Mindfulness leads to happiness because it changes the thing happiness actually depends on: not what happens to you, but how you evaluate and respond to it. Practising mindfulness is not about forcing positive thoughts. It is about changing your relationship with all of your experiences, good and bad, so that the positive ones get the attention they deserve and the negative ones stop running the show.
Different things make different people happy, but happiness itself is a state every human being wants. Here is what it is, why it is so hard to hold onto, and what mindfulness does about it.
What happiness actually is
In psychology, happiness is generally described as a mix of three things: pleasure, meaning and engagement. Researchers use the term subjective wellbeing, defined as a person's own evaluation of their life. Put simply, happiness is the greater presence of positive evaluations over negative ones. Buddhist teachers and many other influential thinkers have been saying much the same thing for a very long time.
The psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky has suggested that a large share of our happiness is shaped by our daily activities and how we choose to think, rather than by genetics or circumstances alone. The exact proportions are debated, but the point stands: you have real power over how happy you are.
Why we struggle to find it
The first thing to understand is that there is no finish line. How often do you catch yourself thinking, I will be happy when I get that promotion, or, I will be happy once I go on that holiday?
Happiness is not found at the finish line.
It is a state of being that shifts over time based on what we are going through and how we decide to interpret it. That is what subjective means. When something less than ideal happens, are you going to treat it as an opportunity or as a disaster? You get to make the call.
Happiness is not about feeling great all the time, either. It is about letting yourself feel what you need to feel, and learning to respond well and cope in the hard moments. If you are in one of those moments right now, our guide to breathwork has some immediate tools.
The science: how mindfulness changes the brain
Our brains are hardwired to be more sensitive to negative experiences than positive ones. This is called negativity bias, and it means anything unpleasant has a far greater impact on how you feel than something pleasant of the same size.
This is where mindfulness comes in. Research shows that a regular mindfulness practice changes activity in the brain, shifting it away from the regions associated with negative feelings such as anxiety and low mood, and towards the regions associated with positive emotion, alertness and engagement.
Studies have also linked meditation to changes in the amygdala, the part of the brain that governs fear and anxiety, and to lower levels of cortisol, the hormone responsible for stress. A calmer amygdala and less cortisol means less anxiety and less stress.
In broad terms, the research suggests mindfulness works on several levels at once:
- It reduces reactivity in the amygdala, the brain's fear centre.
- It supports the areas of the brain involved in emotional regulation.
- It strengthens the prefrontal cortex, which improves decision making.
- It supports the production of the neurotransmitters associated with feeling good.
At Mirosuna we see this play out every week. People who arrive feeling trapped by stress and anxiety gradually find a deeper sense of peace, and it comes from practice rather than from anything changing in their circumstances.
Four ways to practise mindfulness for happiness
1. Learn to meditate properly
Being mindful is about paying attention to your experiences and doing your best to live in the moment. It helps you digest the positive and the negative, and let go of what no longer serves you. If you have tried meditating and found it hard, that is normal. Our 7 Days of Meditation course teaches the technique step by step, and a sound meditation with crystal and Tibetan singing bowls makes it much easier to drop into a meditative state, even for complete beginners.
2. Take a digital detox
This is hard with work, friends, kids and life in general. But technology pulls us away from stopping and noticing what is around us. Set some rules for yourself. When you are not at work, silence your phone and put it in a drawer to stop the mindless scrolling. And after days on end surrounded by people, carve out some time to be alone, away from both people and screens.
3. Teach yourself to live in the present
Take time out of your day to simply be here. Try not to think about your weekend plans, your next holiday or your next presentation. Instead, sit and notice what you can touch, hear, smell and even taste. Five minutes is enough to start.
4. Relax with exercise
Whatever your exercise of choice, a walk in the park or a hard session at the gym, make the time for it. It is one of the simplest ways to relax the mind and lift your mood.
Your path to mindfulness and happiness
The journey begins with a single breath. You do not need to meditate for hours or retreat to a monastery. Even five minutes of daily practice can shift your baseline level of happiness over time. The key is consistency. Like physical exercise, mindfulness needs regular practice to show results, but unlike exercise you can do it anywhere: on the train, at your desk or lying in bed.
When you are ready to go further, join a class at our studio in South Melbourne or start with 7 Days of Meditation. For the practical side of all this, read my 5 ways to be more mindful and happy every day, and if part of your unhappiness is not knowing what you actually want, finding your passion will help.
Love,
Sally Kellett
Founder of Mirosuna