âSleep problems have long been recognized as a symptom of psychiatric and neurological disorders, including depression and Alzheimerâs. But increasingly, researchers are exploring the two-way street between disrupted sleep and disease. And researchers who started out interested in cognitive functions such as memory or brain development are finding themselves focused on sleep because it is so fundamental.â Find out more about The Benefits of a Good Nightâs Sleep.
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Want to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence? Cultivate Empathy
âEmpathy is not feeling what you would feel in a situation. It is stepping beside yourself and adopting another personâs emotion for a few moments. Some research suggests that we succeed at this task by virtue of mirror neurons, or brain pathways that fire whether weâre experiencing the stimulus or we see someone else experience it.â Read on to learn more about How to Develop Empathy in Relationships.
Does Your Busyness Make You Feel Productive or Burned Out?
âCreating change in the area of busyness can offer us improved physical health, greater peace and joy, and better, more connected, relationships. Having time for others and ourselves can offer us that sense of safety, value, and connection we were once looking for by being so busy.â Learn more about How the Glorification of Busyness Impacts Our Well-Being.
Do you know someone who struggles with anxiety? Find out how you can help
âHelping someone with anxiety isnât always easy and you may feel like youâre getting it wrong. But, if you remind yourself that you and your loved one are both doing your best, it can help you keep things in perspective. Itâs important to remain compassionate and, as the saying goes, to put on your own oxygen mask first. That way, youâll have a clearer head for figuring out whatâs going on with your anxious loved one and how you can truly be of help.â Read on to discover How You Can Help a Loved One With Anxiety
Five Ways to Help Teens Thrive
âAs many teens struggle with anxiety and perfectionism, our urge may be to jump in and fix their problems, whatever we perceive them to be. But a better approach, one that will hopefully help reverse these worrying trends, is to cheer them on as they develop the mental habits and strengths that will support them throughout their lives.â
Want to improve your relationships? Explore the top six ways the Smarter Living editors at the New York Times say you can build better relationships in 2019
âThe Smarter Living team has culled a few tips from our archive to help you grow in that new relationship, rekindle an old flame or turn a breakup into a positive experience.â Read on to find out how to Improve the Relationships in Your Life in 2019
Do you experience social anxiety? Understanding what researchers call the ‘Liking Gap’ may help
âPart of becoming a good conversationalist is accurately deciphering how others feel about us.â Learn more about the âtendency to underestimate how much other people like usâ that researchers have dubbed “The Liking Gapâ by reading on: Why You Underestimate How Much Other People Like You
Make gratitude a family practice with these three tips
Fostering gratitude in our own lives–and in the lives of our children–is a process. This is because gratitude is an experience, not just a behavior. Learn how to inspire gratitude and grow empathy in your child by following these three daily practices.
Feeling overwhelmed? Consider finding relief by letting go of the things in your life that are weighing you down.
Itâs no secret that the spaces we live in–our homes, offices and vehicles–need regular maintenance and attention. It should come as no surprise, then, that the non-physical spaces we occupy–our minds, our obligations, our relationships–also need tending to. Learn more about the benefits of lightening up by reading on: Lighten Your Load
Emphasize the giving, and the thanks will follow: how to foster generosity this holiday season
For many of us, Thanksgiving is a time for family, reflection and giving thanks. However, emerging research suggests that the spirit of givingâhelping others, being thoughtful, practicing generosityâcan generate a sense of gratitude that spans beyond a single day of gratefulness. Thatâs because gratitude and generosity are part of a cycle that we may be able to harness in order to create a kinder, more generous society.
Here are three ways to help the generosity flow this holiday season and beyond:
Increase Your Brainâs Resilience By Building âPsychological Body Armorâ (PBA)
While anxiety and excessive stress are the two most significant factors that prevent a person from realizing happiness, the good news is that neural pathways in the brain areâand remainâmalleable.
This means that while we may feel helpless to the stressors in our lives, a psychological phenomenon known as neuroplasticity allows us to fortify ourselves against the things that threaten to emotionally destabilize us.
Eight Keys to End Bullying
From our friends that the Greater Good Science Center:
It is not complicated policies or grandiose programs that make the most difference, but rather consistent, daily, nurturing acts of reaching out to both children who bully and those who are are the receiving end of cruelty that bring about the most meaningful and lasting change.