Liz's Key Elements of Happiness

Week 6 post 2 The practice of mindfulness is a vital part of human happiness and functionality. Mindfulness is the 'non-judgmental, moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment,' according to the greater good science center. It is important because it allows people to be more in control of their thoughts and actions as well as their emotions. It does this by promoting a sense of focus and awareness, which is something many people lack in modern society due to the fast pace at which everything moves. It allows people to look at the world from a very neutral, passive tone, which in turn takes away a lot of the stress behind many situations. All of this, in turn, makes for happier, longer lives. A major part of mindfulness is the awareness of one's thoughts. The pace of modern society has people thinking more about the past and the future than they ever do about the current time. The present is when relationships are cul...

Week 5 post 2 The concept of touching a stranger is very abnormal and taboo, especially in western society. A study done by Stanford University shows that people in western society touch far less often than their counterparts, such as places in Central America. For example, this study showed that if friends in the UK got together at a cafe, they would touch 0 times; in the united states, people touched maybe two times by accident, and in places like Central America or Italy they touched both respectfully and endearingly upwards of 180 times. This reflects the happiness of the countries. While maybe the US is ranked higher in some areas due to more stability, overall, the population feels more loneliness and depression than most other countries. Touch is one of the most simple yet important senses we have because it can convey emotions and thoughts before speech ever could; Touch is the first sense humans develop in the womb, possessed even of 1.5cm embryos. Because there is such a la...

Post 1 week 2- The Power of Social Connection - one of the most basic and widely replicated findings from the science of happiness is that our connections with other people are instrumental to our happiness. Links between social Connection and Happiness -”connection is why we’re here, that’s what gives us meaning and purpose in life”- brené brown -very happy people have rich and satisfying relationships and spend little time alone -”social relationships form a necessary but not sufficient condition for high happiness” -diener and seligman -again pattern of meaning, meaningful social interactions are more beneficial than superficial ones -loneliness and isolation have deleterious impacts on the well-being of people both physiologically and mentally, for example people who are lonely show decreased inflammatory control or hyper inflammation in their bodies worsened immune responses and difficulty sleeping -being socially excluded light up regions of the brain that l...