On our most difficult days, when it seems that life is a real uphill climb, who wouldn’t want to access joy in 30 seconds? But is that even remotely possible? As someone said, even drugs don’t work so fast!
I guess as we move up Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs pyramid, there’s a lot more focus on happiness. Economists and scientists have begun to study happiness in a rigorous way. Here, according to these studies, are a few of the ways we can get an instant, guilt-free, emotional lift.
How To Access Joy In 30 Seconds
Hug your partner
When you’re hugging or cuddling with someone, [he or she is] stimulating pressure receptors under your skin in a way that leads to a cascade of events including an increase in vagal activity, which puts you in a relaxed state,” explains psychologist Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine. One theory is that stimulation of the vagus nerve triggers an increase in oxytocin levels.
The hugging and oxytocin release that comes with it can then have trickle-down effects throughout the body, causing a decrease in heart rate and a drop in the stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine.
Listen To Or Tell A Good Joke
The sound of laughter may make you smile and laugh, British researchers report.
“It seems that it’s absolutely true that ‘laugh and the whole world laughs with you,'” Sophie Scott, PhD, says in a news release. Scott is a professor at University College London’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. Scott’s team says when people hear the sound of laughter, their brain areas that control smiling and laughing become active.
Look At Photographs Of Loved Ones
Peter Naish, senior lecturer in psychology at The Open University, carried out a study for the telecommunication company, Orange on the effects of photography on happiness. He found that while activities such as eating and drinking increased mood by 1 per cent, looking at photographs increased mood by 11 per cent.
Ask A Colleague How They Are Doing
Positive social interactions at work directly affect the body’s physiological processes. According to Heaphy and Dutton (2008), positive social interactions serve to bolster physiological resourcefulness by fortifying the cardiovascular, immune, and neuroendocrine systems through immediate and enduring decreases in cardiovascular reactivity, strengthened immune responses, and healthier hormonal patterns.
Let’s access joy whenever we can!
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