Intensive Program “Teaches” Happiness

Findings from a new study revealed that many psychological well-being measures (life satisfaction, perceived well-being, self awareness, emotional self-regulation and the like) gradually increased in participants from the beginning till the end of an intensive happiness program. // Nicola De Pisapia, researcher, explained, "The training that we proposed to the participants was inspired by the idea that happiness is inextricably linked to the development of inner equilibrium, a kinder and more open perspective of self, others, and the world, towards a better understanding of the human mind and brain. In this training process we need on the one hand the theoretical study of philosophy and science, and on the other meditation practices.”

The nine months long study involved seven theoretical/practical weekends and two meditation retreats. The participants attended a series of presentations, watched video courses, and took part in open discussions on various topics, in the theoretical part of the study.

The topics were psychology, neuroscience, history of Western thought, philosophy of life of Buddhism, neuroplasticity, the brain circuits of attention and mind wandering, stress and anxiety, pain and pleasure, positive and negative emotions, desire and addiction, the sense of self, empathy and compassion.

For the practical part, a series of exercises like meditation on the breath, analytical meditation and personal journal, taken from different traditions were carried out.

Results also showed that the participants reported a substantial decrease in anxiety, perceived stress, negative thoughts, rumination and anger tendencies. Simultaneous improvements in the positive aspects and a reduction of negative emotions were also observed by researchers, both in the short term and longitudinally.

De Pisapia concluded, "I believe that in times like these, full of changes and uncertainties, it is fundamental to scientifically study how Western and Eastern philosophical traditions, together with the most recent discoveries on the mind and the brain, can be integrated with contemplative practices in a secular way. The goal is to give healthy people the opportunity to work on themselves to develop authentic happiness, not hedonism or superficial happiness. With this study we wanted to take a small step in this direction.”

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Source-Medindia