🔑 The 8th Door | "What is happiness?" — Remembering your own unique happiness

🌿 Introduction

Thank you for choosing to spend this time here today.

This is not a place

to search for someone else's correct answer.

It is a time to cherish

the way you personally feel.

At the previous door,

"I'm envious."

We looked at how your own wishes

are hidden deep within that feeling.

Today,

we will take those wishes one step deeper.

The theme is,

"Happiness."

But today,

is not a time to search for ways to become happy.

It is a time to remember

the happiness that you

already know.

🌬 The present moment is everything

Sit in a comfortable position.

You can close your eyes slowly,

or you don't have to.

First,

let's try exhaling for a long time.

Feel the tension in your body,

gradually fading away.

Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds.

Hold for 2 seconds.

Over 8 seconds,

exhale slowly.

Repeat this breathing 3 times.

Once your breathing is steady,

gently place your hand on your chest.

And then,

slowly, 3 times,

let's chant it.

"Here and now is everything."

"Here and now is everything."

"Here and now is everything."

Just for a little while,

spend some quiet time.

Right now,

what are you feeling?

Let's cherish that way of feeling,

again today.

🌿 Is happiness something you obtain?

"If I work harder, I can be happy."

"If I earn more, I can feel secure."

"If I am recognized more, I will be fulfilled."

Have you ever thought that way?

We,

without realizing it,

believe that happiness is something that lies in the future.

And so,

we keep searching for what we lack in our current selves.

More.

Still not enough.

Just a little more.

In that cycle,

The heart gets tired little by little.

So,

today, too,

I am delivering just one question.

"Is that really so?"

🌿 Whose happiness are you living?

Just for a moment,

try to remember.

"You will be happy if this happens."

The person who taught you that,

who was it?

Was it your parents?

Was it a teacher?

Was it television?

Was it social media?

In this world,

there are many kinds of happiness.

Getting married.

Raising children.

Succeeding at work.

Having a lot of money.

Of course,

all of these are wonderful.

However,

that happiness,

is not necessarily the same as your happiness.

If,

you are chasing something that someone else called "happiness."

Even if you obtain it,

feeling unfulfilled somewhere,

might not be strange at all.

🌿 Your body already knows

Happiness,

is not something you decide by thinking with your head.

The body,

is honest.

When you feel at ease,

your breathing becomes deeper.

When you are happy,

your chest feels warm.

When you feel comfortable,

the tension in your shoulders fades away.

So today,

instead of your head,

let's ask your body.

When,

at what times,

do you suddenly feel relaxed?

In what kind of moments,

"It's okay just as it is."

do you get that feeling?

Right there,

is your own unique happiness.

✍️ Today's Exercise

Today,

this is not an exercise to search for happiness.

It is an exercise to go and welcome the happiness your body remembers.is.

Please prepare a notebook.

STEP 1 | Try writing down moments when your heart felt at ease

Looking back on recent times,

Let's write down the moments when your heart felt a little more relaxed.

It doesn't have to be a major event.

In the morning,

I drank tea in the quiet time.

The breeze felt pleasant.

I listened to my favorite music.

I laughed with someone.

I looked up at the sky blankly by myself.

Three things,

or even twenty things is fine.

Let's write down as many as you can remember.

STEP 2 | What did your body feel?

Read back through the events you wrote down,

one by one.

At that time,

how did your chest feel?

How was your breathing?

How was the tension in your shoulders?

Please try writing down the sensations your body remembers,

along with them.

STEP 3 | What do they have in common?

Take a look at the pages

you have written, slowly.

Is there anything they have in common?

Is it nature?

Is it silence?

Is it time spent with someone?

Is it freedom?

Is it peace of mind?

Here,

it is okay if you do not force an answer.

Gently circle the words

that your heart reacted to.

STEP 4 | "Happiness to me is..."

Finally,

try writing just one sentence

starting with this phrase:

"Happiness to me is..."

You do not need to try to write it well.

It does not have to be words that convince someone else,

Please write down the words that make your heart

"Yes."

quietly nod in agreement.

STEP 5 | "Is that really so?"

Finally,

read that sentence again.

And,

underneath it,

please write quietly.

"Is that really so?"

This question is

not meant to make you doubt your happiness.

It is a question to help you get closer

to your own happiness, more deeply.

Today's answer and

the answer a year from now

might be different.

And that is perfectly fine.

You are,

while living,

Because you are nurturing happiness.

🌙 What the 8th door wanted to convey

Happiness is,

not about having more than someone else.

It is not about being recognized by someone else either.

Happiness is,

in the place where your heart,

"I like this here."

"I like this time."

feels that way.

Therefore,

it is okay not to chase after someone else's happiness.

Today,

you,

did not search for your own happiness.

You remembered it.

That small sensation,

when you are lost in life from now on,

will surely,

come to gently welcome you back.

🌱 The week starting today

This week,

"I have to try harder."

If you hear that voice,

please stop for just a moment.

Open your notebook,

and read back what you wrote today:

"For me, happiness is..."

Then,

ask yourself right now:

And ask your current self:

"Am I getting closer to this happiness today?"

Whether the answer is "yes" or

"no," it is okay.

What is important is

not someone else's happiness, but

living while remembering your own happiness.

🌱 Next, to the 9th door

At the next door,

you who have worked hard to live until now,

I am going to meet the me from back then.

You cannot change the past.

However,

how you face the past,

you can start changing from today.

Today, too,

to you,

I deliver just one question.

"Is that really so?"

To that question,

there is no correct answer.

That is precisely why,

your own way of feeling,

please continue to cherish it.

Well then,

let's meet at the 9th door.

With heartfelt gratitude.

Yukiyo 🌿