21 “Non-Spiritual” Things that make us Happy.
21 Simple “Non-Spiritual” Things that make for Daily Happiness.
It’s the Little Things.
What’s something “non-spiritual” or “non-religious” you do that others can do, too, to be happy day-to-day? Say in comments, below. Be specific-ish!
1. Touch water. Whether in the form of a hot bath, a cool drink of water (stay hydrated!), swimming or the ocean, water heals.
2. Sweat once a day. Exercise—find something you enjoy doing, and do it. I like bicycling, climbing, and yoga.
3. Eat real food. If it has more than three ingredients, generally, if you’ve seen an ad for it, generally—skip it.
4. Support, subscribe, read a good magazine (print or online) that’s better than you are—with a hot drink of coffee or tea and a little sunshine and quiet.
5. Keep our clothes off the floor. While a messy house, full of love, can be delightful, our environments reinforce our mental states, just as our physical posture can enlighten or depress us. So let’s practice keeping things relatively clean not out of a sense of uptightness, but out of a sense of matter-of-fact delight in daily beauty, respect and simplicity.
6. Community. Even if we don’t meditate, seeing community—bicycling around, at the dog park, at the grocery, at the cafe—will uplift and open our troubled hearts.
7. Don’t be afraid to be a fool. Smile at a stranger. Smile, period. It gets easier with practice (I say this as someone who doesn’t suffer new agey fools, gladly). Laughter, too, is one thing that’s no less delightful even if you’re faking it until you really mean it.
8. Work in an office, or live with, a dog. Dogs are shown to dramatically up folks’ happiness, and productivity, both. And they’ll force you to get outside. Caveat: only adopt if we’re ready, more or less. Never buy.
9. Breathe in and out, slowly, once a day. Feel one’s breath like the rising, falling waves. Breathe deeply, clearly out old air. Breathe up into one’s collar bones.
@waylonlewis on Instagram
10. Never eat while standing up, or driving. We’ll overeat, generally, and we won’t enjoy the food so much.
12. Hike. Or, just walk. Get out in nature. Or, a park. Nature opens us up, and calms our kleshas.
13. Stop obsessing about one’s own happiness. Help others. In small or ongoing ways.
14. Put on a favorite song and sing it out, like we mean it.
@waylonlewis: Instagram. elephant tote bag, side one. Organic, Made in USA.
15. Pick up trash in the street. Take a bottle out of the trash, and put it in recycling. Save unused napkins from a restaurant for use at home. Do little things for society that may go “unrewarded.”
16. Watch a movie and eat a little too much ice cream/pop corn/vegan ice cream/edamame/nuts. Collapsing into one’s core once in awhile is necessary to one’s creative energies.
17. Put a few photos of loved ones around.
18. Be honest. This includes doing work for money that we can believe in, or finding a way to feel good about it.
19. Sleep more. Even a little more. I have no idea how, but it’s a good idea.
20. Write. Whether a journal or a blog, expressing oneself is cathartic and sensical-making.
21. Meditate. There’s nothing “spiritual” about meditation. It’s simply sitting still, with good, relaxed posture, and paying attention to one’s outbreath. When we notice a thought, that’s fine, we acknowledge it with a “label” by saying, silently, to ourselves, “thinking,” and returning to the outbreath. Before we know it: present moment, from whence all great and good things manifest.
Incorrect source, offensive, or found a typo? Or do you want to write for Elephant?
I loved all of those. One of my favourite happiness makers is spending a day on my own – that is the best battery re-charger that I know!
I agree with Sara. Give me time to be the captain of my own ship, and I'm in the happiness groove. I also love eating in the car, just once a week with my favorite raw pie, yum!
I pay attention to children. Favorite: parents occupied in conversation, entering grocery store. Their 8-9 yr old son held hands up & automatic doors opened. Said to him as quiet aside while passing, You must have magic hands. Made his day.
I love these. I cut and pasted them to remind myself and reflect on them. I try to find little ways to be kind, such as tossing loose change in a payphone slot I often see homeless folks checking or complimenting parents on how lovely their children are behaving.
I loved every suggestion made among the 21 items.Each one makes sense logically,is good for ll aspects of our health an dis just plain soothing.Since I am more than a sentient being,these things are also good for me spiritually.Thank you so much for presenting these ideas!
Nice reminder of the simple things in life…refreshing. One thing I would say though is watch it on the sleeping. Sleeping too much can cause a negative mental reaction. A healthy sleeping in a little more I would imagine is fine. I think Don't Be Afraid to Be a Fool is my favorite! Live!
I have two special times that are built into my day- and I never miss either one.
1) I walk my dog, Betty, a black Labrador, everyday- it gets me outside in my neighborhood and she loves it.
2) I pick up my grandson, Lewis, who is 8 years old everyday from school. He tells me all about his day at school while we drive by the dog park and guess how many dogs will be there each day. It is a great pick me up and makes me happy.
[...] For more. [...]
Today I got to be a resource for my mother's health. She called me for advice. Being able to express my love and gratitude for her in this way made me enormously happy.
1) Brush my cat – the resulting purrs always put a smile on my face.
2) Put on my favourite music and dance – guaranteed to get rid of stress.
3) Be thankful even for little things in my life, like the smell of onions cooking or the fact that my tarragon is flourishing.
4) Cook real food, and bake real bread.
5) Eat real food.
6) Read. Everything and anything.
And I would argue there is absolutely EVERYTHING on this list falls under the category of spiritual. I define spiritual as anything that helps us to know peace, joy, love, to be creative and to find fulfillment. In other words….all of the above. http://yourspiritualtruth.com
[...] Two good posts from Elephant Journal, 21 “Non-Spiritual” Things that make us Happy and 3 Ways to Kick Your Sugar [...]