From meditation to mindfulness: Everyday spiritual rituals for a happier life

Yoga is a powerful spiritual practice that can bring peace and bliss into our lives. However, Yoga is not just about Asanas (exercises) or Pranayama (breathing techniques). While Asanas and Pranayama, preliminary steps of Yoga, can indeed impart a sense of holistic wellbeing, true Yoga means to be ever-connected with God.

- ATMAN IN RAVI

We all want to be happy, yet we remain unhappy. Why? It's because we haven't understood what happiness really is. Most of us confuse happiness with pleasure. Pleasure comes from success, achievements, material things. The joy derived from all this is fleeting. It's not real happiness. Pleasure comes and goes but true happiness forever flows. That's why I prefer to spell happiness with 3 Ps as happiness to indicate that happiness is a combination of pleasure, which comes from material things; peace, which is the foundation of happiness and which comes from contentment and fulfillment; and finally, purpose which comes from Enlightenment, through spirituality.

It is purpose that leads us to true bliss. Having said that, there are several spiritual practices that we can follow from meditation to mindfulness that can help us live happier lives.