The Spiritual Economics of Mindfulness: An Architect of Well-Being

Graph 1. Relationship between Life Satisfaction and Annual Growth Rate of GDP per Capita (%). Reprinted from The Happiness-Income Paradox Revisited, by Richard A. Easterlin, et al, 2010, Proceedings for National Academy of Sciences.

Finally, there could also be an interesting finding between the concept of mindfulness and environmental economics. Humans being the creatures that they are, often have conflicting interest with ecological sustainability. It's driven by the nature of human that always wants more but in turns will sacrifice the well-being of the environment. 

One of the real cases that we can witness in this matter is regarding the recent Amazon fires. Amazon fires are known to be induced by human activities to clear the land for cattle and other means. If only we had adopted the concept of less is more, this wouldn't happen in the first place because by practicing this concept in mind, people can achieve less consumption without really constraining people's decisions. It goes way back to our consciousness on how to hold back our desires and by feeling 'enough is enough'. With this, there's also an empirical support for this idea by Brown and Kasser (2005) saying that mindfulness identification can drive the positive relationship between human well-being and sustainable ecology.

Next up, the second form that can be generated from being mindful is productivity. This theory has been approved by several companies, including the Bank of England, KPMG, Goldman Sachs, and Unilever. In the UK specifically according to the City Mental Health Alliance, the practice of mindfulness in the form of meditation for 10 minutes per day has resulted in decreasing costs amongst UK employees that are coming from sickness absence, reduced productivity, and recruitment cost. However, because now mindfulness meditation is being practiced a lot, especially in business fields, there's also a growing potential in making this practice into a business on its own. Take an example of the thriving company called Lululemon that sells necessities, such as yoga gears, for those eager to try this new lifestyle. However, we need to also be careful with this practice since it's feared that with high pricing points that have been set by companies like this, it will defy from the concept of "non attachment to material goods" inherent with the practice and this can sort of be an opportunity for those companies to reap benefits by encouraging people to get way over themselves. Hence, in the end it will only pose a threat for mindfulness being subjugated by capitalism. 

Start from Now

Based on the practice of mindfulness in the form of meditation in Harvard, mindfulness is not about stopping thoughts or emotions -- it's about noticing them without judgment. Mindfulness is said to be able to build resilience and awareness to help people learn how to ride life's ups and downs and live happier and healthier lives. Brown et al (2007) even found that individuals who practise mindfulness reported lower desire discrepancies and higher subjective wellbeing. So, seeing the extensive benefits from this practice, there's no fault from our side to try this. Even though mindfulness isn't obviously the only way to achieve peaceful and happy life, it's definitely one of the working ways that have been tried by people in general. Other reference may come from the involvement of educational institutions to offer this kind of practice towards their student. Universities like Yale has even opened its own course named The Science of Well-being that focuses on giving lecture on how to be happier. Now is definitely the time for us to care more about our well-being, not just physically but also mentally. 

Bonus Feature (Retrieved from The Harvard Gazette)

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