The Science of Happiness
![]() A meaningful life is different—and healthier—than a happy one. The research we cover here at the Greater Good Science Center is often referred to as “the science of happiness,” yet our tagline is “The Science of a Meaningful Life.” Meaning, happiness—is there a difference? New research suggests that there is. When a study in the Journal of Positive Psychology tried to disentangle the concepts of “meaning” and “happiness” by surveying roughly 400 Americans, it found considerable overlap between the two—but also some key distinctions. Based on those surveys, for instance, feeling good and having one’s needs met seem integral to happiness but unrelated to meaning. Happy people seem to dwell in the present moment, not the past or future, whereas meaning seems to involve linking past, present, and future. People derive meaningfulness (but not necessarily happiness) from helping others—being a “giver”—whereas people derive happiness (but not necessarily meaningfulness) from being a “taker.” And while social connections are important to meaning and happiness, the type of connection matters: Spending time with friends is important to happiness but not meaning, whereas the opposite is true for spending time with loved ones. And other research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that these differences might have important implications for our health. When Barbara Fredrickson and Steve Cole compared the immune cells of people who reported being “happy” with those of people who reported “a sense of direction and meaning,” the people leading meaningful lives seemed to have stronger immune systems. The emotional benefits of altruism might be a human universal. One of the most significant findings to have emerged from the sciences of happiness and altruism has been this: Altruism boosts happiness. Spending on others makes us happier than spending on ourselves—at least among the relatively affluent North Americans who have participated in this research. But a paper published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggested that this finding holds up around the world, even in countries where sharing with others might threaten someone’s own subsistence. In one study, the researchers examined data of more than 200,000 people from 136 countries; they determined that donating to charity in the past month boosts happiness “in most individual countries and all major regions of the world,” cutting across cultures and levels of economic well-being. It was even true regardless of whether someone said they’d had trouble securing food for their family in the past year. When the researchers zeroed in on three countries with vastly different levels of wealth—Canada, Uganda, and India—they found that people reported greater happiness recalling a time when they’d spent money on others than when they’d spent on themselves. And in a study comparing Canada and South Africa, people reported feeling happier after donating to charity than after buying themselves a treat, even though they would never meet the beneficiary of their largess. This suggests to the researchers that their happiness didn’t result from feeling like they were strengthening social connections or improving their reputation but from a deeply ingrained human instinct. QUANTUM HEALTH TIP: Increase the energetic potential of happiness and meaning by wearing the Success & Achievement Crystal. |
Gandhi's 10 Rules for Changing the World
![]() 2. You are in control. “Nobody can hurt me without my permission.” 3. Forgive and let it go. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” 4. Without action you aren’t going anywhere. “An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.” 5. Take care of this moment. “I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.” 6. Everyone is human. “I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.” “It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.” 7. Persist. “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” 8. See the good in people and help them. “I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others. Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.” 9. Be congruent, be authentic, be your true self. “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.” 10. Continue to grow and evolve. ”Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.” QUANTUM HEALTH TIP: Use our Meditation Elixirs to help focus and concentration in chnging the world. |
Your Brain on Breath
![]() Paced breathing involves consciously inhaling and exhaling according to a set rhythm. For example, you might inhale for four counts, exhale for six, and repeat. Prior research shows that paced breathing exercises can both focus attention and regulate the nervous system. To date, however, we have known little about how this affects brain function in humans. In this study, researchers at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research wanted to better understand how the brain responds to different breathing exercises. They recruited six adults already undergoing intracranial EEG monitoring for epilepsy. (EEG monitoring involves placing electrodes directly onto the brain to record electrical activity and see where seizures originate.) These adults were asked to take part in three breathing exercises while their brains were being monitored. In the first exercise, participants rested with their eyes open for about eight minutes while breathing normally. They then sped up their breath to a rapid rate for just over two minutes, while breathing through the nose, then slowed back down to regular breathing. They repeated this cycle eight times. In the next exercise, participants counted how many times they inhaled and exhaled for two-minute intervals, and reported how many breaths they’d taken. Researchers monitored how many breaths participants took during each interval, noting when responses were correct and incorrect. Lastly, participants completed an attention task while wearing a device that monitored their breathing cycle. In it, they viewed a video screen containing black circles in different fixed locations. They were asked to press one of four keyboard keys as quickly as possible when they saw one of the circles change from black to white. At the end of the study, researchers found increased activity across a network of brain structures, including the amygdala, when participants breathed rapidly. Activity in the amygdala suggests that quick breathing rates may trigger feelings like anxiety, anger, or fear. Other studies have shown that we tend to be more attuned to fear when we’re breathing quickly. Conversely, it may be possible to reduce fear and anxiety by slowing down our breath. Finally, researchers noted that when participants accurately tracked their breath, both the insula and the anterior cingulate cortex, a region of the brain involved in moment-to-moment awareness, were active. QUANTUM HEALTH TIP: Complement conscious beathing with Clean Sweep. It harmonizes energy and de-stresses the environment. |
Health & Healing Hack of the Week
Three-Level breathing
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Quantum Healer of the Week
Meg Benedicte
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Company & Product News
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LIFE ENERGY PACK $15 OFF
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AMAZING PRODUCT ALERT: Biophotons
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AMAZING PRODUCT ALERT:
VibesUp Vibrational Chakra Bracelet ![]() SUCCESSES: "As a Reiki practitioner, every time I touch this bracelet I can feel how strong the positive energy is!! I gave it to my partner and she says it's really helped with her self-awareness, and emotional processing, and setting boundaries :)" -- Kayla F. "I bought this for my fiance. Immediately the change in his energy was felt and calm swept over him like a wave. He hasn't taken it off since. Thank you so much for helping us find balance! I will continue to buy items from this site! Again, THANK YOU!" -- Amy R. MORE INFO |
Trinity Gem Elixir for the Month
Dendritic Agate
"Stone of Plenitude"
![]() Emotionally: Encourages you to remain centered in times of strife or confusion. Mentally: Brings stability, perseverance. Physically: Assists conditions caused by chakra imbalances. Helps treat skeletal disorders and aligns the skeleton to one's physical reality. Good for the nervous system. This crystal has a particularly strong connection with the plant kingdom, so helps improve gut flora (Website usage note: You can search for keywords at Pure Energy Rx, and it will return relevant results, e.g. "courage", "confidence", "fear", "intelligence", etc.) |
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