Wellbeing

The question ‘what makes the human being happy’ has occupied the greatest minds throughout history; Socrates, Plato and Aristotle believed that authentic happiness came from leading a virtuous life. Epicurus believed that happiness came from an abundance of positive emotions and pleasures, and today we mostly believe that happiness is what we see in the media.

Modern-day science has extensively researched the question and has defined different types of wellbeing and how to achieve them by rewiring our brains for happiness using neuroplasticity

So…what are these different types of wellbeing and how can we develop them?

Hedonic wellbeing (also called subjective wellbeing) consists of how much we experience positive emotions, how little we experience negative emotions and how satisfied with life we consider ourselves.

Positive emotions (joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, love) do not only make us happy, they broaden our minds and build our social, intellectual and physical skills.

Therefore, a major way to increase our hedonic wellbeing is to increase our positive emotions and reduce our negative emotions, which, in turn, will improve our outlook on life, our creativity and our coping skills.

Science has also shown that the brain creates an upward spiral of positive emotions (the more you experience positive emotions the more your brain becomes capable of positivity, creativity and problem-solving), which also counters the negativity bias of the brain.

Other ways to increase your subjective wellbeing are: connecting with others, being active, taking notice (mindfulness), learning, giving back.

Psychological wellbeing is achieved through the development of self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, positive relations, environmental mastery and autonomy.

Eudaimonic wellbeing happens when we learn to discover and express our true self, when we develop our potential and our strengths, when we live a life based on our values and principles and participate in serving something higher than ourselves. Or in short, when we lead a purpose- and meaningful life.

Areas that create meaning in life are: goal achievement, acceptance, relationships, intimacy, religion/spirituality, self-transcendence, fairness.

Chaironic Wellbeing is happiness of a spiritual nature. It is independent of positive situations or our own happiness-enhancing efforts and refers to the kind of blessing or comfort we may feel in unlikely circumstances, such as in the midst of mourning/suffering or when we experience the unusual sense of awe and oneness in a transcendental encounter during meditation, prayer and/or mindful awareness of nature.

The purpose of this website and the services that we offer is to help you understand and develop your wellbeing and resilience, and provide you with the scientifically proven tools needed to live a happy and meaningful life.

Start to make your life great and:

For information on or to book a corporate workshop, please send us an email to welcome@makelifegr8.com