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The science of Happiness

The science of Happiness

In our hyper connected world, where we are often overwhelmed by a stressful routine and thousands of digital messages, it is not always easy but it is fundamental to focus on what happiness is and how we can pursue it. If happiness has generally being conceived as a vague – and sometimes even frivolous- concept, it is crucial for everybody’s quality of life since it is about how people feel and experience their daily lives.

Lots of evidence mounts that happiness has a powerful impact on our lives and therefore there is a new body of science that is grabbing the world’s attention and is influencing many fields from government policy to education, from travel trends to wellness strategy: it is the “Science of Happiness”.

According to these scientific researches, the benefits of cultivating happiness are multifaceted: we are more likely to live longer lives, to have healthier bodies, to be more innovative and creative, have stronger relationships, and even, have healthier cultures and communities.

As reported in the “2018 Global Wellness Trends Report”, Happiness Science has a surprisingly long history. One of the longest studies, from Harvard, has followed men from all different economic/social backgrounds since 1938 “revealing” that close relationships and strong communities are what keep people healthy and happy and delay mental and physical decline. That’s why the world – and the travel and wellness world- needs to put a powerful focus on driving much more social connection and technology disconnection. This is one of the pillars of a happier life, but it’s not the only one.

A happiness-focused wellbeing approach has to include many aspects such as eating habits and fitness too. The state of happiness is determined by neurochemical mediators and hormones that can be balanced through food and physical activity. For example, serotonin-boasting foods are a fundamental part of eating for happiness and it’s clear that there’s a strong relationship between gut health and happiness. In this scenario, travelling and wellness are a precious opportunity to experience good habits and answer to people’s desperate need to shut out the digital noise and find themselves again, possibly if surrounded by nature and meaningful human connections.