This episode of the Happiness Challenge introduces six unusual well-being habits designed to boost happiness in 2025.

Klaudia reflects on the recent Happiness Reset at Work campaign and invites listeners to explore self-care rituals beyond the typical practices like gratitude and mindfulness.

Each suggested habit is inspired by previous podcast guests and aims to encourage curiosity, invigorate the mind, and promote overall well-being.

Join the journey to greater fulfillment and discover how small changes can lead to significant impacts on your mood and mental health.

Hello happiness seekers. Welcome to the Happiness Challenge.

So first of all thank you so much to all of you who are listening supporting the campaign and also those of you who attended my free webinar on 10th of February. I really do hope that some aspects resonated with you and you have started the journey to more fulfillment and at work.

And whilst I was reflecting on the campaign I thought you might want to top it up with some self care rituals.

These habits are inspired by my guests previously hosted on the Happiness Challenge podcast. So if you'll be up for trying out specific habits, well I'll direct you to other episodes to learn more. So let's dive.

So first up, let's talk about curiosity. So remember when we were kids and everything was a source of wonder? Well, curiosity isn't just for kids.

It's about engaging with new and complex topics and it can significantly boost our happiness. And my guest on episode 108, Stefan von Hooydonk, founder of the Global Curiosity Institute, breaks curiosity down into three types Cognitive.

So think about intellectual and empathic think about social curiosity and reflective. In terms of how we reflecting on our journey, you can take a test to assess how curious you are.

But for today, I dare you to schedule a Curiosity hour where you spend time being curious about any topic that you are interested in. And during that hour you can read and learn more about the topic.

You can have curiosity coffee with someone who might be expert in that specific theme and you can ask them questions to learn from their experience. You can visit a new place to explore or perhaps you can try to craft or make something you are curious about.

The idea here is that you are a breaking pattern of thinking about the same topics and you are challenging yourself to do something new outside of your routine. Next up, let's tackle those days when we are not feeling up for it with cold showers. Yes, you heard me right.

So Tanith Carey, author of Feeling Blah in the episode 76 explains how cold showers can kick start our feel good chemicals like dopamine, just 30 seconds of cold water can boost our mood and really bring that zest for life. Pair it up with your favorite music and you've got a recipe for joy.

So this unusual well being habit is about adding 30 seconds of cold shower to your morning routine to kickstart your feel good chemicals.

And I'm not as brave as many people because I really struggle with jumping into cold pools or doing a cold wild swimming, but that 30 seconds for me is absolutely achievable and again, very impactful the way I start the day. Now speaking of droid, have you tried sound healing?

Supriya Nagarajan, a musician a and the composer on episode 73 shares how creating soundscapes can help you relax and unwind. And this is all about engaging your parasympathetic nervous system. The part of nervous system that helps you to rest and digest.

So this well being habit is about incorporating micro breaks of few minutes for you to first of all recognize that you might be stressed, tired and then pausing to listen to some calming sounds. This will reset your nervous system and you can even watch your heart rate to slow down. I truly love this practice.

I often pair it up with some deep breaths and it is a truly a powerful tool to give yourself some love and self care. So I do so I do dare you to try this out. Now let's talk about gut health because frankly this is just mind blowing for me.

Did you know that your gut microbiome plays a crucial role in your mental health? This is because our gut microbes play crucial part in production of our feel good chemicals.

So nutritional therapist Dana Chapman on episode 117 emphasizes the importance of a diverse diet to keep variety of bacteria thriving thriving in your gut for those happy hormones flowing in your brain. So my dare to you is to try to diversify one meal a week which is about trying foods outside of your weekly routine.

What could you try that is different this week? Now in a world filled with negative headlines, positive news can be a breath of of fresh air.

So this well being habit is inspired by Amy Davoren- Rose from Fix the News who reminds us on episode 127 that positive stories can restore our faith in humanity and encourage pro social behavior. So why not balance your news consumption with some hopeful headlines?

This well being habit is about swapping some of the mainstream publications that you might be currently reading with positive news updates such as the ones from Fix the News so that you can be updated about positive progress that we are making in the world as humanity. I Love Fix the News newsletter and I very much encourage you to sign up to get that positive boost directly into your inbox.

Finally, let's not forget the power of Laughter Cat Goodge the Joy Queen I mean what a tit on episode 130 introduces us to Laughter Yoga combining laughter with yogic breathing. It's a fantastic way to boost your mood, reduce stress and improve your health. So for this well being habit you have some options.

You can be doing some laughing exercises literally in front of mirror. You can be laughing with others or having laughter marathon by watching some comedies you choose.

But I overall I dare you to embrace the joy of laughter and laugh more often.

I personally attend Cat's classes once a week and they have incredible impact on my overall well being, especially when it comes to quality of my sleep. What happens is that it truly releases the tension that I often keep in my body and that helps me to sleep better. Okay, so there we have it.

We have four six unusual well being habits that you can try this year. Just as a recap, these are first of all, Curiosity.

Try scheduling a curiosity hour to engage with new topic or to try new things to boost your happiness. 2.

Cold showers add 30 seconds of cold water to your daily shower routine to kickstart your feel good chemicals like dopamine and bring back zest for life. 3. Sound healing introduce a micro break where you listen to calming sounds to engage your parasympathetic nervous system helping you rest and digest.

4.

Gut health Try one type of food outside of your weekly routine to diversify your diet to support your gut microbiome which plays a crucial role in our our mental health. 5. Positive news balance your news consumption with hopeful headlines to restore faith in humanity and encourage pro social behavior.

And finally, Laughter Yoga.

Try some laughter exercises such as like laughing in front of mirror, laughing with others, watching funny comedies to release the tension in your body. So which one will you start with when it comes to those well being habits? Please do let me know.

I would love to find out how you what are you thinking of introducing into your well being and self care routine? You can find me on LinkedIn or you can sign up to my newsletter on Substack. In meantime, as always, I dare you to be happy. Bye.