What is Holistic Happiness?

Holistic happiness is a natural, long-lasting sense of joy or contentment. It's not something that many people experience for long periods of time. Our fast-paced, competitive world leaves many people stressed-out and in fear – fear of losing out on the next big thing, of not having enough money or material goods, and other superficial  types of fulfillment.

Sometimes, it helps to take a few hours out of your busy schedule and sit down with a notebook, (preferably the old-school paper kind), and write down our goals, dreams and make a list of our values – the things that are most important to us. If you never know what you want, how can you get what you want, or have any kind of real happiness or contentment in your life?

Many things can get in the way of our daily happiness and contentment. Life changes, including the death of a loved one, losing a job or ending a relationship, can cause temporary depression. Even emotionally resilient people may suffer from occasional depression due to these events. There are ways to deal with these drawbacks so they won't cause long-term emotional problems. A sense of gratitude, socializing with friends and family, engaging in a creativity hobby, exercising, getting fresh air and eating a good diet are a few tools you can use to feel better and overcome the ups and downs of everyday life.

Holistic happiness is a state of mind, heart and soul. You need to take care of your body to be happy, too – your whole being is integrated. The parts work together to create a happy, harmonious machine.

People with chemical imbalances do need prescription antidepressants, but they can use many holistic happiness methods to feel better. Taking antidepressants doesn't mean you're exempt from exercising or eating right. Living a healthy lifestyle will help regulate the level of a brain hormone called serotonin, which is essential for happiness.   Eating and exercising increases the effectiveness of prescription medication.

Holistic Happiness Comes from Within

Holistic happiness is authentic. It doesn't depend on your bank balance, looks, material possessions, your job or your spouse's job. It comes from within – from your sense of purpose in life, your self-esteem, your gratitude for what your have and love of family and friends.

Living an authentic life means you know what you want and what's important to you. It's based on your core values in life, not on fleeting whims. There's a name for temporary, superficial happiness – it's called hedonic happiness. You experience this after eating a good meal or buying an expensive trinket. It feels great in the moment, but this type of happiness doesn't last.

Eudaimonic happiness is more subdued, but much more satisfying. It's a long-lasting sense of well-being which occurs when you have distinct values and base your action on those values.  Make some time to sit down and think about what's truly important to you and write it down. Enlist a close friend to help you if you want. (Sometimes a good friend knows your true self better than you do!) Unhappiness is often due to circumstances, like a lost job, broken marriage or illness. If you're unhappy due to circumstances, just give it time. Make positive changes to improve your situation and be patient. Life isn't static; your circumstances will eventually get better, but you have to do your part to make it happen.     

A study conducted at San Diego State University showed that happiness among adults has decreased significantly in recent years. Researchers recommend adults get more sleep, exercise, and focus on how to make constructive changes.

People with a eudaimonic mindset tend to have better language, memory and goal-setting skills. These skills are controlled in the brain's pre-frontal cortex, according to brain-imaging studies.  

B Vitamins Help Maintain Holistic Happiness

Serotonin, the happiness hormone, produced in your brain, boosts mood and regulates your appetite. If you have a tendency to overeat, get depressed easily (or overeat when you're depressed), try raising your serotonin levels naturally. Here are several ways to do that:   

Get enough B-complex vitamins. All B vitamins are important for overall health, but Vitamins B6 and B12 offer lots of happiness-inducing serotonin. Vitamin B6 regulates your mood, and offers lots of other health benefits. It may reduce PMS symptoms, reduce inflammation from carpal tunnel syndrome, and guard against heart disease. It produces serotonin and other neurotransmitters, regulating brain function. Fish, liver, pistachio nuts, sunflower seeds, spinach, beef and bananas are just a few foods with Vitamin B6.    

A Finnish study showed people with high levels of Vitamin B12 in their systems recovered from depression faster than people with low levels of the vitamin. Vitamin B12 regulates mood, but it also increases your energy. People with B12 deficiency may develop pernicious anemia, and Vitamin B12 shots may be prescribed to boost their red blood cells and energy. If you're a vegetarian, you're more apt to develop a B12 deficiency, since most B12 is found in animal sources. Liver, milk, eggs, poultry, red meat, clams, fortified cereal and fortified soy contain moderate to high levels of Vitamin B12.  

Exercise and Eat Right for Holistic Happiness

Good eating habits should be your focus, not crash diets followed by overeating and weight gain.  Here are a few tips and tricks for eating better without counting calories.

• Reduce your sugar intake. Eating too much sugar causes sugar addiction, weight gain, tooth decay, hypoglycemia and diabetes. You don't need to eliminate sugar from your diet, just cut down on candy, cookies and sugary snacks. Replace them with fresh fruits, nuts, seeds and sugar-free Smoothies.

• Don't skip meals. Eating at four to five hour intervals helps regulate your blood sugar and eliminates mood swings. Bring nuts, seeds or fruit to work to eat during breaks instead of junk food.

• Replace soda and energy drinks with water, fruit smoothies, milk and herbal tea. Herbal teas offer vitamins and antioxidants; sodas offer empty calories.   

Herbal Teas and Vitamins Contribute to Holistic Happiness

Ginseng has long been touted for its ability to increase energy and treat sexual dysfunction, but it can also improve mood. A study conducted by the University of Northumbria in England showed ginseng, when combined with ginkgo biloba, another herb known for its energy and mood-enhancing power, boosted mood and secondary memory performance in healthy young people who volunteered for the study. Ginseng also helps reduce fatigue in cancer patients, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Green tea offers bioactive compounds to burn fat, boost energy and prevent inflammation. Since it's not fermented like black tea, it offers six times more antioxidants. The L-theanine in green tea elevates your mood. It helps you focus and feel more energetic, but it also makes you calmer. Studies have even shown people who drink green tea are less likely to get cancer. Green tea contains antioxidants called polyphenols, which reduce disease causing free radicals. One Chinese study even showed L-theanine can help people quit smoking.

For maximum benefits, buy high-quality loose green tea from a health food store or online supplier. Drinking bagged tea from the supermarket is better than not drinking green tea at all. Like all herbal teas, green tea does have a few side effects. It may cause stomach upset, especially when you drink it without eating first, and it may reduce the amount of iron you absorb from food.

You get most of your Vitamin D from sunlight shining directly on your skin. If you feel a little down in the dumps during the rainy season, it might be due to lack of Vitamin D. Studies have linked Vitamin D deficiency to depression, heart disease and schizophrenia.

Eat Vitamin D-rich foods, including salmon, tuna, mackerel, cheese and milk. Some brands of cereal and yogurt- are fortified with Vitamin D.

Use the Right Side of Your Brain – Create!

Exercising your creativity encourages holistic happiness, and it helps solidify your problem-solving and cognitive skills. Drawing, singing, playing a guitar or sewing a dress all require a combination of planning and spur of the moment ideas. This enhances your confidence and motivates you to engage in even more pleasurable and authentically rewarding activities.

Creating something by hand – a painting, drawing or craft project- has been shown to relieve stress and anxiety and boost happiness. Research conducted by Dr. Kelly Lambert of Randolph-Macon College in Virginia shows that making something with our hands, as opposed to using technology to create, gives us a primal sense of satisfaction we can't get from noodling on an electronic device.

Other Tips for Authentic Happiness

Take a walk early in the morning (before 10 a.m.) when the sun is strong, but not overly intense. This will help your body produce melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate your body clock.  Walking, like any other form of exercise, increases serotonin. Serotonin is then converted into melatonin to help you sleep at night.

Learn to relax. Stress saps your energy and causes an abundance of cortisol and adrenaline, which interfere with serotonin production. Meditate at least once a day, preferably in the morning. Sitting quietly and clearing your mind prepares you for the day's activities and lowers your blood pressure and heart rate.

Listening to music, whether it's a YouTube video or a few songs on your phone or iPod, will get your blood pumping. Many people listen to their favorite music when they exercise, while others are compelled to exercise or get active after listen to music.  An article in Trends in Cognitive Science shows that listening to music (or playing a musical instrument) reduces stress, stimulates motivation and reward centers in the brain, and reduces pain.

Wheatgrass Offers Vitamins and Minerals for Natural Happiness

The food we put in our bodies can help make or break our happiness. A poor diet, along with a sedentary lifestyle, contributes to depression. Even if we eat better, we still might not get all the nutrients we need. That's why it's important for many people to take a nutritional supplement daily.

There are many supplement pills to choose from, but wheatgrass tablets offer more bang for your buck. Wheatgrass is mostly chlorophyll, the pigment that makes plants green. Chlorophyll contains magnesium, Vitamins A,E,C,K and B-complex vitamins (including B6 and B12), zinc, iron, selenium, manganese, hundreds of enzymes and many more nutrients necessary for a better mood and better health. Read more about the health benefits of wheatgrass here.

Wheatgrass Love Offers Three Supplements for Holistic Health and Happiness – Zeal O2, HappyGirl and REVV

Zeal O2 Natural Weight Loss Supplement and Energy Booster keeps you healthy while you lose weight, and the combination of wheatgrass and herbs balances your mood naturally. Zeal O2's herbal blend includes holistic mood boosters cayenne pepper, green tea extract, ginseng, ginkgo biloba, and damiana. To increase metabolism and burn fat without harmful side effects, we've added citrus aurantium (bitter orange), which is often used as a replacement for ephedra. Order Zeal O2.

REVV Natural Energy Supplement wafers have a great chocolate mint taste. The catechins and flavonoids in the cocoa used to make REVV neutralize mood swings while they boost your metabolism. Of course, wheatgrass, with its high concentration of chlorophyll and magnesium, has more depression-busting power. We've added extra B-complex vitamins to REVV, plus periwinkle herb and L-taurine to improve brain and heart health. Buy REVV.

HappyGirl Mood Enhancement Supplement offers hundreds of nutrients to increase overall well-being. Wheatgrass contains all B-complex vitamins, Vitamins A,E and C, magnesium, calcium, enzymes and amino acids to balance your mood and contribute to better health. We've added a proprietary blend of gotu kola, cayenne pepper, green tea extract, gingko biloba, ginseng and other mood-enhancing herbs to sharpen your focus and make you happier naturally. We call it HappyGirl, but men and seniors can use it, too! Order HappyGirl.

Call Wheatgrass Love at 877-303-1717 if you have any questions about our products, or if you'd like to order by phone.  REVV, Zeal O2 and HappyGirl, along with a good diet, exercise and better life choices, lead to all-around well-being and holistic happiness.