Less Stress. More Simplicity. Better Health. More Happiness

Finding happiness is one of the primary goals for all of us. Every religion and philosophy has offered its own route to happiness. Happiness is a state of mind and there are many paths to it. There are common characteristics to sustained happiness as well as common causes of unhappiness. These usually transcend all classifications of gender, age or race. The short story is, we are all capable of happiness but also capable of unhappiness.

What is Happiness?

Happiness is best defined as a state of the mind. The dictionary definition is a feelings of joy and pleasure mingled together. A feeling of happiness is more than just an experience of joy or pleasure. It is a state of mind where the individual feels that life is good and the universe has fallen in line just for us.

Can we become Happier?

Happiness is a state of mind which can be induced in many ways. Some result in short term happiness while others result in long lasting happiness. One way of achieving long lasting happiness and fulfillment is meditation. For a busy person, a more practical way to becoming happier is to make steady progress towards meaningful goals. Even though this seems simple, it really is a very powerful tool to attain a state of long lasting happiness. The goals may vary from person to person but for everyone happiness comes from merely making steady progress towards goals that are meaningful to them. The key is that goals have to be meaningful to you. Striving to achieve goals set by other people is pointless and will not bring any happiness.

There should be a clear aim in your goals. These may include good health, sufficient income to meet basic needs, love, productive work or activity, defined and achievable goals and positive attitude. All the money in the world will not make you happy if you ignore your health or have dysfunctional relationships. Also you must try to remove the causes of unhappiness from your life. These causes can be  , failure to achieve goals, envy, relationship problems, loneliness and fear of what other people think of you.

Studies have shown that a number of factors contribute to sustained happiness. Some of these are; [Read more →]

Barefoot running is becoming increasingly popular. I first heard about barefoot running while browsing through books on running at the local library. I stumbled across a book called “ Born to Run” by Christopher McDougal.

What first caught my attention was the title. I had taken up running again but found that my heels and knees were becoming sore and my strike was very heavy and sounded clumsy. I began to research online and talked to friends and the general consensus seemed to be, that we humans are not built to run.

This book completely challenged that view. I had to find out more.

What I really love bout this book is that it was inspired by the same problem and question that most runners have. “Why does my foot hurt?” The book follows the quest to find the answer to this simple question.

Most runners experience some kind of pain while running or training. The statistics are actually as high as 8 out of 10. What caught Christopher McDougals imagination was a picture of a 55 year old Tarahumara Indian who had just won the 100 mile race through harsh Mexican terrain, wearing only minimal protection from home made sandals.

McDougal could not understand how the Tarahumara ran such great distances with minimal footwear and sustained no injuries. In the west we have running shoes that have been developed and improved by sport scientists since the 1970’s. What was going wrong?

What Christopher McDougal found changed his life and the life of all the runners who decided to switch to barefoot running. There seemed to be a link between the invention of cushioned running shoes and the increase in running injuries.

When we run in cushioned running shoes we tend to adopt the heel strike motion. This has been advocated as the correct running posture, but things could be changing.

If you try to heel strike while running barefoot you will not last very long. The stress on the heel will be too great. Interestingly tests have shown that when candidates were asked to run barefoot, their running style changed and they ran landing on the center and front of the foot.

Some studies suggest that relying on cushioned running shoes has weakened the bones. Running barefoot will strengthen the bones and also allow the body to adopt a natural running style.

Running barefoot will also allow you to run faster and tune into your bodies natural motions.

If you have somewhere to run barefoot then great, the feet soon adapt and form calluses to help protect your feet. For those who live in the city or fear cuts and injuries from sharp objects or worry about the hygiene aspect of running barefoot then Vibram Five Fingers or a minimal running shoe, designed to mimic barefoot running but offer extra protection may just be what you need.

So far I have enjoyed adapting to this new running style and find that it does feel more natural. I will say that it may take a few sessions to get used to barefoot running, as your feet will no doubt be soft from wearing padded shoe. This soon corrects itself though.

Click the link below to find out more about barefoot running.

The feeling of calm and wholeness after a meditation session is one of the best feelings I have ever experienced. It is as if the pieces of the puzzle that makes up your being have realigned and reconnected. The worries and stresses that pop up with everyday life fade into the background and become less important as you simply exist in the moment during mind meditation.

I have to admit that I did not find mediation easy at first. It has taken a while to train my mind into releasing thoughts and becoming quiet. I struggled with this and became frustrated many times, but as I began to understand the reason that my mind found it hard to remain quiet it became easier.

We live in a world of constant communication and stimulation. Our brains are on constant overdrive. We want instant results. Once I realized that results would not appear instantly and accepted this, things became much easier.

The mistake I was making was to try and fight the thoughts that popped into my mind. This resulted in being unable to fully relax and being in a state of constant battle with the contents of my own head. Not a good place to be.
I finally found a piece of advice that changed the whole meditation process for me. Rather than trying to fight the thoughts that popped up inside an over active brain, I should simply accept they are there and not hold onto them. By letting them pass, my brain remained relaxed and my mind could quiet itself naturally. I like to view each though like a cloud and watch as it passes overhead. [Read more →]

Many people find that their unhappiness is linked to a desire or need for something they want or something that they feel is lacking in their life. By taking the time to step back and access the situation and take stock of your thoughts and emotions, you can start to work out what is missing.

You may be surprised by what you find. Is it a case that something is actually missing or is a change of perception needed to let go of the negative feelings and to move forward and to allow happiness in.

Take a child for example. A child will laugh and smile and play and be happy as long as all the basic needs are met. As we grow older it is easy to become blinded by the world we live in. We begin to think that happiness is found in a successful job, money, material objects. We must realise that these are all modern ideas and memes and in the grand scheme of human evolution, are incredibly new. [Read more →]