How to Meditate for Happiness

For many people the practice of meditation is calming and allows them to gain mental clarity while making them happier. But for others who may not have much experience meditating it can be frustrating knowing where to start. So how can you use meditation to increase your happiness, even if you have had little experience with it?

Stay Positive

With daily practice you can learn to play the piano, seeing results over time. Meditation is no different. Whether you set your timer for 5, 30, or even 45 minutes, spending a dedicated amount of time focusing on positive thoughts will change how you see the world. Allowing yourself to dwell on these happier thoughts each day will help you see the world around you in a different way. This positivity equates to a happier outlook. The adage “you are what you eat” could also be “you are what you think”. And in the case of meditation, you are the calm, happy thoughts that you allow.

Refining Your Emotions Meditation

This form of meditation allows you to show happiness and joy without coming across as overexuberant. It affords you time to honestly examine your feelings and to discard them or accept them as valid. During meditation, you can focus on your emotions and learn to choose to be happy. You’ll gain more control over your emotions as you meditate, and that control will carry over to the rest of your day. Instead of rushing through the motions of your day reacting to experiences, those who meditate already have a proactive understanding of what may happen and how they will respond emotionally. Happiness springs from being able to handle even the most difficult of tasks with grace.

Creating a Connection with Yourself

The best way to begin practicing meditation with the end goal of becoming happier is to find a quiet place, sit down, breathe deeply, and be mindful of your thoughts. By accepting each thought that you have, examining it, and either discarding it or pondering on it for a while longer, you will eventually create a deeper connection with who you really are. We deserve to take time to understand ourselves, and meditation affords us that time. In understanding and accepting our true selves we gain a happiness that can only be experienced when we have connected with who we really are.

Meditation is one time that staying quiet, focusing on yourself, and examining your emotions can really change you and the world around you. In meditation you will discover your true self, have space to dream, and find ways to understand the world around you. That’s a recipe for happiness that will work for anyone.