of happiness. Such condition can enhance and further turn up into depression and self-doubt. People even commit suicide due to such feelings. Sometimes these feelings may result from poor health also.

It is very important to take care of any person who is experiencing such feelings. It is important to think positive and appreciate the good things around us. People suffering from severe depression must take the help of counsellors etc. in order to improve the situation for them. Counsellors usually advise such people to adopt techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, mindfulness, setting an attainable daily goal, keeping a gratitude journal and performing small acts of kindness. Judith Moskowitz is a trained psychologist of the Northwestern University. She believes that when one is experiencing a lot of stress, it's easy to head into a downward spiral. She is involved in studying the ways positive emotions can influence people's health and stress. She has also developed the program taught to the caregivers. During her research, hundreds of stressed-out people have taken the five-week skills class. The participants include women with breast cancer, people recently diagnosed with HIV, people managing Type 2 diabetes and people with depression. She has worked hard and documented benefits in each of those studies. Moskowitz and her colleagues have been working on this subject for a while now and are about to launch another study of dementia caregivers. They have also invited the interested people to participate in her research. THIS particular program is unavailable to the general public outside the research project. Moskowitz has informed people about another online program titled “It's All Good Here”. This program also teaches similar kind of skills. The 8 techniques used in her study are briefed as follows:

1. Take a moment to identify one positive event every day.
2. Tell and share any positive incident or moment with friends and family.
3. Prepare a daily gratitude journal. Look for little things you're grateful for, for example a good cup of coffee, a pretty sunrise or nice weather.
4. Find out a personal strength and reflect on how you've used this strength today or in recent weeks.
5. Set a daily goal and keep a track of your progress. Usually progress gives us the inspiration to work more towards our goal.
6. Practice "positive reappraisal": Figure out an event or daily activity that is a hassle. Then, reframe the event in a more positive light.
7. Indulge in performing an act of kindness for someone. These daily acts of kindness can be as simple as giving someone a smile or giving up your seat on a crowded train.
8. Practice mindfulness by paying attention to the present moment.

By: Anuja Arora

Content: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/05/05/719780061/from-gloom-to-gratitude-8-skills-to-cultivate-joy