By Julie Corliss We all face stressful situations throughout our lives, ranging from minor annoyances like traffic jams to more serious worries, such as a loved one’s grave illness. No matter what the cause, stress floods your body with hormones. Your heart pounds, your breathing speeds up, and your muscles tense. This so-called “stress response” is a normal reaction to…
By Mary Jane Coppock Boundaries are defined rules or limits that someone establishes to protect their security and wellbeing around others; we identify and express how other people can behave around us so that we feel safe. Boundaries can include setting expectations about how much alone time you need in a romantic relationship, preventing family members from speaking negatively about loved…
The pressure to raise a family can be enormous, and the thought of not being able to have children can make many people feel something is wrong with them. We talked to respected mental health professionals who work with people dealing with fertility problems to find out which coping strategies really work.
By April Hautea Intentions can be life changing—they’re a force that can help guide our interactions, help us make decisions, and help us set and reset our mood throughout the day. But we tend to think “intentions” are reserved for the person seated in lotus pose, in complete silence, in a salt cave, and/or floating on a whole new frequency. If…
When was the last time you wrote or received a love letter—from yourself? By Martha Tesema We often think of expressing love for others, but rarely take a moment to express some self-love to, well, ourselves. But it turns out, taking a moment for some reflective writing has proven benefits—like decreasing anxiety and increasing creativity and confidence. When you throw in…
By Patricia Martin The word “self-love” can feel elusive. We tend to see actionable ways to love others—listening to them, helping them, appreciating them—but when it comes to ourselves, love is often just a feeling and not something we can practice. So we don’t. Most of the time, this isn’t because we don’t love ourselves; it’s because we don’t know how to love ourselves in meaningful ways.…
By Molly Shea We’ve all experienced upwards and downward spirals. Something sets you off: a missed train, negative feedback at work, picking the wrong line at the grocery store. You feel a rush of frustration, mentally kicking yourself for whatever you—or someone else—did wrong. Next thing you know, everything seems to be going downhill. A spilled coffee on the rush from…
By Kira M. Newman In the summer of 2019, researchers from over 60 countries gathered at the International Positive Psychology Association’s 6th World Congress in Melbourne, Australia, to share cutting-edge insights on the science of wellbeing. Their findings added depth and complexity to our understanding of the major keys to a flourishing life—and there were several insights presented at the World Congress that…
By Martha Tesema It’s safe to say we’ve reached peak nostalgia. Whether it’s in the music we listen to (“1999” by Charli XCX, anyone?), the shows on Netflix that are all about various decades, or the proliferation of Timehop screenshots and #ThrowbackThursday posts (who hasn’t participated in at least one?), it’s pretty clear: The past is our friend, and we find a lot of joy in taking…
By Maya Nahra It’s the fear that things won’t work out like you’d hoped they will. It’s the panic you get when plans change. Or when anything changes. That’s anxiety. It’s the wired exhaustion that comes from an addiction to busy-ness. It fuels the perfectionism in your projects and tasks. It’s everyday anxiety, that can distract us from the magic of…
