How to get the happy habit

Sophie Goodchild, Health and Social Affairs Correspondent
1 Sep 2010

A healthy body involves regular exercise and our five-a-day of fruit and vegetables. But how do we “feed” our minds so they are fit and resilient to withstand the pressures of city living?

GPs such as Jonty Heaversedge say many Londoners are neglecting their mental health by resorting to quick-fixes such as cigarettes and alcohol.

“In the west we have paid very little attention to our minds, focusing primarily on our physical health,” he says. “Yet stress impacts every aspect of our lives — it damages relationships and crushes creativity.”

Meditation coach and writer Ed Halliwell agrees: “In a fast-paced pressurised city like London, our whole environment seems to be geared towards getting us to speed up.”

The pair have now published a new book, The Mindful Manifesto, a guide to surviving in a stressed-out world using the ancient art of “mindfulness”. This form of meditation is popular with celebrities, including actress Miley Cyrus.

Another fan is comedian Ruby Wax, who says this technique of training the mind to be kinder, gentler, stronger and more aware is “the way forward” for improving wellbeing.

Here are six “mindful” tips for better health and happiness in the months ahead.

Eat Mindfully
The healthy way to eat is the middle way between the extremes of binge and diet. The key is paying attention to what our bodies need, not filling them with junk at our desks. Get back in touch with your body and monitor how you use food in negative situations, such as after a bad day at work. Then try this simple exercise:
*Go somewhere quiet to sit with a piece of fruit — an orange, say.
*Move the orange around in your hands. Notice its weight, feel and shape, then picture the tree the fruit grew on.
*Aim to eat one meal a week like this, even just the first few mouthfuls.

Learn the Habit of Happiness
A healthy diet is just as important for your soul as for your body. The way to get your five-a-day for mental wellbeing is through developing good friendships, continuing to learn new things, looking after your body, being kind to others and noticing the world around you. This translates into a daily checklist:
*Connect
*Keep learning
*Exercise
*Give
*Notice

Be Your Own Good Parent
The key to self-esteem is firm and loving guidance while a child is growing up. “Securely attached” people feel confident about new experiences because they learned self-trust in childhood. Those with fragile egos who never learned to feel safe and comforted find life hard. But it is never too late to learn self-belief. Be your own “good parent” by offering the same firm and wise guidance when negative thoughts pop up, especially when they tell us to panic or give up.

Face Your Feelings
We are all addicted to something. Distractions such as drugs or even shouting at people create a smokescreen between us and our true feelings. Even putting just the right amount of milk in a coffee is a way of blanking the pain that is an unavoidable part of life. Compulsive distractions can become harmful distractions. Breathing exercises will help you to face difficult emotions:
*Take an in breath and allow your mind to follow that breath.
*With each inhalation, imagine the air you breathe is warming you and allowing you to feel your emotions.
*Are you feeling joy, anger, sadness or fear? How are these feelings expressed in your body? Like a heavy stone or a bouncing rabbit?

Don't Stop Thinking
A common myth is that to be successful meditation means having a blank mind and banishing negative thinking. Thoughts are not the enemy. There are no “good” or “bad” ones. Instead of judging your brain chatter, just become more aware of it and watch your thoughts with interest, as a detached observer would.

Do A Mental Floss
Looking after your mental health should be like going to the dentist. Fifteen minutes of meditation at the start of every day will equip you to deal with everything life throws at you. Start by just “being” for a moment — focus your attention on what is happening in your body, in your mind and the world around you.

Adapted from The Mindful Manifesto by Dr Jonty Heaversedge and Ed Halliwell, published on September 6 by Hay House, £10.99.