The Happiness Project

So this week for me was so purposeful. Every single interaction during the week have been so so meaningful. I love every single thing that I am doing. And trust me, all of this didn’t come easy. Honestly, a lot of us have been through a point in life where everything seems to have reached a slump where nothing is meaningful anymore. I have had that time in my life too where I was working day in and day out – for nothing! I mean not nothing but you know what I mean – it wasn’t fulfilling at all.

But the moment I had that realization – I started reading and researching and soon came across a podcast by Jay Shetty, ‘On Purpose’ – where he mentioned the three step process that I have been following for the past two years which has tremendously changed my life;  1) Deeply get to know yourself 2) What do you love to learn & teach 3) Go outside of your comfort zone with your strengths.

Look listen - your purpose is with you the entire time. You just have to align yourself with it. This means that you become present, and so in tune with who you are in the present moment that you have no choice but to notice that you’ve had what you’ve been looking for in your hands the entire time.

And if there’s something that made me happy this week is to allow myself to trust myself. Constantly create experiences that are making me happy and these experiences give me the validation that ‘I am exactly where I am supposed to be’; ‘I’m doing exactly what I am supposed to do with my life’. I feel it so deeply in my gut. And I also see that shift happening in my clients, that energy exchange. It’s happening. For real! And trust me, there’s nothing more that will light my soul of fire more than knowing that someone somewhere is being helped; that I am able to create that ripple effect of positive transformation in their lives. I sleep with so much satisfaction, contentment and gratitude every single day. I love love love my life! I truly feel so full and complete. My heart is full – and I am in love – yes, with my life. I feel like I am finally making the most of myself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibilities into flames of achievement.

All I hope, wish and pray is that you feel the same way – and you love your life as much as I do and even more

Hello and welcome back to THP podcast! I am your host Raina Jain, a Psychologist, Podcaster and a Content Writer. For the one’s who don’t know – I am talking to you from Bombay – a city of dreams: that’s what they say but I do intend to settle down somewhere in the hills!

I am here to add value to your life. I started this podcast with an intention to serve, to help and to be of purpose to the community and do something for the greater good. Along the way, creating content on this podcast has merely taught me the value of connection, consistency, altruism and an acceptance of ‘what is’. So what is happiness? A box full of chocolates, pretty roses, puppies, a solo trip in a Mediterranean country,    a pent house in NYC. I don’t know! I don’t know what exactly is Happiness. It could mean a lot of things to a lot of people. It can be momentary or something that lasts a bit longer: or maybe a state of being! Look I am not here to answer that question but I am definitely here to plant those seeds in your mind that will get you reflect on this very question of ‘What is Happiness’? I typically learn through the process of elimination in my life – by doing certain things and knowing that this is what I don’t want to do or this is what is not going to make me happy. Even though I don’t know what makes me happy yet, I know what doesn’t make me happy for sure. So that way I am getting closer to being my authentic self and finding my authentic purpose and if that means shedding my old self – SO BE IT! I am at least honest with myself. And that’s what matters. I hope that you find your ‘why’ behind everything that you do and find your individual consciousness that threads your life together so you can instantly spot that glow in the centre of your being.

I am now introducing ‘Minutes of Happiness’ on THP podcast!

I am so excited to announce that we have now completed 100 episodes on the podcast. And ah, it’s been an incredible journey. So this has been on my mind for a very long time. Not just for ya’ll but even for me to find joy in the little things! The little things in life matter most. However, we get so caught up in the big moments that we don't see them. In today's fast-paced, forward-thinking world, it's easy to forget about the little things in life. So, for the next few minutes, let’s slow down and enjoy the beauty of a few minutes of happiness.

I hope through minutes of happiness you’re able to make happiness a habit so that it becomes a permanent part of your personality and you’re able to keep getting in touch with the bliss body within you.

“Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew”

I was having a conversation with my mom today in the evening and I shared with her about how overwhelmed I have been with an insane amount of work pressure. And all she said was, ‘don’t think about how much work you have to finish - JUST DO IT AND MOVE AHEAD’ So often we are stuck in the mental jabber that hinders our progress and things like these just hit you to the core and changes your entire thought process! I can’t thank her enough; I love you mom - I don’t say this enough and I couldn’t express it to you in person (even though we spent an entire evening together). But I truly do ❤️ Guess, social media doesn’t do all things bad, does it?!

Welcome to the 100th episode on The Happiness Project podcast. Well, today’s episode is more around managing Stress and anxiety with Shirley Billson. And we would all agree about how anxiety has kind of been a part of our daily lives. So how do we manage our stress? How do we take some control of our lives in this chaos and uncertainty? I am so sure that you have so many questions – like I mentioned earlier, feel free to get in touch with me. Let’s start a conversation! Most people experience stress and anxiety from time to time. Stress is any demand placed on your brain or physical body. People can report feeling stressed when multiple competing demands are placed on them. The feeling of being stressed can be triggered by an event that makes you feel frustrated or nervous. Anxiety is a feeling of fear, worry, or unease. It can be a reaction to stress, or it can occur in people who are unable to identify significant stressors in their life. Stress and anxiety are not always bad. In the short term, they can help you overcome a challenge or dangerous situation. 

However, if stress and anxiety begin interfering with your daily life, it may indicate a more serious issue. If you are avoiding situations due to irrational fears, constantly worrying, or experiencing severe anxiety about a traumatic event weeks after it happened, it may be time to seek help. Learning to cope with stress can require some trial and error. What works for your best friend might not work for you. 

It’s important to build your own stress reduction toolkit so that you have more than one strategy to implement when stress kicks in.

• Relaxation breathing: The single best thing you can do when under stress is to engage in deep breathing. Practice this strategy when you’re calm so that you know how to use it when you’re under pressure. Inhale for a count of four, hold for four, and exhale for four. Repeat. 

• Practice mindfulness: Sure, there’s an app for that, but the best way to practice mindfulness is to disconnect from your digital world and reconnect with your natural world for a specific period of time each day. Take a walk outside and use the opportunity to notice your surroundings using all of your senses. 

• Get moving: Daily exercise releases feel-good chemicals in your brain. Making exercise a daily habit can buffer you from negative reactions to stressful events. 

• Keep a journal: Writing down your best and worst of the day helps you sort through the obstacles and focus on what went right. It’s normal to experience ups and downs on any given day. 

• Get creative: There’s a reason adult coloring books are so popular – they work. Whether you’re drawing, coloring, writing poetry, or throwing paint on a wall, engaging in a creative hobby gives your mind a chance to relax. 

• Crank up the tunes: Listening to slow, relaxing music decreases your stress response (just as fast-paced music pumps you up for a run). 

Listen to the entire episode here - https://open.spotify.com/episode/1IBee8pkbfxMTF34w8e3FY?si=r-oqZhLxQZG8IOaXGvD45Q&dl_branch=1

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of trauma work with clients who didn’t realize they even had any trauma. Most people come to me struggling with anxiety, a relationship, or questioning their career, but pretty soon, we start talking about deeper things. The old pains and past hurts that were never fully healed. Those wounds which seem to elude words are blocked, trapped in the subconscious.

“I don’t know why I feel so upset,” while you cry over something seemingly trivial.

“This isn’t really a big deal, I know that, but I don’t know why I can’t get over it…”

“I have no idea why I get so angry and upset every time he says that to me, it shouldn’t matter,” but it clearly does, a lot. And there’s no logic to it other than… it’s reminding you of a past trauma.

Trauma gets stored in the body like a DVD stuck on pause, ready to be “played” again whenever something in the present moment, our current life, reminds us in some way of the pain of the past. Why? Because trauma is not stored in the brain like other memory. It doesn’t get filed away into our filing cabinet of autobiographical facts of our life. Instead, it is stored in the body, as emotion, tension, or pain because of our “emotional brain,” or Autonomic Nervous System.

Animals shake when they experience trauma or anxiety. Think of a dog who’s been in a fight with another dog: Once the fight is over, both dogs will shake to calm their nervous systems and quiet the fight, flight, or freeze response. This enables them to move on without the physical memory of the situation.

Humans, however, don’t naturally do this. Instead we carry our stress, anxiety, and trauma around with us every day and use food and other addictive behaviors to soothe ourselves and quiet the emotional discomfort.

There’s nothing wrong with turning to food or other means to soothe yourself, but typically habitual behaviors provide a short-term solution, and you’ll continue to feel the discomfort until you release the memory from your body.

We have a tendency to look for the quick fix, but there’s no six-hour healing elixir that can magically erase the pain and discomfort from old wounds. Healing takes time.

Give yourself time to fill your emotional tool-kit and understand that healing is a journey—one that lasts a lifetime.

Of course, practice makes the journey easier, but there is no perfection. There will be times when you fall back on old patterns and behaviours, when that happens reach into your emotional tool-kit and take what you need. You are equipped. You can do this.

Now, let’s hear all about it from the very expert Phil Lee who takes us through the journey of unblocking trauma. Listen to the entire episode here - https://open.spotify.com/episode/4hthb4gsGHBcIIapfjdae4?si=Wf4uyKb-SiGv8CSsRu_xcg&dl_branch=1

Hello and welcome back to the 98th on THP podcast. I hope you’ll are taking enough time for yourself throughout the week – just by yourself! It’s important. I hope you’re not being hard on yourself because you deserve all the love and compassion that you go around pouring on other people.

We often set standards for ourselves that are too high because society expects us to be perfect. We forget that everybody has flaws, even the people we perceive to be perfect. But who decides what is perfect? Who sets the standards we feel we need to live up to?

Self-acceptance, self-love, and self-compassion are essential for our overall health and happiness. These attributes affect not only our mental and emotional health but also our physical health in very real and concrete ways.  While it may sound “out there” or “woo-woo”, when we don’t accept ourselves fully, we are ever so subtly cutting ourselves off from the life force energy that gives and sustains life. It happens on a very subtle level, but over time this disconnection from the full potential of life force connection can manifest with concrete health issues.

Think of it another way. When there are parts of ourselves that we don’t accept, we are literally warring with ourselves internally. And when both parties in that war are actually parts of you, guess who loses, regardless of the outcome?

We all have flaws – that’s what makes us human. Everybody makes mistakes – that is the only way we can learn and grow. Accepting our flaws and forgiving ourselves for mistakes, or put another way, reconciling all those conflicting parts in us is crucial to our health and happiness, and to generally achieving our greatest potential as humans.

Self love is a practice, its is something you learn and implement into your everyday life.

A few things that I feel like should be considered and known when it comes to self love:

You are the main focus – It all starts with you and ends with you. You’re going to be with yourself for eternity. Which means, you want to operate from a place of self-loving, rather than self-loathing.

You care for yourself the most – Nobody is interested in you – your well-being, health, safety, happiness, and existence – more than you. No one knows better than you, what makes you happy, or what hurts you most. No one thinks of you, or exists ready for your rescue, support or comfort. No one can make better choices for you, or give you a better opinion of what you need to do – other than yourself. No one is here for your spiritual growth – but you.

You are the only person that can bring yourself up, or down – You determine your attitude, the way you react, and your outlook day to day. This way, if you love yourself, you will be mindful of the way you feel and how you feel it.

What would your life be like if you loved yourself unconditionally? Take a moment to think about it.

Would you live in accordance with your values? Would you feel totally comfortable in your mind and body? Would you hold compassion for yourself when you made mistakes? Would you believe, undoubtedly, that you are a good person?

Would you rely on others to validate and accept you? Would you overextend yourself to please others, or would you honour your needs and politely decline? Would you feel confident in accepting a request, knowing that you would be helping others solely out of love for them? Would you feel good about yourself, either way, no matter what you chose? Listen to the entire episode here - https://open.spotify.com/episode/4CM768USayYpQw5k5HxOpU?si=y4rsLQ_UQw6MPd3bLDPdBA&dl_branch=1

Helloo guys! How have you’ll been? What’s happening? How’s the week coming along? You are not listening to the 97th episode on THP podcast. I am just overwhelmed thinking of how close I am going to complete about a 100 episodes very soon. I have been occupied this week with the workshops for the course that I am studying off lately. It’s called the ABT course and ahh – it’s incredibly amazing! I love how this course is helping me unfold and uncover so much about living a conscious life. And as and how time goes by, I will definitely share some wonderful stuff with you’ll. Well, I am sharing the highlights of my conversation with Kevin Monroe and the amazing concept of making every moment extra-ordinary. He also holds these amazing webinars on Gratitude almost every month and it’s a sheer joy to be a part of it! Whether gratitude journaling is working for you or not, we can all take our gratitude practice one step further by moving from the page to the real world. By embracing gratitude as a verb we advance from recognizing gratitude to practicing gratitude.

You may have a completely different version of extraordinary, and that’s what’s so perfect. How to live an extraordinary life entirely up to you—it’s your life, after all. The action itself isn’t as important as the intent behind it. As long as your intent is to make something in your world just a little better, to learn something just a little deeper, to try something you’re just a little curious about, it’s foolproof. You could institute pizza Saturdays or travel the world, saving endangered species. Both are extraordinary.

I remember when someone would mention the words "extraordinary life," the entire thought seemed only for the rich and famous. The idea seemed unreachable and only pertained to the lucky few. My self-talk would be jabbering in my mind saying "as if that's ever going to happen to someone like me." What I didn't understand was that the greatest obstacle I had to overcome wasn't to suddenly win the lottery, but to actually start showing up to live my life with just a little bit of extra. The next time you find yourself feeling stuck in an ordinary life; try out at least one of these simple steps to put into place. Just that tiny bit of "extra" goes a long way and before you know it, you'll be expanding your world and inspiring not only yourself, but those around you to do the same. Extraordinary living is contagious....pass it on.Listen to the entire episode here - https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Ci4WqZs4oFoGL8vEAqtBw?si=_e0hDY0kTUWXZU71NJzIeQ&dl_branch=1

There’s an interesting aspect to the feeling of being stuck. Many people who report that they’re feeling overwhelmed, confused or stuck in a rut are—in many cases—quite talented, intelligent and ambitious.

If you do not know how to precisely tackle the issue, breaking free from feeling stuck in life can be really difficult. The harder you try to get out of it, the more you’re getting stuck. That’s the big problem with being stuck in a rut. It gradually weakens your strength to get unstuck. The situation is comparable to the attempt of breaking free from quicksand. The more you struggle, the deeper you’ll get in it. But if you do know that the only way out of quicksand is to stop panicking, to lie on your back and to drag your feet out, the obstacle can be overcome.

The same holds true for feeling stuck in life. If you’re thinking really hard about your situation, you’ll find yourself walking around in a circle. It will get you nowhere. But like a comic figure that keeps walking around in circles, you’ll only create an ever deeper (mental) groove. There’s no point in overthinking the problem. In fact, continuously pondering about the problem will only get you deeper into the groove.

It doesn’t matter so much what obstacle is blocking your progress. What matters is that you learn to move forward despite being confronted with challenges. You have all the power you need to take the necessary steps to break out of the rut. However, every fibre of your body must be willing to effect this change. Breaking free from whatever holding you back is always a choice. Take this choice and learn to gain more control over your feelings, thoughts, and behaviours.

Well, I am sharing the highlight of my episode with Kenny harper who is on a mission to change mindsets and lives. Kenny is on a mission to inspire and empower people to live a purposeful life. Kenny Harper began his journey rocking stages as a musician and after realising he realised he had the talents but not the business knowledge, he reinvented himself and became a devoted student of business growth strategies.

Now as an accomplished certified advisor, Kenny is on a mission to inspire and empower those with the attitude, expertise and drive to amplify their business by sharing proven strategies and effective systems

So tune into the episode and take a step closer towards shifting your mindset so you can shift your life!

If you want to listen to the entire episode – I have mentioned the link in the show notes so you can dive deeper into the concept of mindset! Hope you’ll enjoy the episode. I will see you next week, until then take care and stay safe. Listen to the entire episode here - https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Tbwvo4S3wAVpV0Tseu7N7?si=oLAiIsYSSL-qQlSKuzRG_g&dl_branch=1

I don’t cuss. Usually. Not that I never have, but I just choose to find other words to express my anger or disappointment ... words that I make up like, “Aw friggilish!” or I’ll just growl, “Grrrr” when something gets my goat.

There is one word, though, that can ruin relationships. It’s a curse word of sorts. Its name is Fear. Fear in relationships is the “F” word that has split more marriages, aborted many a relationship before its time and has kept more lovers sleeping back to back than the flu virus.

We all face fear from time to time. It’s a natural reaction to the unknown. The problems happen, though, when we choose to operate in fear instead of courage. You’ve likely heard one of my favorite inspirational quotes, “Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s choosing to act in spite of it.” This couldn’t be truer in relationships. We’ve all been hurt in one relationship or another.. so we tend to protect ourselves from being hurt in the same way ever again. In order to accomplish this goal, we put up walls, make self-fulfilling prophecies and shut others out. This, as you can see, causes major problems in intimate relationships.

I’m not going to give you a 5-step process for getting rid of fear. It’s not that easy, and truth be told, we’ve probably all read those blogs. However, if you want to have healthy relationships, and not struggle all the time with fear in relationships, you have to be willing to take risks. You have to be willing to courageously tackle your fears. What if you get hurt? Well, my friend, that is the risk you take when you choose to love. Love is risky! It offers no guarantees. Maybe you will be hurt (again). But what if you’re not? “Wouldn’t you have rather have loved and lost than not to have loved at all?” the great British poet Alfred Lord Tennyson asks. The point is that if you want to experience deeper levels of intimacy (the gift of knowing and being known), you are going to have to jump in! Now, I’m not advocating for you to throw away common sense! There are times when you need to be cautious and/or walk away. So in this episode, I am sharing the highlights of the conversation with Jackhym and Natasha who focuses on choosing love over fear. Look, it is true that life becomes a momentous journey when you decide to choose love over fear in everything you do, and I mean everything. There is a sensation that arises within us when we realize that fear is a construction of a mind manipulated by negativity. The reality is, fear only smothers us, entraps us, and withholds us from our greatest capability: to love and involve love in everything we do or say. There is a light inside each and every one of us that shines in the essence of our dreams, with love as the intention - for ourselves, for the world around us, and for living life to the fullest. The importance of finding that light, cherishing it, seeking it out, and embracing it is a step toward choosing love over fear. So tune into the episode now and if you wish to hear the entire episode – the link is mentioned in the episode. Hope you’ll decide to choose love over fear and let love be the driving force of your intention. Listen to the entire episode now - https://open.spotify.com/episode/1L62eyd1hDmBwjXCpxZB67?si=f-Di-B8aTs-Nek1oUwJxpA&dl_branch=1

I have been terribly sick for the past 10 days but I finally feel so much better now. Guess, I have a tendency to shut down and take some space to recover, rejuvenate and repair my body. And in this journey, if there’s something that I have learnt, time and again – is that if you do not listen to the signs of your body, it will literally make you sick enough for you to pay attention to things that REALLY need your attention. And I think that’s exactly what happened with me. My body needed some rest and some time to heal and come back even stronger and resilient.

Pain comes in so many different forms. Often people try to hide from it, hoping that it will go away or that they can cover it up with medication. But ignoring your body just makes it try harder to get your attention—your body is asking for your help.

Many of us are now coming to understand that physical symptoms and illness often begin first in the emotional and mental bodies. We are not just a physical body. We each have an aura of subtle bodies including the etheric, mental, emotional, astral and causal. Trauma or inherited cellular memory can also result in less than optimal functioning of the meridians of chi or prana flowing through the body.

Reiki and other modalities that work with the energy field can have lasting healing results when the energies causing illness are gently unblocked. Shamanic techniques, which have been the traditional form of physical and psychic healing for thousands of years can remove dark energy intrusions, spirit attachments and offer soul retrieval through energy healing and plant medicine. These modalities coupled with counseling and lifestyle changes show that holistic treatments offer a more sustainable and lasting form of healing. There are many current studies to prove that energy healing works.

Working with her suggested affirmations can begin unraveling the psychic energy stuck in the body, emotions and mind to create space for healing. From my own personal experience this process is most effective in a multilayered approach combined with reiki, shamanic healing, flower essences, dietary changes, exercise and nature therapy.

In this episode, I am sharing the highlights of the conversation with Anna where she talks about breaking those belief systems that we have developed deep within ourselves for years, about letting go of those judgement words that we put on our circumstances, about how control is an illusion, about understanding where our energy is blocked through chakra work; we also talk about becoming aware of the choices that we make every day and how can we take action without unwanted influences of the past. Anna also talks about how when we begin our spiritual journeys of inner growth, we discover many things about ourselves, other people and the world and she dives deeper into giving some interesting insights into chakra work and how it has transformed her life.

Listen to the entire episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5EkYLNfKQVaf91WadnjX1C?si=VWbiyxR0SRKG-5ayrrVevw&dl_branch=1

Hello guys, how’s the week coming along? Well, guess on a global level – things have been quite stressful, especially with the Afghanistan and Taliban issue that we have all been hearing about day in and day out. Distressing images of the Taliban taking over Afghanistan are beamed into televisions throughout the day, leading to fear, instability and conflict which also brings up the question of where are we really heading towards, not just at an individual level but at a collective level? Are we progressing or regressing in our approach? For that matter, mental health issues are rising too!

And with whatever that’s going on – I thought it was best to remember that – we can cope up even though life gets tough and tests us over and over again. And no better episode to share the highlights of than with the one where I interviewed Vipp Jaswal who gives us an insight into his journey with Depression and how he came out of it. Sometimes, it helps to know other people’s journey and resonate with it. I hope you’ll find this episode helpful and if you want to listen to the entire episode – I have mentioned the link in the show notes!

Depression is more than just feeling down or having a bad day. When a sad mood lasts for a long time and interferes with normal, everyday functioning, you may be depressed. Symptoms of depression include:1

• Feeling sad or anxious often or all the time

• Not wanting to do activities that used to be fun

• Feeling irritable‚ easily frustrated‚ or restless

• Having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep

• Waking up too early or sleeping too much

• Eating more or less than usual or having no appetite

• Experiencing aches, pains, headaches, or stomach problems that do not improve with treatment

• Having trouble concentrating, remembering details, or making decisions

• Feeling tired‚ even after sleeping well

• Feeling guilty, worthless, or helpless

• Thinking about suicide or hurting yourself

The following information is not intended to provide a medical diagnosis of major depression and cannot take the place of seeing a mental health professional. If you think you are depressed‚ talk with your doctor or a mental health professional immediately. This is especially important if your symptoms are getting worse or affecting your daily activities. Tune into the entire episode now: https://open.spotify.com/episode/58cTGXOl5XtUVVUUnM9WEB?si=_HQ78441SMWkbOrVP5HXqA&dl_branch=1