Last week’s happiness prompt had us reflecting on our legacy and contributions. I hope you found the exercise fun, thought provoking and joyful.
This week it’s more about a reflective material than a reflection. Watch the video first and I’ll explain.
Here’s the prompt for this week:
As you have probably discovered for yourself being near a body of water is cleansing for our minds, bodies and souls.
It has been scientifically proven that our closeness to a body of water is uplifting and emotionally invigorating. It could be a stream or an ocean, it doesn’t matter. Sometimes even a bathtub will do. Doesn’t the bathtub feel great after a long and harrowing day?
We are born in water, are baptised in water, and find growth in water through blood, sweat and tears. And of course being mostly water ourselves, we certainly can’t live without it.
As we spend time by the water watching waves or ripples, listening to sounds of droplets or waves we can achieve a form of meditation called Blue Mind. This space brings calm, peace and happiness into our lives.
You can find out more about Blue Mind and the human emotional need for water through various scholarly articles and books. Here are three I recommend:
- Scholarly article on the benefits of blue and green spaces https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-87675-0
- Scholarly article on Bluespace Geographies https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1353829215001057
- The book: Blue Mind – The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do
The Happiness Project is
my way of sprinkling happiness like fairy dust so that we can shift our perspective towards a happier more joyful life. Each Tuesday I will give you a prompt and an affirmation for the week. Use these to guide yourself towards a joyful life filled with gratitude and happiness. Think of it as your own gratitude journal.
Once in a while we’ll do a check-in to see how your happiness is improving, so keep slowly moving towards happiness.
Happiness Community Shares:
Join the Happiness Community by writing a post and leaving a link in comments so I can share it.
Follow these Happiness Community Regulars:
Spectacular Steffi from https://kokopellibeefreeblog.wordpress.com/
Marvelous Margie from https://backroadsandotherstories.com
Joyful and restless Jo from https://stillrestlessjo.com/blog/
Joyful Jan from https://accordingto.me/
Wonderful Wynne from https://wynneleon.com/
Are you a happiness community regular? Let me know you’re practicing the happiness prompts and I’ll add you to the list.
This week I wish you joy as you spend some time reflecting near water.
If you missed the previous weeks, here’s the full playlist:
Love how you did this beautiful prompt and video — “and listen.” Yes! Having just spent a week at the beach with my window wide open every night so I could just listen, I can confirm that it did make me happy. Looking forward to reading the Blue Mind links – thank you for including them!
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Lovely that you got to experience that while you were on vacation by water. It’s a beautiful state of mind. The memories and images will bring just as much happiness in future. The ripple continues. 💕
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