Happiness, an inside job.

It’s so easy to feel like all of your external factors in life are responsible for your happiness. Once you have the right job you will be happy. When you have the perfect relationship you will be happy. When you have a new wardrobe, a new haircut, when you’ve had a holiday, when you’ve moved house, when you’ve been to a yoga class (this one might be true); whatever your ‘I’ll be happy when’ is, and the list can be endless, it’s never going to be a long term fix or solution.

We tend to look for outside sources and reassurance for our state of happiness. But the thing is, if you attach to the material things; the clothes, the job, the car, there will ALWAYS be something else you feel you need before you can be happy RIGHT NOW. Happiness is a choice. And it absolutely doesn’t always feel like the easy choice but it’s there, it’s yours for the taking.

Focusing on the present moment is a great way to start teaching yourself to need less stuff. A saying my grandma used to have was, “There’s only this minute, and I’m in it.” And she was right. There’s nothing except where you are right now. And maybe that’s not where you want to be, you’re dealing with a difficult situation or dreaming of being somewhere else. The thing to realise is, that no matter where you are - your uncertainty and doubts, your down days and low moods will all still be there. They’re part of you.

In yoga, the first word of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is atha which in Sanskrit means now. The here, the now, the present moment is a place you want to be. The Yoga sutras really teach us that there is no where else, only the present moment.

Be present. Be compassionate. To you. And to everyone around you. This is my yoga practice.

For a helping hand, try one of these free meditations.