Fall happiness

Saying goodbyes to a warmhearted summer logically gives sadness to many, since it is the season where sunshine paints the world in bright and shiny primary colors. It is blunt, it is out there. There is no way to deny it, this in your face style of painting wraps us all in her blanket of happiness. When fall sets in, she changes her style to soft pastel colors and gentle strokes, which is more subtle but just as beautiful if you learn how to appreciate it.

Every season has its own charm. In spring we are greeted by the most beautiful flowers, but in fall it are the leaves that wave in the wind to say hello. The rain can be brutal, but it can also leave the world in a moist of mystery. This season brings so much joy, that we have put our favorite ten must do's in random order for you:

1. Photographers are going out of their minds, there is so much beauty to capture.
2. It's the season of the hot chocolate and marshmallow comeback.
3. Put your boots on for a long fall stroll without having your toes freezing off yet.
4. In China men invite women to watch the beauty of the red leaves together. (They 一起看红叶) or with other words, bring the romance back alive. 
5. It's the perfect season to look adorable in knits. 
6. Summer heat is no longer an excuses to procrastinate running.
7. Spending more time indoors, means more time to pick up a new hobby, do a meditation course or any other thing you have been wanting to do for a long time. 
8. Fall is a good excuse to be seen in a onesie again.
9. Go pumpkins! Nothing says fall happiness more than eating homemade pumpkin soup, drinking a pumpkin spice latte at your favorite coffee house or carving pumpkins to decorate your house. 
10. Just a few more days till All Hallows Eve, the night of the horror and the dead, the trick or treats and dressing up without anyone calling you crazy. Pure scary bliss!

Share your fall happiness with us! Leave a comment below or find us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Have a joyful day!
~Ilona~

Mind overload!

It is the fifth day of me sitting by a pool somewhere in tropical south China, staring at water, thinking of "nothing" when I realize I needed to travel 5000 miles to empty my mind. 5000 miles! Not to mention it took me eighteen days of my twenty one vacation days to get to that point. Give it up for the quiet mind guru! I am of course by no means a quiet mind guru, but it is a personal topic of interest and I talk about it often, if not all the time. It is even written on a post-it at my "all I want for 2015" wall (I firmly believe it is good to be driven by the things in life that you want to achieve instead of all the things you don't. Dream big, change your can not’s into can do’s, therefore one New Year’s resolution later my post-it wall was born).

How come we get so distracted in daily life that we forget about ourselves and the things that matter? Walking around with a mind so packed it feels like an average commute to work on the subway in Japan. Thoughts keep on bumping into each other and are on a high level of irritation. They have no intention hopping off, and don't give other thoughts the opportunity to hop on. It is a cramped mind on the verge of explosion!

Walking around as a ticking bomb is not my ideal lifestyle. I have just let it happen without realizing it has come this far. If you think about it, I am not the only one. Many people have a high blood pressure, isn't that just our body telling us the mind is too packed and too stressed? The only solution to an overloaded mind is to empty it. Meditation is a perfect way to do that. Take some time everyday to sit down and let your roaming thoughts that don't serve you any longer go. Imagine them floating away in a bubble or on a cloud to useless thoughts graveyard. If you’re not a person with a wild imagination, you can listen to guided meditations on YouTube, or the pyromaniacs amongst us can write their thoughts down on paper and burn them. Letting thoughts you no longer need go will make space for new and creative ones. Your mind will no longer be an overcrowded subway in Japan but a calm pool in the tropics. Why complicate things if it can be that simple? 

Be happy,
~Ilona~

If monday is a flower

This is not a Dandalion, but a lovely flower anyway

If everyday of the week would be a flower, Monday would not be the prettiest kid on the block. It can not beat the flair of a Sunday rose, nor has it the sexy curves of Saturday nights' Orchid. Monday is nothing but an ordinary Dandelion, trying to be loved, while being disliked by so many. Trying to fight the bad image of being weed, even though she is actually a wild flower. When it is time for her seeds to leave, she has the  ability to brighten up your day when those seeds are taken up by the wind and you watch them choosing their own path while flying away. The Monday flower can make your heart filled with joy like any other day. 

If you suffer from Monday morning blues, like most of us, you are forgiven. It is probably because you were looking for Saturday and Sunday things on a Monday. Naturally Monday can not deliver, it is hard to cope with so much pressure. Like the Dandelion she fights a bad image all the time, whilst she has so many to offer. Before you tune in on the Monday morning blues, think about all the things this day brings you like any other days; the love of family and friends, waking up after a good night sleep, enjoying the sunrise while sipping on a cup of coffee, doing a dance of joy because of your good health. These things are given to you on a daily basis if only you could see the beauty of it. 

 

Be happy,

~Ilona~

Happystepz steps up

Dear happiness practitioners!

"The music is not in the notes, but in the silence within" (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart).
We have been playing music for a while before we went silent. Ana and I would like you to know that the silence is a good thing. The silence is a moment of creation.

Now that August and September have passed us by and October is here to happily greet us, we realize it is time to break that silence. You must know that it has been a summer filled with happiness and laughter. Fun activities gave us the inspiration we needed to continue the blog. Many new ideas came to pass leading to the creation of our own happystepz website, a platform for happiness. A place you can visit whenever you need a happiness boost.

Right now we are both enjoying, what we both believe to be, a well deserved vacation. We can not wait to update you with all our new plans. Until then, stay happy!

With love,

Ilona and Ana

The joy in flying.

The happystepz duo is on the road this month and we will be sharing our adventures whenever we can. One of the things about traveling is that it can take up a lot of your time and sometimes you can lose site of the joy around you when you're stuck on a plane for endless amount of hours. I'm not talking about those short flights you take for a quick city trip or getaway. No, I'm talking about those 14 hours or more flights where everything starts to annoy you after a while. When you read the in-flight magazine and see that they're screening that new movie you're dying to see only to find out that it's not showing on your tiny screen. When everything around you smells like feet and the airplane food looks like something your cat threw up. It can be a challenge to find joy in those moments, however there is joy to be found.

To help you through these lonely hours of torture I compiled a few joyful tips how to survive those dreaded intercontinental flights:

- Make up silly nicknames for your surrounding passengers and flight crew. This at least will give you a couple of moments of laugher coming up with names like Sally Scarecrow, Chinless Chris or Smelly McFarts. And it's okay if you get less creative and end up calling some of them Mr. Bouncy chair 1 and Mr. Bouncy chair 2. You will be happier for spending time observing your neighbors than you would be just staring blankly into space.

- Reading is a great way to make the time pass by quickly, but here is a crucial detail about reading books in the air. Start reading them a day or so (depending on your reading speed) in advance. Once the airplane boredom and annoyance has set in, it's really difficult to get to know your new story. Concentration is easily lost up in the air unless you already got to know the story your book has to tell. Once you know your characters or storyline you'll be quickly motivated to continue reading their tale.

- Don't make the rookie mistake and dress to impress. We all know you will end up like a pretzel shape in your chair, trying to find the perfect position to sleep in. How are you going to do that if you're wearing uncomfortable fitting clothes? Obviously comfort is an important element to your outfit. This doesn't mean you have to look like a hobo. Choose something shabby chic, casual hipster or bohemian. You will be grateful and joyful for your clothing choice once you have found that perfect position where you have one leg bent in an awkward sideways position and the other somewhere near your nose while your arms brace your body like a warm blanket.

- Try meditating. If you're a nervous flyer or just plain agitated from having to sit in one spot for hours on end it's good to calm down your nerves. Close your eyes put your hands on your lap and concentrate on your breathing. Choose a mantra to repeat. Breathe deeply in and out while repeating words like calm, relax or peaceful. If you like you can listen to a relaxing playlist you compiled beforehand while meditating. If you don't have a playlist ready, the on board entertainment is surely to have some classical or lounge music that you can choose from. Meditate for a few minutes and repeat whenever you feel like punching Mr. Bouncy chair 1.

- Say cheese! Spending loads of time in the sky taking pictures is a perfect way to distract you from the time slowly ticking by.  From taking sneaky pictures of your travel companions sleeping to crazy selfies compilations, clicking away is a perfect joy/ memory maker.

- Write down whatever comes to mind; don't worry if you end up with only weird sentences or words. Your mind is full of thoughts that need to escape. Putting pen to paper or (finger to touch screen in most cases) will make sure you empty your head, resulting in a clear and peaceful mind once you arrive at your destination.

If nothing works remember: "The Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Or in this case a single flight.

With love, Ana

Freedom 2.0

Do you ever feel like sticking your head out of a car window letting the wind blow your hair? I get why dogs love to do that. It is actually quite relaxing. Let me explain myself before you think I lost my mind. Today, after a long day at work, I got stuck in traffic and on top of that my car started to get overheated. I usually just put on some music and sing loudly along with whatever song is blasting through my car stereo. Letting go of all the negative energies of the day and letting the good vibrations in. Yes, I just made a Beach boys reference. Unfortunately, singing to my heart's content was not enough. As the smoke was coming from under my car hood and I was being surrounded by grumpy fellow drivers, I felt that singing and doing my best car dance moves was not going to cut it. I needed something more. I needed to feel completely free, free from today's boredom, free from literally being stuck in one spot. I stuck my hand out of the car as I usually do and felt a cool wind blowing gently. As a few lonely raindrops started to fall an idea started to form. If dogs can do it, then why oh why can't I. So ladies and gentlefolks, I stuck my head out the car window. Believe it or not, it felt absolutely wonderful! In a world where we are often submitted to situations that are out of our control, like traffic jams, bad weather, broken down cars or simple boring work meetings we need to find a way to feel happiness in the smallest of things. Therefor if sticking your head out of the car window and feeling the wind blowing makes you feel joy, I say go for it.

With love, Ana

The path of the least resistance

Desires are a part of human nature, but there is a difference between wanting and actually receiving. Sometimes there is hope and there are many dreams about things without ever drawing it into our reality. This doesn't mean the law of attraction isn't working, it means that even though you've had an intention towards your desire, you weren't on the receiving frequency. 

As mentioned before like attracts like, therefore it is important to get on to the same frequency as your desires. Wanting often comes with doubting. You want something, but you can't believe you can actually draw it into your reality. That creates resistance towards the desire and blocks it from coming in. People often manifest the things they want when they have forgotten about it. Why? As soon as they can forget about it, they release the resistance creating a free path for it all to come to them. This can be a long process.

The way to manifest without losing the focus that is needed is to monitor our feelings. Happiness is the path of the least resistance. We often don't know how the Universe is going to bring us the things we want. The easiest way to tab into the receiving frequency is to feel good and trust the process. We preach happiness for a reason. Every happy vibe you send out comes back to you, putting you in a state of receiving all that you want and more.

Be happy.
~Ilona~