An Interview with the World's Happiest Man
Matthieu Ricard, an author with a PhD in cell genetics, is also a Buddhist monk who serves as the Dalai Lama's French interpreter. In this interview, Matthieu speaks to us about his book, "Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill." He explores how individuals tend to spend considerable time and energy pursuing external circumstances in the hopes of attaining happiness, but expl... posted on May 14 2013, 20,917 reads

7 Tips to Transform Boredom
"One of the patron saints of my Happier at Home project, Samuel Johnson, wrote, "It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible." One "little thing" that can be a source of unhappiness is boredom. Waiting in traffic. Waiting for the subway. Doing the dishes. Waiting in a doctor's office. Listening to your thirteen year old ... posted on Apr 17 2013, 11,755 reads

Roger Ebert Goes Gently Into That Good Night
Celebrated film critic Roger Ebert passed away yesterday from cancer. In 2009, he'd shared a beautiful reflection on his own mortality, called 'Go Gently Into That Good Night:' "I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born... posted on Apr 05 2013, 8,309 reads

Why Mind-Wandering Robs You of Happiness
""The main thing is to get what little happiness there is out of life in this war-torn world," Clare Boothe Luce advised her young daughter, "because 'these are the good old days' now." And yet most of us are conditioned to escape into the past, into the future, into our to-do lists -- to wander off away from the present, even as we chronicle the moment in real-time on various lifestreaming platfo... posted on Apr 04 2013, 9,637 reads

Why Sleeping May Be More Important Than Studying
"Getting enough sleep is an under-valued but crucial part of learning. Contrary to students' belief that staying up all night to cram for an exam will lead to higher scores, truth is, the need for a good night's rest is even more important than finishing homework or studying for a test. A recent study in the journal Child Development showed that sacrificing sleep in order to study will actually ba... posted on Apr 03 2013, 6,638 reads

Aikido: The Art of Turning Conflict on its Head
"Growing up in a tough neighborhood of Kansas City, Andrew LeBar learned from an early age to hold his own. When someone pushed him, he pushed back."I had hard eyes," recalls LeBar, who still carries the stance of a bulldog and has the square jaw to match...Heading back to school at the University of Kansas in his 30s, LeBar decided to try aikido, a Japanese martial art, thinking he might pick up ... posted on Apr 01 2013, 7,773 reads

Six Ways to Sustainable Happiness
"Sustainable happiness takes into account that happiness is interconnected with other people, other species, and the natural environment by a remarkable web of interdependence. This means that our daily actions and decisions contribute to -- or detract from -- our own well-being, and that of others. Sometimes things that make us happy may harm our community, ecosystems, or future generations. Sus... posted on Mar 29 2013, 16,564 reads

Write Therapy: Patient As Narrator
While illness is universal, many of us find it difficult to face its grim truths. But writers and celebrities like Susan Sontag, Christopher Reeve, and Michael J. Fox among others have tackled the subject head on through their writing. In the last 20 years, increasing numbers of patients have written crisis or illness memoirs that have far reaching ripple effects. While the writing itself can be c... posted on Mar 24 2013, 6,125 reads

James Doty on Magic, Compassion and the Brain
James Doty is no stranger to struggle. He served as a caregiver in a family whose mother was an invalid and father suffered from alcoholism. They were on public assistance all that time. As he said, "At that age you feel like a leaf being blown by an ill wind." ...At age 13 he wandered into a magic store and had a serendipitous conversation with the mother of the owner who was there. She took ... posted on Feb 22 2013, 9,885 reads

The Science of Storytelling
"For over 27,000 years, since the first cave paintings were discovered, telling stories has been one of our most fundamental communication methods. Recently a good friend of mine gave me an introduction to the power of storytelling, and I wanted to learn more. Here is the science around storytelling and how we can use it to make better decisions every day." This intriguing article shares more.... posted on Feb 21 2013, 20,306 reads