The Art of Happiness

his meditation on compassion, there was adramatic leftward shift in his prefrontal function,lighting up the “happiness region” of the brain.Davidson concluded: “The very act of concernfor others’ well-being creates a greater sense ofwell-being within oneself.” What could be moreconclusive evidence of the link between personalhappiness and compassion?In another study, conducted in “the realworld” outside the laboratory, Dr. SonjaLyubomirsky at the University of California atRiverside asked a group of subjects to chooseone day each week in which to perform five“random acts of kindness.” After six weeks, thesubjects in the study experienced a significantincrease in their overall levels of happiness andlife satisfaction.