10 Ways to Make Happiness a Daily Practice

This month I focused on Santosha (translated as contentment), one of the five personal disciplines in the Yoga philosophy.

I thought a lot about how we can be happy within the pressures and stresses of our modern day world.

10 practices you can do to make Happiness a habit:

1. Clear it – your mind, that is.  We are often driven by our ‘monkey minds’, so instead do a daily practice to allow your thoughts to rest.  Take a walk, do yoga, meditate, sit quietly, listen to your breath.  Just be.
2. Laugh about it – find things to laugh at every day.  No matter if you have to force it to begin with, it’ll turn into genuine laughter once you get going.  Try it.
3. Re-frame it – when you have negative thoughts, try looking at them from a different perspective or think the opposite.
4. Daydream it – give yourself time and space to let your thoughts wander.  Allow yourself to think and dream big.
5. Create it – do something creative every day.  Build, read, design, paint, write, sing, discuss.
6. Read it – try reading something every day that brings you joy.  Treat yourself.
7. Pamper yourself – no matter what, give yourself even just a few minutes to spoil yourself.
8. Love someone – every day, make it a practice to show your love for someone else.  Invite someone for tea.  Give someone a hug.  Express yourself.
9. Be happy for others – in the yoga text, it states that if you want to be happy, then be happy for others.  Write a congratulations card to someone.  Buy flowers.  Celebrate other people’s successes.
10. Feed it – feed your mind with happy thoughts.  Your brain is a powerful tool to be used in a constructive way – your happy thoughts will generate even more happy thoughts.

I also hope that in making an effort to bring daily happiness into our lives, that we can model these experiences for the children in our lives.  They too are experiencing tremendous stress and pressure at a young age.

Check out Anna and her Rainbow-Colored Yoga Mats.  Anna’s mom says to her, “Be true to yourself, Anna.  If you want to be happy, then you must be happy for other around you.“

Would love to hear your thoughts or if you have any suggestions.  My email is giselle(at)kidsyogastories(dot)com or join us on Facebook.

You can also sign up for the monthly Newsletter (it’s free!) below to receive discounts, tips, and updates.

Please share this list with your community if you find it useful.  Thank you for reading.

Image from Anna and her Rainbow-Colored Yoga Mats
Illustrated by Paul Wrangles