“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
That sage observation comes from the great philosopher Dr. Seuss.
There’s no doubt that the human brain plays a key role in our behavior. But do all our behaviors start with the brain?
That question is artfully explored by Janice Kaplan in her new book What Your Body Knows About Happiness. She’s a journalist, TV producer, and author of more than a dozen popular books including the New York Times bestseller The Gratitude Diaries.
Now, back to the Dr. Seuss quote. It might lead one to ask, when people better understand the effects their bodies have on their brains, what should they expect in terms of how they respond to stress?
Kaplan says it helps to realize that your body often responds before your brain. “Imagine you’re walking by a dark alley at night and your heart starts pounding and you feel scared,” she says. “You probably think your heart pounds because you’re scared—but in fact the physical response comes first. Your brain is stuck inside a dark skull, completely dependent on the sensory input it gets to make any determinations. It’s constantly scanning your body for information and then tries to make predictions from what it learns. That’s a surprise to most people who think of the mind as controlling everything.”
“Reframing” a potentially stressful situation, Kaplan says, can help a person manage it more productively.
“Instead of worrying about the physical signs of stress, think of them as tools for dealing with difficult challenges,” she advises. “Two emotions that we all feel quite regularly—anxiety and excitement—feel very similar in our body. Both put you in a state of adrenaline-induced high arousal.”
She offers an example. “If you’re about to go into a meeting with your boss, your heart may start pounding and your palms get sweaty. Your brain reads that as I’m so nervous! But you can reframe those same symptoms and decide I’m so excited! In several experiments, people who learned to see a stress response in a positive way did significantly better on everything from giving a speech to taking a test. Understanding how to reappraise your body’s signals gives you an enormous sense of control.”
Much has been written about fixed mindset and growth mindset. What effect do those mindsets have on a person’s likelihood of being happy?
“People with a growth mindset get engaged by the process because they’re less afraid of failure,” Kaplan says. “Instead of feeling dumb when they don’t know something, they get excited. Their neurons can make new connections and they can get smarter. There are great synergies between the stress-is-good approach and the growth mindset. A challenge is more exciting and manageable if you can see what’s happening in your aroused body as exciting and manageable.”
Diet clearly has many effects on the human body and the body clearly affects a person’s moods. So, what foods are most likely to help produce happiness?
“Our experience of food is affected by all our senses and not just our taste buds,” Kaplan says. “A wine that tastes amazing in Paris may not be as great when you drink it at home. Why? Because in Paris, your senses are also drinking in all the romantic experiences around you. Another surprise is that the first taste of any food is the most exciting since your brain perks up to something new. If you want to be happy when you eat, have small tastes of many different foods. The first taste of a chocolate mousse is always thrilling. By the bottom of the bowl, you’re not as interested. Stop eating while your senses are still excited.”
What can people do to associate physical exercise more with happiness than with drudgery?
Kaplan says exercise should be a joy, not a chore. “If we were driven only by rationality and reasoning, knowing that a particular exercise could improve health and longevity would be motivation enough. But it’s not. Our bodies and minds like being happy right now, so look for the kind of movement that feels to you like a sensual indulgence. Sometimes the simplest activities are the best—walk your dog or throw a frisbee with a friend, stroll through a local park or along a waterfront or just in your own neighborhood. There are many answers to the happiness-health-exercise equation—and you don’t have to look for anything other than your own satisfaction.”
With a new year just starting, what can people do to find (or create) more happiness in their lives?
“Realize that small changes in your body and environment can improve your well-being,” Kaplan says. “Stand up straight to send your brain a message of positivity versus slouched despair. Go outside, because being around blue water or green trees and mountains makes you happier. Bring flowers into your house because they are also joy-inducing. Remind yourself to reframe situations to look for the good. A year from now, will this moment causing you such anguish seem important—or will you have forgotten all about it? Probably the latter—so try to give yourself the gift of perspective right now.”