Your Happiness Factor

Your Emotions – When You Feel Hurt! When you feel hurt you are usually responding to what you see as an injustice. Usually you feel hurt when you feel something isn’t fair - someone has let you down or treated you in a way you feel is not right. Often, when you feel hurt you will withdraw from the person who has hurt you and stop all communication with them. Others might see this as resentment or aloofness and some see you as sulking. Please don't Sulk! Sulking can be silent sulking or it might be angry, noisy sulking with the slamming of doors and much huffing and puffing. Sometimes you just snipe at someone close to you without saying why.  "Surely, if he loved me enough He would know why!" Often behavior like this is about getting even or punishing – at the very least you want an apology. But sulking rarely achieves the outcome that you want. It can make you more miserable than the person you believe has transgressed. Overcom...

Nadi Shodhana (Alternate Nostril Breathing); the alternative to that extra cup of coffee! Nadi Shodhana is a powerful breathing practice you can use to refresh or simply to settle your mind. Nadi is a Sanskrit word meaning 'channel' or 'flow' and shodhana means 'purification.' The technique is said to bring calm and balance. It can certainly help you feel more awake. It takes a lot less toll on your body than caffeine! Alternate nostril breathingis particularly helpful when you need to ease racing thoughts if you are experiencing anxiety or stress. You can use it whenever you need to focus or energize. Please don't use it just before bed time! There is a video below explaining the technique but here is a simple guide. Start by sitting in a comfortable upright position. Close your eyes and take a deep breath in and out through your nose. Hold your right thumb over your right nostril to close it and inhale deeply and slowly through your le...

The body has it's own way of soothing us when we are in pain. Endorphins are "neurotransmitters" produced naturally in the body response to pain. In the early 1970s, researchers were studying how the brain is affected by things like heroin or morphine. They found they reacted with receptor cells mainly in the the brain and spinal cord to block pain signals. The scientists wondered why such cells existed and it was then that they realised that the body produced its own opium like substances; the endorphins.  Endorphins are produced as a response to various stimuli like stress and fear as well as pain. But they can give us a sense of restful bliss. They are often triggered when we have a good cry - that is why sometimes crying feels so comforting! The good news is that endorphins are also released by having a good laugh. Here are some great ideas to help you release your own endorphins Have a good giggle - spend time with people who make you laugh. Watch funny...

Listen to the Divine Mantra of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, known as Kuan Yin to the Japanese and Chinese, can be depicted as male or female. Kuan Yin, "Regarder of the Cries of the World", is sometimes thought of in the West as a Goddess of Mercy. Her compassion for all beings is vast and inconceivable. Her body and garments are of brilliant, translucent white light. She carries a white vase of compassionate water in her left hand and the sacred willow branch in her right hand. Enlightened through infinite acts of compassion, in countless lifetimes, her feet rest upon a fragrant red lotus flower above a vast ocean. Her brows are curved and radiant like the crescent of an autumn moon. With the sweet dew drops she sprinkles from her vase she relieves the suffering of beings everywhere and always - for countless autumns. Kuan Yin appears in different forms in religions around the world. What she embodies is the power of compassion that rests ...