12 Bliss Tips: Love and Gratitude Can Reduce Stress

12 Bliss Tips

By focusing on the positive, we keep our minds centered and away from petty and harmful anger.

1. Make time in your day to express gratitude even if you really do not feel like doing so. Gratitude is an attitude not feeling. Send a note. Make a phone call. Professor Robert Emmons has documented the scientific foundation of gratitude and Dr. Jeffrey Froh has studied the effects of gratitude on children (Emmons, 2007) (Froh, 2008).

2. Be generous with your words. Pay a compliment to someone today, instead of waiting until the next time you see them.

3. Maintain positive illusions about those whom you love. Marcel Zentner, PhD, of the University of Geneva, says this is a way to encourage life-long love (Zenter, 2005).

4. Practice mindfulness. Focus on what you are doing, what you are saying. There are many books on the topic, but a short reminder was in the Special Report of the Mayo Clinic Health Letter, October 2013.

5. Guard your time and be grateful for every moment in the day. Learn the power of No. Practice saying, “I wish I could, but I am not able to do so at this time.” And make no excuses when pressed.

6. Develop time management techniques to help you from becoming overwhelmed with too many demands on yourself.

7. Forgive freely and be wary of anger. Clear your mind of negative thoughts that weigh you down, especially past hurts. Redford B. Williams, MD, of Duke University, has long advocated letting go of anger for your health. He is Chief of the Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and author of “Anger Kills.”

8. Appreciate the importance of sleep. Carl Bazil, MD, at Columbia University Sleep  Disorders Center has cautioned that losing even one hour of sleep can affect cognition. (Bazil interview, 2014)

9. Stop and think about someone you love and wish blessings and happiness. It will help to build up a reserve of joy. In fact, wish blessings for those who try your patience, those who hurt you, deceive you, betray you.

10. Seek out the best in others and avoid friends who drain your energy—they are serenity stealers.

11.Take minute gratitude vacations. Stop throughout the day to smell the roses, to take a walk, to gaze at the sunshine or clouds, to dream about love whether at home, in Paris, or Portofino.

12. At the end of the day, listen to music that relaxes you.  Researchers tell us that television at the end of the day can interfere with a peaceful sleep.

As for my waltz in Italy, for many women today Prince Charming has come and gone.  But happiness does not come to us because of another person, we find it within ourselves. Perhaps these bliss tips will help bring about joy in your life. The key is to focus on the positive energy that surrounds us, absorb it, and then release it back to the universe.

Source : https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/love-and-gratitude/201506/12-bliss-tips-love-and-gratitude-can-reduce-stress