The steps, as broken down to manage this disease, can be applied very successfully to quieting your anxious thoughts. Thoughts are thoughts they arise from habits, experiences, mistakes and errors in perception they are not in or of themselves real, they are chemical messages we can hopefully choose to believe and act on or not.

Step 1: Relabel
Recognise that your intrusive, anxious thoughts and urges are stuck brain patterns that become more defined and stronger the longer you allow them and act on them. It’s not what you think that is important, in changing your habits, it’s what you choose to do or not do as a result of them.
Step 2: Reattribute
Realise that the intensity and intrusiveness of your thoughts or urges are caused by your habits; it is probably related to a biochemical imbalance in your brain that may be attributable to sticky brain processing, dehydration, deficiencies in your diet, lack of exercise, experiences and embedded memories that cause leakage behavior and perpetrate your anxiety still further. Your anxiety will have a biochemical instigation.
Step 3: Refocus
Work around the thoughts by focusing your attention on something else, at least for a few minutes: do something else, go for a walk, drink a glass of water, focus on your body parts relaxing, sing, listen to music, sit or walk and focus on your breath.
Step 4: Revalue
Your anxious thoughts are not important or real in and of themselves, which means realising that the feelings are not worth paying attention to and not to be taken at face value. Revalue it.
When the anxiety occurs, you will be prepared. You will know, “That’s just my anxiety. It has no meaning. That’s just my brain. There’s no need to pay attention to it.” Remember: You can’t make the thoughts go away, but neither do you need to pay attention to them. You can learn to go on to the next behavior. There is no need to dwell on the thoughts. Move ahead. Simply ignore them and get on with things.

1. Your brain needs glucose for energy. If your blood sugar levels are too low, you might feel sluggish, irritable and experience difficulty concentrating. Not Eating Enough can definitely make you both tired and irritable..
Solution: Eat regular small meals, that include enough protein and good carbohydrates like vegetables.

2. The comfort fatty or sugary food you grab when you’re in a bad mood could actually be the cause of your bad mood in the first place. Diets rich in trans and saturated fats have been linked to increased depression. Additionally, new studies indicate that these diets can negatively affect your ability to think clearly. Junk food and fast food negatively affect the connections between your brain cells called synapses.
Solution: Look for foods packed with vitamins and minerals that will sustain you throughout the day instead of the fatty, sugary processed foods that may taste good, but leave you with no energy.

3. Consuming too much caffeine. Even in moderation caffeine, can in some people it can cause anxiety. Caffeine stimulates the brain, which makes it addictive. When people become addicted to caffeine, they may experience symptoms of withdrawal including headaches, fatigue and moodiness.

4. The correlation between sleep and your mood is no secret. But you could still be tired and cranky regardless of how early you hit the hay. Studies have shown that even dim light, for example the glow from your TV, reading lamp or even your alarm clock, in the bedroom may increases cases of depression. This light decreases the production of the hormone melatonin. Without steady levels of melatonin, your normal sleep patterns can become disturbed. Think about this the next time you wake up on the wrong side of bed.
See also my blog: Sleep is the New Sex http://magginimmo.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/sleep-is-the-new-sex/

5. Hormonal crankiness before a period is often due to changing levels of progesterone and can get nasty with menopause. Men also have a less obvious but non the less menopause symptoms.
Solution: omega-3s can help prevent the symptoms of PMS and menopause. Take 600 mg of DHA omega-3s daily. Fish oils, salmon
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docosahexaenoic_acid

6. Not drinking enough water can cause headaches, fatigue, dry skin, internal aches, constipation. Drink at least a litre plus of water a day and you will be a much happier camper.

Summary:
Eat enough
Eat regularly and properly
Careful with your caffeine intake
Sleep well with good sleep hygiene
Look after and be aware of your hormone balance
Drink more water

People come to see me because they have health issues, problems or emotional issues. There are many ways to approach health problems but when I question people I usually find they they already know what they are doing to exacerbate their ill health.
“Yeah I know I should drink less coffee and more water, but it’s so hard to remember, I get so caught up at work.”
“I probably eat the wrong foods. Too much take away and too late at night. I,t’s hard to get up and start by having a big breakfast or any breakfast when I’m so tired in the morning. “

Well what’s hard, from my perspective, is suffering perhaps dehydration, the resultant irritation, stress on your kidneys, general swelling and inflammation. The long term effect can be pretty serious, and then you can be not just tired but unable to work because you are so ill or unable to play because you feel exhausted by debility.

So what stops you from changing? Often it’s the inherent knowledge that if you give up something there may be a period of withdrawal from that food or drink and that can be extremely confronting, painful even overwhelming. For example you may suffer withdrawal headaches for a day or so when you stop drinking coffee, so for a short term benefit of no headaches people keep on keeping on with coffee, the long term result being liver dysfunction, an acidic body system, agitation and nervousness. It’s the price you pay.

Not changing can also be the result of culture. Often work functions and meetings expose you to fatty foods, alcohol, stimulants like sugar and lack of sleep all leading to relative ill health. Families may have a habitual environment where comfort food is unhealthy and that habit impacts your health.

You all know exactly what constitutes healthy eating, more vegetables, more water, moderate food portions, more fruit essential fatty acids and good lean protein. You all know that exercise is super important to keep your joints, bones and muscles functioning at peak efficiency. So what’s stopping you?

In the short term you want to be free to live as you like, in the long term you want to be free of pain and discomfort or ill health. In the short term you are afraid of pain, headaches, ridicule from work mates, friends. In the long term you are afraid to admit that time will erode your health if you don’t act now to improve it. In discovering and overcoming whatever prevents you from caring for yourself is where I can help. My job as a healer is to help you identify your self limiting fears of change and overcome them so you can achieve the joyous feeling of health in the present and an optimistic healthy future to look forward to.

Hypnotherapy is most useful to remove inner blockages towards change.
Homoeopathy is brilliant for correcting acute and chronic mental and emotional imbalances.
The Sacro-Cranial technique really helps nervousness and long term recovery from debilitating accidents.
The Bowen Technique is one of the most efficient methods to correct muscular and skeletal aches and pains.
Yoga is an extremely beautiful way to maintain your body, balance your mind and calm your spirit.

Contact me for information and appointments..magginimmo@bigpond.com
Regards and love Maggi.

This next course is focused on an organ regeneration practice. The breath work will be dynamic and challenging and the emphasis of the indicated practice will be on creating strong and graceful limbs and practices that are anti-aging.
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Anti aging tips:
DOS
Drink more water, hydration not only plumps and supports up your skin but every other tissue and organ too. Your brain is particularly subject to changes in mood, memory due to dehydration.
Eat more vegetables, especially watery salad vegetables. Inflammation is the main cause of cancer and aging. Vegetables have an anti inflammatory effect on your digestive tract.
Use turmeric as a spice daily. It is al well known anti inflammatory and in some American laboratory tests turmeric killed uterine cancer cells on contact.
Moisturise daily and exfoliate with used coffee grounds, it will leave your skin really silky. If you don’t have access to coffee grounds then use sugar.
Drink at least 2 cups of green tea per day, it is a wonderful anti oxidant.
Use sunscreen to prevent photo aging.
Exercise more. It will give your more energy, build your muscles, increase the blood flow to your skin, help prevent high blood pressure, lessen anxiety, strengthen your bones and raise your metabolic rate so you lose more weight more quickly.
Getting enough sleep is one of the most important habits for anyone over the age of 40.  When you sleep your  body releases growth hormone which stimulates cell turnover.  Your skin will suffer if you don’t get the beauty sleep you need.  
Reduce Stress, take up yoga and meditation. If you’ve had a stressful day things will be even worse – stress hormones suppress the immune system and accelerate the aging process.  So stress less and sleep soundly.
Cut down on red meat it is known to exacerbate inflammation in the colon that may lead to colon cancer
Listen to music it enhances the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine and enhances your memory
Have fun, enjoy yourself with people you feel comfortable with.

DON’TS
Don’t smoke. If you smoke you need to stop. It’s as simple as that. You may not be able to completely reverse the damage smoking has done to your body but you will stop the damage getting worse.
Don’t gain or lose weight repeatedly.  Skin that does not respond to weight loss by shrinking looks loose, empty and haggard.
Don’t eat excessive amounts of sugar, it is very inflammatory.

I had a dream, it was one of those saga dreams, full of adventure, long convoluted stories. I woke up with three words in my head “The Five Protocols.”
As any modern girl would do I Googled it and there are five protocols for putting on muscle, i.e. bulking, there are five design protocols, there are five cleansing protocols for hand washing for surgeons, but no mention of anything useful from my point of view. So I had a think about it and decided that I’d design my own five protocols, after all I take a dream seriously.

The thing that interests me most and my highest value would have to be consciousness, awareness and perception.
So here are The Five Protocols for the Development of Grown Up Behaviour:
Vigilance is the ability to maintain attention and alertness over prolonged periods of time, it is a state of alertness.
Self contemplation is the act or process of thinking about oneself or one’s values, beliefs, behaviour, etc.
Action is an act or doing something, it this case based on your vigilant observations and self contemplation
Change means something has become different, for good or ill, a transformation in behaviour has occurred or a habit altered
Balance is a state of equilibrium, usually relatively instable. Usually requires attention to maintain
Moderation and Maintenance. Moderation is the ability to self restrain, impulse control if you like. This leads to your ability to stay balanced and in a good state of mind.

Even if I do say so myself, it’s a pretty impressive list of objectives. Think about it even if you just started to make vigilance a priority you’d have to change. For example, you’d have to be bright and bushy tailed so you could pay attention and be alert. That means good sleep, not eating food that makes you heavy lidded, drinking water. Did I mention drinking water? That’s mega important, as hydration really helps you to stay focused, yet it’s super simple.

So there you are just by deciding to be vigilant you have to look at what stops you from being same (self contemplation) and then take some action, even if it’s just getting more sleep that may cause you to become more balanced and who knows you might like it enough to keep doing the stuff that makes you feel more alert, or at least stop doing stuff that makes you feel dim-witted, daft or dopey.

From many people’s perspectives I have a bad attitude. I don’t accept the status quo, I question everything, I presume that every person or event has a multitude of influences, good and bad. I think I have a good quality attitude (as I would) but I do question the obvious and behave in a way that is not consistent with the common man. As one of my teachers said if you want to have an extraodinary life do the opposite of the common man.

I think each and every one of us should seek and do what we love, check out Steve Job’s TED talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

I think I can take care of my own health and I’m happy to ask for help to do so, have a look at my website: http://www.galaxyhealing.com.au/mainindex/mainframe.html Click on Articles and Choose Basic Back Care

I think that as a culture we should educate our children to be compassionate: http://blog.ted.com/2011/09/02/compassion-and-the-true-meaning-of-empathy-joan-halifax-on-ted-com/

I think the highest form of meditation is love and gratitude for what is as it is
I think that as a planet we could eradicate hunger
I think that to stop war you have to find a way to stop fighting yourself
I think polite and friendly behaviour is better than rudeness (tempting as it is)

Yup I really believe it is possible to change. The difficulty is each individual’s inherent inability (in varying degrees) to get out of their own way.
So what constitutes our obstacles?
Unquestioned belief systems that lead to prejudice, envy, jealousy and bullying
Feeling helpless in the face of emotional or physical pain. Heavens there are so many of us willing to help, you don’t have to go it alone or be clueless as to what to do, just ask?
To develop communications is the key to inner, inter personal, community and international progress. I have included this TED talk by Matt Ridley to express this: http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_ridley_when_ideas_have_sex.html

I was blocking his ute’s exit so he was not going anywhere till I said so. Still he was cursing me out and I said, “When you stop yelling at me we can swap our details.” I was ready to take a four by two plank to this guy but I breathed in and followed a decision I made many years ago, if someone is yelling at me I turn my back, at least mentally (those of you who have seen the Mighty Boosh will recognise the tactic used by Naboo the Enigma). Anyway Mr Ute in his fitted shirt was ready for a stroke so I stayed in my car till his colour moved through the spectrum from puce to pink. Suffice to say he gave me his details and I eventually got my car fixed at his insurance company’s expense.

At the moment I’m looking at the effects of the neurotransmitter dopamine and its influence on addiction, aggression, reward and impulse behaviour. It’s implicated that societies, populated by people with high dopamine levels are materialistic, aggressive, focused and drive big 4 wheel drives. I’m in a chemical hell hole and they’re breeding.

The dopaminergic mind hypothesis seeks to explain the differences between modern humans and their hominid relatives by focusing on changes in the neurotransmitter dopamine. It theorizes that increased levels of dopamine were part of a general physiological adaptation due to an increased consumption of meat around two million years ago in Homo habilis, and later enhanced by changes in diet and other environmental and social factors beginning approximately 80,000 years ago.

Under this theory, the “high-dopamine” personality is characterized by high intelligence, a sense of personal destiny, a religious/cosmic preoccupation, an obsession with achieving goals and conquests, an emotional detachment that in many cases leads to ruthlessness, and a risk-taking mentality. High levels of dopamine are proposed to underlie increased psychological disorders in industrialized societies. According to this hypothesis, a “dopaminergic society” is extremely goal-oriented, fast-paced and even manic. Given that dopamine is known to increase activity levels, speed up our internal clocks and create a preference for novel over unchanging environments, it’s hardly surprising that stress related illnesses are on the increase.

In the same way that high-dopamine individuals lack empathy and exhibit a more masculine behavioural style, dopaminergic societies are “typified by more conquest, competition, and more aggression than nurturance and communality. Although behavioural evidence and some indirect anatomical evidence (e.g., enlargement of the dopamine-rich striatum in humans) a dopaminergic expansion in humans, there is still no direct evidence that dopamine levels are markedly higher in humans relative to other apes. However, recent discoveries about the sea-side settlements of early man may provide evidence of dietary changes consistent with this hypothesis.

All I can say in response to this information is that I am looking at the competitive often unconsciously unpleasant behaviour of people under stress. I am attempting to understand this society. Dopamine while increasing general drive also is implicated In behavioural disorders like ADHD and lack of inhibitory control or impulse control. Addiction is rife in our society, maybe this is the price we pay for our focus on material success. Individuas are the sacrificed to the God Mammon, the high priests are the bottom line men and women who put profits and personal success above community and the communication of our true selves.

It is easier to control my behaviour towards others if I have some understanding of their motives or at least some ability to abstract and attempt to understand from a perspective removed from the behaviour. Then at least I have a chance to behave in a vaguely civilised manner. Ute man was a test, I wanted to slap him but how stupid would that have been. Even as his puce face hovered near my car’s window I realised that his anger had nothing to do with me and he had no control. I had no control over what I thought, note the four by two fantasy, but was able to maintain a semblance of humour and distance. I thought he was behaving idiotically there by for the grace of the gods go I.

The more information we have as to why we behave in certain ways, the more insight and possibilities of self control we will have. Change your perspective and you will start to change the world.

These changes in our very chemistry are from one perspective evolutionary, the survival of the fittest idiom applies. I believe the next evolutionary step has to take us into a more cooperative frame of reference. It’ll mean developing social and emotional intelligence, instead of win or lose. It will mean compassion will be a higher value than competition. It will mean facing our greatest enemy our own fear and living on this planet rather than living off this resource rich rock. Maybe love and compassion are the next evolutionary steps

Compassion, the key to evolution

http://blog.ted.com/2011/09/02/compassion-and-the-true-meaning-of-empathy-joan-halifax-on-ted-com/.

Reality Construction
Surprise is intimately connected to the idea of acting in accordance with a set of rules. When the rules of reality generating events of daily life separate from the rules of thumb expectations, surprise is the outcome. Surprise represents the difference between expectations and reality, the gap between our assumptions and expectations about worldly events and the way that those events actually turnout. In essence, surprises are the end result of predictions that fail.

Body Language
Surprise is expressed in the face by the following features:

• Eyebrows that are raised so they become curved and high.
• Horizontal wrinkles across the forehead.
• Open eyelids: the upper lid is raised and the lower lid is drawn down, often exposing the white sclera  above and below the iris.
• Dropped jaw so that the lips and teeth are parted, with no tension around the mouth.
  

Spontaneous, involuntary surprise is often expressed for only a fraction of a second. It may be followed immediately by the emotion of fear, joy or confusion. The intensity of the surprise is associated with how much the jaw drops, but the mouth may not open at all in some cases. The raising of the eyebrows, at least momentarily, is the most distinctive and predictable sign of surprise.

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How Surprising

The word surprising is often used to describe things that are not surprising merely bemusing or bewildering. A friend might say or do something hurtful and you describe it later by saying, ”I was surprised by the attack.” When in actual fact you were hurt, upset or offended.

A surprise comes out of the blue, a slap (verbal or physical) is surprising, a stolen kiss may also be astonishing (It’s a good simile for surprising). Surprise  leaves you feeling breathless and even a little dazed.  A surprise is a bolt from the blue.  An old friend or enemy suddenly appearing in front of you in a foreign city is a surprise. So there’s both good and bad surprises.

It was a late Autumn day, I was on my way to meet a friend to catch up.  There was  a focaccia shop in the city (this was the 90’s when frock and focaccia shops proliferated).  It had a sunny aspect and great herb teas made with fresh herbs not tea bags. My friend was excited about something and as his best friend I wanted to hear all about it.

Bob had been in London and had got back the day before.  He still looked rumpled and kinda not quite real, I put it down to jet lag, little did I know that within minutes I would be the one with the appearance of major dislocation.  I got to the shop on time and set about ogling the cute waiter and scanning the menu. Intent on my carnal pursuits I didn’t see Bob enter.  He sat down beside me, kissing me as he swept his fabulous new camel hair coat aside.

He’d gone to London to a family wedding and stayed to catch up with friends and take a short break in Southern France.  Bob started to show me some holiday snaps and there in the southern Pyrenees with her arms through Bobs was my closest friend from university and then to compound it she walked into the shop.

Yep they’d met on hols.  My jaw dropped so far it musta dislocated.  That was a surprise, a good surprise.  Bob and Jacky now live in Melbourne and are happily raising 2 children, 4 chickens and lots of basil.

Now a bad surprise, well it was kind bad/funny.  I was at the local pub and listening to a good covers bank, normally that would be an oxymoron to me but I was charmed by the music.  The music paused and a guy in the audience started to chat to me.  I responded politely enough I think.  Anyway when the music restarted a few minutes later I turned away from him.  He tapped me on he shoulder, I was kinda annoyed to be interrupted, but I turned and he said, ”People like you castrate men.”

I was surprised, heard my heart go pound, pound. I shut my dropped jaw with a snap. I thought, “That’s a hell of a pick up line.” I turned my head and looked at him for another few pounds and said, ”Only if they ask nicely.”

Surprise, surprise he scuttled off.  I was surprised because it was so out of context and really little to do with me but directed at me. That was the surprise, it was like the end of a really bad joke.

The expression of fear is a warning signal and is triggered in situations where there is a threat or danger (real or imagined). Fear is also part of the fight-or-flight response system that humans have developed as a survival mechanism. When you feel fear, your bodies respond by shutting down unnecessary systems and rushing blood to the larger muscles in your legs in preparation for defense or flight.

Fear should be distinguished from the related emotional state of anxiety,  which typically occurs without any external threat. Additionally, fear is related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is the result of threats which are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable.   Worth noting is that fear almost always relates to future events, such as worsening of a situation, or continuation of a situation that is unacceptable. Fear could also be an instant reaction to something presently happening.

Fear is a chain reaction in the brain that starts with a stressful stimulus and ends with the release of chemicals that cause a racing heart, fast breathing and energized muscles, among other things, also known as the fight-or-flight response. The stimulus could be a spider, a knife at your throat, an auditorium full of people waiting for you to speak or the sudden thud of your front door against the door frame.

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
— Frank Herbert, Dune – Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear

“What we fear comes to pass more speedily than what we hope.”
—- Publilius Syrus – Moral Sayings (1st C B.C.)

“A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice.”
—- Edgar Watson Howe – Country Town Sayings (1911)

Courage is not the lack of fear but the ability to face it.”
—- Lt. John B. Putnam Jr. (1921-1944)

Physical Reactions:
Fear causes a variety of reactions depending on the intensity, timing, and coping options available. The reactions include:

• Freezing in place and feeling terror if you can’t do anything to avoid the  immediate danger.
• Running or escaping from the immediate danger,
• Sharply focusing your attention and mobilizing you to act to reduce or eliminate the danger when you can take effective action to cope with the  threat.
• Panic, including shortness of breath, racing heartbeat, and the inability  to focus on anything but worrying about the feared future event,
• Fighting to destroy the object of our fear.
• Fear also often causes cold hands, deeper and more rapid breathing, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, sweating, dry mouth, and trembling or tightening of the muscles, especially in the arms and legs.
  

You estimate the risks and vulnerability of the threat almost instantly and then fight, freeze, focus, or flee based on this assessment.

The evolutionary mystery of why your face contorts when you are scared has been solved by a team of Canadian neuro-scientists.

“When our facial expression shifts to one of eye-bulging, nostril-flaring fear, our ability to sense attackers or other imminent danger improves dramatically, researchers found.

The findings lend support to an idea first laid out by Charles Darwin in one of his less well-known tomes, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, published in 1872. Darwin noted that facial expressions of emotion were often remarkably similar across human cultures, and even the animal kingdom, implying they may have a common evolutionary benefit.

“Most people think expressions are social signals, that they are intended to communicate what someone’s feeling. We’re saying they probably evolved as a sensory function first, even if they do help convey our feelings to others,” said Adam Anderson, a cognitive neuro-scientist who led the study at the University of Toronto.

Writing in the journal Nature Neuroscience, Anderson and his colleague Joshua Susskind reveal how the classic expression of fear increases our range of vision, speeds up eye movement and improves air flow through the nose. All of these reactions boost our ability to see or smell threats and prepare ourselves for the “fight or flight” response, where we either battle it out with our attacker or take to our heels.

In the study, Susskind developed computer models for the facial expressions of fear and disgust. He then trained volunteers to pull each face. A fearful expression required participants to widen their eyes, raise their eyebrows and flare their nostrils, while a disgusted face was the opposite: a lowered brow, closed eyes and scrunched-up nose.

Measurements from video footage revealed those pulling fearful faces were not only better at spotting objects either side of them, but scanned their eyes faster, suggesting they could see danger coming more quickly.

In another round of tests, volunteers pulling disgusted faces were found to have a reduced field of vision and slower air flow through the nose.

“Fear expressions open up the face and expose the sensory surfaces, whereas disgust does the opposite, it’s a protective wincing. Fear is about vigilance and disgust is rejection,” said Anderson.

The team confirmed their findings by asking volunteers to pull different expressions while inside a magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The images reveal that fear expressions open up the nasal tubes, allowing air to be breathed in twice as fast as someone pulling a disgusted expression.

“What we’re doing is psychological archaeology. We’re unearthing the residues of the functions of these expressions. Facial expressions might be more important as social signals, but that doesn’t explain where they came from. This work explains why these expressions are common across cultures,” said Anderson.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jun/15/fear.science

Joy is personal, an exultant reaction to an event or momentary perceived fulfilment of a personal desire. Weddings, births, graduations, sex, drugs evoke joy in individuals. It is spontaneous, unexpected and pleasurable.

More clinically, joy is the passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; pleasurable feelings or emotions caused by success, good fortune, and the like, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exhilaration of spirits; delight.

The signs or exhibition of joy; smiling widely, gayety, mirth, merriment, festivity.

Joy is an emotion of sincere happiness. The key visual component of this emotional state is the smile. Still, “Why do we smile?” Animals don’t smile. Baring the teeth is actually an aggressive facial signal. This is a great psychological question and we’ve not been able to find a convincing (non-BS) answer. So … maybe this hypothesis applies. “Humans descended from pre-cretaceous non-predatory mammals in which dental excellence and root chewing ability was more important and than fangs. Good teeth = good mate?”

The expression of joy communicates a state of happiness, pleasure, enjoyment and ecstasy. A true expression of happiness involves both the upper part and lower part of your face. Whereas most of us relate happiness with a pull up and back of the lip corners, a critical element to the emotion is also the contraction of the orbicularis oculi, the muscle surrounding the eyes. This true smile, also known as Duchenne smile is anatomically distinct and indicates a genuine feeling of happiness.

Next time you greet someone, try to focus on your face and the type of smile you give the person. Are you feeling genuine happiness? Is your whole face smiling or just your lips? Once you have mastered identifying your smile start watching how others smile at you!

It seems you are more likely to experience joy if your base line of happiness is reasonably high. Happiness is a shared emotion and is often dependant on communal and community events, work interactions and feelings of success, fulfilment and well being. Joy is a personal feeling event.

Evidence suggests that, with the exception of the years 40 – 50, most people generally get happier as they get older. Researchers specify that people in both their 20’s and 70’s tend to be happier than during midlife, although the measures of happiness change at different rates (e.g. feelings of stress and anger tend to decline after age 20, worrying drops after age 50, enjoyment had been very slowly declining but finally starts to rise after 50, etc)

This could be for any number of things. Psychological factors could include a greater awareness of one’s self and preferences; an ability to control desires and hold more realistic expectations; getting closer to death may motivate people to pursue more goals; improved social skills, like forgiveness, may take years to develop; or happier people may live longer and are slightly overrepresented in the elderly population. Chemical changes that come with age may also be playing a role.

An emotionally stable personality correlates well with happiness. Not only does emotional stability make one less prone to negative emotions, it also predicts higher social intelligence – which helps to manage relationships with others (an important part of being happy).

Cultivating an extroverted temperament may correlate with happiness for the same reason: it builds relationships and support groups. Some people may be lucky, then, that many personality theories leave room for the idea that individuals have some control over their long term behaviours and cognitions. Genetic studies indicate that it is genes for personality (specifically extraversion, neuroticism and a general factor linking all 6 traits that account for the heritability of subjective well-being.

“Joy is the feeling of grinning inside.”

Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift. Albert Einstein

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. Albert Einstein

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. Buddha

We are formed and moulded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them. Buddha

Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy. Mohandas Gandhi

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. Mother Teresa

Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. Khalil Gibran

Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of humour itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humour in heaven. Mark Twain

Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with. Mark Twain

The secret source of humour is not joy but sorrow; there is no humour in Heaven. Mark Twain

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/words

So to joy, thinking, thinking back to feeling it. I was in a troubled state of mind, divorce bound and attempting an unconditional love for the people involved, myself the circumstances and especially my feelings. I got tired of the hours of contemplation, of balancing my perception, of remembering and neutralizing my feelings and their genesis.

I was alone and unable to concentrate. I made some tea, and idly picked up a book of Ralph Waldo’s Emerson’s essays. I had read them, with great pleasure, in the past and now the book fell open at the essay ‘Circles’ and I read, “There is no virtue which is final; all are initial. The virtues of society are vices of the saint. The terror of reform is the discovery that we must cast away our virtues, or what we have always esteemed such, into the same pit that has consumed our grosser vices.” I don’t really know why but suddenly I was catapulted into a state of intense joy, white light and I felt my face break into a big smile. I still to this day don’t totally understand what made me so joyful, but I still hark back to it and am usually happier for doing so.
(Here is a link to the same essay if you wish to read it, it’s brilliant: http://emerson.classicauthors.net/CirclesAnEssay/)

Still, I have had more comprehensible states of joy. My small son running towards me with his arms out and a huge grin on his face made me break out into joy, listening to music will sometimes make me feel joyous, Sigur Ros with its epic soaring rhythms can bring me to my knees and make me feel transported with joy. Joy meets some unexpected need in us and its birth is sudden and its life fleeting.