Renowned neuroscientist Richard Davidson, considers a person’s well-being to be like a musical instrument – you play with it, you train with it and you hone your skills with it. This means that wellbeing isn’t something we just have, it’s something that we just have to do.
In this wonderful article from Mindful.org, it talks about “plasticity”. This simply refers to an organism’s capacity to adapt changes happening in its environment. For example, it’s been found that practicing mindfulness and meditation can literally change the composition of our brain, so it’s easier for us to be happier and less anxious.
He talks about four other areas that we can develop that have been found to positively affect our wellbeing. These include focus and generosity.
“Our brains are constantly being shaped wittingly or unwittingly—most of the time our brains are being shaped unwittingly” says Davidson. “And we have an opportunity to take more responsibility for the intentional shaping of our own minds and through that, we can shape our brains in ways that would enable these four fundamental constituents of well-being to be strengthened.”
It’s really a interesting read. I highly recommend you to check it out:
How Science Reveals That “Well-Being” Is a Skill – Mindful
“Well-being is fundamentally no different than learning to play the cello.” This is the conclusion that neuroscientist Richard Davidson at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his colleagues have come to. Basically: You can get better at well-being. It’s a skill you can train for.
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