As week five of my journey to happiness comes to a close, I am very pleased with how this week played out, and the effect I believe it had on my well-being these past few days. I took time each day to write out 5 things I am grateful for, to cultivate a sense of gratitude and put things into perspective. Science shows that gratitude is able to have a positive effect on wellbeing by stimulating two regions of the brain, the hypothalamus and the ventral tegmental area. The hypothalamus regulates stress, and the ventral tegmental area plays a role in the the brain’s reward system and the feelings experienced as pleasure. Studies done in this area have produced results that do in fact indicate a higher sense of well-being in those who participated in writing out lists of things they were grateful for each day, compared to those who made lists of neutral or negative things. I think the reason these type of gratitude practices are able to positively benefit our well-being, is because it really puts things into perspective and shifts our focus towards things that bring us joy, even in the midst of perhaps unappealing circumstances. This week, I have had a lot going on with school, adding loads of stress onto my already full plate. Sometimes the amount of things on my to-do list as I wake up each morning can make the day seem rather daunting and even dreadful if I’m being honest, but taking the time to center my thoughts on positive things in my life that bring me a sense of gratitude, helps shift my mindset as I begin the day, feeling more prepared and motivated to keep going. I think the main reason this practice isn’t necessarily something people prioritize in their day or normally make time for, is because it seems like a waste of time. I know that I’m thankful for my family, for my friends, etc. so why do I need to sit down for 10 minutes and write these things out? This idea is very valid, and I think it’s why gratitude is not something I work into my normal routine, but this week has shown me that actually taking the time to write out and truly think about those things I am thankful for, makes all the difference. I can picture my family and the things about them that I love, I can think of my friends and the way their support and love has kept me sane this year, and I can actually feel that sense of gratitude for the things I know I am grateful for. This happiness project was one of the simplest ones I’ve tried on my journey to happiness these past five weeks, but has been one of the most efficient and effective ways that has led me to see tangible changes in my overall happiness. I am definitely going to try to keep up this new habit at least a few times a week moving forward, because it is just a few minutes of the day that can flip my whole outlook on its head.

On week five of my journey to happiness, I am going to make it a priority to take note of the things in my life that I am grateful for. Specifically, I will try to keep myself from complaining and write down at least five things that I am thankful for each day. We all have many things in our life that we are thankful for, but it’s easy to take those things for granted and forget to take the time to actually acknowledge and feel the weight of that gratitude. Gratitude is such a great way to boost your mood, simply by shifting your focus from things that might be stressing you out or bringing you down, to things or people in your life that bring you joy and satisfaction. For me personally, I practice the religion of Christianity, so for me those things in my life that I am grateful for are things I see as blessing and gifts from God. Therefore, when I am practicing that gratitude, it feels most natural for me to thank God for them, whether that be through prayer or journaling. I think there is real value in prioritizing the practice of gratitude, taking just a few moments out of the day to realize and think about the things I am grateful for, and though I don’t do it often enough, I always feel very encouraged and hopeful when I do. Today is my first day taking the time to do this in a while, and the five things I journaled about this morning are the first things that come to mind: I am grateful to have woken up this morning, grateful for my family that I got to be with this past weekend for Easter, grateful that I get to play on an intramural volleyball team, grateful for my roommates who love and support me, and I am grateful for my grandma who I call every Tuesday. Thinking about these things that I feel a real sense of gratitude for this morning, set the posture of my day in a much more positive light and I think I really did make an effort not to complain very much today. I plan to continue this new habit for the next 4 days and can’t wait to see the effect it has on my overall happiness!

As my fourth week on my journey to happiness comes to a close, I have mixed emotions in my reflection of the week. I made time to try some form of meditation for four days this week, and I will be honest in my report. It was hard for me to sit through some of my meditation sessions from the Calm app, as they were on average about 20 minutes long, or longer. It was hard to stay focused and not let my mind wander or get anxious about the things I needed to do that day. I will say my favorite session was one where the goal was to help relax your mind and body to fall asleep at night, which happened successfully but without being able to stay awake for the entirety of the meditation. The speaker basically told a story about some sleeping bears in a very slow, gentle tone and described their bodies as they fell asleep, making my own body mimic the slow breathing, heavy eyes, etc… and before I knew it, I was waking up in the morning. I also tried a 3 minute “body scan” meditation, to ground myself in the moment and relax, which I did enjoy. I think the biggest thing I learned about meditation is that while I don’t mind it, I do need a shorter session to stay present and not get frustrated at the time passing or feel like I am wasting moments of productivity. I also tried a “counting meditation” on Wednesday, which I learned from one of my online classes that has “self care toolkits” provided by the professor! Counting meditation was one of the more challenging meditations that I tried, as you basically just begin counting and focusing on the act of counting, and when an interfering thought comes to mind, you watch it pass by like a cloud, then return to the count. I found myself getting frustrated by all of the interfering thoughts that kept popping up, but according to my professor the very act of returning to the count from those distracting thoughts is the act of meditating. I wasn’t able to make it past about 20 when counting, but it did really make my mind relax and studies have shown that this kind of meditation activates alpha waves in the brain. I cannot say for certain whether or not meditation actually caused an increase in my happiness this week, but I won’t overlook the sense of relaxation that I felt in a couple of my meditation sessions. I don’t necessarily think meditating is a practice I will keep up moving forward, but I am certainly glad that I gave it a try this week so I now have a less daunting and intimidating feeling towards it. I think meditating is definitely something that takes practice, and I think if I were to keep at it in the weeks to come it could be easier and beneficial to my mood. I only have so much time in the day to set aside for self care and doing things that will positively impact my mood, so I think I will allocate that time to working out, socializing, or just relaxing rather than meditating. Well, it was worth a shot!

For week four on my journey to happiness, I am going to add in the practice of meditating to my daily routine, for at least four days this week. Meditation is something I’ve never participated in, and it has always been something I feel slightly intimidated by or even a little reluctant to its effects. I have always had some sort of underlying idea that meditation was for those yogi, “zen” type of people who have time to sit around with legs crossed Indian style chanting “Ommmmmmm” until all of life’s worries disappear into thin air. I, for one, am not that kind of person. There are things to be done and tasks to complete and especially as a college student, there are no minutes to be wasted in the busy days of my life. However, to ignore the abundant empirical evidence that meditating for a short time each day does indeed have positive impacts, would be ignorant of me and perhaps keep me from finding a much needed peace in the stress of my everyday! Some of the earliest records of meditation come from the Hindu tradition of Vedantism, dating all the way back to 1500 BCE. Mediation is not only a practice trending and circulating today, but has been a popular form of de-stressing for a long, long time. There are many different forms of meditation, most of them falling under the two broad categories of focused meditation and open monitoring meditation. I think there is value in taking time out of each day to center yourself and focus your attention inward, finding perspective and a sense of peace to keep you moving forward. I just don’t necessarily know how to achieve this type of practice and have little to no experience with meditation, which makes this goal a little daunting for me. I have downloaded the “Calm” app to help guide my meditation for this week, and hope to not only reap the benefits of de-stressing and boosting my overall mood, but also to learn some new techniques to help my idea of meditating become a little more tangible and less ambiguous and fearful.

I am writing today, at the end of week three on my journey to happiness! I have had a busy week of school but managed to fit in four days of some form of physical exercise this week, and though my body is currently feeling the aftermath of a tough workout this morning, my mental and emotional states are certainly reaping the benefits! I started the week off by attending a workout class called “Orange Theory Fitness”, which I started last year but have been going off and on this semester, much more “off” than on in recent weeks. I decided Monday would be the perfect time to start getting back into it, and I signed up for an Orange Theory class at 9:30 Monday morning. As I mentioned in my previous post, I tend to dread my workouts and either find myself in a bad mood leading up to the workout or end up bailing altogether, so I booked my workout class early so that I wouldn’t have time to talk myself out of it all day. Though it was hard to get out of bed early before class, I managed to make it to the workout class and even saw three of my sorority sisters signed up for the same one! We caught up and then got to work, and I left with shaky legs but a feeling of accomplishment. Tuesday happened to be the first game in an Intramural Volleyball league I joined, which landed in perfect timing for this week’s project. Though we lost the game, it was so fun socializing with friends on my team and meeting new people that we played against. Sure, it wasn’t an intense beating of a workout, but my heart rate was most definitely up and I broke a good sweat! I forgot how much I enjoy playing sports and felt so good getting in a form of physical exercise that was actually fun! Wednesday and Thursday consisted of two more Orange Theory classes, both at 9:30 in the morning again. I saw more people I knew in both classes, and as the week comes to a close my body is feeling very sore but I am absolutely noticing a significant increase in my overall happiness throughout the week. I definitely think that the way our bodies release endorphins when doing some sort of physical exercise and in turn boost our mood is a huge bonus for carving out time each day to workout in some way. I don’t give these mood-boosting endorphins enough credit, but after staying consistent in my workouts this week I am seeing the way my body and mind have benefited. Surprisingly, working out actually gives my body more energy throughout the day, and I just feel overall better about myself after accomplishing a workout. It is also worthy to note the social factor that working out can offer, especially when it involves playing sports or attending local workout classes. Seeing friends I wouldn’t normally cross paths with this week and feeling encouraged by them after a hard workout really added to my experience. I plan to keep up this workout habit as well as I can moving forward, even if it just means going for a light jog or walk with a friend to start out my day. Having a positive mindset about exercise and seeing it as a valuable way to take care of my mind and body, especially in college when stress abounds, is such a beneficial value and I encourage everyone, including myself, to make it a priority!

For the third week on my journey to happiness, I am going to commit to doing some sort of physical activity for at least four days of the week. I read an article by The New York Times that concluded even just a slight form of exercise daily increases happiness, whether it be through a release in neural chemicals in the brain or social interactions that come from exercise classes or seeing friends at the gym. I think many of us have experienced that after-workout high when you feel not only a physical boost in energy or improved physique, but it also brings a sense of accomplishment knowing you did something good for your body and mind that day! I definitely know that I feel this mood boost after a good workout, but I think where many people including myself lose traction is when they let the dreadful feeling of getting to the gym become another task on today’s to-do list and the post-workout mood boost isn’t enough to outweigh the effort or dread of exercising some may have. Although I do usually have a pretty good habit of exercising at least a couple times a week, my negative mindset leading up to the exercise makes the day unenjoyable until I finally talk myself into checking it off the list for the day. Therefore, it is valid to ask myself, is dreading a workout all day and even decreasing my mood because of it worth that after-workout mood boost that may or may not last? I think that my goal this week is to workout at least 4 days, yes, but perhaps more importantly I want to try to change my mindset before my workouts and see it as a gift to my body and healthy activity for both my mind and body, my mental and physical health. I also want to try to change up my usual mundane gym workouts by possibly trying new workout classes or going for a trail run by the lake. We are fortunate enough to live in a city with so many ways to be active and get outdoors, and I want to try to take better advantage of those things this week as I continue on my journey to happiness!

As the second week on my journey to happiness comes to an end, I am using my phone’s sleep tracking app to observe my sleep cycle trends over the past four days. On average, I got 7 hours and 49 minutes of sleep each night! Consistent with many studies concluding that better sleep is indeed associated with higher levels of moment-to-moment happiness, I agree with the findings of those studies as I’ve noticed my personal increase in mood throughout the week. Not only was getting out of bed easier and less dreadful in the mornings after a solid night of sleep, but my emotional reactivity was much lower than normal, making me less agitated with others and more rational in moments of stress. I think this particular intervention is probably one of the most important things for college students especially, because though our days are stacked with tasks to complete and many commitments and obligations, being tired makes the efficiency of completing these tasks much, much less. Things take longer to be completed and focusing on school work becomes much more difficult for me when I am running on less sleep. Overall, this past week has definitely proven the importance and effectiveness of prioritizing sleep and aiming to get at least 7 hours each night, because it makes our daily lives much more enjoyable and productive!

After successfully achieving at least 7 hours of sleep for the second night in a row this week, I am already seeing a significant difference in the course of my day. My positive affect has been increased these past 2 days, and I find myself being much less irritable, annoyed, or sad throughout the day. Having more energy has made me much more pleasant to be around and even my roommates have noticed a more upbeat Jamie! I have found a new setting on my phone to utilize this week, where my phone reminds me each night when it’s time for bed if I want to get in a full 8 hours. I have noticed for me personally that the optimal amount of sleep I need to really feel that boost in mood and restfulness is around 8 hours, so though my goal is to get at LEAST 7 hours, 8 hours is more ideal. Not only does good sleep make me feel better, I think that it makes me look better, too. The bags under my eyes shrink and dark circles get lighter. I’ve been keeping up the habit of avoiding blue light before bed and plan to continue my new sleep hygiene practices as the week goes on!

Like many people at night, I usually lay awake in the few minutes before I fall asleep scrolling through social media or texting a friend on my phone. Though people may see this time as a “winding down” period, preparing our bodies to fall asleep, it is actually doing quite the opposite. The light from our phones, laptops, tv screens, etc. emit what is known as “blue light”, and research by the National Sleep Foundation indicates that this blue light actually restrains the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls our sleep/wake cycle, known as our circadian rhythm. Not only does being on my phone right before going to sleep biologically make it harder to fall asleep, seeing the highlight reels of people I know on Facebook or reading emails reminding me of tasks to be completed, my mind stays awake, alert, or even stressed. I find myself often getting into bed early enough to get an adequate night of sleep but because my mind stays wired from the blue light on my phone in the half hour or so before trying to fall asleep, it can take me over an hour to fall asleep some nights. Therefore, this week I am trying to limit my time on social media use before going to sleep so that my brain can sufficiently produce melatonin and falling asleep is not an impossible task. Last night, I set a social media time limit on my phone so that by midnight I wouldn’t be able to access social media apps anymore and would be forced to put my phone down for the night. I actually did find success in falling asleep a little after 12am last night and woke up about 8:30, successfully achieving my goal of getting at least 7 hours of sleep (more like 8 to 8 1/2 last night)!

Week two of my journey to happiness begins today. Research done by Steptoe et. al. shows that both eudaemonic well being, one’s overall level of happiness, and moment to moment happiness, also known as positive affect, are directly associated with good sleep. As a busy college student striving to keep up with demands of school, work, and a social life, prioritizing good nights of sleep can be hard if not impossible. To work on improving my daily happiness and boosting my mood this week, I am going to try to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night. I have looked up a few sleep hygiene techniques that I will try to implement this week and hopefully make a habit of moving forward. To start, I am going to try not to drink caffeine after 2 pm, because especially in college I have realized the lasting effect it has on my body throughout the day. I am also going to try to stay off of my phone or other electronic devices at least 30 minutes before I go to sleep, to allow my brain to start producing the alpha waves it needs to fall asleep. It’s also important to keep the temperature in my room at a comfortable number, which will be something to change this week as it usually drops as low as 65 at night and can be quite chilly. Lastly, I am going to try to aim to fall asleep around the same time each night and wake up at the same time each morning so that my body can adjust to this sleep schedule and physiologically adapt to when it is the appropriate time to fall asleep and wake up each day!