The Happiness Protocol

There is power in happiness!

(We downplay that in our culture, as if "just trying to be happy" isn't a noble goal.)

I remember feeling a bit embarrassed when my daughter Leah, then a 3rd grader, told me about the class essay they wrote about what their parents do.

Did she write about my work? My paintings? My fitness program? Nah...

She answered, "My mom likes to be happy all the time."  :- /

Was it noble enough? Turns out, yes.

When a person is happy they are more effective, they live longer, they earn more, they attract other happy people. This is a physiological fact.

HAPPINESS IS AN ENERGY.

Being happy is a high functioning state. It is the motivator behind everything we do.

• Everything we want we want because we think we'll feel better having it.
• Everything we do, even dysfunctional things and charitable acts, we do because in some way, we think they'll make us feel better.

The good news is - you CAN dial up your happiness level.

There are things you can do to immediately feel better and practices that will over time raise your baseline state.

But there's one important thing you have to do first.

If you try it, you'll be in good company such as Mother Teresa, Tony Robbins, Eckhart Tolle, and a whole bunch of yogis and ascended masters.

This protocol has a long history, just like yoga.

ONCE UPON A TIME....

Long ago people weren't happy with:

• their healthcare system (leeching)
• the character of their leaders (shady)
• the prevailing belief systems

(Sound familiar?)

They wanted something better. Some of them experimented with "new" things which eventually developed into a system or protocol (that became the seeds of yoga).

And this protocol worked! The people following it enjoyed greater health and it dialed up their happiness level.

It will work for you - if you work it.

PROTOCOL STEP #1

The important first step of the protocol is to train your brain in a specific way to be

KEENLY AWARE.

Our current system with its frenetic multitasking, scattered focus and disconnect from self has got to STOP.

Here's the key.

Train yourself to be super present and aware of your INTERNAL environment and SPECIFICALLY to be aware of presence of TENSION.

GET A CLUE

TENSION in your body or brain is a sign that something has gotten between you and your natural state of happiness.

Your body and brain are sending you an ALERT!

Get sensitive to the way tension is evidenced in YOU. It has different "flavors" for each of us.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE FLAVOR?

Tension might show up as headaches, digestive issues or hives. Or as habitual confusion, worry, anger or sadness.

That thing you do, that habitual pattern with its resulting tension, that's your favorite flavor.

Tension in the body and the resulting worry, despair, self loathing, envy, anger - THAT is your sign to stop and ask yourself:

What caused the tension for me? What happened?

• Did someone say something I didn't like?
• What didn't go the way I wanted it to?
• What triggered me?

What's MY pattern?

CATCH YOURSELF in your pattern and you can begin to shift it. Catch it by training in awareness.

FEEL the tension. Where do you feel it? What is the quality of the feeling? Allow it to be there. Breathe into it.

That's step #1 of THE HAPPINESS PROTOCOL.

Pretty easy. Just increase awareness of your body's response to tension. Discover how your particular flavor of tension affects your body and brain.

Practice it this week and next week I'll give you step #2. I'll also send you details about the free MEDITATION CHALLENGE I'm hosting at the end of the month.

Namaste,

Catherine