3) Catch happy

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We can catch happiness, just like we catch a cold!

All we need to do is be open to listening to each other and it’s possible to really experience the happiness of another person.

The practice

Take a moment to feel nice and comfortable; really easy in your seat. Allow yourself to be solid as a mountain.

Just like there are different flavours of ice cream, there are so many different flavours of happiness. We will offer our hearts lots of different flavours to try, and see if one of them stirs a memory for us. It could be a happy moment from today or yesterday, or in the past weeks. When we find a flavour we like, we let ourselves really taste the flavour of that kind of happiness.

(a) Sample flavours of happiness

You can allow your eyes to close, and let yourself explore some of the flavours of happiness.

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘happiness’?

  • it might be a time when you felt a sense of excitement; when you knew that something great was going to happen

  • or a time when you felt surprise (the good kind!)

  • maybe a sense of real joy, where your heart felt like it was growing bigger and expanding

  • a memory of laughing so hard that you had to catch your breath

  • it might be a moment when you were with other people or animals

  • happiness can also be a quiet, peaceful feeling, when you know that everything is just good, and you feel really well

  • a time when you felt wonder, or a sense of awe – a time when you were simply amazed

  • perhaps an experience of being in nature – a beautiful place with wonderful colours or sounds

  • maybe a feeling of satisfaction – or even relief.

There are so many different kinds of happiness.

It can be something big, or very small, a very simple happiness.

(b) Embody happiness

When you feel a memory, let yourself really taste that flavour of happiness.  

Let it fill your body for a moment:

  • how does your face feel, your eyes, your mouth?

  • do you have a sense of what your thoughts are like when you feel this way? Are they fast or slow, maybe they’re a certain colour or texture?

  • keep exploring down your body. How does your throat feel, your shoulders, your chest

  • how does your heart feel? Can you sense the happiness in your heart?

  • and does the feeling move? Maybe it pulses in waves, or radiates outwards?

  • how do your arms and hands feel, your tummy, your whole body?

  • Sense where this feeling lives in your body. You can imagine yourself as a mapmaker, drawing the feeling in your body.

And you can release your attention. Wonderful.

(c) Share together

Let’s see if we can catch happiness from one another!

We take a moment to settle ourselves again: our seat solid, our body at ease, our hearts open, our faces calm and peaceful.  We’ll go around the circle and take turns sharing our happy moment, and listening to the happinesses of our friends. And let’s see what we can catch!

downloads

You can download the poster and worksheet in pdf, A4 sized.