Happiness Hacks

Time spent in a sauna or steam bath is healthy. Why? Sweating releases unwanted materials from the body and improves circulation. Indulging in a sauna or steam bath can eliminate toxins and excess sodium, soothe tense and sore muscles, and enable you to relax into your happy place. Before stepping into a sauna or steam room, though, make sure you’re in good health by checking with your doctor. Also, it’s important to drink lots of water to replace what you lose from perspiration. 

Strengthen your family connections and forge a stronger family identity by reaching out to your relatives. Host a reunion or small gathering and make a special recipe handed down from previous generations. Then, before your celebration is over, make sure each family member gets a copy of that treasured recipe. Encourage them to pass it along to other relatives too. Your effort creates a tangible link to the past, encourages a celebration of your shared identity, recalls memories, and strengthens family bonds. The beloved relatives who originally made that dish— perhaps even centuries earlier—may have long since passed on, but you can remember them whenever you make your family recipe. 

If you only have a couple of days in a city or town, go on a bus tour and let a professional guide show you the sights and tell you about what you’re seeing. That kind of informed introduction to an area can help you decide which sites you would like to see more of as well as which areas don’t interest you—then you won’t waste your precious vacation time wandering around looking for interesting things when you could go straight to them and enjoy yourself. 

If you are seeking loyalty and trust in your friendships or in a romantic relationship, first cultivate those qualities within yourself and then demonstrate them to others—in doing so, you become a magnet for exactly what you want. Similarly, if you seek a gentle, loving person as a life partner, avoid someone with a mercurial, volatile, or temperamental nature. Although opposites do sometimes attract, you’ll most likely be happiest with a kindred spirit. 

Time management experts say that a clean desk is important for several reasons. You work more efficiently when you know where your documents and tools are at all times, for example, rather than if you have to search through piles of disorganized material to find them. A clean desk signals to clients and others that you’re probably an organized person with efficient and effective work habits. That inspires confidence! So get yourself whatever tidying supplies you need: garbage bags, filing boxes, manila and hanging folders, labels, organizers . . . and then get to work and join the ranks of happily organized workers. 

Helping creatures than cannot help themselves can give your life purpose. Animal shelters around the country are in need of volunteers to help care for and maintain the animals they house in their facilities. Even if you cannot volunteer your time, you can make a monetary donation or contribute items on a local shelter’s wish list. Many shelters need easy to find things such as peanut butter, plastic bags, bath towels, pet carriers (all sizes for all kinds of pets), and good-quality canned dog and cat food. See a need and fill it. The resulting good feelings are yours to keep. 

There’s nothing like playing in the water on a hot summer day. Whether you swim, snorkel, water-ski, deep-sea dive, surf, or head out in a kayak or canoe, there is so much fun to be had in the water! Go buy yourself a bathing suit and join your family or friends for some water play. Of course, be safe: use adequate sunscreen to protect yourself from the sun’s harmful rays, wear a hat with a wide brim to shade your face and neck, and avoid the hottest times of the day (when the sun is directly overhead). Also, drink plenty of water to replenish what you sweat away with all that exercise. Now go and have a blast!

Back in the olden days when people didn’t have computers, they made friends the old-fashioned way: face-to-face. People would make a casserole or their favorite comfort food and then bring it over to a neighbor and introduce themselves. Why not carry on that tradition? Bring some food over to a new neighbor to welcome them to the building or neighborhood. It doesn’t have to be fancy—a cherry pie, a chocolate cake, a loaf of banana bread, and the classic casserole are all easy to make, and they’re all delicious. Not really the cooking type? You can bring your neighbor coffee and doughnuts from your favorite coffee shop to give them a warm welcome. You might strike up a new friendship! At the very least, you’ll be on good terms with the people you see every day. 

Create handmade cards for birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, christenings, and other occasions too. You can find blank cards and envelopes at craft stores, and then you can use calligraphy and watercolors or tempera paint to create fun, individualized images. Or design your card on a computer and print it on card stock. Your unique cards will carry messages of caring, thoughtfulness, and, of course, your wishes for abundant happiness. 

For some parties, the guest list should be kept really short . . . say, just two people. Your significant other’s birthday could be one of those occasions when you show your partner a totally different side of your personality. You don’t have to look like a lingerie model, but it might be fun for both of you if you slipped into something sexier than what you normally wear. You could cook a gourmet meal, set the table for two, and then get dressed to meet your partner when he or she comes home from work. You’ll both rediscover how exciting a birthday party can be!