Did you know that happiness is a physiological state as well as state of mind?

 Did you also know that the condition of your energy —-it’s quantity, quality and flow has a lot to do with how happy you feel?

Heart and Brain research is showing us a lot about the underpinnings of what we experience within when we are happy. Even better news from this research is that we can create that state (happiness) through the choices in our daily lives.  A huge influence is how we use our mind and influence our energy!

When we expand our energy and build it we feel good. When we contract our energy we feel bad. On one level it is that simple.

There are many ways to influence our energy, but one major and importatn way is through our thoughts and the feelings they trigger. The things that we habitually  think about, believe and feel either expand or contract our energy. The environments we choose to spend time in can do the same.

An easy way to focus on building healthy strong energy that will help you to feel happier is simply to notice what thoughts make you feel good and which ones bring you down. Make a commitment to yourself to choose to shift your thought patterns once you notice that you are drifting down old familiar paths that weaken your energy. No blame or judgment–we all do it—it is simply a matter of deciding to shift your direction to choices that bring you toward mastery and away from the place where you feel buffeted about by life and at the mercy of outer circumstance.

To paraphrase Victor Frankel: no one can control or dictate how we use our minds. No one else but you gets to determine the inner emotional climate that you maintain. That is a fundamental freedom that no one can tamper with! 

When we seek to create anything in our lives, whether it be something in the material world or an internal state of being, the power of the mind is a powerful factor. That being the case it behooves us to learn to use that power effectively.

 The mind needs to be trained. Left to its own devices it runs in many directions. That direction is often a circle I (Karen) have found! Mental energy is very rapid and jumps from place to place quite easily!

 When I first began meditating I thought, as many do, that the goal was to silence the mind. In fact there is a silence that develops in the mind as a result of meditation, but the process of arriving there is different than many assume. 

Our task when we sit in an effort to quiet our bodymind is actually to allow thought. As we allow the thoughts to arise on their own and simply observe them they begin to slow down of their own accord and we can eventually establish ourselves more firmly in that place referred to as the Silent Witness. Our authentic self is always present behind the clouds of our inner turmoil and preoccupations. It is our job to clear the clouds so we may experience the bright, open and loving “sky” of our transcendent Being-ness.

Another helpful approach to adopt is a willingness to release thoughts as they arise. The same is true for emotions or bodily sensations. The inner ability to release is an important one for many reasons and simply practicing it with what arises in meditation can strengthen this ability so it is strongly in place when we really need it.

Developing  the Silent Witness aspect of your nature through allowance and releasing has the beautiful result of opening up channels of energy that allow power to surge through your system and become available for creating what you truly desire in your life! An investment worth making and persevering with!