Serene Nuggets - Happiness Meditation

In today's times, so much of our mind space is occupied by various concerns such as career pressures and family stresses that happiness seems to be that ever elusive butterfly, the kind which flies away right as we're about to catch it.

Perhaps the biggest misconception people have is happiness is an end state, an end goal to be reached after achieving certain milestones. If I get that job, I'll be happy. If I get x amount of money, I'll be happy.

As we saw in the blog post on happiness and joy, human beings seek happiness in the external pleasures of life, whereas happiness is an emotion we are capable of nurturing right within us. It's a state of mind and we can learn to tap into this through meditation.

When we meditate, we let go of our ruminating, anxious thoughts and instead focus on the present moment. This non judgemental observation of our thoughts and feelings can help us let go and train the mind to be much calmer, peaceful and happier.

However, sometimes it might be difficult to really nourish this feeling of happiness. In this post, I will share an amazing happiness meditation which can help you reconnect with those feelings of peace, serenity and happiness within your heart. Let's begin

Steps -

1. Find a calm and quiet place, preferably without distractions. During the night, I find that turning down the lights helps me make my meditations much more focused. Feel free to experiment with your surroundings as you see fit.

2. Start, by bringing a gentle awareness to the objects in the room, just observing what's here, without judgement.

3. Now, close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths to center your mind, preparing it to enter a meditative state.

4. I want you to think of a happy memory from your past. It could be a trip you took with your family, or time you spent with friends, whatever pops into your mind.

5. Really live this feeling. Recall each aspect of this happy moment. Who were you with? How did spending time with them make you feel? Were you peaceful? Happy? Serene? Really live that moment with all your heart.

6. Think about the place you were at. Try to recall all details of this place, as vividly as possible. Where were you? For example, I often remember the time I spent on a hill station with my family as a kid, in the northeast part of India. I recall the lush green mountains, the cool winter air in the morning, birds chirping. Similarly, conjure up as many details as you can, and feel the emotions you felt during that time.

7. Continue to savor these happy moments for sometime. When you feel peaceful and content, I want you to imagine that these feelings have become a ball of light, and that light shines ever so brightly, at the center of your heart.

8. Imagine the light getting bigger, and bigger. Imagine it fills up your heart, your shoulders, travels to your arms, your head and completely fills your upper body.

9. Imagine this light going down your body, filling into your thighs, glutes, legs and feet.

10. As the light travels through your body, it heals you, melting your stresses away and loosening all the tension you feel in your body.

11. Your whole body is bathed in this light. Really savor the feeling that this light brings into your body. Imagine that this light is making you feel almost euphoric, that you possibly can't be happier!

12. Stay with this feeling for as long as you can. When done, open your eyes.

13. I recommend doing this meditation for at least 10 minutes to begin with. As you find you're more comfortable, you can slowly increase the time.

Any videos which can help me?

Sure, here is a good one I found on Youtube. There are a ton of amazing meditations out there, feel free to explore!