How to banish sadness and feel instantly happy

Almost all of us have suffered with anxiety, depression, insecurity and lack of confidence at some point or other in our lives, and it’s almost always at the worst possible time and exactly when we need to be at our fabulous, shiny, glowing best.

What if you had a special trick you could use that made you feel happy, confident, gorgeous or calm wherever you are and would work as easily as you clicking your fingers? – Well, we’ve found out that it is possible and we’re going to show you how.

We talked to Liz Davies, who runs Synergy Wellbeing and is a clinical hypnotherapist and licensed EFT practitioner, who runs online courses which instruct clients how to do easy self-hypnosis. 

How to banish sadness in less than one minute 

“There’s a really easy technique you can use where you set a trigger, which then instantly brings back feelings from a time you were happy, calm, confident or feeling at your best,” Liz tells Lumity. “You can pick whichever feeling it is that you want to evoke but for this example we’ll use happy.

“The best thing to do is sit somewhere quiet and calm and close your eyes and say to yourself and your subconscious, ‘I want to remember a time I was happy,’ relax and take a few deep breaths and memories of when you were really happy will come flooding back.

“Perhaps you were running on the beach as a child, or at a party laughing with friends, maybe it was when you achieved something fantastic – it can be anything that is personal to you and that you absolutely loved. It’s all there, even if you can’t remember something immediately, memories get stored away in our subconscious like a big library we can access.

“As you sit there think about that memory of when you were happy, and really concentrate on what you could hear, what you could see and let the feelings flood your body from your toes to your brain – as memories are really all about feelings.

“Next you need to set a ‘trigger’ – hold your forefinger and thumb together and squeeze, you could maybe make a fist, but do whatever feels most comfortable for you.

“Take a deep breath and breathe in and out whilst holding whichever trigger you have chosen.

“Then say out loud or silently, ‘I am happy’, which is an affirmation and helps set the trigger and ‘anchor’ it in your subconscious mind. Silently might be better because then it’s easier to re-trigger in public.

“Then, repeat the process several times over, which helps set the trigger and then you can use it in your day-to-day life.

“After that you can build on it; whenever you’re happy you can press your trigger and it will add to the happy memory bank.Then you can test it and check it works and you’ll be able to do it whenever you’re sad, or down, or need an instant boost.

“Eventually just pressing your thumb and forefinger will work as a trigger so you go into a happy state wherever you are – whether that is on the bus, or at work, or at a time you really need it most.”

Declutter your subconscious mind 

Our subconscious minds are often cluttered with old ways of thinking which aren’t useful to us and we picked up when we were young and never discarded. That’s why we become nervous or anxious in situations where we want to be confident or relaxed.

Liz explains: “For example, how many times a week do you hear yourself say the words, ‘I’m stressed’? Hypnotherapy can help with avoiding behaviour and thinking patterns that are stressing you out and empower you to deal with situations in a more calm, confident and relaxed way.”