How to Be Happy Right Now With Dr. Laurie Santos
It’s no surprise that the pandemic has had a huge impact on our mental health. The virus caused loneliness, depression and anxiety to spread throughout the world. So, this week we’ll talk to Happiness Lab Lead and Yale University Psychology Professor Dr. Laurie Santos to learn about some evidence-based strategies we can use to help us cope and even find some happiness. Hear Dr. Santos discuss how techniques such as reframing and mindfulness can help us be more resilient in the face of tragedy, and how we can better appreciate what brings us joy.
Dr. Santos is professor of psychology and head of Silliman College at Yale University. She is an expert in human cognition and the cognitive biases that prevent you from making better choices, and her Psychology and the Good Life course recently became Yale’s most popular course in over 300 years.
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Highlights from this week’s series
From an interview with Dr. Laurie Santos:
How to determine which types of online social interaction are most beneficial for your mental health:
So, we can think of it this way: how can we get as close as possible to what we were created for by nature? But another way is to deliberately reflect on what you like. I think this is something that we all need to do more and more. It’s like after some interaction, how did you feel when you browsed your Instagram feed for an hour? How do you feel afterwards? If you are like me, it might be like, “I feel disgusting, a little apathetic.” How did you feel after Zoom’s happy hour? Well, you know, some days I get rich and I feel good … If it was like the hour I was at Zoom, happy hour, after millions of hours of working in Zoom meetings, I kind of feel a little disgusting. I needed to get up and move. So the answer to what seems best will change. And that’s okay too. I think the key is to be careful about how you feel, because what we predict will be pleasant, but not necessarily good.
On the strategy of emotional resilience inspired by the Greek Stoic philosophers:
Epictetus began his book with the idea that there are two things in the world: there are things that you can control, and there are things that you cannot control. You know, the fact that vaccines are not being introduced as quickly as I want, the fact that my students are not sure if they can stay on campus this semester, the fact that I cannot see my friends, all those whom I cannot control. But here are the things I can control: how I react to these things, you know if I’m calling a friend or not, if I’m taking out a yoga mat and exercising well because it will make me feel good. This is what I can control. And the Stoics say that if you focus on what you can control, no one can make you feel negative.
On how we are on the wrong path to happiness:
[T] This is the problem with this idea of the pursuit of happiness: it’s not that we shouldn’t be chasing happiness. It’s just that when we’re chasing it, we’re doing it wrong … if we really want to focus on what actually makes us happy, it’s usually a lot easier than we think. It’s kind of like it takes time to be present. [T] Take time to socialize, move, get enough sleep … When you do this, it doesn’t feel like you’re chasing happiness, you just do what you normally do as a person. But it turns out that in the end it can bring a lot of wellness.
To learn more about the science of happiness, we recommend listening to the entire episode.
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