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Are we supposed to be Zen?
I’ve been reflecting about the connection of the parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for rest, digest and relax, sympathetic nervous system is responsible for fight or flight) and happiness. After all, most of happiness seems to be connected with relaxation. Also, positive emotions (the various forms of happy – from calm, serene to interested, joyful and…
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Water Tank
I’m at the point where I suspect happiness has almost everything to do with relaxation. Some excitement is good but since the world causes usually lots of stress (or we do), it’s really about lots of breathing and calming the nervous system. With a calmer nervous system, it is easier to see opportunities (and act…
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Happiness is my Priority
For the last 10 days, I have been experimenting with a challenge – the Happiness is my Priority challenge. Every day, I post on Instagram “Happiness is my Priority“. I create a new post daily, not copying or recycling old posts or scheduling them days ahead. The importance lies in the intention to commit newly…
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Frustration and Happiness
Today I’m sharing my reflections on frustration. Frustration falls under the category of negative emotions. It’s on the scale with anger – a less aggressive form of anger. Frustration gets us into the tunnel view, letting us think that we are not good or supported enough. So, let’s deconstruct that a bit and find how…
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Manifesting 10k per month
Abundance and manifesting – yes, I’m back at this topic. Not so surprising when we remember that I made myself homeless because I didn’t have enough money for rent. At the same time, I’m not worried. There’s always been money for the things I really wanted. I just can’t “order” or manifest a random sum…
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Shocking incidents and fear
This email is about exploring happiness, and, as a reminder my definition of happiness is embracing life with all its challenges, making as many positive moments as possible without ignoring the negative ones. We cannot avoid shocking incidents and fear, so this is a reflection about how to deal with this. So, happiness is not…
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Episode 30 – Suffering
Suffering is linked to happiness. Some people seem to think that you have to suffer to discover happiness. And they may not be wrong. But how much do you have to suffer? What is suffering? Suffering is caused by pain or distress. It is an unpleasant emotion, usually associated with the experience or expectation of…
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Episode 28 – Rituals
Rituals are part of all cultures and traditions. We pass rituals down from generation to generation. In this episode, I reflect on the link between rituals and happiness. What are rituals? Rituals are activities (or gestures, words or sounds) performed in a certain order. These activities are symbolic, and the ritual doesn’t have to be…
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Episode 27 – Happy Hormones
Happiness hormones are powerful in ensuring consistent happiness. I have talked about these hormones in previous episodes. Because they are so powerful, I am dedicating this episode to happy hormones. Happy hormones help us feel good. They are dopamine, oxytocin, endorphins and serotonin. Understanding how they are triggered gives you the tools to get out…
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Episode 20 – Mindset
After introducing the Exploring Happiness Framework in the last episode, this episode is dedicated to the first pillar of the framework: Mindset. I’m diving into all the things we can influence but also those which influence us more than they should. While our thoughts can dominate us, we can also work out how to control…
