Are You a Mindful Family? Take These Steps to Increase Happiness in Your Home

We all look for ways to increase happiness in our lives. Creating a tranquil environment at home undoubtedly tops most of our lists.

Your home is your safe haven. It’s the one place where you and your family should be able to escape the pressure of today’s demanding lifestyle.

You often find that stress and frustration have a way of sneaking into your home, though. It can be very disheartening to watch negative emotions influence your family life. Rather than hoping for a great home environment, you should create it. Living mindfully and participating in mindful family activities can change the atmosphere in your home tremendously. This practice will increase happiness and decrease stress. Read on to find out how!

Embark on a Mindful Challenge

To increase happiness in your own life, you start with one person – you. As the leader of your family, you need to set the example.

The next thing on your to-do list is to take on this challenge together. Have a family meeting and explain your goals to increase happiness in your home.

Most kids find challenges intriguing and will be interested in joining you.

A big part of creating the environment you want at home is simply being on the same page as the rest of your family. Make sure and communicate effectively.

Define a Mindful Challenge to Increase Happiness

Once you’ve got the whole crew on board for your mindful family challenge, define the challenge.

A great challenge to start with is exploring breathing techniques.

Gather your family together and have everyone lie with their backs on the floor. Each person should put an object on their stomach. A stuffed animal works great for this.

As you lie there together, practice breathing deeply and see who can raise their stuffed animal the highest.

This fun challenge supports deep breathing. It will also increase happiness by promoting a positive sense of togetherness.

Make a Mindful Space

It’s inspiring to think of your home as a safe haven. You can take this notion a step further and make a space in your home that is dedicated to being mindful.

A little nook filled with cushions or even a rug in front of a bookshelf will work. The space doesn’t have to be grandiose, but it does need to increase happiness by decreasing stress.

This area is your family’s ultimate mindful zone. Each member can come here for a quiet time or an escape from whatever is bothering them.

Often, children gravitate to this dedicated mindful zone when they need to cool down from being angry or frustrated. You will probably gravitate toward it for the same reason.

Eat Together and Practice Mindfulness at the Table

Coming together for a family dinner is one of the best opportunities to increase happiness in your home.

You can practice being mindful by embracing the time you have together.

Avoid discussing schedules, homework, or jobs. Make the decision to talk about those things at another time.

Instead, talk about something that is happening at that moment. An example of this would be to discuss the meal itself, how each person is feeling, and what they like or dislike about what’s happening then and there.

Have Mindful Mornings

If you’re naturally a morning person, you might already have this handled. For the rest of us, mornings are often nothing but rush, rush, rush!

Avoid this stress by recruiting your family to help prepare for the next day. Kids can help pack lunches or lay out their clothes. You can wake up a few minutes earlier, too. A head start goes a long way.

Everything is not going to go perfectly all the time, so keep in mind that you are the mindful leader. Create some reminders for yourself on how you want to deal with stress and negative emotions in the morning.

Do you want to express frustration and anger or accept the emotion for what it is and deal with the challenge calmly? It’s tough to remember these little cues when you’re in the throes of a wild morning.

A great way of helping yourself out is to put notes on your fridge. These reminders can help put things into perspective for you.

While it’s not difficult to create a home that will increase happiness in the lives of your family, it does take some action. With the help of a few mindful moments, you will soon see a positive change in your loved ones and the happiness in your home.

To learn more about Family Counseling click here.

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All images are used for illustrative purposes only. Any person shown is used as a model only.