Simple Guide To Happiness

I would usually consider myself to be a pretty happy and healthy person, I use the gym and work out quite often, eat a healthy balanced diet and have a general happy, positive attitude towards life but recently I am increasingly beginning to realise that health isn't just about what you eat and how much you exercise, it's all about maintaining a healthy mind as well as a healthy body. I am a firm believer that a positive, open mind, full of inspiration, enthusiasm and contempt is one of the important keys to happiness, which is why I think its just as important to take a little time out each day to relax, recharge, de-stress and take care of your body and mind in order to help yourself achieve a happier and healthier lifestyle. 

Positivity Positivity Positivity
In my opinion, this is by far the most important factor to happiness. The best of us can find something to be genuinely happy about, even in the most miserable and hopeless of situations. You would be so surprised at how much more you are able to achieve just by starting the day with an open, positive 'I can do this' frame of mind. Sometimes all we need is a little push or self belief to allow us to reach our full potential when undertaking daily tasks and achieving our goals in life. Listening to motivating music or watching inspirational videos really helps me with this, and I have seen an exponential increase in my happiness and productivity since adopting this new frame of mind. Put your happiness first for once, worry less about what other people think and make more time to indulge in things that you enjoy and I promise that you will see vast improvements in your general mood.

I completely understand, from experience, that worrying less can be so much easier said than done. Something that really doesn't help is worrying about things that are beyond your control, they are most probably going to happen whether or not you spend sleepless nights thinking about them. Try to spend less time worrying about what other people think about you, you were not put on this earth to please other people, spend life doing more things that make you happy, despite what anybody else thinks! Every morning is a chance for a fresh start, only you can control how you approach that day, you only get one chance at life, don't waste it on negativity.

Grab a pint
A liquid that you should be familiar with. It is essential to life, usually makes up around two thirds of your body and provides a medium for all of those helpful little chemical reactions to occur within you. No not alcohol, water! It is something that gets drilled into you again and again but drinking enough water really is important and really does make a huge difference to many aspects of your lifestyle. The health authorities suggest that you should be drinking at least 8-10 glasses (2 litres) of water every day, which can be made a lot less hefty when combined with squash or tea. Drinking more water boosts concentration, improves moods and has even been linked to clearer skin, weight loss and detoxification of the body by flushing out all of those nasty free radials. Gulping down an icy cold pint of water first thing in the morning raises your metabolism, increasing energy levels and helping you to face the day head on, just don't try and drink out of a glass while laying down in bed, it usually doesn't end well..

Adventure
I used to spend a whole lot of time indoors avoiding contact with other human beings, partly due to being shy and socially awkward and partly down to feeling a lot more comfortable and contempt in my own company. However tempting it may be and however much I may not feel comfortable in a crowd, I soon realised that all day Netflix marathons were not going to help me achieve anything I want to do in life or eradicate problems such as my social awkwardness. The best way to make the most of life is actually getting out of the house, leaving your comfort zone, and hitting life head on, trying out new experiences and embarking on little adventures throughout this journey we call life. I found that the absolute perfect, blissful escape for me was by the sea, where I could distance myself from the busy stresses of life, accompanied by the soothing sound of waves and the fresh sea air. 

Embarking on the great outdoors also helps you to receive your daily quota of vitamin D from sunlight (even when the sun is lurking behind the clouds, aka typical British weather). Vitamin D has a wide range of benefits including reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease. The best time for vitamin D production is when the sun is high in the sky, but just remember to slap on that sun cream when exposing yourself to the summer weather to avoid that dreaded sunburn!

Exercise
Exercise can be a dreaded thought for a lot of people, but there are so many different forms of exercise that I dont believe that anybody truly hates every one, and if you do, you just probably just haven't found the ideal one for you yet. It is really vital that you don't make exercise into a chore, whether you happen to enjoy resistance training for gaining and maintaining muscle, yoga for flexibility and relaxation or team sports to build friendships, make sure you choose things that you look genuinely forward to. Exercise has so many more benefits than just weight loss or toning up. I understand from experience that it can be a struggle trying to find the time, energy or motivation to squeeze exercise into a busy routine and suffer with the 'I'll start tomorrow' frame of mind but it is absolutely amazing how much getting that heart rate up for even as little as 20-30 minutes or more a day can improve your mood, help you to feel de-stressed and more motivated towards life. Be sure to have an end goal in mind or something that you would love to achieve to help push you through.

Although I am literally the least flexible person in the entire world, yoga is something that I have recently been experimenting with and would definitely recommend, to help improve my mood, general stretchiness and to de-stress, find my calm place after a day of hectic turmoil.


Healthy Diet
Fruit and veg contains a plethora of healthy nutrients and minerals, especially those that happen to be brightly coloured, such as pomegranate, avacado, blueberries.. Sometimes it can be difficult, but I always try my best to incorporate some form of fruit or vegetables into every meal. Smoothies are a super quick and easy way to get some of that added goodness into your diet and there is literally endless combinations and possibilities, which can be perfect for people with a hectic lifestyle with something to satisfy the taste-buds of everyone.

Since altering my diet to a more healthy alternative, I have genuinely felt a lot happier and healthier as well as noticed amazing (positive) changes in my body when combined with regular working out. The drastic increase in antioxidants has left me feeling a lot more energised, less lethargic and I have also noticed incredible improvements in my skin. This being said, don't let eating become a chore either, make sure that you experiment with new tasty little ingredients, have the odd 'cheat day' or a little treat with some meals in order to help resist the urge to revert back to an unhealthy diet, because everyone needs something to look forward to or the occasional comfort eat (plus, I'm not sure that I could survive without pizza).


zzzz's
A lot of people really underestimate the importance of a good night's sleep. I know that stressful periods such as exams, deadlines and work  can all leave you feeling like you are carrying the weight of he world on your shoulders and lead to a feeling of sleep deprivation or insomnia. This really makes sleep a luxury that can be rather hard to come by, but sleep is so vital to maintain moral, alertness and for your body to repair and recover from the day. Coffee, energy drinks, alarm clocks and external lights/electrical devices all interfere with our body clocks. I never really listened to or believed the common tale that switches off electrical devices at least an hour before bed actually helped you to get a much better and effective night's sleep but it really does work. I used to fall into the *just one more episode before going to sleep and still be indulging at 3am* trap, which really wasn't doing my health or huge panda eyes any good. I am also a self confessed compulsive worrier which really doesn't help when you are restlessly laying awake in bed at night instead of settling down to sleep. My best advice would be to make lists for the next day to stop you from worrying about forgetting things, try to get into a routine of going to bed at the same reasonable time every night to get your body into a routine and find yourself a good little book to get lost in while switching off before sleep, you will undoubtedly drift off in no time, most probably accompanied by wonderful dreams related to the story.

I am not saying that every single one of these is absolutely guaranteed to work, even though they most definitely have for me, but I really hope that at least somebody gains something from this little guide, feel free to leave any of your own tips for a more healthy and happy lifestyle!