Reorient Yourself for Happiness – Living from the Inside Out

We have been told from the earliest moments of our lives we are taught to search outside ourselves for happiness. We are told success is achieved when you are able to ‘get the most out of life’. We are taught that particular events, people and things can ‘bring us happiness’.

Indeed life on the whole is something that is experienced as something ‘coming at us’ as events happen to us. We then absorb the days happenings and then process it and make choices for new motions in life to get us closer to creating the conditions that we think will make us feel happy.

The problem with this way of living is that it leads to is the sense that we are tossed around by the randomness of life. Sure sometimes when we grab the rudder of our little ship when we try to steer ‘real hard’, things do seem to go our way for a while and we feel like we are making progress to our chosen ‘happiness’ destination. But then ‘life happens’ and all your best laid plans are swept aside and you are again at the mercy of a force outside of yourself that can be terrifying in its ambilience to your happiness.

What would it look like to reverse this model of living and reorientate life so that you lived it from the Inside Out?

Here are 3 things you can expect to experience when you start living from the inside out rather than the outside in:

1) You get off the emotional roller coaster and stop being addicted to drama – When you are living from your centre you no longer experience the frequent highs and lows of life. This doesn’t mean that life stops providing challenges, but you will find you react differently. you will find that you are able to come from a place of ‘responding’ from a place of wisdom that addresses the challenge at its roots and knows what parts of life events to take ownership of and what parts to let go of. Rather than reacting and pinging around like a ball in a pinball machine and wasting energy tell all who will listen about your problems, or needing to share all your triumphs to feel validated, you remain calm and steady through the highs and lows.

2) You stop forcing things to happen and discover that when you go with the flow, following your internal cues, that life unfolds in perfect timing with enjoyable experiences of synchronicity. We have all experienced those times when we have felt the freedom and joy of being ‘in the flow’. This often occurs when we listen to that small voice inside to follow a hunch or listen to a desire to do something like try a new sport or creative activity, or pop into a new cafe and run into an old friend you had been meaning to contact but had lost their number. You also find that when you stop forcing things to happen that all your interactions with other will become more harmonious.

3) You start to enjoy the process rather than only feel fleeting satisfaction when you arrive at your prescribed destination. As you tune into your inner state and once you are able to break past the externally focused ego, you will start to experience a steady sense of wellbeing and undefinable quiet happiness. I say undefinable because it is not based on any ‘one’ thing that is happening. It just IS. You will find this foundation of inner balance will remain with you as you go though daily life; and while there still maybe external events that could be perceived as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, you find that your inner peace and happiness is not affected (or at least not so much).

How can you go about reorientation yourself to live from the inside out? Here are 3 simple things you can do that will start the process:

1) Meditation – You can do this via apps, recordings, at local meditation centres and many yoga classes. Mediation is literally the practice of shutting down the outside senses and going inwards so it is the most efficient way of becoming aware of yourself from the inside out.

2) Yoga – In all yoga traditions they ask you to start practicing becoming aware of your body and whats going on inside. You also learn to start to focus on the breathe and focus the process of being in your pose rather than what is happening on the person’s mat next to you.

3)Journaling – In her book ‘The Artists Way’ Julianne Cameron recommends writing 3 pages of unedited stream of consciousness when you get up everyday. This brain dump kind is very different than journaling done with an analytic or recording of events type of mind. You will uncover wonderful gems of what your deepest hopes, fears and values are. This will support your journey of living form the inside out as you become aware of your unique inner calling for your life is. Then you may start to experience being in the flow and enjoy the process as you live a life that is in its essence a natural out flowing of your natural ‘you-ness’from your true center; and in the yoga tradition your true center is known to be everlasting unchanging bliss.