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 ...

Sitting Quietly With Zen A new version of an older post. Find a quiet place to sit. This can be outside or in.  Take some gentle breaths to calm your mind. Don't look for meaning; just sit, just accept. Remember that from a withered tree, a flower blooms. Simple living is consolation. Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. The tighter you squeeze, the less you have. No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place. Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong. Knock on the sky and listen to the sound. When you try to stay on the surface of the water, you sink; but when you try to sink, you float. Sit, walk, or run, but don't wobble. Live your life. Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself. The Heart Sutra - A musical rendition by Imee Ooi with words in Sanskrit Wendy Mason is a life...

If you are looking for work, you need to be sure about the kind of job you want. This is key to success. The clearer you are about what you really want; the more chance you have of making a good decision.  Follow the link for ideas to help you make the right choice   http://www.lifecoach-directory.org.uk/lifecoach-articles/looking-for-work-some-things-to-consider

The hoop is a important symbol to many Native American tribes and for some the hoop dance is a healing dance.  The hoop can be used to represent many things but essentially the  hoop symbolizes the never-ending circle of life. It is a dance that can amaze and delight you as in Brian Hammill's performance below. Dancers incorporate between one and 30 or more hoops in the dance, which are used to create both static and dynamic shapes, or formations, representing various animals, symbols, and storytelling elements. The solo dancers use their numerous hoops to represent eagles, butterflies, snakes, etc. Hands are used far more than hips; hoops do not swing around bodies but are moved carefully from formation to formation. Native American hoop dancers live throughout North America. A few even live elsewhere. Hoop dancers vary in the way they see their hoops and their dances.  Some might think of hoops as sacred.  Others might see them simply as dancing accessor...