Following our recent article on Happiness, I thought I would add a note on the paradox of happiness. Even though the objective conditions of our lives [which we believe will make us happier] have improved dramatically, we haven’t actually gotten any happier. Maybe happiness has an awful lot to do with the contents of our moment-to-moment experiences. As human beings, we have this unique ability to have our minds stray away from the present. Maybe, to really be happy, we need to stay completely immersed and focused on our experience in the moment.
Studies have proven that people are substantially less happy when their minds are wandering. Mindfulness increases our ability to focus and concentrate for longer periods. It also helps us to align the activities we are responsible for to our greater good vision. “Mindfulness is the awareness that arises out of intentionally paying attention in an open, kind and discerning way”. We remain present in the moment, and do not force anything, including forcing ourselves not to mind-wander.
Happiness also depends on social connection. With the advances in communication technology, as a society, our face to face [F2F] social interactions are reducing, which impacts not only our happiness, but also our health. Positive F2F social interactions increase our vagal tone. Overall, a high vagal tone means your brain and heart are working together to keep your body running as efficiently as possible. It also impacts your social skills, such as empathy, and the ability to connect with other people. So we are ending up in a downward compounding spiral of happiness.
One way to help alleviate this is through mindfulness. Mindful deep breathing evokes a number of neurophysiological changes, including elevated vagal tone, which in turn benefits our health in numerous ways, such as lowering our resting heart rate, improving cardio-vascular health and strengthening the immune system.
Ironically, according to Pew study on teens, “Teens in general consider their rather high level of connectivity as necessary for effective cultural development and to prevent social isolation” (Madden et al., 2013).
Author: Gail La Grouw. Insight Mastery Program Director, and Strategic Performance Consultant for Coded Vision Ltd.
