During the last two months I’ve studied about “The Science of Well-Being” – an amazing free course offered online by Yale. I highly recommend that course by professor of psychology Laurie Santos. And thanks to my dear sister for recommending it to me <3. I learned a lot about what stuff we think makes us happy but actually doesn’t and what really does make us happy, just to mention a couple of things. I also built some new habits during this learning journey. I will be writing more about my insights and new habits later. I think both are worth sharing and you could find those interesting and useful too. However, right now I want to summarise the things that based on the psychological studies really makes us happy:
- Kindness
- Social Connection
- Time Affluence
- Mind Control
- Healthy Practices
Why did I choose to write about this now? I think during the holiday season we all have a great time to both give and receive kindness, enjoy social connections (online too), having enough time to do things that we really want to do (including doing nothing), meditating or being otherwise present at the moment as well as having a walk or other kind of exercise and sleeping enough. Actually during the holiday times we naturally do the things that are scientifically proved to be good for our happiness and well-being. So let’s enjoy and take care of our well-being at the same time! …and if you are interested in accepting a challenge and making some changes in your life, start your new year with this course!
Happy holidays dear readers!
All the best,
Suvi