Mental Flexibility And Happiness: The Key To A Relaxed Mind

If you possess the quality we call mental flexibility, you adapt your actions and reactions to your own interests. Happiness always responds to a mind that manages to control itself. A mind that accepts its own emotions, that manages to make contact with other people and that has clear goals.

When imagining mental flexibility ,  it is common to imagine a bamboo forest. A forest that during a storm bends to wind and water, but which regains its original position when the storm has stopped. This is a very telling picture for mental flexibility. Yet it is the resistance of bamboo and not its flexibility that is its most important quality.

Our mental health is thus based not only on what we do but also on what and how we think. Sometimes we fail to realize how weak our mental health or emotional balance is. Our mind is not always the most comfortable place to be in. It can store fear, obsession and sadness.

Jenny Moix explains in her book Mi mente sin mi, which means  My mind without me in Norwegian, that true happiness is not just about the physical world we live in. A large part of our well-being involves mental processes. If we follow this path of thought, we can say that by developing our flexibility, we will be better equipped to meet the challenges that come our way.

Mental flexibility to experience fewer negative emotions

Those who live their lives trapped in a rigid and inflexible mindset will usually stop when they are confronted with obstacles or challenges as they fear that they will be harmed. Therefore, a mind that cannot adapt or automatically control its thoughts will have trouble being genuinely happy.

Several scientific studies have shown that psychologically flexible people usually have a higher quality of life than others. This approach helps them deal with their emotions, respond creatively to problems, and enjoy positive and meaningful relationships.

Being flexible also makes us both more efficient and productive. We simply become better suited to use the necessary resources to adapt and respond to new and unexpected situations.

Jenny Moix, the author of Mi meant her mi

Jenny Moix is ​​an author and professor of psychology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). She is also a member of the Research Program for Stress and Health and her studies focus on chronic pain, awareness and mindfulness.

• In the book Mi meant her mi , she talks first and foremost about how we can better understand the anatomy and motives of our mind. She teaches us that by focusing on observing ourselves and our state of mind with some distance, we will better understand what is going on in our mental palace. Our brains are full of emotions and wandering ideas and catastrophic thoughts that drown out everything else.
• If we learn to be flexible, we will be able to illuminate elements that are deeply rooted in our minds. It’s the only way we can take over the helm and take responsibility for our own pain.

Exercise your mental flexibility to achieve happiness

Be flexible to be happy. That should be our daily motto. But it is difficult to create new routines when we have spent half of our lives in the mental machine that goes by the name of anxiety, insecurity and worry.

We want to see things from a different perspective, to train our flexibility so that we are more resistant to change and adversity. But how do we do that? It is not always a good idea to just focus on the results we want to achieve. Setting small goals in order to later achieve bigger goals is a good way to reward ourselves, at the same time as we develop new strategies.

Be open

• Stop thinking in absolute terms. Nothing is black or white. Just because someone is not with you does not mean they are against you. In other words, you should get rid of the habit of judging everything as either just positive or just negative.

• Have the courage to discover the nuances between the extremes. Reality is full of details, perspectives and learning opportunities.

Take care of the moment

• Our mind loves to walk. It tends to flee to the past and to all that could have been. It also has the habit of traveling forward in time and anticipating a multitude of accidents and misery.
• Make it end. Learn to seduce your mind to be in the present, in the moment when the things that count actually take place.

Make contact with what really matters

Being flexible means not forgetting who you are and where you come from. It means being in touch with your values ​​and knowing what really matters to you. By maintaining this contact, other people’s opinions and condemnations will have less power over you.

To conclude, we can say that flexibility is a great trait and a good tool for dealing with the unexpected. Acquiring the right tools to improve it will certainly also help you live a happier life.