The Biology of Happiness: The Science of Hacking Joy

A guided salon on the biology of happiness, stress, and resilience, exploring how the female brain navigates modern life.

Salon includes:
Moderated discussion · Wine & soft drinks · Small bites · Post-salon mingling

This salon is part of the ongoing conversation The Neurobiology of Womanhood, a series exploring how the female brain evolves across the different stages of life.

Modern life offers unprecedented comfort and opportunity, but many people report feeling more stressed, anxious, and emotionally depleted than ever before. This paradox raises an important question: how well does modern life align with the way our brains are designed to function?

In this opening conversation, we invite participants to consider happiness from a biological perspective. Together, we will explore how the nervous system shapes mood, motivation, and resilience, and why the human brain was never designed for constant happiness. Rather than chasing quick fixes, the evening will examine a different way of thinking about well-being — seeing happiness as a dynamic biological process shaped by our bodies, relationships, and the environments we inhabit.

Guided by Dr. Zhanna Kosm, biochemist and former UN public health adviser, and DI Emilia Bessonova, Co-Founder of VITAMARIE, an AI health companion helping women work with their hormonal cycle.

This evening, we’ll explore happiness through a different lens, rethinking it not as a fixed state, but as a biological rhythm to understand and move with.