Is your brain happy? If so, what makes it so….. If not, what can you do? Meditate.

This simple solution begins with a desire to calm yourself down and find just a little bit of peace. Who couldn’t use that? In a study of meditating monks published in Time magazine several years ago, the area of the left prefrontal cortex showed that our brains are changeable, malleable. Even if you think you were born with or living in a state of gloom or anxiety, your brain’s samskaras (grooves) can allow a happier state of existence. The neurological circuitry can be rewired to bring about optimism and serenity. Compassion is be a learned skill and has uncovered ways to clear the emotional spiral downward and create new pathways to positivity. Most of us believe and know that regular physical exercise is a good idea for life. So how about accepting the idea that mental exercise can do the same for a mind that is jumpy, scattered or depressed. Says Richard J Davidson, “happiness is a skill, like tennis. If you want to be a good tennis player, you can’t just pick up a racket–you have to practice”.

So….just begin with just 5 minutes a day. Change a fretful and frightened mind into a happier, healthier, more holistic and unharried outlook on life. Try a mindfulness practice of non-judgement. Sit still and become an impartial witness to whatever thoughts come up. Break out of the habitual ways of categorizing and judging expereinces and just watch the meanderings of the mind. As the Dalai Lama says “that is the nature of mind”. Ask questions. Are you thinking the same negative thoughts and outcomes continuously as automatic resposnses and reactions? Be patient with yourself. Everything unfolds for each of us at our own pace. Be a beginner. Come to each experience as if is is the first time. Free yourself from preconceptions, prejudices and biases so that you may have the opportunity to witness things in a new light.

Try this song or mantra From Thich Nhat Hanh’s “I Have Arrived”

I have arrived, I am home
In the here and in the now

I am solid I am free
In the ultimate, I dwell.

Repeat as many times as you need too. Smile. Be blissful. Enjoy