Spreading a little happiness

Are you searching for happiness? Many of us spend our lives looking and never quite get there. We may think we would be happier if we had more money, lose weight, or find a love in our lives; however Annie Seager believes it’s not necessarily our circumstances that we need to change in order to find happiness, but our attitude to life. Happiness is easier to find than we imagine, she says:
”It’s all about unlearning negative ways of relating to the world around you and gradually substituting more positive ways”.

Annie’s interest in happiness grew after studying psychology, and finding her studies focused more on misery and suffering, than joy and contentment. After graduating with honours, in a quest to find out more about positive psychology she came across Robert Holden a pioneer in the field of happiness, who has spent much of his life studying positive emotions.

She soon embarked on Robert’s ‘Teaching happiness’ course at Oxford University, and was so inspired by his teachings that she decided to share what she’d learnt by running happiness workshops all over Cornwall.

In the workshops, Annie starts off by using an African method of greeting, which she finds breaks the ice and relaxes everyone. The workshops are friendly and informal, and participants can contribute as little or as much as they want in the discussions.

She then leads a variety of exercises designed to encourage people to explore the psychology of happiness, looking at what makes us happy, banishing negative thinking, the importance of smiling, and why we all deserve to be happy.

Annie says the first obstacle to overcome is that often people feel it is selfish to want to be happy, because it’s focusing on themselves and not others.
“Happy people often exude warmth and caring for other people,” she says.

Happiness can be contagious, and even just smiling at people can make their day. Therefore searching for happiness is not selfish, as becoming happier can have a beneficial effect on people’s families and communities.

Becoming happier can also help us become healthier. Research such as a famous study carried out by David Snowdon in the 1990’s, supports the link between happiness and health.

After analysing almost 200 short autobiographies written by nuns on first taking holy orders, he found that those who expressed a more positive outlook on life, lived longer than their less positive peers.

Annie believes that anyone can learn to think more positively if they are committed to change. She uses the techniques she learnt on the happiness course to help people challenge their deep-seated attitudes and beliefs, and replace them with more positive ways of thinking.

People who have attended her workshops have said they have thoroughly enjoyed the day, and one participant said:
“I definitely will be able to reflect on the day and remember the positivity of becoming happier.”

The cost of the workshops is usually between £25 and £35, and she does offer concessions. To find out more about Annie’s happiness workshops you can phone her on 01736 850738 or email happiness.cornwall@yahoo.co.uk.

This article is published in July’s edition of Vitality Matters a free Cornish Health and Wellbeing magazine Check out their website: vitality matters