The evidence-based study of what makes human lives flourish — and how to cultivate it deliberately.
The Science of Happiness is a branch of positive psychology — formally established in 1998 by Dr. Martin Seligman — that investigates the conditions, practices, and mindsets associated with genuine wellbeing, rather than the mere absence of illness or distress.
Unlike earlier approaches to psychology, which focused primarily on diagnosing and treating mental disorders, the Science of Happiness asks a different question: what does it mean for a person to genuinely thrive? The research it draws on spans neuroscience, social psychology, philosophy, and contemplative traditions.
Wellbeing is not a fixed trait distributed by luck at birth. It is a set of skills and practices that can be learned, cultivated, and developed over time — which makes it teachable.
This is the conviction at the heart of everything the Rekhi Foundation for Happiness does.
Martin Seligman's PERMA framework — five dimensions the research most consistently supports, each measurable and cultivable through deliberate practice.
Joy, gratitude, curiosity, love, and awe broaden thinking and build psychological resources (Fredrickson). Practices: gratitude journalling, savouring, acts of kindness.
Flow — complete absorption in a challenging activity — produces our highest quality of experience (Csikszentmihalyi). Key: match challenge to skill.
The strongest predictor of long-term wellbeing is close relationships — confirmed by the 85-year Harvard Study. Loneliness is as damaging as smoking 15 cigarettes a day (Cacioppo).
A clear sense of purpose predicts wellbeing, resilience, and lower mortality risk (Hill & Turiano) — cultivated through Dharma and Seva in the Indian tradition.
Achievement from genuine intrinsic motivation produces more durable wellbeing than achievement driven by external pressure (Dweck, Deci).
What the data shows, in the words of the researchers who found it.
Sonja Lyubomirsky estimates ~40% of individual happiness is influenced by intentional activity — more than life circumstances (10%).
Above the threshold of basic material security, additional income produces diminishing returns to life satisfaction.
Robert Emmons demonstrated that regular gratitude practice measurably improves positive affect, sleep quality, and resilience.
Sara Lazar and Richard Davidson showed mindfulness produces structural brain changes in as little as eight weeks.
Kristin Neff's research shows warmth after failure produces better recovery and more durable wellbeing than harsh self-criticism.
Long before modern laboratories, the world's great philosophical and spiritual traditions were investigating happiness with extraordinary depth.
The Gita's Nishkama Karma mirrors research on intrinsic motivation. Seva is confirmed by research showing prosocial behaviour increases the giver's wellbeing (Dunn & Norton).
Sati (mindfulness) has been validated in hundreds of randomised controlled trials. The four Brahmaviharas are confirmed to improve wellbeing and prosocial behaviour.
Eudaimonia — flourishing through virtue — is the philosophical ancestor of the PERMA framework, anticipating the Harvard Study by 2,300 years.
Ubuntu's relational view of personhood is confirmed by social neuroscience: isolation is physiologically damaging; relationships predict flourishing.
Ikigai maps precisely onto PERMA's Meaning and Engagement dimensions, echoed in research finding purpose predicts longevity (Hill & Turiano).
Our Science of Happiness Course integrates every tradition here alongside Western research — as substantive intellectual contributions, not additions.
Founded by Dr. Satinder Singh Rekhi and Harpreet Rekhi, the Foundation was established on a conviction that has only grown more urgent: the Science of Happiness is not merely an academic achievement — it is a practical one, with direct implications for how institutions are designed and how people learn to live.
Integrates Vedanta, Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, and Buddhist frameworks alongside Western research.
Biofeedback devices that make the neuroscience of happiness directly visible through students' own physiological experience.
Credit-bearing, formally assessed, and recognised. At Delhi University: an officially recognised VAC.
Partner institutions include IIT Kharagpur, IIM Lucknow, Amity University, University of Delhi (17 colleges), and partners in the USA, Japan, UAE, and Pakistan.
The Science of Happiness is the systematic, evidence-based study of what allows human beings to flourish. Founded formally in 1998 by Dr. Martin Seligman, its central finding is that wellbeing is not fixed but learnable — a set of skills cultivable through deliberate practice.
It is genuinely both. Philosophy addresses what happiness means and what counts as a flourishing life. Science addresses what actually produces life satisfaction and wellbeing. The Indian and Buddhist contemplative traditions add a third method, as did Aristotle's Eudaimonia and Ubuntu.
Yes — imperfectly but validly. The primary tools include the Cantril ladder (World Happiness Report) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener), alongside neurobiological measures like fMRI activation and cortisol levels.
Close relationships are the strongest predictor of long-term wellbeing (Harvard, 85 years); gratitude improves affect and sleep (Emmons); mindfulness changes brain structure in 8 weeks (Davidson, Lazar); self-compassion builds resilience (Neff); purpose predicts longevity (Hill & Turiano); and ~40% of happiness is intentional practice (Lyubomirsky).
PERMA is Martin Seligman's framework identifying five dimensions of wellbeing: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Achievement — each relatively independent, making it both a diagnostic tool and a curriculum framework.
Self-help relies on personal testimony. The Science of Happiness subjects its claims to peer review, replication, and honest acknowledgement of uncertainty, specifying conditions and populations based on replicated findings.
A credit-bearing academic subject offered at 90+ institutions across 6 countries, integrating PERMA, gratitude, mindfulness, and self-compassion with Indian philosophy, Buddhism, Ikigai, Ubuntu, and Eudaimonia. At Delhi University it is a recognised VAC across 17 colleges.
A daily gratitude practice; 12 minutes of mindfulness a day (Jha, Miami); deliberate investment in close relationships; building more flow activities into your time; and reflecting honestly on whether your daily activities feel meaningful.
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