How a 10 Second Practice can give you a dopamine hit and lift your day

Joy?  Who's Joy, you ask?  Not a popular name these days, it does conjure up a picture of an elderly Aunt, comfortably upholstered like an overstuffed armchair.  But capturing joy …

No, not as she takes a tumble after too many sherries…

I mean, Joyful Moments.  

Do you know what your's are?  Perhaps standing barefoot on the lawn with your face in the sun, or catching a glimpse of a kingfisher, or watching your child's face as they sleep.

Consciously recognising those moments, stopping, witnessing and being present for three breaths, I believe is the secret to a happy life.

Happiness is merely the balance in the day of more positive than negative moments.  We spend most of our lives unconsciously, robotically getting through our day, our schedule, our to do list,  planning the next thing in the midst of the current – witness to neither.

If you've ever done audio typing you'll know exactly what I mean.  The voice goes in your ears and through your fingers and over time you start to daydream.  By the end you have little or no idea what your've actually typed.  And we can go through our whole lives like that – carrying out someone's else's soundtrack, imagining we're somewhere else. "Where did the time go?" we laugh.

The trick to joy is to be fully present with all our senses.  My Mum was good at this, the heart of an artist, she taught us to really look at things as they are, to see what's actualy there – colours, shapes, textures.  She had us look at the clouds, the sea, the plant and take joy in that.  What a gift.

Three breaths?  That's about 10 seconds and enough to give you a dopamine hit and lift your day.  Enjoy!

You're welcome!