The joie is a emotion generally confused with the happiness. It occurs when we accomplish something that we have long desired and the result of which exceeds our expectations.
“She often refers to a broad sense of life satisfaction that arises following experiencing a sense of awe. Even the way we express joy is different from our other emotions. The smile she produces is different from the way which we might smile at when we are happy,” share Jolanta Burke and Padraic J. Dunne, psychologists and senior lecturers at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences (Bahrain)
Far from being just a passing emotion, joy triggers physiological and psychological phenomena significant that can improve physical and mental health.
The good news is that everyone, at their level, has the possibility of feeling this emotion. Joy creates what is called a Duchenne’s smile – an involuntary and genuine smile that reaches our eyes. This type of smile is associated with improvements in physical healthbetter recovery from illness and stronger bonds with others.
More specifically, when you are happy, your respiration is accelerating, your heartbeat increases and your whole body heats up. These feelings are caused by adrenaline release which prepares our body for engagement and movement. Joy makes us feel mentally better prepared to meet life’s challenges. These physiological changes are also associated with improved mood.
At the level of your brain, joy triggers activity in certain areas. The feeling of joy then spreads to other parts of the central nervous system through chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. There are many different types of neurotransmitters, but generally the neurotransmitters dopamine (associated with pleasure), serotonin, norepinephrine and endorphins (the body’s natural opiates) are released when we feel joy.
Studies suggest that some people have a genetic ability to feel joy easily. “But just because some people find it easier to experience joy doesn’t mean there aren’t things we can all do to improve it,” the psychologists point out. They share three ways to feel joy more often.
Cooking and sharing meals brings joy
Share food with loved ones can help us experience more joy – and it’s not just related to the company of others. The very act of sharing food can also trigger it. Science has already shown that eating with others can improve what is called psychological development – the highest level of well-being.
Cook and prepare meals with friends and family can also boost joy. If you’re looking to add a little more joy to your everyday life, go out to dinner with friends — or better yet, have a dinner party where you all cook the meal together.
Practice a physical activity
Whether or not we experience joy in practicing exercise very much depends on the surrounding circumstances physical activityrather than the activity itself.
For example, when we run with others, we tend to experience more joy than when we run alone.
Science also shows that the achievement of a goal exercise that we never thought we were capable of can lead to joy.
If you want to bank on exercise to get more joy out of your life, try setting yourself a challenge that you want to complete — and team up with friends to achieve it.
In addition, sport has already been shown to be conducive to the hormone of happiness. Moving will activate the production of endorphins. This hormone allows athletes to experience feelings of happiness, well-being, power, ecstasy and euphoria.
Write what you feel
Another simple way to increase feelings of joy is towrite how you feel.
As part of an experiment, participants who have spent 20 minutes a day to write on intense positive experiences – such as the joy of seeing a family member come home or watching your child walk for the first time – for three months experienced better moods compared to participants who wrote regarding different topics . Those who wrote regarding their positive experiences also did fewer visits to their doctor over the three-month period.
