5 Ways To Trick Your Brain Into Being Happy

Written By Tess Milton

Did you know that happy people are healthier? Studies show smiles and laughter help boost our immune system, and that being a sad sack also increases our chances of getting sick.

But what if we don’t feel happy? Can we trick our brains into feeling happy when we’re not? Turns out we can, and it’s a trick the world is crying out for!

It seems humans are getting unhappier by the day. Depression, stress, and worry are on the rise, and it’s not hard to see why. The last few years have served to seperate and isolate many of us. People have lost jobs, homes, and their health. For those who’ve been fortunate enough to keep their jobs, a shift to working remotely has further impacted connection and community.

Then there’s the increasing cost of living, the anxiety around getting sick, and the constant dribble of scary news that filters in from the copious screens we’re faced with every day.

So, how do we keep a smile on our dial when everything feels dire and dark? I’m glad you asked!

What Makes Us Happy?

In order to explore how we can trick ourselves into feeling happier, we need to understand what happiness is. On a biological level, it comes down to happy hormones. Those babies that flood our body when someone pays us a compliment, when we’re on holiday in Hawaii, or when we win the lotto.

But how can we kick-start these happy helpers without a one-in-a-million winning lottery ticket or a holiday in paradise we can’t afford? Basically, it comes down to encouraging our bodies to release these hormones, even when we feel sad. It’s a backwards way to achieve and maintain a happy high, and a very effective way to trick our brains into thinking we are happy even when we’re not.

So, how exactly do we do this? Here’s five super easy ways to trick our brains into being happy.

1. Fake It ‘Till You Make It

We’ve all heard of faking it until you make it, but is there any logic to this approach? Can smiling when we feel like poop, or acting happy when we feel sad, actually brighten our mood?

Yep!

Think to times when you’ve had to go to work or out with friends, but you haven’t felt up for the occasion. You go, paste a smile on your dial, and at the end of the day feel better than had you stayed home like you’d wanted.

The reason is that smiling (yes, even fake smiling!) releases hormones that make us feel happier, and this in turn tricks our brains into thinking we feel good. In essence, it makes it even easier to keep smiling,

Another perk that comes from pasting on a grin when we feel grim, is we become more enjoyable to be around. Other happy people gravitate to us, and our energy even has the power to flip the frowns of those we spend time with.

TIP: Next time you put off heading to that social event you’ve been dreading, consider that it might be the perfect solution to your sadness.

2. Blast The Beats

Have you ever wondered how music can transport us somewhere else? How it can make us nostalgic, get us pumped up, calm us down, or even lull us to sleep?

There’s a ton of research that shows the connection between music and chemical production in our brains, more specifically dopamine and serotonin, two of our brain’s smile-producing power-houses!

Listening to music for just a few minutes provides the power to shift a mood. In fact, it’s such a powerful mood stimulant that people who listen to it daily boast to live happier, less stressful lives than those who don’t.

TIP: Find a way to weave tunes into your day, whether that’s by switching your alarm out for an upbeat song, busting the beats during a lounge room dance-off, or popping in some headphones and cranking your favourite playlist whilst you pound the pavement.

Which brings us to our next happy trick…

3. Move Your Body

Exercise is my happy pill, and if it’s done in a green space it’s like smiles on steroids!

Just like the first two points above, moving your body kicks those happy hormones into gear, whilst also suppressing hormones that cause stress and anxiety.

Couple this with the benefits of green space and fresh air, and your brain won’t just think you’re happy, it’ll think you’re next level ecstatic!

4. Remind Yourself To Be Happy

Have you ever taken notice of the way you talk to yourself? Often we are our own worse critics, and we don’t even realise how nasty we’re being.

Switching the ‘negative Nancy’ self dialogue to a more positive, empowering and uplifting tune can be the catalyst for a happy day. It’s why big wigs like Toni Robbins and Les Brown have millions of loyal followers. They help people switch on that belief in themselves. To change up their self-limiting inner dialogue and commit to a belief that they’re strong, worthy, and unstoppable!

Being this reminder for yourself is a powerful place to start, but we all have huge to-do lists these days, and remembering to remind ourselves that we’re awesome can feel like another box we need to tick. Instead, fill your day with prompts that remind you happiness is a choice. By carefully placing positive affirmations and uplifting reminders in places we instinctively look (think our phone’s locked screen, an artwork on the wall above the kettle, or even a sticky note on the bathroom mirror), we can subconsciously trick our brains into believing we back ourselves.

And if you need some easy ideas to weave happiness into your busy day, my book Happiness Hacks for Mothers has HEAPS! It’s designed to take the guesswork out of happy habits.

5. Shift Your Focus

Sad or angry feelings can have a snowball effect in our mind. We feel down and we start to see this negativity show up here, there and everywhere. It’s as if the lens we are looking at the world through, is tinted with a depressive glare.

The best way to shift this lens, is to change the focus.

I like to do this by immersing myself in something I can easily get lost in. For me, this is writing or making art, but another simple way to shift your focus is to do something selfless for someone.

Shifting our focus from ‘me, me, me’, to asking ourselves: ‘how can I be of service to someone else today?’, is a great way to feel useful, foster gratitude, and broaden our perspective. All of which are fabulous ways to get those happy hormones kicking!

Plus, Frowning Is Exhausting!

If all these happy tricks sound too exhausting, remember this: being sad is the biggest energy zap! Negative thoughts and a ‘woe is me’ approach to life will use way more energy than it takes to fake a smile, so you have nothing to lose in giving this a whirl. And if that’s still not incentive enough to get those lips grinning, do it for your health - yep, smiling works to strengthen our immune systems too!

But I Still Feel Sad?

It’s important to remember sadness is a normal and useful emotion, and shouldn’t always be avoided. Life has a knack of throwing us curveballs that we can’t smile our way out of, and sometimes it can be detrimental to try. Some emotions need to be worked through, and actually offer us an opportunity to know ourselves better, become stronger, and to love ourselves a little more.

If you are looking for support and this blog wasn’t it, please consider reaching out to a professional counsellor who can help you navigate the waters you are currently treading. There is no shame in admitting we need help, but instead so much strength and growth that comes from owning and exploring those vulnerable spaces.

I have included some links below should you wish to seek more support online, on the phone, or in person.

Tess Milton
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