The Mother Of Mindfulness Shares Her No. 1 Tip For A Happier, Healthier Life

Focus on the factors in your life you have control over. It's advice you may have heard once or twice before, and it's certainly easier said than done. However, it's a helpful reminder to make even the tiniest flexible moments just a bit more joyous. 

Award-winning Harvard psychologist and mindfulness researcher Ellen Langer, Ph.D., (who is also known worldwide as the "mother of mindfulness") agrees. And as she explained on an episode of the mindbodygreen podcast, this practice doesn't have to be complicated.

Her take: Make small moments fun and interesting when you can. Langer references a Swedish campaign called "piano stairs," in which the Volkswagen team revamped a subway station staircase to include sound-producing steps.

The goal: Change the status quo and inspire pedestrians to take the previously vacant staircase instead of the often-frequented escalator. And, well, it totally worked. "Everybody forgets the escalator, and they're all taking the stairs because taking the stairs is now fun," Langer recounts. 

How does this relate to your own happiness, you may ask? "Why wait for someone to put down the keyboard on the stairs? You can do this in your head. Everything can be fun, or enjoyable, or at least interesting," she says. 

Now, you may not have the resources to install a keyboard on your home staircase, but the lesson here is more metaphorical. Simply make the mundane more interesting by switching things up. Repetitive, everyday activities can easily feel like second nature, thus making them less joyful.

Contribute to your own happiness by elevating mundane or sometimes dreaded activities, transforming them into creative ventures.