Ann Arbor Chiropractor Mike Tannnbaum, D.C. presents another blog post: How To Be Happier.

A question that people often contemplate and is occasionally discussed at my Ann Arbor chiropractic office is “what can you do to make yourself happier?” Even though the answer to this can be complex, depending on the individuals past experiences, level of health, appreciation for life, etc., there are a number of basic things I think can done to make yourself happier. (I'm not trained in the understanding of happiness, but these are just a few of my ideas.)

1. Prioritize the things you do in your life. This can be tough to accomplish. However, if you can think of those things that are important to you, that make you feel good about yourself, that enhances life in a positive way, you should make these things a priority. For example, working out on a regular basis, eating healthful food, reading a good book or finding work you like may be things that you want to make a priority in your life.

2. Be self aware. That is, live in the moment. Try to understand how you feel in the moment and if not happy or content ask yourself why. Is it, for example, that you feel mentally or physically uncomfortable in your present situation? Is this discomfort something that you recognize is generated from past experience? Try to understand where this unhappiness comes from then have tools to mentally or physically change the discomfort to a level of comfort. For example, if you're in an environment that for no obvious reason makes you feel anxious take a look at your past experiences that might trigger this anxiety. Once you understanding the trigger(s) you should develop some mental tools to reduce the anxiety. The trick here is understanding what and why you are feeling negative emotions in certain situations and having tools to mentally recalibrate your outlook so you can reduce or alleviate the negative emotions. In addition, you should be aware of your physical health and if not healthy/physically hurting don't just live with the discomfort have tools to make yourself healthier, like going to a chiropractor if you have back or neck pain.

3. Get out of your comfort zone. That is, try new things. Studies show that people are happier if they try things they haven't done before. For example, try playing a sport that you have never tried or simply, try to change up things that you've always done the same way, such as, instead of watching t.v. in the evening read a book.

4. At Tannenbaum Chiropractic one of our motto's is “never have a bad day”. I think if people simply try to set their mental compass to look at things in a positive light, a “glass half full” light, a happier light, they can make themselves happier. This isn't always easy to do, but I think people can train their mental outlook to one of improved happiness.

Any questions of about this blog post, Tannenbaum Chiropractic, back pain, neck pain or headaches please feel free to contact me at my Ann Arbor office at [email protected].