Foremost among those researchers is Barbara Fredrickson, PhD, principal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab (PEP Lab) at the University of North Carolina, and author of Positivity and Love 2.0: Finding Happiness and Health in Moments of Connection. Fredrickson’s research (which she’s been invited to share with the Dalai Lama, a man who practically radiates joy) explores how positive emotions evolved for our human ancestors and how happiness—which she defines as “frequent, recurring experiences of uplift”—can be actively cultivated. “One of the biggest misperceptions about happiness is that it’s a state you enter into and then don’t leave,” Fredrickson says. “But all emotions are transitory. The key is understanding that happiness is fleeting. It comes and it goes.” Here are five ways to ensure it comes more often: Keep reading at Well+Good.
