According to the University of Berkeley, happiness is a science of the conditions and processes that contribute to a flourishing life for all. Happiness Scientist Pep Kloeverpris shares her expertise via the online wellness community www.enritsch.com. Here are Pep’s 10 science-based practices we can all use to create happier lives:

Three Good Things
Pause briefly, recall and list three positive things that happened today. It can be small things: a colleague made me coffee, or more important things: I got promoted.

Now write the three things down, giving the experiences a title. Record what exactly happened and why and how you felt at the time and later.  This will help you tune into life’s good things with positive emotions and gratitude.

Peak Experiences
Reflect on your best moment over the last year: when you felt great or experienced something beautiful and share it with others. As you share the experience, dig deeply into why that moment or experience was so good. Re-living peak experiences creates positivity and gratitude.

Tred Kindly
Doing unexpected acts of kindness creates positive emotions.

Plan five different acts of kindness  – big or small – and diarise them for a specific day.

This will significantly make you aware of your positive social interactions.

Active Listening
This will help deepen your relationships. Think of a person you want to talk to, set a time for the conversation when you can talk undisturbed. When you meet, ask questions and don’t jump to conclusions. Let the other person elaborate on their thoughts and feelings. Empathize, don’t question, judge or give advice. Use good body language – such as eye contact.

Ask if you can give your perspective and expressing yourself clearly with ‘I’ statements.

Mindful breathing
This helps regulate emotions. Cultivating awareness of your breath is an easy start and can be done in 15 minutes. Relax, seated or lying, close your eyes and rest your hands where they’re comfortable.  Inhale through your nose (3 seconds), hold your breath (2 seconds), and exhale (4 seconds). If your mind wanders, gently bring you attention back to your breath and continue to practice.

Loving Kindness Meditation
This is about being present in the moment and sending kindness and goodwill to others and yourself. Search for guidance on the internet, get comfortable, relax and gently follow the instructions.

Self-compassion
Let’s be kind to ourselves. Write down what makes you feel inadequate and how you feel.

Now write yourself a letter about the issue as if it were from a close friend. How would your friend express compassion for you? What would they suggest and how would you feel about it? Put the letter away for a while, then read it again and feel the compassion that flows.

Gratitude Letter
Think about someone who did something you are extremely grateful for, but who you never thanked. Now write the person a letter about how they affected your life and why you’re so grateful. Plan to visit the person to deliver the letter.

Feeling gratitude increases happiness and improves health.

SMART Goals
Personal goals and achieving creates happiness.

SMART goals are: Specific and Significant; Measurable; Attainable and Achievable; Realistic; Timely, they give you direction and purpose.

AWE Walk
AWE is feeling you’re in the presence of something greater than yourself. Planning for AWE experiences can increase happiness. AWE feelings can be cultivated almost everywhere. For instance: plan a mountain hike; visit the dunes of the desert; take in the night skies or a beach sunset. When you’re AWE walking, switch your phone off or leave it at home.

When walking, imagine you’re seeing things for the first time, as if through the child’s eyes.

Want more advice from ‘Pep’? Reach out via www.enritsch.com.