Are we born more prone to
be happy or sad? Is it a question of genes? Does our environment make a
difference? Our socio-economic status, the level of our intelligence, our
emotional satisfaction, or the state of our physical health? Or could it be that we can decide how happy or unhappy
we are?
Happiness and Our Bodies
According to recent
psychological research, people who show the highest results in tests of
happiness, optimism and contentment
·
Develop about 50% more anti-bodies than average when subjected to flu
vaccines
·
Have a reduced risk of cardio-vascular disease
·
Show a lower index of pulmonary disease
·
Show a lower incidence of diabetes
·
Have less hypertension than individuals who are less content
·
And as indicated in a 2004 study carried out in Holland
Clearly, the neurochemistry
of happiness, in other words, how the brain looks and reacts if you are happy,
has a great deal to say about your physical health and even the length of your
life.
Plasticity of the Brain & Adult
Neurogenesis
Neuroscientists have found that the brain is
highly plastic, meaning that depending on the type of experiences it undergoes,
it is capable of rewiring itself. Depending on an individual’s activities –
both physical and intellectual - the
brain can grow new connections or dendrites between cells – and has been proven
to be capable of adult neurogenesis, or new cell growth after adulthood,
contrary to all prior research – and
thus to become more active, even in old age. Even negative experiences can be
beneficial, according to Richard
Davidson from the University
of Wisconsin
Are Depression and Happiness
Emotional States Beyond Our Control?
Most people believe that
depression and happiness are emotional states beyond their control. Breakthrough
data – happily - shows otherwise.
The New York Times and Time
Magazine have been publishing fascinating research on what is being called
the new science of happiness. The American Psychological Association (APA) has been receiving and bestowing grants in
order to study the elusive mystery of what does and does not make people
satisfied with life.
What Makes Us Happy?
So let’s cut to the chase:
what exactly makes us happy according to the latest research?
Wealth? Once our basic needs are met, additional
income does little to raise one’s sense of satisfaction with life.
Good Education or High IQ? Much as they are assets
to have in a lifetime, neither does much to raise one’s sense of satisfaction
with life either.
Youth? Not this one either. In actual fact, research
indicates that older people are more typically satisfied with their lives than
the young, and the young have been found to be sad more frequently than the
older populations.
How About Marriage? Here research indicates that by and large
married individuals are generally happier than singles, but this may be caused
by the fact that they were happier to begin with.
Sunshine? Further studies show us that this also is not what makes us happy.
How About Religious Faith or Spirituality? In this case research
demonstrates that religious faith or spirituality truly does appear to lift our
spirits, although it is not conclusive whether this is due to the spiritual
part or the community part that spiritual and religious practice imply.
What About Friends? A 2002 study clearly indicates that friends
belong to the strongest contributing factors to happiness. Thus it becomes
clear that close connections to friends, family and community, as well as a desire
to spending quality time with them, highly influences an individual’s state of
happiness. More recently, in October 2006, Daniel
Goleman’s article in the New York Times addresses the biology of emotional
healing. He refers to “emotional
contagion, the tendency of one person to catch the feelings of another,
particularly if strongly expressed” and the possibility that this further explains
why family and friends contribute to our happiness and not only emotional, but
also physical well-being.
Most Important Components of
Happiness
Martin Seligman, author of Authentic
Happiness, has demonstrated through his research that there are three
components of happiness:
- Pleasure: what makes
me feel good. (See also Flow
by M. Csikszentmihalyi)
- Engagement: how deeply
I am involved with my family, work, romance and hobbies.
- Meaning: using my
personal strengths to serve some greater purpose. (For further information
on engagement and meaning, also see my article Finding
a Meaning for Your Life)
How Can We Become Happier?
One of the most compelling
issues in happiness research is how much our happiness is under our own
control. Do we influence it, is it due to genetics, or is it pure luck?
Specifically, what can we do to become happier?
- Keeping a Gratitude Journal.
Amazingly, the most important component to maintaining and/or raising our
level of happiness is accomplished by keeping a gratitude journal. By
writing down - on a daily basis - five things we are grateful for (the
blue sky, the fresh smell of a baby’s skin, a delicious cup of latte, having
beautiful eyes, being capable of thinking on one’s feet, etc.), physical
health is improved, energy levels are raised, even pain and fatigue can be
relieved.
- Performing acts of
altruism and kindness gives a significant boost to test subjects.
- Figuring out your
strengths and finding new ways to use them (see Seligman’s website www.reflectivehappiness.com
for testing yourself)
- Having or developing a
capacity for love and kindness is another factor that raises levels of
happiness, hence it is in your own interest that you consciously work on
these aspects of your personality
- You can consciously
work on changing your DNA (for research on this topic see also my September
2005 Newsletter DNA Can Change
According to the Feelings of the Individual)
- Water crystals and the
body’s molecules show similar results as the above indicated DNA research
(see work by Masuru Emoto: The
Hidden Messages in Water, also mentioned in the film What the Bleep Do We
Know?, and work by Candace Pert: The
Molecules of Emotion).
- Emotional-energetic
barometer (see also my article The
Energy Barometer: Make Your Mind Body Connection Work For You ).
- Using mind-body observation leads to greater consciousness and awareness of the self which leads to a greater capacity to use the information you are receiving in your own benefit and in raising your levels of happiness.
Is Happiness Luck or is it up to
us?
So, going back to our
original question, contained within the title of this article: has happiness
become a science, or is it a question of luck, we are now definitively in a
position to say, that while it has become more and more the focus of much
concentrated academic and scientific research, more than ever, happiness is in
the hands of the individual, in your hands, depending on what you do, how you
think, how you react, and above all, how conscious and aware you are of
yourself in those moments when you feel less than happy and when you could
actually begin to change that and make yourself rise to another level of
feeling (see also my March
2006 Newsletter: Intentional Focus:
Your Happiness, Your Success, and the Law of Attraction).
The knowledge that your
happiness is in your hands, that you have choices to make, is the beginning of
a new way of looking at your well-being, and how you go about your days and
your life. In it, as in all other aspects of becoming conscious and aware, lies
freedom.
For more about choosing happiness in relationships and how awareness of this can help you find love, and move towards spiritual partnership and inner peace, see my book The Tao of Spiritual Partnership in paperback format. (The Kindle version is available here)
To download the first chapter, click here
To see the Table of Contents click here
This ground-breaking book addresses:
• relationship patterns that hold you back from a truly fulfilled life
• the strong connection between sexuality and spiritual partnership
• communication leading to true connection & lasting transformation of your relationship
It is precisely at the problematic crossroads so often encountered in relationships that we are offered the opportunity to create a new foundation based on mutual complementarity rather than need; a free relationship between two people who want to be together, rather than two people who need to be together. Needing another, we are told, is the measure of love, but for a fully conscious individual nothing could be further from the truth. And therein lies part of the secret and healing power of spiritual partnerships.
Praise for The Tao of Spiritual Partnership
“All humans seek the illusive touch of another's Soul, which opens us to the sense of belonging to something bigger than the self. Dr. Kortsch has given us the true "tao" of relationship in this brilliant exploration of emotional tapestry. We will be grateful for this illumination of spiritual partnership for generations to come."
Chris Griscom: Spiritual Leader, Author (among others) of Time is an Illusion and Ecstasy is a New Frequency
REWIRING THE SOUL
For more about understanding the path towards life meaning and the inner quest, also have a look at my earlier book Rewiring the Soul: Finding the Possible Self
(paperback or Kindle).To download the first chapter, click here
To see the Table of Contents click here
From the Description on Amazon: Ask anyone, whatever their circumstances, if their life is vibrant, fulfilling, harmonious and happy. An honest reply is likely to be 'no', because to answer a truthful 'yes' is no mean feat. Only to grow psychologically and emotionally is not enough. And only to grow spiritually is not enough either. All three dimensions need to be developed in order to realize your full potential. If you are willing to assume total responsibility for the self and to start what is an on-going journey, you will quickly begin to glimpse the first fruits of the ultimate goal: inner well-being, freedom, peace, harmony and joy. This book sets out the pathway to self-mastery and self-discovery and walking that pathway will be the most exciting adventure of your life.
Reviews From the Back Cover:
A revelation of insight into the foundations of human suffering & transcendence. It not only lays out essential steps for inner freedom & joy but illuminates the way to true human potential. Dr. Kortsch is a spiritual master for our time. Paul Rademacher, Executive Director, The Monroe Institute; author: A Spiritual Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe
"The masterwork of a profoundly gifted healer of the soul. Dazzling, challenging, wondrously useful." Peggy Rubin, Director, Center for Sacred Theatre, Ashland, Oregon; author: To Be and How To Be, Transforming Your Life Through Sacred Theatre
It is your right to live a life of
love. It is your right to understand that loving yourself first is not a selfish way of behavior, but one that allows you to
live that life of love. However, it's highly probable that you never got the
instruction manual explaining exactly how to accomplish this. Possibly your
family - and it may have been a loving family - considered loving the self an
act of selfishness. Or perhaps the members of your family simply didn't
practice loving the self, and of course, what you didn't see - what was not
shown to you - while you were growing up, meant that you just didn't learn how
to apply it to yourself. The closer you are able to move towards loving
yourself, the closer you will be to living a life of love - quite independently
of whether you are in a love relationship or not. A life of love can be lived
with or without a partnership, because a life of love implies that you know
that it all begins with you by loving
the self. The more clearly you understand how to love yourself, the more
clearly you will see that it is very hard - if not impossible - to love others
in ways that are unrelated to fulfilling any of your needs. Loving
yourself first is - for so many of us - one of the hardest things we will ever
learn how to do. But know this: the benefits affect you in every particle of
your being - body, mind, and soul - and are greater than you will
ever be able to imagine.
Note: If you are wondering why this blog is now only appearing on alternate days (excluding Sat/Sun), it is because I also post on my other blog on the others days. That other blog is Rewiring the Soul so named for my first book. Click here to visit the blog and/or to sign up for the feed.
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