The Science of Compassion See the studies behind compassion. Why does compassion help? What can it do? Why does it matter? Discover the science of compassion and how it can make a difference in your life. Many studies are beginning to show not only the positive impact of having more compassion but the effectiveness of techniques to … Read more
Gratitude increases our happiness, improves our relationships, and makes us healthier. And it does so reliably. Over 40 research studies have shown the same thing – gratitude rocks. So how can we get more of it? It depends. How grateful are you already? Let’s figure that out. The quiz below only takes 30 seconds. (Side … Read more
The relationship is strong but complicated – it’s not as simple as exercise = happiness. The Role of Depression in Short-Term Mood and Fatigue Responses to Acute Exercise Authors explored the differing impact of one-time, high-intensity exercise on sedentary exercisers and sedentary, depressed exercisers. Acute high intensity exercise resulted in transient immediate improvements in depressed mood among individuals … Read more
Fact: religion increases happiness. But if you are not a religious person, can you get the positive benefits of religion? Read on to find out more… If you are interested in learning in positive psychology the way that I am you may wonder if gratitude, happiness, and wellbeing are more likely for people who are … Read more
Gratitude has for most of its history remained a discussion topics of pastors. As a growing field of science is starting to show, the benefits of cultivating an attitude of gratitude are very real and can be enjoyed outside a religious context. This page summarizes at a high level the prominent research in the field, and provides a link … Read more
Do you have a hobby or activity that relaxes you? I’m not talking TV relax – I’m talking dissolving muscle aches and destroying headaches relax. I’m not talking unwind or vegetate – I’m talking parasympathetic nervous system activation, slower breathing, and alpha waves. For the past eight years, I didn’t – I suffered from untreatable headaches. They were a constant companion. … Read more
Using a sample recruited through the Authentic Happiness website, the authors of the study wanted to compare the effectiveness of five different happiness techniques, each delivered via the internet. The five techniques chosen were: gratitude visit, three good things in life, you at your best, using signature strengths in a new way, and identifying signature strengths. The Steen Happiness Index … Read more
Are you full of zest? I hope so – it’s the character strength second most correlated with well-being. (Hope is #1). Positive psychologists use the following 3 survey questions to estimate a person’s level of zest. For each question, a 1-5 scale is used, where 1 = strongly agree, 3 = neutral, and 5 = … Read more
In the past two weeks I’ve made a number of changes that I’ve been putting off for years. The biggest change is that I exercise my willpower to failure every day. As I talked about yesterday, I didn’t suddenly discover a willpower secret or lasting source of inspiration. Over the past three months, I have … Read more
Are you a gambler; do you like to take unrealistic chances? I’m guessing you said ‘no’ to that question. Are you optimistic; not all the time, but on balance? If you said “yes” to this question but “no” to the first, I’m going to call you out. Optimism is a blind man’s gamble. Cultivate optimism. That’s advice … Read more