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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

According to research by Sonja Lyubomirsky, Happy

People:
S Make more money and are S Have more friends
more productive at work
S Are more generous
S Are smarter and more
creative S Cope better with stress and
trauma
S Are healthier and live longer
S More resilient and have
S Have stable and fulfilling stronger immune system
marriages
 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

Benefits of Kindness & Giving

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
 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