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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.