Set in stone
THE FOOTHILLS OF the Himalayas is home to a Buddhist monk who has been branded the happiest person in the world. Although it’s a title Matthieu Ricard has since attempted to shrug off, neuroscientists who studied the Frenchman’s brain for 12 years found that the part of his mind that regulates happiness worked in overdrive while negative thoughts barely registered.
Is it the 4am wake up? The hours of meditation and chanting? The sense of community-mindedness? The reason Ricard’s happiness meter is soaring can’t be pegged to one factor, but we can’t overlook the fact monks are among the world’s most disciplined cohort and creatures of habit.
A psychologist will tell you that habits are automated responses, which are dependent on our environment and learnedfound that 40 to 50 per cent of what we do every day is habitual.
