Life is short. It’s such a cliche, but we see it happening every day, and definitely every year when we send the kids off to the first day of school. Can you believe it? NO! Tears. Thumping heart. Moments fly by so quickly. How can we slow them down?
Brain science!
The more we can celebrate those moments, extend them and how they make us feel, the longer they will last. This part, is science. Neurotransmitters firing synapses and strengthening our ‘joy muscles’ (that’s my super not official term) the more we will feel joy. Our brains are designed to protect us from dangers; however, they do not understand the difference between a mountain lion attacking us and bills piling up, and queue stress response for both equally. How can we get out of this loop? JOY MUSCLES EXERCISES!
Part One: Savor. Part Two: Remember.
1. If we savor those memories, we make them bigger and stronger, and that feeling trickles down to our whole body (yes folks, the mind and body are truly connected). Side benefit of strengthening joy muscles: better health.
Yep, it’s true. The more we savor wonderful experiences, the more joy we will feel. How can I do that? Experiences. Create and participate in unique experiences. But don’t stop there. Relish in the, recount them, celebrate them, roll around in them as long as you can and flashback to them often.
2. Remember the memories: triggering that memory (photos work great for this, wink) triggers your brain’s response to it, which you conveniently strengthened in Part One. Do the same exercise again: savor it everytime it pops back into your mind. Turn that one little experience into a full-body happy feeling to reduce stress, increase happiness, and then spread it around. We could all use some wonderful feel-goods.
You’re all set now, go forth and work those joy muscles every chance you get!
