Achieve happiness & meaning in life with Positive Psychology

The question ‘what makes the human being happy’ has occupied the greatest minds throughout history; Socrates, Plato and Aristotle believed that authentic happiness came from leading a virtuous life. Epicurus believed that happiness came from an abundance of positive emotions and pleasures, and today we mostly believe that happiness is what we see in the media.

Modern-day science has extensively researched the question and has defined four types of happiness and how to achieve them by rewiring our brains using neuroplasticity. To achieve true happiness, we need to develop them all.

Understanding the four types of happiness:

Hedonic happiness (also called subjective happiness) consists of how much we experience positive emotions, how little we experience negative emotions and how satisfied with life we consider ourselves.

Psychological happiness is achieved through personal growth, self-acceptance, positive relationships, and a sense of purpose.

Eudaimonic happiness happens when we learn to discover and express our true self, when we develop our potential and our strengths, when we live a life based on our values and principles and participate in serving something higher than ourselves. Or in short, when we lead a meaningful life.

Chaironic happiness refers to a spiritual sense of peace or blessing, even in challenging times. It is independent of positive situations or our own happiness-enhancing efforts and refers to the kind of blessing or comfort we may feel in unlikely circumstances, such as in the midst of mourning/suffering or when we experience the unusual sense of awe and oneness in a transcendental encounter during meditation, prayer and/or mindful awareness of nature.

Boosting Your Happiness:

Here are science-backed strategies to enhance each aspect of happiness:

• Hedonic Happiness:
  • Increase Positive Emotions: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, love. They do not only make us happy, they broaden our minds and build our social, intellectual and physical skills.

Therefore, a major way to increase our hedonic happiness is to increase our positive emotions and reduce our negative emotions. This will improve our outlook on life, our creativity and our coping skills.

Science has also shown that the brain creates an upward spiral of positive emotions (the more you experience positive emotions the more your brain becomes capable of positivity, creativity and problem-solving), which also counters the negativity bias of the brain.

Other ways to increase your subjective wellbeing are: connecting with others, being active, taking notice (mindfulness), giving back.

• • Reduce Negative Emotions: fear, anger, sadness, shame, guilt, disgust, hate, envy, jealousy,…Mindfulness techniques like meditation can help manage stress and negativity bias.
• Psychological Happiness:
  • Develop Self-Acceptance: Practice self-compassion and develop your unique strengths
  • Find Your Purpose: Explore your values, interests, and goals to identify a meaningful life path.
• Eudaimonic Happiness:
  • Live by Your Values: Make choices that align with what matters most to you.
  • Contribute to Others: Volunteer, help those in need, find ways to serve your community.
• Chaironic Happiness:
  • Mindfulness Practices: Meditation, spending time in nature, or engaging in activities that cultivate awe and wonder.

Positive Psychology has created empirically-validated practices, called Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) to enhance each type of happiness. I use these science-backed interventions in my coaching practice to ensure that your brain gets rewired properly and lastingly. You deserve true happiness!

Enhancing Your Resilience:

Developing happiness also fosters resilience, helping you cope with challenges and bounce back from setbacks. But true resilience is achieved through learning to regulate your nervous system. Head over to the resilience page to find out more.

 

Need help?

Email me: pamela@makelifegr8.com or contact me via Instagram

I speak Luxembourgish, English, French and German fluently.