The bright side

It’s easy in life to focus on the negative but new research shows that you really can hardwire happiness. By regularly reflecting on the brighter side of life can re wire our brains according to Dr Rick Hanson, author of Buddha’s Brain and Hardwiring Happiness. It’s so important to take about half a dozen times a day to make positive experiences sink in. Day by day we can change our brain for the better. To embed the new brain there are four parts to it that he calls the HEAL process. H for having the good experience and acknowledging it. E for enriching the experience, which means staying slightly longer with this experience than you normally would. A is to absorb it by letting it really sink in. You know you have done this when you feel a sense of being soothed. L is to link positive and negative material. So if you feel a dark thought come to your head, link it with the feeling of a positive one and try to let go of the negative. So get those neurons fired up and train the brain to look on the brighter side of life more often.

For insomniacs there is even greater incentive to stay happy. A calm and peaceful mind is key to sleep in my humble opinion.