These 6 easy ‘happy hacks’ can boost endorphins — including an ‘emotional trump card’

Americans are more miserable than ever — though New Yorkers don’t seem to be doing too bad.

Still, most of us could probably use a little emotional boost.

As it turns out, you don’t need crystals, mood gummies or expensive gurus to turn that frown upside down — just a sprinkling of behavioral science.

We spoke to mindset and meditation expert Joanna Rajendran, who wrote the new book “BEST. LIFE. EVE.,” about her top “happy hacks” for welcoming more joy into your day.

Get started

“How you start the day is pivotal in determining how you expect the rest of it to go,” Rajendran told The Post.

Which means that, if the first thing you do when you wake up is look at your phone, “you have already begun the day in reaction mode — you cannot effectively set the tone for how you would like to feel, what you would like to do and who you would like to impact if you are responding to news feeds, alerts and emails,” she said.

That’s why she recommends ignoring your device for a set amount of time — ideally, an hour, but you can start with less.

“Whatever the world needs from you, they will still need it 15, 30 or 60 minutes later,” she said.

So delay the doomscroll and do something that makes you feel good instead.

“When you do not immediately react to the outside world, you feel more peaceful and
present during your morning routine,” Rajendran said. “You can now fill this time with something that fills your mind, your soul or both: focused breathing, meditation, reading, etc.”

Get moving

Exercise is a known endorphine booster.

“The fastest and most effective way of shifting your emotional state is to change your physiological one,” she said.

Rajendran notes this movement “can be done with a limited amount of time and space and, therefore, can be done almost anywhere.”

While doing a full workout would be most beneficial, some “faster joy-enhancing options” she recommends include walking the dog, holding a plank or doing a few jumping jacks, taking the stairs instead of the elevator and having a short dance party.

“Moving your body will give you a boost of endorphins, increase serotonin levels and enhance joy immediately,” she said.

Get planning

“Don’t just hope for something to happen that will make you happy, plan for it!” she said. “Put something on your schedule every single day that will enhance your experience and spark joy.”

To make sure this is adding to your joy — and not your anxiety — she recommends being “mindful of
what works with existing time parameters.”

That means your “scheduled joy” could be as long as having lunch with a friend or getting a massage or as short as watching a sunset, walking to work or calling your bestie — get it on the calendar and make it happen.

“There is a huge difference between hoping something happens and planning for it,” she said.
“Scheduling our joy is a great way of prioritizing that which makes us happy.”

Get bored

Yes, you read that right.

“In this age of constant stimulation, we aren’t left with a lot of time to experience boredom,” Rajendran said. “Some might even attribute being busy as an indicator of being successful and productive, but without enough time to be bored, we are missing out on a key element — creativity.”

Your next big adventure could be a lazy afternoon away.

“Every great idea, innovation or invention has stemmed from the same thing — our imagination. Giving yourself the time to be bored is giving yourself the opportunity to harness our greatest tool of inspiration,” she said.

“Taking the time to daydream will not only remind you of what drives and thrills you, it might inspire the next great chapter, idea, connection or experience in your life.”

Why not go for a nature walk, plop yourself down outside a cafe or simply do some cruising and see what thoughts pop up?

Get grateful

“Gratitude is mentioned in almost every conversation of happiness and with good reason — it is an emotional trump card,” Rajendran said.

“Gratitude is such a powerful emotion that it is hard to feel both grateful and angry, grateful and sad, grateful and envious at the same time. One of the most effective ways to feel immediate happiness is to go on a gratitude rant.”

She recommends starting small.

“While things like your health, your home, and your family all may be accurate answers, if said so generally or so often, they will no longer have the same emotional impact,” she said. “Instead, look around where you are right this moment and start with the simple pleasures and begin to list them.”

You could, for example, express gratitude for the sun shining through your window, the warmth of your tea, the tranquil silence of your office and so on.

“When you start by noticing the small things that bring up gratitude, it puts you in the habit of noticing them everywhere,” she said. “It begins to require less to feel more. Ultimately, it shifts from noticing the small things to actually looking for them. With continued practice, gratitude will become not just a habit, but a way being.”

Get some rest

“If you would like to fall asleep more easily and stay sleeping more soundly, give your tech a bedtime,” she said.

We all know blue light wreaks havoc on your sleep, which is why experts suggest staying away from screens at least an hour before bed or — better yet — keeping the device in a different room altogether while you snooze.

While Rajendran agrees, she realizes some people might use their phone as their alarm clock or e-reader. If that’s you — she recommends instilling a “social media cut-off time” — ideally an hour or two before bed — as that will “decrease the amount of time it takes to fall asleep and increase the quality of that sleep.”

It’s also likely to yield much nicer dreams.

“What we put into our minds right before bed has an impact on our subconscious,” she said. “When we stop mindlessly scrolling, we have the chance to choose what it is we would like to think about and dream about as we sleep.”