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Who am I?

Happiness: a Natural State?

Happiness does not mean:

- Having all our personal needs met

- Feeling pleasure all the time

- Always feeling satisfied with life

- Never feeling negative emotions, pain,

sadness, anger etc.

Definition of Happiness

Aristotle: “A life lived in virtue”

Darrin McMahon: “Happiness is never

simply a function of good feeling but

rather of living good lives, lives that will

almost certainly include a good deal of

pain”

Sonja Lyubomirsky: “The experience

of joy, contentment or positive well-

being, combined with a sense that one’s

life is good, meaningful and worthwhile”

What determines our

Happiness?

According to research by Sonja Lyubomirsky,

professor of psychology at UC Riverside:

S 50% of our happiness comes from our genes

S 10% life circumstances

S 40% intentional activity

Hedonic Adaptation

Hedonic adaptation: our ability to adapt to changes in our

life circumstances

Humans beings are remarkable at getting used to changes

in their lives. New things boost our happiness for a short

while but then we go back to our baseline (set point)!

Affective Forecasting

Affective forecasting: predicting how much a life event is

likely to impact you

People think that really good events are going to make them

happy and keep them happy for a very long time and that

really bad events are going to crush them for the

unforeseeable future

Impact Bias

S We often underestimate our ability to recover from

difficult experiences - "psychological immune system”.

S Impact bias is a major cause of mistakes in affective

forecasting. It can lead us to avoid certain decisions or

activities out of an inflated fear that they will harm our

happiness or to covet certain outcomes (such as winning

the lottery) that don't actually boost our happiness as

much as we think they will.

Useful Tips

S Don’t postpone your happiness! I will be happy when x,

y, z happens!

S Don’t underestimate your resilience and put things off

with the fear of failure!

S Spend your money on experiences rather than

material things!

Money and Happiness?

Money and Happiness

S Research by Ed Diener: Money indeed increases the

level of happiness when it helps to lift people out of

poverty!

S Earning up to $75,000 (in the U.S.) makes people

happier but when that level is reached our happiness

seems to be unaffected with more income!

Benefits of Happiness

S Make more money and are

more productive at work

S Are smarter and more

creative

S Are healthier and live longer

S Have stable and fulfilling

marriages

S Have more friends

S Are more generous

S Cope better with stress and

trauma

S More resilient and have

stronger immune system

According to research by Sonja Lyubomirsky, Happy

People:

What makes us happy?

S Proven Facts: Good sleep patterns, regular exercise and achievements!

S Social connections

S Romantic relationships

S Family & friends

S Compassion & kindness

S Forgiveness

S Mindfulness

Social Connections

S Brene Brown: connection gives us

meaning and purpose in life.

S Research by Ed Diener and Martin

Seligman – social relationships form a

necessary but not sufficient condition for

high happiness

S Experiment: when people are actively

excluded from a game, same regions of

their brain light up when they're undergoing

physically painful experiences

Benefits of Touch

S Recent studies show many

physical and emotional benefits

of touch

S Touch activates the feelings of

reward and compassion

S Appropriate touch by teachers

resulted higher class

participation among students

Touch Deprived?

Psychologist Sydney Jourard observed friends having

conversations in cafes & how many times they touched

each other 1 hour:

S 180 times in Costa Rica

S 110 times in France

S 2 times in the USA

S 0 times in England

Kindness & Compassion

Kindness & Compassion

S Definition: “to suffer together”. The feeling that arises

when you witness another’s suffering and you want to

help relieve that suffering.

Kindness & Compassion

The Kindness-Happiness Loop

S Less loneliness, better health overall

S Volunteerism enhances well-being and life expectancy

S Promotes cooperation and social connection

S Evokes gratitude & is contagious

S Research: giving has a bigger happiness benefit than

spending on the self

Benefits of Kindness & Giving

Kindness is sexy!

Survey of 10,000 people from 37

different countries:

Kindness or good character

was the most important attribute

in forming a partnership with

somebody for life!

Cultivate Compassion

Forgiveness

S The hurts and conflicts we suffer in life take a

considerable toll on our psychological and physical well-

being

S Holding onto grudges and dwelling on them undermines

our happiness.

S Forgiveness associated with lower stress levels, better

moods, higher happiness and happier relationships

Forgiveness

Mindfulness

Mindfulness

Mind wandering

Study of 15,000 people (Matt Killingsworth):

S 47% of the time we are thinking something else than what

we are currently doing

S people are substantially less happy when their minds are

wandering than when they’re not

S strong relationship between mind-wandering now and being

unhappy a short time later

Mindfulness and the Brain

Tips

S Do acts of random kindness

S Volunteer and help others

S Keep a Gratitude journal

S Forgive quickly

S Practice Mindfulness

S Self compassion

A Native American Story

More Information

Please visit

www.consciousbeginnings.com.au

www.jontravels.blogspot.com

http://www.meetup.com/West-End-Mindfulness-Circle

https://www.edx.org/course/science-happiness-uc-

berkeleyx-gg101x