4 Pillars of well-being…
Tuesday, December 26, 2023.
These are the four psychological pillars of well-being…
A fairly new study suggests that there are 4 pillars of psychological well-being.
Awareness, Connection, Insight and Purpose are the best antidotes we have for cultural gridlock, and rising rates of mental angst and agita.
These pillars can help everyone improve their emotional well-being.
The researchers focus on areas that can be improved with training or other intentional practice:
Awareness: Being attentive to what is going on both outside and inside and one’s own body.
Connections: Experiencing kindness and compassion from other humans.
Insight: Increasing curiosity, reflection, and self-knowledge.
Purpose: Understanding your own motivations and refining your values and objectives.
But how do these wonderful qualities reveal the Meaning of Life?
Dr. Cortland Dahl, the study’s first author, said:
“There are qualities of a healthy mind that many people don’t know are even trainable.
We don’t think of them as skills.
Many of us have thought we are hardwired to be like this or that, but the reality is these qualities are much more trainable and malleable than we think.
It’s a very empowering view of the human mind — we can learn to be in the driver’s seat of our own mind.”
Increasing awareness, for example, helps increase positive emotions and reduce stress…
Awareness also helps to notice where and how our attention seeps, out, and distraction comes in.
A popular way to improve awareness that has been researched to death is through meditation.
Meditation, though, describes a huge range of different practices, Dr Dahl said:
“Different types of meditation do different things for your brain, just as different sports trigger different changes in your body.
You can train your mind in different pillars that go beyond mindfulness or even gratitude practices.”
Cultivating insight, meanwhile, explained Professor Richard Davidson, study co-author, is…
“…about getting curious about your own preconceived thoughts and opinions.
Your brain is not set.
You can question your own assumptions and biases, and this has tremendous potential to heal the division and ‘othering’ that we see in today’s society.”
Even if our circumstances are difficult to change, our minds can be trained, said Dr Dahl:
“This work is parallel with what we’re learning about human biology.
We’re just at the beginning of understanding that our biology is also malleable.
We are not born a certain fixed way.
Our brains and nervous systems and biology can be shaped.
That’s such a hopeful view to have — there are many ways we can influence our minds, brains and bodies for the better.”
Final Thoughts…
Awareness… Connection… Insight… and Purpose.
We ardently long for these qualities, not only for ourselves, and our loved ones… but i some, respect for all of humanity.
But as the US Marines remind us…”Hope is not a Method.”
Do want to be different in 2024?…. LOL… so do I. Our brains and nervous system are plastic, and trainable under our intense focus… try this:
Observe.. Orient…Decide and ACT…
I’ll be talking more about the OODA Loop next year.
Be well, Stay kind, and Godspeed.
RESEARCH:
Cortland J. Dahl https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2994-115X cortland.dahl@wisc.edu, Christine D. Wilson-Mendenhall https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6081-1636, and Richard J. Davidson cortland.dahl@wisc.eduAuthors Info & Affiliations
The plasticity of well-being: A training-based framework for the cultivation of human flourishing
Edited by Michael I. Posner, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, and approved October 29, 2020 (received for review August 19, 2020) December 7, 2020 117 (51) 32197-32206 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2014859117
