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The participants in the mental training program and in the related research were recruited from the Institute Lama Tzong Khapa (Pomaia, Italy) in a 9-month longitudinal study (seven modules and two retreats) on the effects of a program called The Art of Happiness (see Supplementary Material for full details of the program). Twenty-nine participants followed the entire program (there were nine dropouts after the first module). Their mean age was 52.86 years (range = 39–66; SD = 7.61); 72% were female. Participants described themselves as Caucasian, reaching a medium-high scholarly level with 59% of the participants holding an academic degree and 41% holding a high school degree. The participants were not randomly selected, as they were volunteers in the program. Most of them had no serious prior experience of meditation, only basic experience consisting of personal readings or watching video courses on the web, which overall we considered of no impact to the study. The only exclusion criteria were absence of a history of psychiatric or neurological disease, and not being currently on psychoactive medications. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Sapienza University of Rome, and all participants gave written informed consent. The participants did not receive any compensation for participation in the study. Design UKWritings: This is an editing tool, as reviewed by Best British Essays, to help you communicate your thoughts and feelings accurately. Since the 1960s, the analysis of people’s quality of life has attracted the attention of researchers from many disciplines. Specifically, in the last decade there has been growing academic interest in quality of life, which in turn has included a series of studies that investigate well-being and happiness [ 22], with the latter becoming an important indicator of a country’s development.
Happiness and meaning have an even more distinct line between the two. Rarely are happiness and meaning confused or used interchangeably, and for good reason—they describe two very different experiences. As the quote from Baumeister and colleagues (2013) suggests, there are important distinctions between the methods of searching for and the benefits of experiencing happiness and meaning. Scott Barry Kaufman at Scientific American (2016) outlines these distinctions that Baumeister and his fellow researchers found between the two: You might be wondering why happiness is considered such an important aspect of life, as there are many components of a meaningful life. Two-way permutation RM ANOVAs showed a significant main effect for Retreat on SWLS ( p = 0.002, ηp 2 = 0.16), Trait Anxiety ( p = 0.001, ηp 2 = 0.19), positive affect ( p = 0.044, ηp 2 = 0.07), Observe ( p = 0.008, ηp 2 = 0.12), Act with awareness ( p≤ 0.001, ηp 2 = 0.22), Non-Judge ( p = 0.045, ηp 2 =.07), Non-React ( p = 0.02, ηp 2 = 0.10), Trait Anger ( p = 0.008, ηp 2 = 0.12), Trait Anger Temperament ( p = 0.022, ηp 2 = 0.09), Trait Anger Reaction ( p = 0.019, ηp 2 = 0.10), and Anger Control-IN ( p = 0.029, ηp 2 = 0.08). A main effect of the Condition (Pre vs. Post) was found only for the State Anxiety scale with p = 0.004 and a large effect size (ηp 2 = 0.14). Analysis results including F statistics are summarized in Table 3; a visual representation of the data is presented in the second panel (column) of Figures 2– 5. Overall Effects of the Course and Retreats According to researchers Chu Kim-Prieto, Ed Diener, and their colleagues (2005), there are three main ways that happiness has been approached in positive psychology:However you want to start, you need to make sure that you feel comfortable and can easily express yourself in the best way that you know how. Learning how to make a happiness journal isn’t just opening an empty notebook and writing pretty things inside. You want to do this intentionally and purposefully. I literally brag about gratitude in most of my posts, but that’s because it seriously crushes your problems and makes them feel tinier than they were before. AIPC. (2011). Happiness and positive psychology. Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors Article Library. Retrieved from https://www.aipc.net.au/articles/happiness-and-positive-psychology/
The course was, essentially, an informed and gentle training of the mind, and in particular of emotions, based on the principle that individual well-being is inextricably linked to the development of inner human virtues and strengths, such as emotional balance, inner self-awareness, an open and caring attitude toward self and others, and clarity of mind that can foster a deeper understanding of one's own and others' reality. We thank the Institute Lama Tzong Khapa (Pomaia, Italy) for the support in various phases of this experiment. We also wish to express our gratitude to the reviewers for their thoughtful comments and efforts toward improving the manuscript. Supplementary MaterialHappiness is a state, not a trait; in other words, it isn’t a long-lasting, permanent feature or personality trait, but a more fleeting, changeable state. Over the past two decades, there has been a marked rise in economic studies of happiness, particularly those related to the effect of income on happiness [ 7, 8, 16, 19, 38, 55, 59– 61]. In economics, happiness is defined as a benefit: a rise in income can increase people’s utility levels, leading to a higher level of happiness [ 4, 23]. Funding: AUTHORS WHO RECEIVED AWARD: ALL AUTHORS. GRANT NUMBER: 2020-GRIN-28711 AND 2021-GRIN-31005 FUNDER: UNIVERSITY OF CASTILLA-LA MANCHA The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Today you and I are chatting about the best ways to journal for happiness, how to make journaling a habit, and most importantly – how to find happiness through journaling. What is a Happiness Journal? A recent study explored the association between happiness and mental health in college students and found that a relatively strong, positive correlation connects the two factors (Shafiq, Nas, Ansar, Nasrulla, Bushra, & Imam, 2015). This correlation held, even when gender and socio-demographic variables were added to the mix. The more people felt their activities were consistent with the core themes and values of their self, the greater meaning they reported in their activities;ND, CM, and AR designed the study. ND, CM, LC, and AR collected the data. CR analyzed the data. CR and ND wrote the original draft. All authors edited and reviewed the manuscript. Conflict of Interest
Now that we know what happiness is, let’s dive a little deeper. What does psychology have to tell us about happiness? Moreover, a significant effect of the Time course was found for several subscales of the FFMQ. First, the observe scale was found at the p = 0.023 level showing a large effect size (ηp 2 = 0.13). Post-hoc comparisons revealed an increasing capacity to observe one's own thoughts, from the middle of the course (T1) to the first day of the second retreat (T2) (mean difference = 1.58, p = 0.038). Likewise, there was a significant difference for the capacity to Act with Awareness ( p = 0.036, ηp 2 = 0.12). Post hoc comparisons revealed an increased level at T2 as compared to T1 (mean difference = 2.07, p = 0.043). The Time course had a significant effect on the Non-Judge subscale with a large effect size ( p = 0.002, ηp 2 = 0.20). Post hoc analysis indicated a significant increase from T0 to T1 (mean difference = 2.07, p = 0.013), as well as from T0 to T2 (mean difference = 3.31, p = 0.013).
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The overall effectiveness of the 9-month training was examined using a within-subjects design, with perceived stress, mindfulness abilities, etc. (Time: pre–mid–end) as the dependent variable. The effectiveness of the retreats was examined using a 2 × 2 factor within-subjects design (condition: pre vs. post; retreat: 1 vs. 2), with the same dependent variables. The specific contemplative techniques that were applied in the program are described in the Supplementary Material, the procedure is described in the Procedure section, and the measurements are described in the Materials section. Mental Training Program I realized I am horrible at journaling, and made a promise to never allow myself to write if it will be a constant criticism. Expecting to do a lot of deep thinking was positively related to meaningfulness, but negatively with happiness; Despite these methodological limitations and still unexplored directions of research, the results described here suggest that The Art of Happiness may be a promising program for fostering well-being in individuals, improving mental health and psychological functioning. Longitudinal integrated contemplative programs with retreats offer a unique opportunity for the intensive development of the inner attitudes related to the capacity to be happy, reducing mental health symptoms and improving a more stable eudemonic well-being in healthy adults. Data Availability Statement One of the biggest problems we face in our everyday lives is the fact that we don’t appreciate the things we have. We’re constantly subjected to the media and advertisements showing us what we don’t have but what we do ‘need’, such as a new house, car, holiday or gadget.
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