Key To Happiness May Be Planning

June 2, 2011 8:14 am 1 comment

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Art Jahnke

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If more happiness = less stress and less stress = more planning, then does more happiness = more planning? Maybe. That, at least, is the equation put forth by psychologist and self-help author Robert Epstein, whose research suggests that 25 percent of our happiness depends on how well we're able to manage stress. Time magazine reports that Epstein's research, which asked 3,000 people how they best manage stress, revealed that the best way to manage stress may be to prevent it, and the best way to prevent it may be to plan ahead. What? Planning is too stressful? Epstein recommends learning some relaxation techniques. Yoga is good, he says, and so is deep abdominal breathing.

1 Comment

sbulcroft

June 5, 2011
10:08 am

Try cultivating “mindfulness” it works! It comes out of yoga but isn’t only yoga. It reduces stress, keeps you mindfully in the moment (not necessarily planning the future) and allows one to notice the little things which is really what happiness is about. Living moment to moment and being aware. This practice has shown it even changes the brain so that the brain produces more Gamma waves which is what it produces when you feel joy and happiness. Planning is good, but if everyone was more mindful we’d all be better off.

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