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While you were born with a reactive brain negatively inclined for your safety, research shows that over half of your happiness is actually under your conscious control. You can purposefully choose lifestyle habits that calm your wired-to-worry brain and turn down its alarm system.
Doing so allows your brain to spend more time in a baseline state of calm and peace, which over time through neuroplasticity, can actually physically change your brain to be happier, healthier, and less anxious. Some ways science says you can do this are:
Research shows that the stresses of having a high paying job and maintaining a materialistic lifestyle can be detrimental to your health and happiness. Less stress, a stronger immune system, and higher life satisfaction have been associated with having more meaning in life rather than happiness. The pursuit of happiness, it turns out, can negatively affect your well-being and prove to be unhealthy.
Science has discovered that when you smile your brain releases mood-boosting dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins. Dopamine works on the reward-pleasure circuits in the brain. Serotonin produces an anti-anxiety effect and helps relieve stress and improve mood. Endorphins relieve pain and elevate mood. Even a fake smile can trick your brain into thinking it’s happy. A good laugh causes a similar chemical reaction in your brain that can instantly raise your spirits, reduce pain and stress, and strengthen your immune system.
When you see vacation pictures of Facebook friends in tropical locations with big smiles and fruity drinks in hand or a LinkedIn post by a connection that has gotten hundreds of likes and shares (when yours gets single digits), it’s hard not to wonder what you’re doing wrong as you sit at home in your bathrobe scrolling through the feeds. Social media has definitely increased what’s technically called “negative social comparison.”
Research has found that comparing yourself to others can cause a person to experience greater stress, anxiety, depression, and make self-defeating choices. Try to humanize, rather than idealize others, and unplug from social media occasionally. One study determined that simply logging off Facebook for a week boosted happiness levels, reduced stress, and improved the ability to feel present in the moment.
Life rarely goes the way we plan or think it should. The gap in between our expectations and reality is filled with pain and struggle. When we let go of what we think “should be,” let life unfold, and work with whatever presents itself for our best outcome, life gets easier. When you lower your expectations, it’s more likely that you will be pleasantly surprised with an outcome. One study on happiness found that having money and success didn’t increase happiness as much as lowering expectations did.
Research discovered that almost half of our thoughts are not related to what we’re doing at that time. Surprisingly, findings showed that our minds were elsewhere even for activities that were enjoyable. A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Just like many ancient philosophies teach, we’re happiest when thought and action are aligned – even if it’s just to wash dishes. “Mental presence,” the matching of thought to action is a prescription for happiness. You can teach your mind to wander less by coming into the present and practicing mindfulness and meditation.
Seriously. Even if it does sound a lot like “just think happy thoughts,” science shows it works. Recalling a positive memory allows you to re-experience the good feelings associated with it. Having more hope, happiness, and other positive feelings support resilience and mental health while decreasing negative feelings and anxiety. When remembering good times or practicing visualization, neurons fire in your brain and happy neurochemicals are released.
Something as simple as being thankful changes your brain and body in many beneficial ways. Being thankful on-the-spot floods your brain with rewarding neurochemicals for an instant boost. Practicing gratitude regularly strengthens your immune system, may lessen symptoms of anxiety and depression, helps your hypothalamus work better (it regulates all kinds of bodily functions), makes you more resistant to stress, and gives your brain a more positive slant overall. You can cultivate gratitude by keeping a gratitude journal, counting your blessings daily, and making a habit of looking for and savoring the good.
