Celest Pereira is a yoga teacher and the author of the book “The Yoga Mentor”
What is happiness for you?
Happiness is not always about feeling good. It’s the knowledge that ups and downs are natural and healthy. It’s knowing you have the power to move through these experiences and use them to help you grow in a positive way.
How did you come to your current level of positivity and what did you have to overcome to achieve it?
I work on my happiness levels every day. I don’t leave them to chance. I do simple things like exercise, get good sleep and eat nourishing foods. I also meditate every day and keep a gratitude journal. I am also very careful who I spend time with, and I make sure I keep the company of positive people. It’s also a big boost when you do nice things for other people.
How can one maintain good mental and physical health, and stay upbeat with your kind of job?
It’s a moment by moment choice. There is no one thing that can do it. You always have multiple options of how you choose to spend your time and live your life. From the moment you open your eyes in the morning you have choices you need to make and these will either push you toward mental and physical health or pull you away. This even applies to what thoughts you choose to dwell on. Making wise choices in the easiest way to get good results. But what those are are very personal.
Through your work as a yoga teacher, how do you help people stay happier?
I like to use my classes as an opportunity to learn and have fun. So it’s rarely a serious vibe and I spend a lot of time planning the session so they contain information and challenges that encourage growth. I also like to make people connect with each her, as I believe the lack of community in modern life is a contributing factor to the increased levels of unhappiness in today’s society.
Can you be happy anywhere?
In theory YES! You can be happy anywhere, as happiness is often a choice. However, in my opinion it can at times be much more challenging for some people to feel happiness because of their external world. There are many people in extremely difficult circumstances and I feel it’s naive to believe these people can access happiness as easily as someone who lives a comfortable existence where they have their human rights in tact.
Share your favourite Happy thought
Be grateful! Life is extraordinarily difficult for many people around the world. If you have eaten today, can freely walk outside whenever you choose, and your personal safety is not jeopardised then you have a lot to be thankful for and happy about.
www.celestpereira.com