We are naturally hard-wired to be fearful because our ancestors needed to be constantly on red alert to keep them alive. When we suffer from anxiety or depression this is simply the brains way of protecting us from perceived danger or risk. So how can we increase our happiness??
By being active
Our body is built to move and when we do our brain releases endorphins, those lovely feelgood hormones. Moving more doesn’t mean you have to join a gym or engage in an expensive activity, it can be anything from walking outdoors, cycling, yoga or gardening.
Connecting with other people
We are better as a tribe and benefit from interacting with other people. Long term loneliness can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease because our brain perceives we are in danger and releases stress hormones. The good news is that just simply speaking to friends and family on the phone can reduce feelings of loneliness.
Reframe your thinking
The brain can’t tell the difference between imagination and reality. At any one time our brain is exposed to 2 million pieces of data. We can’t possibly process all of this information so our brain filters out what is not important. How does it know what’s important however? By what we focus on. So if we focus on positive thoughts then that’s what our brain will seek out. We can’t be constantly happy but by learning to control our thoughts and focusing on the positive aspects of our life we can develop new neural pathways so that our brain spends more time seeking out the good things.