How Meditation Can Make You Happier psychcentral.com

Despite many of us in the modern world enjoying a level of comfort and luxury that would be been unimaginable for most of human history, we still find it very hard to be happy. In fact, it seems that modern society is contributing to our fatigue and discontentment — with high-pressure working lives, decreased sense of community and a perceived lack of meaning all causing strain. As much as we may struggle, however, the pursuit of happiness is still the primary goal for most people. While it would be trite to suggest that meditation can solve all our problems, there are reasons why it can help us achieve this goal. Experiencing Less Stress Our "fight or flight" response is continually triggered in day-to-day life by our "lizard brain" stress response system, which cannot differentiate between a true emergency and something routine — such as running late, or demands at work. The stress response evolved in order for us to detect and face life-threatening situations, but because we