happiness skills

Permission to Live a Joyful Life

Stop the Glorification of Busy and Give Yourself Permission to Live a Joyful Life! It’s as if someone from the outside has decided to play a cruel joke on a large segment of humanity. From the outside looking in they’re saying, “Let’s turn up the dial and increase the speed of life for humans and… Read more »

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Thanksgiving is Good for Your Mental Health

Research shows that expressing gratitude is good for your mental health. It increases happiness and decreases depression. It also enhances empathy and reduces aggression. It promotes social interactions and fosters new relationships. Gratitude counteracts other toxic emotions, such as envy, resentment, victimization and cynicism. It not only reduces stress, but research indicates that it may also play a major role in overcoming trauma. All good things, but… Read more »

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The Key to a Long and Happy Life

In 1938, Harvard researchers began to study a group of sophomores at the then-all-male school. The goal of the study was to “identify the psychosocial predictors of healthy aging.” Today, the longitudinal study, known as the Harvard Study of Adult Development, has gone on for 80 years and has even expanded to include some of… Read more »

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5 Tried-and-True Ways to Increase Happiness in Daily Life

We all want to be happy, undeniably. For some people happiness comes easier than others, but what we’re starting to understand is that happiness, that sense of connection and ease of appreciating the good moments and being more graceful and resilient during the difficult ones, is a skill and strength that we can all build…. Read more »

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3 Simple Ways to Sustainable Happiness

There’s no question in my mind that we all want to be happy. For some people happiness comes easier than others, but what we’re starting to understand is that happiness — that sense of connection and ease of appreciating the good moments and being more graceful and resilient during the difficult ones — is a… Read more »

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The Unselfish Art of Prioritizing Yourself

Taking care of ourselves and doing what we love is NOT selfish Most of us are taught from an early age that being selfless is a good thing. There are many benefits of altruism to both our mental and physical well-being. However, sometimes the messaging we receive to be giving of ourselves, to push ourselves to the… Read more »

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Nature as Medicine

Why is nature good for our physical and mental well-being? “Wilderness is not a luxury but necessity of the human spirit.” –Edward Abbey At a recent conference, I was shown a satirical commercial advertising what they called Nature Rx. “Are you feeling tired, irritable, stressed out?,”  a young man asks from a rowboat, setting the stage… Read more »

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Why We Won’t Let Ourselves Be Happy

When it comes to our own happiness, many of us are familiar with the pattern of taking two steps forward, one step back. For example, if we want to lose weight, we may find that after having some success, which makes us happy, we drift up to a higher weight than we started at. If… Read more »

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The Secret to Happiness and Well-Being

Like love, happiness is often treated like a physical object we must find and snatch up. Yet, also like love, happiness is something we are more likely to cultivate within ourselves than stumble upon in our wanderings. As the Dalai Lama said, “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” Determining… Read more »

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Be Happy Now!

3 Tips to be Happy with What You’ve Got Does this sound familiar? I’ll be happy when: I lose 10 pounds; get a promotion; find my dream partner. You’re not alone. It’s called conditional happiness. The problem with conditional happiness is that it keeps us on hold while we wait for the perfect life/ career/… Read more »

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