Humans have the uncanny ability to adapt to changes and that is why we are able to generally live a stress-free and happy life. For sure, there are countless others before me who’ve figured this out. But each of us needs to figure out how to achieve this in our own time and our own way. Personally, the thing that slowly brought about this realization was my practicing the Chinese art of Tai Chi and Qigong.

According to science, each of us naturally has varying levels of serotonin in our body, and so we have people who find it easier to stay happy even during challenging times. We’ve all encountered people that seem to uplift everyone else around them, and some of us have met others that have the ability to bring everyone down. The majority of us lie between these two contrasting personalities. Therefore, we need to ask whether improving our general level of happiness is really attainable. The answer to that is a definite yes and this article will show you how a dedicated practice of Qigong practice can help you in this effort.

In my experience, Qigong is essentially being more at peace with the world around us and with our selves and it’s about raising our awareness or consciousness. Qigong eventually becomes a deeply integral part of your life when you have attained a high level of practice. This is an experience that naturally happens over time and is due to the establishment of a consistent and dedicated practice.

When one speaks of Qigong being integrated into a person’s life, it refers to every person’s act being harmonious. Some Qigong instructors will call this an “effortless flow” and, speaking for myself, this is an accurate description. We should be like water that effortlessly adapts to any circumstances that come our way. In the words of Bruce Lee,

“Empty your mind and be like water, shapeless and formless. Now when you spill water into a cup, the water becomes the cup, when you spill water into a teapot, the water becomes the teapot and when you spill water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. But water, it can crash or flow…Be water, my friend.”

Figuratively speaking, if you have the adaptability of water, you become more like water and all of a sudden, you stop feeling like every endeavor becomes a difficult process to achieve. You’re now beginning to learn how to effortlessly adapt to your environment. When you have the adaptability of water, your brooding about the past dissipates and you worry less about the future. This is because you’re now learning to live in the moment. The present is all that matters. I would say that 95 percent of all the people in the world haven’t yet learned to live in the moment, and that number has actually increased a lot now than at any point in history.

In order to attain an effortless flow and be more like water, we need to slow our lives down. Our monkey minds are just relishing all the distractions that surround, and it’s the wrong path to happiness. When our minds go in different directions all at once, we will never truly enjoy what we are doing at that moment.

We need to drop everything and stop. Clear your mind and be at peace. Draw three to five slow breaths while your mind focuses on your lower stomach. Now open your eyes and look at your surroundings.

This very easy exercise can help you realize that you can get distracted so easily more than you thought. It can help you be aware that you’re living in the present time and help you move through your activity with little effort and help you think more clearly. Perform this exercise each time you are getting stressed out and when you start realizing your mind is being distracted.

One thing you can do when you are stressed out or distracted is to create a mental filter in your head to trap the distractions. In due time, your stress levels will subside and your level of happiness will start increasing. This exercise is a very effective but very simple way to start integrating Qigong into your life.

Through the powerful yet simple self-healing practice of Qigong I wish you all the happiness in the world!

Emily Farish is a licensed acupuncturist and the founder of Emily Farish Acupuncture., in Spokane, WA.