Notes on the neuroscience of well-being
If one practices the skills of well-being, one will get better at it.
—Richard Davidson
When I started writing The Interconnect, I thought long and hard on how broadly or narrowly I wanted to define what I’d write. I finally settled on four very interwoven categories—technology, nature, kids, wellbeing.
In October, I wrote the post “A curriculum of kindness,” focusing on UW-Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds Kindness Curriculum for preschoolers, with a link to download the curriculum. In that post, I shared a few other resources in addition to the curriculum, but if you are like me, it’s highly likely that you missed a few of these additional resources the first time around.
In particular, today I’m revisiting a 13-minute video presentation titled “The Four Constituents of Well-Being,” given by Richard Davidson, founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madision. The setting is an event hosted by Dacher Keltner and the Greater Good Science Center in 2016.
Here is Richie Davidson speaking in an opening excerpt from the transcript:
I'd like to share with you what I consider to be four neuroscientifically validated constituents of well-being. Each of these four has received serious scientific attention. Each of these four is rooted in neural circuits that we know something about. And each of these neural circuits exhibits plasticity and so we know that if we exercise these circuits they will strengthen and they will provide the substrate for enduring change which can help to promote higher levels of well-being.
Resilience, Outlook, Attention, Generosity
In the talk, Davidson quickly dives into what he calls “the four constituents of well-being”—resilience, outlook, attention, generosity.
I was struck by a few things in particular. First, resilience takes hours of practice—it’s going to take a while for real change, but with practice, you’ll get there.
He describes outlook as the flip side of resilience:
“…it specifically refers to positive outlook” and he lists these characteristics
the ability to see the positive in others
the ability to savor positive experiences
the ability to see another human being as a human being that has qualities of innate basic goodness
the ability to recognize those qualities in others
With outlook, unlike resilience which takes a lot of practice over time, Davidson explains that the “research indicates that simple practices of loving-kindness and compassion meditation may alter this circuitry quite quickly.” In one research project, they found circuits in the brain that are important for positive outlook were strengthened after 30 minutes a day for 2 weeks (7 hours of training). And, the changes observed in the brains of participants predicted pro-social behavior.
The good news, according to Davidson…
“We can all take responsibility for our own minds. Our brains are constantly being shaped wittingly or unwittingly. Most of the time our brains are being shaped unwittingly 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. So these are the kind of data that lead us to this inevitable conclusion that well-being is indeed a skill.”
Watch his very short and powerful talk for a deeper dive into each of the four constituents of well-being—the section on attention is Oh So Relevant, you’ll learn about how generous and altruistic behavior affects the brain, and you’ll hear the fascinating and specific details of the data from their research.
Teens (ages 15–19)
I have followed the work of Inward Bound for several years now. They are a nonprofit with this mission: “dedicated to serving young people in developing compassion, self-awareness, and ethical decision-making through immersive mindfulness programs.”
Last week I received an announcement of their summer retreats for teens offered in different locations in the U.S. I deeply appreciate their work, especially their efforts to make these retreats available to all young people who want to participate. Tuition is sliding scale.
Inward Bound Teen Retreats (and teacher training)
Be well. Practice well-being. And please consider sharing this post with family, friends, teachers, and/or colleagues who might appreciate it.