For those of you who’ve been in teaching for a while and have got a few summer holidays under your belt, have you ever returned in September feeling like you’ve missed a trick?

Perhaps a colleague on INSET day is talking about sprucing up their home during the hols and your mind wanders to ‘that’ kitchen drawer you meant to sort out over the summer, but didn’t. Or someone rocks up looking trimmer and healthier than ever before, and you rue the fact you’ve sat in your pants on the sofa eating ice cream out of the tub for the past 6 weeks.

Not that there isn’t a place for that, there most definitely is, but can you plan to be happier?

Planning your happiness

At Laughology, we talk a lot about realistic happiness, which means recognising when things are going well and building on them. It also means accepting there will be times when we are sad, which is normal and okay.

We know if we chase unrealistic happiness (those perfect lives that people appear to lead on social media) it can make us miserable.

Having said it’s unhealthy to ‘chase’ happiness, it’s important to remember we do have control over many aspects of our mental health and wellbeing. We can choose to spend our time scrolling through people’s online images or we can decide that this summer, we’re going to have a digital detox. No more comparing our life to someone who we once sat next to in a Geography lesson about 20 years ago!

When we’re tired and busy we revert to the norm, our entrenched behaviours that feel comfortable – even if we know they’re unhelpful. If we want to form new, better habits, the summer holidays are the perfect time to do it because it takes desire, a conscious effort, repetitive actions, and time to create new, strong neural pathways. This process is called neuroplasticity.

What is a D.O.S.E of happiness?

Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorphins are neurotransmitters that increase our happiness levels. They also help us to cope when life chucks us a curveball.

Dopamine

Dopamine is the reward chemical – our body’s way of giving us a high five. Rather than planning one big project for the summer, break it down into lots of little targets, to get more regular hits of dopamine.

Keeping on top of things at home can be tricky during term time. So, decluttering and cleaning might be something that will make your physical environment a more pleasant and relaxing place to be. Living in a well-ordered, uncluttered place is good for us psychologically. So is helping others, which we can do by donating anything that we don’t need anymore to charity.

Instead of pulling everything you own out of the cupboards in one fell swoop on the first day of the hols and then ramming it all back in again on 31st August, why not make a manageable and achievable plan to tackle your home – one drawer at a time?

Oxytocin

Oxytocin is released by:

• Physical touch
• Socialising
• Stroking pets
• Cuddling babies
• Being massaged

During term time, and especially at the end of the academic year, we’re less likely to catch up with friends, believing we’re too busy. With people going away at different times, it’s easy for the summer to fly by and for us to miss the chance to catch up with our mates. Now is the time to get those dates in the diary. Not to be tampered with!

Other things that drop off during the summer term are our self-care routines. Although we’ve got split ends galore and roots down to our shoulders, we carry on, knowing that our holiday haircut is nearly here. If it’s your thing, book with a hairdresser that provides a complimentary head massage, which will help to relieve some of that built-up tension and release that lovely oxytocin.

And, for those of you who are balking at the thought of all of the above, you could also get your shot from:

• Listening to music
• Exercising
• Meditating
• Having a cold shower (go on, you know you want to!)

Serotonin

Put simply, this is the happy chemical – released when we are having fun, having a giggle, and feeling grateful.

You’ll already know many of the things that make you happy. Hopefully, you’ve got plans to do as many of these as possible over the next 6 weeks.

But what are the things that you’d love to do but haven’t done yet?

• Perhaps you’re a water babe and fancy wild swimming, paddleboarding, or kayaking?
• Or maybe you’d be happier on the water, hiring a boat and sharing a picnic with friends?
• Or do you have a penchant for a bit of excitement, like Laughologists Kerry Leigh and Sarah Brown who recently did tandem skydives for Lagan’s Foundation?

With the cost of living going up, it doesn’t have to be something expensive.

• Maybe there’s a book that you’ve never got round to reading?
• Or a recipe you’ve yet to master?
• Or a hike you’ve been meaning to do?

Remember, we benefit from the anticipation and looking forward to events and challenges, as much as we do achieving them. So, set yourself the goal of ticking something off your bucket list this summer. We’d love to know how you get on, using the hashtag #learnwithlaughology.

Endorphins

The E of D.O.S.E stands for endorphins, the body’s own form of morphine. As most people will know, these are released by doing exercise and stretching. Also, when we create a piece of music or art. So, if you’re a gym bunny or a creative kind then you’ve got this sewn up.

The great news for the rest of us is that we also get endorphins from eating a piece of dark chocolate (not Curly Wurlys unfortunately) or spicy food.

So, at least once during the holidays, it’s okay to sit on the sofa in your pants, using a jalapeno to scoop ice cream out of the tub.