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Neuroplasticity,

Meditation and the Happiness Equilibrium


Author: H. R. Harbaugh, 4/29/2017

Abstract
In this paper, I attempt to construct a base argument for the connection between
neuroplasticity, meditation and the happiness equilibrium. Meaning that these three concepts
interweave together to formulate a singular method to improve or increase ones happiness
equilibrium or to simply increase the elasticity of ones happiness equilibrium. Also, I offer a
platform for discussion about the capability for one to increase their own happiness equilibrium
through the use of meditation and neuroplasticity. Throughout this paper, I outline the
definitions of each of these concepts and interject personal experience with this topic. Although
I understand that limitations based on individual psychological and sociological situations and
experiences may exist, I offer a preliminary autobiographical case study to support my
argument.

Article
In this paper, I attempt to construct a base argument for the connection between
neuroplasticity, meditation and the happiness equilibrium. Meaning that these three concepts
interweave together to formulate a singular method to improve ones happiness equilibrium or
to simply increase the elasticity of ones happiness equilibrium. Also, I offer a general platform
for discussion about the capability for one to increase their own happiness equilibrium through
the use of meditation and neuroplasticity. Throughout this paper, I outline the definitions of
each of these concepts and interject personal experience within this topic. Although I
understand that limitations based on individual psychological and sociological situations and
experiences may exist, I offer a preliminary autobiographical case study to support my
argument.

Lets first examine what neuroplasticity is and how it impacts the individual. Dr. Daniel J. Siegel
provides the best explanation of neuroplasticity that I found in his book The Developing Mind
(2012). He describes it as The overall process by which brain connections are changed by
experience, including the way we pay attention (p. 397). In his other book, Mindsight (2010),
he also defines it as, the term used to describe this capacity for creating new neural
connections and growing new neurons in response to experience (p.5). I prefer the second
definition better because it showcases how the neurons and subsequent connections fluctuate
and alter themselves based on individual experiences. Siegel also explains in both books how
our brains continue to cull and generate new neurons, dendrites and synapses throughout life.
Which means that our brains are in constant flux a somewhat new and exciting revelation in
the neuroscience world. In general, the idea that we have the ability to change and remap our
brains up until the day we die, is a relieving and freeing thought. Siegel examines several case
studies in Mindsight that provide proof of how humans change the way they think, act and feel
throughout the lifespan even into old age. These new studies push me to consider how we
alter our brain connections through meditation.

If meditation is a key driver in shaping and re-shaping our brains, as I believe it does, then you
need to understand what I mean by meditation. Meditation has been around for thousands of
years originating in the ancient Middle East. Today, we Westerns now come to think of it as a
way to reconnect with ourselves and our minds. Connect on an inner level and possibly connect
with Earth or mother nature or the Universe. Yuval Hariri offers a different way to look at this
ancient practice based on Buddhist technique. He states in Sapiens (2015) that, In meditation,
you are supposed to closely observe your mind and body, witness the ceaseless arriving and
passing of all your feelings, and realise how pointless it is to pursue them (p. 395). This
constant chasing and pushing of feelings during meditation allow our minds to grow, cull,
regenerate and then connect to various neural connections. Therefore, if you have ever
meditated, you often notice its extremely difficult for you to focus. We often have stressors
and life circumstances playing in our heads all the time, making it difficult to just sit down for
five minutes and let go of the emotions were holding onto. However, this constant action of
refocusing your attention on your feelings is the crux of neuroplasticity. When you are training
your brain to refocus on feelings, instead of thoughts, then release those feelings, you are re-
educating yourself. You are finding new neural pathways and reinforcing those actions the
neurons perform. Its like strengthening a muscle. Any muscle needs to be exercised in order to
maintain a healthy level of performance, otherwise we atrophy. Your neural connections are
the same and meditation offers a strength-training regimen for your brain. When we start
meditation, it may feel awkward or challenging to maintain that refocus. Even now, after
meditating for over seven years, its still presents a workout for me. When I began meditation, I
hoped it would help me achieve calm and destress. What I didnt realize would happen is that
my happiness equilibrium would slowly improve and balance out faster.

Happiness equilibrium is a relatively new term or concept for me. I was unaware that such a
thing existed until I read Hararis book Sapiens. He describes the happiness equilibrium in terms
of wealth and community, health and reproduction that these things may cause an individual
an increase or decrease in happiness. He does go on to also state that these items are all
subjective in nature, which means we decide if we want to feel happy or sad about an
experience that occurs with any of those things consciously or unconsciously. Really anything
in the world can provide that subjective experience and subsequent feeling. Anything can bring
our happiness to an elevated state or an everything-is-lost low. What I find interesting is that
our happiness equilibrium plateaus or levels out despite all of our elated experiences or
stressful workdays. Where you are at on the happiness equilibrium is dependent solely on you
and your psychological frame of mind. The questions below, designed by Sonja Lyubomirsky
(1999), provides a scalable way to determine your personal happiness equilibrium, or subjective
well-being as many people also refer to this concept. To rank yourself, use her scoring method:
To score the scale, reverse code the 4th item (i.e., turn a 7 into a 1, a 6 into a 2, a 5 into a 3, a 3
into a 5, a 2 into a 6, and a 1 into a 7), and compute the mean of the 4 items. This scoring allows
one to understand their ranking on the happiness equilibrium. I will caution to say that
currently, upon research, this is the only happiness scaling we currently have in use. I imagine
that future scales may offer more flexibility, static buckets of happiness (i.e. Instead of using
varying language throughout the survey, one would use a static scale of 0-10 for all questions,
with 0 being not happy at all and 10 being very happy), more personalized results may offer a
whole lifecycle approach to how we view happiness. For now, though, this is a valid and useful
tool to calculate subjective well-being or happiness.



I believe that one can alter and improve their own personal happiness equilibrium throughout
their life. I propose that this may be achieved through meditation, which restructures the brain
through neuroplasticity. This not only may have implications for overall happiness, but also for
individuals suffering from depression, anxiety, chronic stress or any other host of mental
disturbances we see today. As science begins to improve in these fields and Western societies
look for more natural and holistic methods for therapies, I foresee this methodology becoming
more widely accepted and integrated into regular treatment methods

Because this is a relatively new approach to addressing happiness, I want to examine the
premise of how neuroplasticity and meditation affect the happiness equilibrium and hopefully
offer some ways to test this out on your own.

Neuroplasticity is the inherent change agent within our brains. Its the map to our universe and
to our internal network of everything we experience and the construction of our perceptions.
Through neurons and synapses, our brain defines our interpretation of existence. When we
learn something new, go on an adventure, witness something we never saw before, hear
someone tell us I love you, our brain makes connections based on those inferences and how
we feel about those different situations. Our brains are a powerhouse for interpreting data and
spitting out conclusions. Whether those conclusions are right or not, is solely dependent on our
minds, our experiences, our interpretations of those events. No one else is able to tell us how
we should feel or think about those instances. It shouldnt be a surprise then, that we can also
change how we view those instances and events by re-wiring our brains to interpret the data
differently. This is where meditation comes into play. As mentioned above, meditation may be
able to help us focus attention on how we feel and let go of those emotions. The constant
feeling and letting go of the feeling during meditation strengthens those connections to letting
go of emotions. When we let go of emotions, we enter a state of emotional equilibrium. At this
point, were neither happy nor sad. There is no emotion at all. Just an even stance of not
allowing emotions or feelings to overwhelm, instruct or inhibit us. This emotional equilibrium
may last for several seconds or several moments, however, I know that it is often a fleeting and
difficult position to maintain. Regardless, thats okay in the grand scheme of life and
meditation. These minute and fleeting moments throughout meditation offers your brain a new
door into regulating itself. I propose that our brains use this new door as a way to bolster our
happiness equilibrium in the broad, underlying background. To explain this further, I provide
my own personal case study.

Autobiographical Case Study
During my teenage years I was depressive, needed control and often sought out destructive
methods to achieve that control. As I grew into early adulthood, I still had moments where I
was depressed or acted out against friends and family when I was upset or hurt or wasnt in
control. When I took control of my life and moved to Colorado, I also decided to take up
meditation. I dont exactly remember what prompted me to first begin meditating, but it
quickly became a go-to resource when I felt stressed or under pressure. Over the last seven
years, my meditation practices went from a short 10-minute guided session to now a silent,
self-instructed meditation, sometimes lasting over an hour and a half. Although I never took the
subjective well-being test over seven years ago, I can vividly recall where my levels were at
during that time (shown in Figure 1 below). I undoubtedly believe that meditation altered how
my brain perceives information and experiences through neuroplasticity. Although I still
struggle with bouts of irrational thought and may experience short periods of depression, when
I meditate, I reactivate all of those neural connections that I have been strengthening over the
years and come back to my center. I come back to my happiness equilibrium faster than I did in
previous years, and I would argue that I have a higher happiness equilibrium now than I did
prior to meditation.

Meditation to me, is like pressing a reset button on your emotions. Over time, that reset button
gets easier to push, whether youre consciously meditating or not. Your brain automatically
knows what is triggering you and may push it spontaneously, without any of your own
conscious cognitive intervening. As you can see below, on a scale of one to seven, my happiness
equilibrium was previously at a low level (2.5), and now I am at a relatively neutral level, or
possibly even good level according to the scale (5.75). I fully attribute that increase to
meditation and the way it shaped my neural connections and pathways.

Figure 1
Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Totals
Previous Levels
(Age 18-25) 2 3 3 6 2.5

Current Levels
6 6 5 2 5.75
(Age 26-33)



Cycle for Neuroplasticity, Meditation and Happiness Equilibrium
As time moves forward, our brains, bodies and lives constantly change depending on our
environment and experiences. Because I understand this is an ever-changing and moving
pattern throughout life, I offer a transitory and loose depiction of how neuroplasticity,
meditation and the happiness equilibrium interweave together. Looking at the diagram in
Figure 2, you see how meditation influences neuroplasticity and there may be several iterations
of this interplay before there is any effect on the happiness equilibrium. Also, its important to
note that meditation and neuroplasticity may not always improve or affect a happiness
equilibrium for each person, however I do believe that it does have an indirect correlation to
helping people come back to their own personal happiness equilibrium faster after a stressful
or negative event.

Figure 2
Meditation Neuroplasticity
Happiness Equilibrium



Limitations
With my case study above, I understand there may be other factors that play into the outcome
of my happiness equilibrium shift over the years. Namely the fact that I went through a couple
different life changes and cycles, which ultimately may influence many factors in those
circumstances, not just my happiness equilibrium. Also, socioeconomic factors, such as
increased stability over the years, may impact the outcome of this study. Obviously, more
research needs to be conducted in order to further examine how these three concepts
correlate and affect one another. However, in my experience, I directly attribute meditation
and neuroplasticity to the improvement of my happiness equilibrium.

Conclusions
Through my personal case study and resources, I offer the neuroscience, meditation and
psychological communities something to ponder. Using meditation techniques to change how
our brain responds to stimuli, may aid in altering our response to everyday stressors or how we
view and interpret bad events which may cause a temporary imbalance to our happiness
equilibrium. As technology advances and human development research continues, I hope we
begin to uncover ways to look holistically at our minds and bodies. There are so many new and
interesting methods of understanding the brain and how meditation affects our neural
connections I am proposing a new idea that takes it one step further. Happiness may not be
what life is all made up of, but it is a great barometer of how we feel in our daily lives and may
affect how we interpret our different experiences. Using meditation as a way to engage our
brains pliability, I hope to promote an achievable balance of happiness, without the use of
pharmacology. As mentioned previously, more research needs to be completed before any
verifiable conclusions may be made, however, this paper initiates the discussion and hopefully
opens up new lanes of contemplation around this topic.

References


Harari, Y. N. (2015). Sapiens: a brief history of humankind. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability
and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46, 137-155. The original publication is
available at www.springerlink.com.

Siegel, D. J. (2010). Mindsight: The new science of personal transformation. New York, NY: The
Random House Publishing Group.

Siegel, D. J. (2012). The Developing Mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who
we are. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

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