Happy... what a powerful state of mind!

Pharrel's highly played and horribly addicting song, "Happy", makes it almost impossible to not dance, clap, bob, duck, dip, twist, jive, juke, or even give a little jiggle to it.  There is a reason it has sparked a national and international sensation.  Because being HAPPY is horribly beneficial to the human body.



During one of my training courses whilel learning Sennin-So Shiatsu from my Shiatsu Master, Michael Kazunori Shimizu, one of my colleagues asked him how he stayed so healthy and young looking at the sprite age of 72. (Also he's been practicing Shiatsu for over 50 years!)  He smiled, looked at my colleague, and simply stated: be happy.



If you were to ask the average person how they are feeling, most of the time they'll reply, "I'm ok." or "I'm fine."  When in reality, most people are on the opposite side of "I'm ok." or "I'm fine.".



I mean, can one blame them?  Turn on the news and it is 98% negative information.  War this, death that, murder this, accident that, fall of the economy, no jobs, hatred here, protests there, cheating by him, stealing by her, so on and so forth.  And occasionally they'll throw in the feel good story... to be followed by another tragedy.  We've surrounded ourselves with a world that only finds interest in drama, and as such the only drama that is apparently news worthy is that of a negative state that it almost infects our society.  Even worse, if you tried to report the news of something good happening, like say for instance a man wins the lottery, most instantly think to themselves, "I wish I'd win the lottery, but I'm not lucky." or even worse "he'll spend it all and be broke before he knows it.".  We can't even really be happy for strangers because we're so focused on ourselves it seems.



Well I say it is time to break this path and it is time to break it now!



"But Adam, what's the point?  So what, we're negative, it isn't like that is causing my back pain or neck pain."



Oh, but it is!!! 



You see, when you become negative your body goes through all kinds of fun physiological events.  One of those events is that your body begins to produce adrenaline, which changes the pH of your body almost immediately.  It also causes your abdominal core to lock up just as fast.  When the abdominal muscles constrict, your brain immediately fires the muscles corresponding in your back, the same muscles that our society associates with back pain.  And not just negative thinking, stress in general is one of the main variables to the detrimental conditions our bodies go through.



It's easy to say that 99% of all of my clients that travel quite frequently, work horrendous hours, have massive expectations at work, or have a work load that is constantly grinding them down are susceptible to some of the tightest abdominal cores around.  And as a result... suffer from chronic ailments like chronic back pain, migraines, digestive issues, and so on.



But the other day, I met someone who fits in the ultra rare 1%. (1st person in 6 years who fits this %)  She was a popular hair styling company executive.  She said that her job is extremely challenging, extremely tough as her performance can dictate many jobs for other people and the income of a ton of money.  So there is a lot on her shoulders.  Oh... did I mention she travels all over the country on a weekly basis!!!  Ouch!  Before I worked on her I anticipated that the muscles down the sides of her spine would be tight and sensitive as would the obliques on the side of her abdominal wall.  While she was face down I checked these areas, like I always do, but to my surprise... they were as relaxed as one could ever ask for.  They didn't fire back at me showing sensitivity (pain or ticklish).  I stood there for a second and then checked again.  Yup... they were relaxed.



"Hmmm." I said.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Well, after what you told me you do for a living and your horribly hectic work schedule, I anticipated a completely different reaction in the muscles in your back.  They aren't responding anything close to what I expected."

"Is that bad or good?" she questioned.

"Well, generally good.  I've never seen this.  What makes this treatment so fun to perform is the consistency we see in how the body reacts.  I'm interested to see how tight your abdominal muscles are later." I said as I went to work on her legs and feet.



When I turned her over and went to check the tonicity of the muscles in her abdomen I was left again in shock.  This young lady had never recieved this Shiatsu, nor had it been recent that she received any other form of treatment.  She's never consumed baking soda or any other alkalizing agent.  She didn't do yoga religiously and didn't know how to properly breathe into her core to help stimulate the stagnant blood which is almost literally always there.  All of these things being factual and still... no sensitivity and no tension!



To say I was speechless was an understatement.  I stood there, trying to wrap my mind around what I was seeing and feeling.  The funny thing was that she was actually nervous coming in for the treatment because the client who referred her mentioned how sensitive the treatment can be, though really effective.  But alas, very little sensitivity throughout the whole body, especially where I anticipated the worst.



"How is this possible?" I asked myself.  And then like a brick to the face, it hit me.



"You really really really love your job, don't you?" I asked her.



She then began telling me how much she really did.  She mentioned how everyone she works for gets energized when she is around them, something she is told on a regular basis.  She mentioned how while it is challenging, she is excited to work every day, excited to meet challenges head on, excited to travel and meet more people, and excited to be amazing at what she does.



This wasn't a sales pitch.  This was true, honest, unequivocal emotion about something she truly loved to do.  It was quite apparent.  I told her that she is more lucky then she can understand.  Her mindset, her passion, the way she approaches her life and job is something that will not only keep her healthy, but will help her age beautifully and be absolutely successful to the highest degree in everything she takes on.



YOU have a choice in life.  You can't change what everyone around you thinks nor should you try to.  YOU are in charge of YOU!  Being happy, TRULY happy, is not an easy thing to do in our society.  It takes real awareness of the world around you and your present state of being.  It takes real tolerance, forgiveness, and patience.  You cannot live in denial.  You can't hide from it or pretend it will just go away.  If you want to be healthier in mind, body, and spirit, you need to find a way to start appreciating things you take for granted.



For example:

When trying to walk across a sidewalk of a busy street but seeing that multiple cars aren't stopping to let you go by safely, don't waste your energy getting angry or frustrated at them.  Whether they are chosing to ignore you or don't actually see you, it doesn't matter.  They pass you and you'll never know them if you see them again.  Put them out of your mind and out of your memory.  BUT, the one person who does stop for you is someone you can acknowledge.  You can show, even if for a moment, that you truly appreciate them for stopping.  A simple thumbs up and a smile can make that person's day and shows that you truly appreciate them stopping.  It'll also make you feel better.



You can find examples like this in your daily life on a regular basis.  Hey, just for fun, go out and start committing acts of random kindness.  Go to Starbucks and pull up to the drive-through.  When you go to purchase your order tell the attendant that you'd like to pay for the person behind you.  Or take someone's shopping cart back to the stall when they've unloaded their groceries in their car, especially if they have a child or two making it difficult for them.



Walk around your block and take witness that you just did that.  Your feet helped you walk.  Even if you've had surgeries on your feet, or knees, or hips, if they're still there thank them.  I have to do this all the time after having a blood clot damaged left leg.  It could be worse.  The leg could be gone or I could be dead.  But no... it's still there, holding on.  And if you don't have feet, then how about something to do with your hands, or your eyes, or your ears.  Anything that allows you to experience amazing things that we take for granted.



It really is true.  You never know what you've got until it's gone.  Don't realize this the hard way.  Many of us have to.  Love your family.  Love your friends.  One day they'll be gone.  Don't underestimate how important they can be for you.



Laugh at stand up comedy, even if the joke is crude.  Laugh at home made pranks on youtube.  When you trip over your own feet and everyone around you chuckles, just look at them and smile, saying "whoops, I just got these feet in the mail... still trying to get used to them."  Laugh at yourself, because we're all quite laughable.



Your job might be difficult.  It might be tiring.  It might be annoying.  It might be tedious, monotonous, disappointing, frustrating......... but you have a job.  There are people all over wishing they had a job, willing to do anything even if it was tedious or frustrating.  And if you don't like your job... find a new one.  You have that right.  Find something that makes you happy.  Why do that???........  Why not???



YOU are the only one who can make these changes.  So life has kicked you around, taken things from you, hurt you, taken advantage of your short comings.  Ok... join the club.  I've never met anyone who was and always will be able to dodge the sadness and difficulties that life has to throw at us.  No one is immune or impervious to the dredges of life.  Stop letting it dictate the rest of your path.



BE HAPPY!  It does SO MUCH MORE then brighten the world around you.  And if that was all it did... sounds like a pretty good reason to me.



Be Happy, Healthy, and Ready for Anything!