I decided to take Yale's most popular class "The science of Well-Being and the topic is how to be happier in your daily life!
Spending time offline is very important to our mental health and wellbeing. Sometimes it seems rather difficult, however, to disconnect from our devices and social media channels. We became used to the idea that reaching to our mobile phone to use the internet or check our emails every two minutes are acceptable modern habits, behaviours we can’t live without. These behaviours can be, nonetheless, signs of phone addiction and inability, for instances, to practise non-doing.
People are not only more exposed to several electromagnetic frequencies, which can negatively impact our health and wellbeing in the long run, but they are also depriving themselves of important healthy habits such as sleeping enough, having quality time with others or keeping an active lifestyle.
For reference, here is a quick breakdown of the retirements in the course from Laurie Santos:
· Signature Strengths - using your top character strengths in new ways
· Savoring - taking time to savor the things you enjoy
· Gratitude - (List and/or Letter) - expressing gratitude for the people and things in your life
· Kindness - increasing your acts of kindness
· Social Connection - making connections with strangers and acquaintances along with scheduling time for the people in your life
· Exercise - increasing your physical activity to at least 30 minutes a few times a week
· Sleep - making sure you sleep at least 7 hours a night several times a week
· Meditation - meditating for 5-10 minutes if you are a beginner or increasing your time in meditation if you already meditate regularly
Journaling
Get yourself a little notebook and take some time off to sit down somewhere nice and quiet to write down your thoughts and feelings. Writing is an incredible way to practise self-reflection and develop self-awareness. When we write, we may even explore aspects of our existence that we were not aware of, but which can bring us new insights and helpful information to improve our daily decision making processes.
Exercise/Walking
Going for a walk is one of my favourite ways of connecting with myself. It is also a great relaxation method. Whenever my mind is busy with some sort of problem, I go out for a walk and I always come back with a clearer perspective over what was bothering me in the first place. You don’t need to do long distances though – a ten to fifteen minute power walk can bring you a lot of health and wellbeing benefits.
Meal Sharing
In Italy and South European countries , meals are often/always a social moment. It’s an opportunity to gather people around a table and enjoy each other’s company. You don’t need to be sharing a meal with a big group though. You can invite your best friend or partner for a cute pic-nic or a home-made meal. You can even order your food, if you want to. Just make sure you won’t be spending time on instagram uploading pictures of what you are eating!
Reading and learning about new things...be curious!
Ok, I know you may not be a book lover – or maybe you are -, but one of my favourite ways to disconnect is to spend some time reading about something new and interesting.
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