Finish Strong!

As the year comes to close, we tend to look back and assess the progress we’ve made towards our goals and set new ones. But because of negative biases in our thinking we’re more likely to focus on what we haven’t done rather than what we have, or on how we’ve stagnated rather than how […]

Give experiences not things

The science is clear. Experiences make us happier than things. Research shows that with experiential gifts, unlike material gifts, there are more opportunities for happiness. Merely looking forward to or anticipating an experience brings happiness, as well as the experience itself. For example, waiting for a concert or a sporting event evokes more happiness and […]

Habit Formation

If you’ve struggled to develop healthy habits like meditating or running in the morning, here are some tips from the science of habit formation. According to Dr. Andrew Huberman, a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine, a habit is something that your nervous system has learned consciously or not. Learning takes […]

Take The Plunge!

Feeling stressed? Research suggests the key to managing stress is actually inducing more stress! Specifically, short periods of physical stress. One way to do this is by taking ice baths. Popularized by extreme athlete Wim Hof, a.k.a. The Dutchman, ice baths create a stress response in the body, shocking our systems at the cellular and […]

No Toxic Positivity

Doing things to increase positive emotions and cultivate a positive mindset like gratitude practice and positive reframing can increase happiness and bolster resilience. But too much of a good thing can be harmful. And, when taken to an extreme, staying positive can become toxic. Toxic positivity is the denial of negative experiences, thoughts, and emotions. […]

Practice Receiving Love

The key to experiencing more love in your life is recognizing the many different ways people show it. So often it’s the case we miss the love sent our way because we are looking for it to be expressed in a particular way. For example, an adolescent doesn’t feel loved by his mother because she […]

May I Live with Ease

The last phrase of loving kindness meditation is “May I live with ease.” It sounds great, but what does it actually mean? And how would that even be possible? Between juggling the daily demands of work and personal life, let alone in a pandemic and time of economic and political upheaval, living with ease may […]

The Upside of Impermanence

A central teaching of Buddhism is impermanence. The idea that nothing lasts forever. Everything including our very existence will end. And while we all know this intellectually, there is a tendency to push this reality to the back of our minds. After all, it’s human nature to want to hold onto positive experiences, to get […]

Mind the Gap

You’ve probably heard “awareness is half the battle” when it comes to changing behavior. That’s because so many of the behaviors, thoughts, and emotional responses we want to change are done on autopilot or without awareness. For example, you reflexively light up a cigarette with your morning coffee, or grab a beer before you sit […]

Get curious!

Want to make your life a little more interesting? Get curious. Curiosity is an inner drive to know or understand. It motivates us to seek out the answers to previously unanswered questions and find solutions for unsolved problems. Studies show that because naturally curious people enjoy the search for knowledge, they can sustain their interest […]