Why Mindfulness Matters: A New Lens for Viewing Happiness*
Last weekend, I did a quick experiment by asking people what happiness means to them. People were mentioning finding happiness in nature, doing their favorite activities, sharing new experiences with people, or being in the company of their loved ones. All these personal definitions, including the one from my 12-year-old son, for who happiness is “having a never-ending Yes day**” match what researchers have found when they’ve looked more closely at what happiness is.
Happiness is often used by the scientists interchangeably with “subjective well-being” which can be assessed by asking people about their life satisfaction (cognitive component), the balance of positive and negative emotions they experience (emotional component), and their sense of meaning in life (eudaimonic component).
While many factors that influence happiness are beyond our control, some evidence-based strategies like sociability and gratitude increase our chances of feeling happy[1]. Today I’d like to add another one to the list: mindfulness. Practicing mindfulness has many benefits, which I believe has been perfectly well summarized by three main ideas: (1) Nothing lasts forever, (2) Shit happens, and (3) Don’t take things personally[2].
Nothing last forever
Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present while developing the ability to step back from whatever arises without clinging to it. Although we kind of know that nothing last forever, we tend to assign a sense of permanence and stability to things that happens around us, including our own identity. But what if we could fully appreciate and learn from each moment in life even though it will change? Recent research[3] shows that one mechanism through which mindfulness enhances meaning in life is by allowing us to bring attention to positive experience and take a step back from the experience called decentering. The movie About Time beautifully illustrates this concept through the main character, who can travel back in time to relive moments and appreciate them beyond its worries. By the end, he learns to live each day without needing to go back, choosing instead to live it “as if it was the final day of his extraordinary life.”
Shit happens
We might be tempted to focus only on the happy moments, but research actually shows that if you focus too much on being happy, it can actually make you feel worse[4]. Mindfulness encourages us to move beyond the idea of happiness as good and sadness as bad[5], emphasizing the importance of acceptance. In fact, research shows that when we use acceptance — including accepting that we may not like the situation — it increases positive feelings[6], improves well-being[7], and it is an essential mechanism for managing emotions effectively[8]. So, next time you have a bad day, try to embrace what is there instead of chasing happy moments.
Don’t take things personally
We all have the capacity for conscious self-reflection, which allows us to imagine, plan, and improve ourselves. However, focusing too much on ourselves can lead to over-identification with our own views, causing us to exaggeratedly protect and defend them. This individualistic focus is often amplified by society, especially through social media, where we share everything from perfect meals to workouts, turning ourselves into self-proclaimed celebrities. This excessive self-focus can negatively affect our relationships, happiness, and overall well-being.
Our brain also plays a role in this. It constantly predicts and interprets the world based on our past experiences, which may reinforce this rigid sense of self. Although more rigorous empirical research is needed, experts believe that meditation can help us break this pattern by changing how the brain predicts and processes information. This, in turn can lead to a more flexible sense of identity[9] and improved mental health[10].
So, is mindfulness a magic pill for happiness? I would say no. But what experts in the field agree on is that mindfulness encourages us to see happiness not as a goal to be achieved, nor as a pill to be prescribed. The practice teaches us to be fully present and open in each moment, regardless of whether it feels good or not. It also encourages an ethical way of living where interconnectedness is a key, ultimately promoting both individual and collective happiness.
References
[1]. Folk, D., Dunn, E. A systematic review of the strength of evidence for the most commonly recommended happiness strategies in mainstream media. Nat Hum Behav 7, 1697–1707 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01651-4
[2]. Ostafin, B. (2024). Guest lecture on Mindfulness and Addictions during UvA Mindfulness and Compassion Summer School.
[3] Chu, S.TW., Mak, W.W.S. How Mindfulness Enhances Meaning in Life: A Meta-Analysis of Correlational Studies and Randomized Controlled Trials. Mindfulness 11, 177–193 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01258-9
[4] Mauss, I. B., Tamir, M., Anderson, C. L., & Savino, N. S. (2011). Can seeking happiness make people unhappy? Paradoxical effects of valuing happiness. Emotion, 11(4), 807–815. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022010
[5] Van Gordon, W., Shonin, E., Gilbert, P., Garcia-Campayo, J., & Gallardo, L. (2023). Mindfulness of happiness. Mindfulness, 14(3), 757–760. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02090-y.
[6] Lindsay, E. K., Chin, B., Greco, C. M., Young, S., Brown, K. W., Wright, A. G. C., Smyth, J. M., Burkett, D., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). How mindfulness training promotes positive emotions: Dismantling acceptance skills training in two randomized controlled trials. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(6), 944–973. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000134.
[7] Simione, L., Raffone, A., & Mirolli, M. (2021). Acceptance, and not its interaction with attention monitoring, increases psychological well-being: Testing the monitor and acceptance theory of mindfulness. Mindfulness, 12(6), 1398–1411. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01607-7.
[8] Buric, I, Žderić, L., Onicas, A., Kolanovic, M, Collin, G. (2024).
Psychological mechanisms and neural correlates of trait mindfulness in emotion regulation: Testing a novel approach to the monitor and acceptance theory. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology,
24(4), 1697–2600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2024.100507.
[9] Laukkonen, R. E., & Slagter, H. A. (2021). From many to (n) one: Meditation and the plasticity of the predictive mind. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 128, 199–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.06.021
[10] Giommi, F., Bauer, P. R., Berkovich-Ohana, A., Barendregt, H., Brown, K. W., Gallagher, S., … & Vago, D. R. (2023). The (In) flexible self: Psychopathology, mindfulness, and neuroscience. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 23(4), 100381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2023.100381
*This piece has been written as a part of a collection of beautiful writtings etitled What is Happiness? for The Summer School Times, organized by the University of Amsterdam. The amazing illustrations has been created by Anna Formilan.
**A whole day when caregivers agree to say “yes” to almost any reasonable request their children make, like eating dessert for breakfast, building a pillow/blanket/furniture fort in the living room, doing a marathon of video games or wearing pyjamas outside the house.
