Discover the science behind happiness! In this video, we dive into the

daily habits and mindsets that can significantly boost your overall

wellbeing.

Hear it Here - https://Neuro-Happiness

00:00:00 Neuro-Happiness

00:01:14 Have A Routine – But Not A Strict One!

00:09:52 Meditation Can Make You Happy.

00:16:11 Self-Talking Yourself To Happiness.

00:23:16 The Reading Habit.

00:28:41 Dear Happiness…

00:32:11 Keep The Flame Of Hope Burning.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XLW8K22

Neuro-Happiness:

37 Science-Based (5-Minute)

Methods to Increase Your Daily Happiness,

Fulfillment,

and Contentment (Mental and Emotional Abundance Book 15)

Written by

Nick Trenton, narrated by russell newton.

Chapter 1 .- Daily Habits For Happiness.

Everyone wants to be happy,

but how many people could honestly claim they are?

In the chapters that follow,

we’ll be looking at what happiness is,

how it works physiologically,

and how we can use current scientific understanding of wellbeing to start

creating a life that we love.

Happiness starts in the brain,

but that doesn’t mean it’s just a question of neuroscience.

We’ll be exploring the question of happiness over the course of 40 practical,

evidence-based techniques,

covering daily happiness habits,

joy-inducing environments,

and short-term quick fixes for bad days.

Finally,

we’ll consider how we can pull everything together to create lasting

lifestyle changes that genuinely make us feel good.

Let’s dive in!

Have A Routine – But Not A Strict One!

Picture the kind of person you imagine has their life together.

They wake up at the same time every day,

they have an orderly morning routine,

and they have a fixed food,

work,

and exercise schedule that they move through predictably,

every day.

They’re probably quite productive… but are they happy?

It turns out that,

although routine can be beneficial,

you don’t want to get stuck in a rut.

Research psychologist Catherine Hartley and her colleagues conducted a study

with 132 participants,

who were tracked for three or four months.

Hartley wanted to see their general mental health state and overall mood,

as well as examine what kind of daily routines they engaged in.

What the data revealed was pretty interesting - people who were able to do

something novel every day tended to report more positive,

happy emotions than those who just stuck to the same old,

same old.

The novelty didn’t have to be big – it could be something as simple as

going to a new place or trying something different for lunch.

The team also tracked the participants via G. P. S. and noticed that,

on days when people moved around more and visited more locations,

they were more likely to use words like “happy”,

“relaxed” and “excited” to describe their mood that day.

Hartley wanted to understand more,

so she had some of the participants undergo an M. R. I. scan.

Here,

she found that the people who were regularly exposing themselves to novel

situations actually had different brain function than those who didn’t.

Their scans showed an increase in brain activity between the hippocampus and

striatum – areas of the brain associated with experience processing and

reward,

respectively.

The more diverse experiences,

the greater the connectivity between these two brain regions and the greater

the reported feelings of wellbeing.

The team published their findings in the journal Nature Neuroscience,

concluding that there was a definite relationship between our daily

environments,

our behaviors,

our brain activity,

and our overall mood.

Diversity of experience,

they found,

was positively correlated with improved wellbeing.

"Our results suggest that people feel happier when they have more variety in

their daily routines -- when they go to novel places and have a wider array of

experiences," Hartley claimed,

and,

since the research concluded just before worldwide Covid-19 lockdowns,

many were interested in using the findings to maintain wellbeing despite being

shut at home.

If “experiential diversity” means greater wellbeing,

then it’s obvious that,

if we want to be happier,

we need a little novelty.

What does that look like,

day to day?

Well,

it’s likely that each of us has different thresholds for what counts as

“novel” – for some,

new experiences can feel stressful or threatening,

while others are major thrill-seekers and adrenaline junkies.

What Hartley’s research suggests,

however,

is that just a little daily variation is enough to wake up certain areas of the

brain.

You don’t have to go on a grand adventure every day – just try something

new here and there -

•Take a different route to work or,

if you have a few minutes,

explore that strange back street that you always walk past but never go down.

•Instead of getting your favorite dish at the restaurant you always go to,

get something completely different or try another place entirely.

•Mix up the order of things you were already going to do that day;

for example,

change plans at the last minute and run some errands in town instead for a

change of pace.

•Take a walk somewhere you haven’t been before and really absorb everything

new and unexpected around you.

•Rummage in your closet and wear something you’ve forgotten about or a

novel combination of items you haven’t tried before.

•Work in a different room,

in a different chair,

or even in the same room but oriented differently.

The reason novelty makes us happy is that,

neurophysiologically,

the sensation of novelty is closely connected to the sensation of reward.

And in many ways,

the experience of depression is not dissimilar from the feeling of being

“stuck in a rut” and under-stimulated.

Trying something new is a way to kick yourself out of that rut.

Think of novelty as giving your brain a little surprise,

which produces a tiny dopamine kick and engages you with your environment.

If you’re feeling a little low,

pause and ask if you’re really just bored – have you been doing too much of

that same thing?

Time to try something new!

Say Thank You.

When you’re feeling down,

your attention is deliberately focused on everything that’s wrong in your

world.

You amplify everything that’s lacking,

while ignoring everything that is actually going well for you.

One way to reverse this tendency is to use the power of gratitude.

Gratitude and thankfulness are having a moment right now,

and for good reason – there is mounting evidence that simply being happy with

what you’ve got is the key to being happy,

period.

This idea is not new,

however,

and it comes with predictable and measurable changes in the brain.

Dr. Prathik Kini had always been interested in the phenomenon of gratitude but

specifically wanted to see what it looked like in the brain.

In a 2015 experiment,

he asked 43 people that were already receiving psychotherapy for anxiety and

depression to be his study participants.

He broke them into two groups – one group was asked to write out “gratitude

letters” while the other group simply continued with their therapy.

After 3 months,

Kini put all the subjects through an M. R. I. scan while they did a separate

gratitude task,

called the “Pay it Forward” task.

The subjects were told that a generous sponsor had given them some money,

before being asked if they wanted to donate a portion of this money in turn as

a way of saying thank you.

It was explained that they should donate money in proportion to how grateful

they felt for the money they had received.

So,

if they felt extremely grateful for the gift,

they were told to donate generously.

The researchers did this so they could assign exact numbers to the measurement

of gratitude,

which is understandably a little hard to quantify.

The results were interesting.

Kini discovered that there were significant differences in brain activity in

the participants who agreed to donate some of their money versus those who

decided not to do so.

But there was more - “Subjects who participated in gratitude letter writing

showed both behavioral increases in gratitude and significantly greater neural

modulation in the medial prefrontal cortex three months later."

Basically,

they found that,

when people had previously strengthened feelings of gratitude by writing

gratitude letters,

they tended to experience the effects of the Pay it Forward exercise weeks and

even months after.

We can conclude two things from this research - 1.

Gratitude Literally Shapes Our Brain,

And.

2. the more we practice gratitude,

the more grateful we become.

And though it wasn’t the focus of this research,

we can also see that the more grateful we feel,

the more generous we tend to want to be.

This makes sense – if you feel blessed and like you have more than you need,

you are more likely to feel that you’re in the position to share.

Though many other studies have shown that gratitude can make you healthier,

more resilient,

and happier,

and it can even help you have better willpower,

Kini et. al. showed that gratitude actually leads to concrete,

physical changes in the brain.

Injecting a little gratitude,

like novelty,

doesn’t have to be a major project to be effective.

Occasionally write a letter to someone who has done something to benefit your

life,

or keep a gratitude journal noting everything you’re fortunate to have.

Why not wake up every morning and simply say “thank you” that you’re

alive today?

Meditation Can Make You Happy.

Many of us already know that meditating is the gold standard when it comes to

self-regulation,

discipline,

and stress relief,

to name a few benefits.

But one of the most underappreciated effects of a regular meditation practice

is simple - you just feel good.

Researchers led by Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have

taken a closer look at how meditation can specifically affect our sense of

compassion and empathy for others.

Increased compassion,

they reasoned,

directly enhances our own wellbeing and happiness.

Davidson and his research team wanted to investigate whether meditators are

happier in life.

Compassion for all beings sounds nice,

but does it have any physiological correlates in the brain?

The team gathered Buddhist monks who were meditation veterans,

as well as non-meditators,

and looked at their brain function using fM. R. I. s.

These scans allow scientists to see the brain’s function in real time,

as well as follow the person’s reaction to various stimuli as it unfolds in

the brain.

The researchers subjected the participants to all kinds of stimuli,

including extremely distracting and distressing ones,

like the sounds of screams and jackhammers.

They did indeed find that the Buddhists had consistently greater activity in

the brain’s “happiness centers” and that they were less disturbed by

upsetting stimuli.

The Buddhists had greater activity in the part of the brain called the insula,

which is what allows the mind to have an internal “map” of the various

organs of the body,

and the anterior cingulate cortices,

which allow us to feel empathy for another’s pain (Lutz et. al.,

2008,

Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation .-

Effects of Meditative Expertise).

It appeared that meditators had greatly moderated responses to stimuli compared

to control subjects.

This has some intriguing implications for practitioners who claim that

meditation allows them literally to influence and change their bodies.

The Enigula and the temporoparietal junction are other areas in the brain that

showed greater activity in the meditators – these regions are associated with

emotions,

empathy,

and the ability to perspective shift.

It appeared that brain activity associated with joy and serenity were more

pronounced in those that meditated.

After eight hours of meditation,

the researchers even discovered elevated levels of gene-regulating machinery

and lower expression of pro-inflammatory genes.

Practically speaking,

this implies faster recovery and better stress resilience.

The researchers concluded that the practice of meditation enabled “epigenetic

alterations of the genome."

Jill Sakai claimed in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology that “gene

expression changes with meditation."

In other words,

though meditation cannot change your genes,

it can influence the way that those genes are expressed.

Importantly,

the kind of meditation under study was one focused on compassion and emerged

from the Buddhist conception of loving-kindness for all beings.

But it is also possible to meditate with “pure compassion” that is not

directed to anyone in particular,

and this has also been associated with greater wellbeing and improved health.

Researchers at the University of California San Francisco Medical Centre found

that the areas of the brain associated with happiness were more active in

meditators,

and the areas associated with fear,

i.e. parts of the amygdala,

appeared to be better modulated.

So,

overall,

the evidence strongly suggests that meditating Buddhists really are happier

than others,

not to mention less disturbed by negative stimuli.

How can we meditate to improve our happiness?

Meditation master Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche warns against the kind of trendy

Western meditation that is really mindfulness “with a focus”,

i.e. pushing some experiences and thoughts out of awareness in order to focus

on one chosen thought or object.

Instead of this busy,

grasping form of meditation,

he suggests not doing anything in particular with your body,

breath,

or mind.

Don’t “focus” on anything.

Sit erect but relaxed,

cross-legged,

but without strain.

Keep your eyes open and your gaze soft and possibly lowered,

not forcing it on anything.

Next,

your breathing - each time your breath goes out,

“go out with it."

Whatever you’re feeling in that moment,

as your breath leaves you,

let your mind dissolve with it.

Don’t count breaths or follow the inhale or force yourself to do any kind of

special “spiritual” breathing.

Just be natural and let go of any struggle.

See if you can identify completely with this breath rather than imagining it is

separate from you.

After the breath out dissolves,

there is a gap,

and you are surrounded by space.

Just hang there and linger for a moment.

The inhale will happen by itself.

When you’ve done this for a while,

try to pair the body and the breath.

Practitioners are advised to have a “strong back;

soft front."

Good posture represents your innate dignity and strength,

and dissolving with the breath represents vulnerability,

softness,

and compassion.

Your mind will get in the way,

but remember that you are not trying to stop thought – it’s a battle

you’ll always lose!

Thoughts are not the problem but rather our attachment to them.

Instead of getting fixated on our own thought traffic,

we can just be aware and see thoughts as thoughts.

We just notice when our minds have wandered but without irritation (which is

just one more thought).

Simply sit.

Body,

breath,

and mind.

Be this way for a few minutes then get up to stretch your legs.

Self-Talking Yourself To Happiness.

Meditation is something we can practice and deepen over the course of years –

or a whole lifetime – and it’s also something we can dip into literally any

moment of any day.

So much of our unhappiness manifests and expresses itself as thoughts.

Our constant flow of mental chatter can be,

when we start to look at it,

surprisingly negative and repetitive.

During meditation,

you may be surprised to find just how relentless your inner self-talk really is.

But could you change the program,

so to speak?

Most of us have heard of the technique of self-affirmation.

This is when you use self-talk to affirm your own worth,

to support yourself,

to show yourself kindness,

and to boost your appreciation of your own value as a human being.

Basically,

it’s speaking nicely to yourself!

Though this practice seems like a good idea at first glance,

is there any hard evidence that it can make us happier as people?

It turns out there is.

A study headed by Christopher Cascio and his associates was published in 2015

in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience,

sharing their findings about how self-affirmation affects the brain.

They wanted to see if they could lift the hood and see what actually goes on in

the brain when someone chooses to self-affirm.

They set up a study of 67 participants,

who were then asked to rank the personal importance of eight separate areas of

life.

The areas were creativity,

family and friends,

humor,

independence,

business or earning money,

politics,

religious values,

and spontaneity.

Then,

half of the participants were put in M. R. I. machines and asked to think

about the area of life they rated most highly.

They were asked to dwell on these positive thoughts,

visualizing themselves having related experiences,

or thinking about the details of this area.

The other half were not told to focus in this way.

The findings suggested that self-affirmation boosted activity in the ventral

striatum and ventral medial cortex,

which are areas of the brain connected with the experience of reward.

What’s more,

the research also showed that,

when affirmations were future-based,

they tended to have a more powerfully positive effect on the brain.

An example of a future-based affirmation is,

“I’m going to do well with my business next year."

We’ll explore the way that thinking about the future can impact our happiness

in the present in a later chapter in the book,

but for now,

it’s interesting simply to note that words of affirmation are not mere words

– they have real consequences on our neural connections and brain activity.

Self-affirmations are not just fluff.

The researchers claim that they act as a sort of psychological immune system or

a modulator,

buffering us against setbacks or disappointments by reminding us of the

resources we have and the positive traits we still possess.

But the world of affirmations is more complex than it looks.

It matters how we engage in affirmative self-talk.

If we tell ourselves,

“I’m perfect just the way I am,” but we don’t really believe it,

we could actually end up creating more psychological distress for ourselves.

Instead,

we need to pay close attention to the kind of affirmation we’re giving

ourselves.

If we want to boost our feelings of self-worth and bolster our self-esteem,

it may work better to draw attention to the things we value,

for example our work,

hobbies,

or relationships.

We need to remind ourselves consistently that our self-worth has a broad

foundation,

and by using affirmations,

we can draw our focus to those things in life that we value and that give us

purpose and meaning.

But the researchers also discovered that these affirmations are turbo-charged

when they are focused on the future.

The theory is that,

if we can imagine a promising outcome,

we can begin to create a version of ourselves that is better able to tackle any

challenges that may come our way.

Or,

to put it as Cascio did,

“We find novel evidence that a future frame may act synergistically with

value-based self-affirmations to bolster a sense of self prior to

threat exposure."

How can we use these findings to improve our own self-talk?

Importantly,

it’s about more than simply flattering yourself or saying nice things.

To be value-based,

affirmations of this kind need to remind you of the principles and beliefs you

hold dear.

The idea is that you can tap into your own integrity and identity,

and this makes you feel your own worth and value more deeply.

Which makes you happier!

Here are some examples of values-based self-affirmations - I trust myself to

get through any challenge that may come my way.

No matter what happens,

I can always choose kindness and compassion.

I always speak up for the things I believe in.

I’m a good artist,

who will continue to create the kind of things that matter to me.

My family will always be there for me.

I’m strong;

I know how to use my talents to make money.

Of course,

yours might not look anything like this – values are always going to be

unique and personal to the people who have them.

But notice how each of the above are rooted,

not in a place of personal attributes or esteem,

but rather in what we value as people.

Notice also that many of them are oriented towards the future.

Creativity,

family,

spirituality,

money… what do you value?

And how does that value look if you project it into the future?

In the past,

self-help advocates suggested affirmations that focused on fixed,

individual characteristics (“I am beautiful,

I am successful,

I am intelligent”),

but it’s easy to see why these can have mixed results.

When you dig into your values,

however,

you are encouraging your brain to inoculate itself against future adversity,

not to mention help you feel better in the moment.

To practice your own affirmations,

simply make sure that each one speaks to your deeper principles and core

beliefs,

and then add a future element for extra potency.

You can write these affirmations down and read through them throughout the day,

or say them every morning – in the same way as you would take a daily

multivitamin!

The Reading Habit.

It’s hard to find any commendable person who doesn’t claim that reading

played a big part in their success.

We all know that reading is an excellent way to learn,

to broaden your horizons,

to cultivate discipline,

to spur your creativity,

and even to connect empathically with others.

Reading is great!

But there also happens to be sound scientific evidence for reading as habit

that boosts your mental wellbeing,

too.

When you read,

magic can happen.

You become engrossed in a whole new fictional world,

with novel characters and a plot that pulls you in.

A study from the University of Liverpool found that people who read experienced

lower stress levels than those who didn’t,

not to mention they had higher self-esteem and psychological resilience.

Again,

we can thank studies done using M. R. I. s for our ability to examine the

brain’s activity during reading.

When you read,

your neural circuitry and networks are strengthened as you absorb yourself in

the narrative.

Humans really are built,

it seems,

for stories.

Another 2009 study by Mindlab International at the University of Sussex found

that reading is associated with lower blood pressure,

better sleep,

improved mental acuity,

less psychological distress,

and better heart rate.

They reported that just 6 minutes a day could reduce stress levels by 68%.

Cognitive neuropsychologist Dr Lewis,

who led the study,

claims that "Losing yourself in a book is the ultimate relaxation.

This is particularly poignant in uncertain economic times when we are all

craving a certain amount of escapism.

It really doesn't matter what book you read,

by losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book you can escape from the

worries and stresses of the everyday world and spend a while exploring the

domain of the author's imagination."

That’s not all,

though.

In trying to understand the characters and the plot unfolding in the pages,

our brains work hard to empathize and take on new perspectives,

which in itself is a powerful way to boost happiness levels.

Reading is like empathy and compassion gym!

Reading literary fiction (i.e. stories that delve into the inner worlds of the

characters)

boosts our “theory of mind” ability,

which is our capacity for imagining the mental worlds of others.

This helps us become more empathic and intelligent communicators,

which has effects on our real-world relationships.

A 2014 study in Neuroreport by Housten et. al. showed how children who grew up

reading books actually had brains that developed on completely different

trajectories than those who didn’t.

The researchers found that reading shapes the growing brain in five different

areas and can even increase overall brain volume.

The more we read,

the stronger are the connections between the neurons themselves and the

different brain areas.

Reading has loads of other impressive benefits -

•Improves Vocabulary And Comprehension.

•Boosts I. Q. .

•Reduces Stress Level.

•Counteracts Anxiety And Depression Symptoms.

•Reduces Age-Related Cognitive Decline.

•Is Just Fun!

To conclude,

reading is one of those daily habits that indirectly contributes to our overall

happiness and wellbeing.

Because reading has such far-reaching benefits for health,

cognitive abilities,

and verbal/communication skills,

it works in every area of life to make us more alert,

responsive,

empathetic,

and overall more engaged with the world around us.

What should we be reading?

Well,

anything we like!

Try to get a little reading done every day,

and build up to it if you’re not quite used to it.

Choose something you’re genuinely excited to read about,

but don’t be afraid to mix it up and experiment with themes and authors you

might not have considered before (remember the power of novelty?).

There’s been some suggestion that reading real books as opposed to tablets or

devices is better (Lauren M. Singer,

2016,

claimed that digital reading means lower comprehension)

but pick what works best for you and find times throughout the day to squeeze

in a few pages.

Blogs,

graphic novels,

news pieces,

and long-form articles also count,

but try to read them properly rather than just skimming and hurrying on to the

next thing.

If you can,

try to focus intently on reading what’s in front of you,

somewhere quiet where you won’t be distracted.

This will help you cultivate discipline and focused attention.

Finally,

though reading in itself is a fantastic daily habit,

you can boost its effects by choosing material that makes you happy.

Read things that inspire,

excite,

or entertain you.

Dear Happiness….

Matthew Lieberman is a psychologist at U. C. L. A. ,

and his research has suggested that putting your difficult thoughts and

feelings down in black and white can actually help you overcome them.

He conducted a simple experiment where he asked volunteers to have brain scans

and then afterwards write in a journal or diary for 20 minutes a day,

for four days.

Half of the participants were asked to write about neutral experiences – just

whatever they thought of.

The other half were asked to write down their more emotional experiences,

thoughts,

and feelings.

Then he scanned their brains again.

Can you guess what he found?

Compared to those who wrote neutrally,

the people who wrote down their emotions demonstrated greater brain activity in

the area of the brain called the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.

This area of the brain is concerned with emotional regulation,

so the conclusion is that,

by writing feelings down,

these participants were actually working to modulate and manage those

experiences.

Likewise,

as the researchers investigating the meditators brains found,

there was also lowered activity in the amygdala,

suggesting that journaling helped people manage the intensity of their negative

emotions.

Overall,

this technique seemed to help people process emotions and downregulate stress

and unhappiness.

"Writing seems to help the brain regulate emotion unintentionally.

Whether it's writing things down in a diary,

writing bad poetry,

or making up song lyrics that should never be played on the radio,

it seems to help people emotionally," Dr Lieberman said.

Interestingly,

Lieberman found that men seemed to benefit even more from this activity than

women,

perhaps because,

for men,

the act of expressing emotions abstractly is more of a novelty than it is for

women.

In any case,

everyone can benefit from keeping a diary,

and they don’t necessarily have to discover great insights or come to any

solutions or conclusions.

Rather,

the act of writing seems to help us externalize and make abstract our

experience,

which helps us manage and regulate it better.

If the idea of keeping a journal seems a little corny,

don’t worry,

you can achieve the same benefits in other ways.

The idea is simply to express and externalize your emotions in an abstract way,

and you can do that with visual art,

colors,

music (maybe a playlist?),

collage,

doodling,

short story writing,

or even a messy combination of all of these.

Just remember to keep your diary private,

especially if you’re writing down very personal thoughts,

and bear in mind that you are not trying to create a masterpiece to show off.

Your diary doesn’t have to make sense or be beautiful;

it just needs to be a place where you can slow down,

process,

and put what’s in your head down onto the page.

Try to journal every day,

if you can.

You can purchase readymade journals or make your own.

You can go for a line a day or fill up reams and reams of paper with

“automatic” style writing.

A great habit is to keep your journal next to your bed and scribble down your

feelings before sleep – get your worries out of your head and down on to

paper so they won’t disturb your sleep!

Keep The Flame Of Hope Burning.

It might seem odd to include something like “hope” on the list of happiness

habits,

but hope really can be thought of as a consistent daily practice.

And it’s something that absolutely affects our day-to-day wellbeing.

Have you ever heard of elderly couples where,

once one passes away,

the other does too not long after?

Ilan Wittstein is a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and

believes that you can,

in fact,

die of a broken heart.

He and several of his research colleagues published an article where they

identified “broken heart syndrome” or what they called “despondency."

The team is not the first to be interested in this phenomenon.

Other scientists have also noted a drastic increase in risk of death for

mothers whose children have recently died,

or a greater risk of heart attack or stroke for those who have been recently

diagnosed with cancer.

To put it simply,

the darker the future looks,

the worse our health in the present – i.e. hope can actually influence our

longevity.

Before Wittstein coined “broken heart syndrome”,

another scientist,

Curt Richter,

conducted the frankly appalling rat experiments that proved just how powerful a

force hope could be.

In the 1950s,

he put rats in jars of water and watched them drown,

measuring the amount of time it took for them to give up swimming (yes,

really).

Interestingly,

most of the domesticated rats ended up paddling for days before succumbing to

death.

The wild rats (i.e. those who are renowned for swimming ability)

died within minutes of being in the water.

The tame rats stayed alive for ages,

but the fierce,

wild,

and independent ones died swiftly.

Richter’s theory was that the wild rats could not fall back on either fight

or flight and could not help themselves.

So,

they gave up hope.

To test this,

he took more wild rats and,

shortly after putting them in the water,

pulled them out again for a little while before putting them back in.

The result was that these rats learnt that the situation was not,

in fact,

hopeless and – you guessed it – they continued to swim and fight for their

lives.

What we can learn from this experiment (other than the fact that some people

are shockingly cruel to rats)

is that,

when someone perceives a situation as doomed,

they give up,

but when they have a reason to keep going,

they can and they do – often for a very long time.

Richter simply discovered that “after elimination of hopelessness,

the rats do not die."

Returning to the question of elderly couples,

we can easily see that,

when one person no longer has “a reason to keep swimming”,

they could give up to such an extent that they too die.

This admittedly morbid topic shows us that hope can have measurable effects,

not just on our abstract feeling of wellbeing,

but on our actual will to survive.

The rats in the experiment were,

for all intents,

similar,

physically speaking.

But their will to live was almost completely determined by their own perception

of whether they were doomed or not.

The conclusion for those of us who want to be happy is clear - keep the flame

of hope burning.

Have something to look forward to in life.

No matter what,

do not allow yourself to think you’re doomed.

Remind yourself instead that,

even if things are hard,

they can get better.

If you are optimistically expecting a good outcome,

it almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,

because that hope allows you to tap into reserves of your own energy and

willpower to make that good outcome happen.

Summary -

•Happiness can be tricky to define,

but it all starts in the brain.

We can turn to scientific peer-reviewed studies to learn the daily habits and

mindsets most associated with wellbeing.

•Though routines are important,

so is novelty;

make efforts to mix things up now and again and try something new every day.

•Gratitude is strongly associated with feelings of wellbeing. Say Thank

You.,

or simply dwell on all the things you have to be thankful for.

•Try meditation,

but remember to approach it without grasping at goals or desired outcomes.

•Try self-affirmation,

but focus on affirmations that are value-based,

rather than those dealing with your traits or performance as a person.

•Get into the reading habit to increase your empathy and communication

skills,

as well as relax.

Anything goes,

but literary fiction is best for strengthening perspective and “theory of

mind” ability.

•Journaling or keeping a diary can make you happier and help you modulate and

regulate your emotions.

Try whatever form works best for you.

•Finally,

understand the role that hope plays in keeping people optimistic and resilient.

Always have something to look forward to and you will discover you have endless

sources of energy and enthusiasm to draw on.

Don’t give up!

This has been

Neuro-Happiness:

37 Science-Based (5-Minute) Methods to Increase Your Daily Happiness,

Fulfillment,

and Contentment (Mental and Emotional Abundance Book 15) Written by

Nick Trenton, narrated by russell newton.