My 7-year old, second-grade students already understood the “Feel-Good!” technique when I taught it. It involves finding pleasant emotions and then basking in them. I asked these questions: “Think about burying your face into your puppy’s belly or your cat’s fur. Imagine biting into your favorite spaghetti, hamburger, or pizza. Remember the last time you were lovingly hugged. Which senses do freshly baked cookies arouse?”
The children were naturally drawn into these experiences. They could easily feel the pleasant sensations spread through their body and minds. Happy and enthralled, they beamed and laughed. This was fun.
As we grow older, we may overlook the simple joy and that comes from placing mindful attention on the omnipresent Feel-Good! opportunities in daily life. Perhaps our Feel-Good! muscles begin to atrophy as we mature. More likely, we shift our focus to other things.
In spite of how ubiquitous mindfulness has become, most people do not understand its components. Meditation teacher Shinzen Young defines “mindfulness as a skill set of three attention skills working together: Concentration power (high focus) Sensory clarity (vivid and clear) Equanimity (inner balance, acceptance)”
Mindfulness is a practice of developing and cultivating attentional skills to deepen and improve our awareness. As we build this capacity, we open ourselves to the elevation of fulfillment. Mindfulness can enrich the scale of sensory experience, two to three-fold. Imagine what that could mean for you? Feel-Good! is an essential, introductory technique because it offers taste of this potentiality and subsequently motivates the development of concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity skills.
People mistakenly assume mindfulness is a passive activity, done alone, in stillness, to tune out the world. Think of the cartoons of the monk on the mountain ledge. In fact, mindfulness is a vibrant practice for escaping into the world. With a little training, it can also be done actively, and in motion. When you become skilled in Feel-Good! it will transform how you relate to world and change how the world relates to you.
Where should you start. Begin with positive emotions like interest, joy, affection, hope, awe, enthusiasm, love, pride, friendliness, and gratitude. Positive emotions absolutely make us Feel-Good! They are energizing and stimulate beneficial chemical changes; cortisol levels decrease, and the brain produces serotonin, creating a feeling of well-being.
Positive emotions can be cultivated. If we are mindful, we can identify opportunities in our daily lives. Look towards your favorite activities, foods, pets, friends, & passions. You can also arouse them with positive thoughts or memories – friends, mentors, accomplishments, transitions. Finally, they can also be triggered by external thoughts and sounds – body, music, nature & special places.
With practice, we can turn on the pleasant Feel-Good! switch and fine-tune the dial to our positive emotions and feelings.
For me, pets, plants, food, and children are my go-to strategies. By focusing my attention, I have been able to build concentration skills, sensory clarity, and equanimity. I have also discovered Feel-Good! nuances. Feeding my children’s dogs has become a wonderful grounding ritual, instead of an annoyance. I let the dogs’ anticipation, excitement and energy permeate me. I note how their happiness and enthusiasm moves through my body and elevates my mood. We have turned a mundane task into our special, delightful, sacred, nurturing ceremony. Likewise, listening to the joy of children at play sends waves of delight.
Feel-Good! opportunities abound. Open-up to, discover, cherish, & celebrate them. They will guide you to elevating your fulfillment, building happiness, and discovering grace. It is a virtuous cycle. ENJOY!
Happiness@Risk explores ideas, strategies, and practices to promote happiness and wellbeing in both our personal and our work lives.
Bio Stephen Villaescusa CERM
Stephen Villaescusa is long-time meditator and a Level 2 Unified Mindfulness Certified Meditation Teacher and Coach.
With more than 35 years of experience in operational excellence and change management, Stephen Villaescusa has a proven ability in assessing an organization’s needs and collaborating with key stakeholders to develop and manage transformation efforts. He had led or administered many multi-year, global engagements across a variety of industry sectors
From executives to team members, Stephen has trained and coached at all levels His expertise spans Enterprise Risk Management, Lean methods and tools, Six Sigma methodologies (process improvement and new product development), Rapid Improvement events, Voice of the Customer(VOC) and Change Management.
A creative, energetic and collaborative thinker, Stephen sees himself as a bridge for organizations, helping them go from where they are to where they want to be.
Stephen holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from th