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Floating Toward Happiness

When Trey Hearn’s brother, Chris, told him about floating, it sounded like a great way to offset back pain. But the brothers, both Air Force veterans, soon discovered there were many other benefits. “I had never been in a place where I had no outside stimuli to distract me,” Trey says. “Floating isn’t just about what it does to your body, it’s what it does to your brain. “I walked out of there completely different than when I went in.” Using a darkened tank filled with skin-temperature water and hundreds of pounds of salt, floating creates a complete sensory deprivation environment—and it’s getting a fresh look from both brain researchers and the medical community these days. The salt creates buoyancy to simulate a zero-gravity environment, and free of light, sound and other distractions, supporters claim it provides physical, mental and emotional rejuvenation. Studies show it lowers cortisol levels, decreases blood pressure and is successful in treating chronic pain. “I call it the ultimate ‘reset’ button,” says Justin Feinstein, Ph.D., clinical neuropsychologist at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “All the technology and this 24/7 connection we have today actually increases our levels of stress and anxiety. Floating is a great way to disconnect.” Justin, who specializes in treating anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, has seen such positive results from floating that he spearheaded the creation of the Float Clinic and Research Center at the brain research institute. The float center, which opened last year, is the first in the world to use fMRI technology to study how the brain reacts to floating (an fMRI detects metabolic changes in the brain, whereas the MRI basically detects anatomical changes). Currently, Sweden leads the world in floating research, where it is studied not only for anxiety and addiction but for depression and long-term, stress-related pain. One recent Swedish research project showed that patients who floated enjoyed better sleep, felt more optimistic and showed increases in the hormone prolactin, which bolsters the immune system and helps regulate metabolism. Other studies show it can reduce phobias, and there are reams of both scientific and anecdotal evidence about its relaxation benefits. Right now, we’re seeing a resurgence in float centers, but I’m one of the only (U.S.) scientists actively researching it,” Justin says. “What we need is a lot more science to show what it’s doing for the brain, because the outcomes are there. I hope in five years it has its own medical journal.” A new look at old science The idea of floating actually goes back to the mid-1950s, when a neuroscientist and psychoanalyst named John C. Lilly created isolation tanks to study the effects of sensory deprivation. His experimentation often overlapped his personal drug use, which Justin says compromised his validity to the scientific community. Scientists picked up the research again in the 1970s, with Peter Suedfeld and Roderick Borrie of the University of British Columbia conducting experiments on the therapeutic benefits of flotation tanks. They introduced the term Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy or REST, and today Peter continues researching and speaking on the positive effects of REST. Around the same time, Thomas Fine of the department of psychiatry at the Medical College of Ohio (now University of Toledo) began his research into floating, and in 1978 he co-created a Floatation REST research program at the college. He has since published numerous research papers on the benefits of flotation therapy, focusing primarily on the psychophysiological and endocrine changes related to floating and its effects on stress-related disorders. Thanks to the influx of new research, floating enjoyed moderate popularity in the 1970s and ’80s, then faded. Justin says a changed public consciousness, backed by renewed scientific awareness, is responsible for the current resurgence. “It’s only been in the last couple of years that public interest came back,” he says. “If I had to speculate, I would say that is because we are in the midst of a mindful revolution. This is part of the wave of present moment awareness and the desire for mindfulness. This is an extreme form of mindfulness.” An end to anxiety? Floating sessions are typically 60 to 90 minutes long, and during that time, the lack of sound, light and even tactile sensations allows the brain to completely relax. In that relaxed state, it moves from the busy Beta state to Alpha and, finally, begins producing low-frequency Theta waves, which are the brainwaves produced during REM sleep. Typically, it takes years of meditation practice to reach this state while awake; in floating, it normally occurs after about 30 minutes. “There are interoceptive paths that give our brain a quick readout of the state of our body,” Justin explains, adding that individuals with PTSD or anxiety show disruptions in the normal pathways of the brain. Essentially the amygdala, that part of the brain responsible for the “fight or flight” response, makes a habit of remaining hypervigilant and producing feelings of fear and anxiety. To correct those disturbances, Justin found, “we had to remove the distractions of the external world.” For many years, Justin tried teaching meditation to PTSD patients as a way to calm the mind and begin correcting disrupted brain paths, but he found it unsuccessful because patients were easily distracted. When he discovered floating, he realized he had found the perfect environment. The dark, quiet tank allows patients to reach the deep state of meditation required to begin correcting disrupted brain processes. Floating’s calming effect substantially diminishes anxiety, and repeated studies have shown that the effect remains even after the session has ended. One recent study indicates that four months after concluding a series of 12 float sessions, patients maintained a significant reduction in stress and anxiety. “Anxiety is nearly twice as common as depression, and 40 million Americans suffer from some form of it,” Justin says. “This is an incredible way to bring the brain back to normal function.” Giving back to veterans Trey and Chris Hearn became such firm believers in the benefits of floating that they opened Float Brothers Float Spa in Florida in January. Two of the four float pods are geared specifically to military clients, and those who present a documented medical diagnosis of PTSD are allowed to float free of charge. “Being part of that community, and knowing so many people who are affected by PTSD, we wanted to see what we could do to give back to them,” Trey explains. “Our hope is that, considering all the research that’s being done on it, it will become a certified therapy that psychiatrists and doctors can write a prescription for. Based on the amount of medical research that is being done, I truly believe that’s where we’re headed.” Floating for wellness Not everyone who floats does it to treat anxiety or other disorders, of course. Floating is emerging as a spa experience that allows clients to disconnect, decompress and recharge, as well as a clinical experience for those who have specific physical or emotional challenges they want to address. It has gained favor with celebrities including Susan Sarandon and former Fear Factor host Joe Rogan, the latter of whom claims that floating has made him a “totally different human being” and now airs podcasts touting its benefits. The Australian Institute of Sport, a sports training institution for high performance athletes, uses a flotation tank to aid in recovery as well as promote relaxation and sleep for its clients. The Epsom salt alone has many medical benefits; the National Academy of Sciences reports that most of us are magnesium-deficient, and soaking in the salt lets your body absorb magnesium. Improved levels of magnesium boost the body’s ability to use insulin and regulate electrolytes—and also help relieve stress, improve circulation and ease muscle pain. Unleashing creativity Many centers around the globe now promote floating as part of corporate wellness programs, citing such benefits as greater relaxation, increased productivity and enhanced creativity. While it has proved helpful for the busy business mind, musicians, writers and artists also find that floating helps get their creative juices flowing. Many experience vivid imagery during their float sessions, and Eric Camper, a computer animator who opened Float Source in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2014, compares it to “dreaming in high definition.” He is presently organizing a project with other animators to see how floating affects their work. Good Floatations, a float center in Boise, Idaho, even started the Floating Artist Project to study how floating affects artists’ creativity, not only in the tank but afterward. A study by the research team of Deborah Forgays and the late Donald G. Forgays of the University of Vermont used three different measurement tools to study the effect of floating on creativity. Their work showed a dramatic increase in creativity scores among a group that floated, while a control group of non-floaters who were left in a dark, quiet environment showed no change. The complete solitude of the tank, combined with the weightlessness created by the high salt content and the silent darkness, allows the brain to temporarily disengage from everyday thoughts and stimuli and deeply relax. With no signals from the brain to be active and “on call,” the body quickly follows suit. Referencing other studies that “provide positive evidence for the enhancement of the creativity process,” Deborah and Donald also observed that floating not only increased the subjects’ creativity scores, but lowered their levels of anxiety, tension, depression and fatigue—all of which are known creativity zappers. “It puts you in a brainwave state that enhances creativity,” explains Alex Ziegler, co-owner of the Northwest Float Center in Tacoma, Washington. “The great thing about floating is, across the board, it just has so many benefits. Once people try it, they tend to fall in love with it.” Paula Felps is the Science Editor for Live Happy.

Self-Care

10 Things Happy People Don’t Do

Happiness is something we all strive to attain, and yet it can be a struggle to get there. Circumstances—not to mention genes—can have a major impact on our moods. But research shows that much of our happiness depends on small choices we make on a day-to-day basis. Here on livehappy.com, we have chronicled many of the practices that happy people do on a regular basis. But what about the potentially disastrous, joy-killing choices that some of us fall into without even realizing it? We thought it would be just as important to learn the top behaviors that the happiest people don’t do. 1. Happy people don’t worry too much about what others think Happy people are still human, and everyone cares a little about what others think. But the difference is that happy people don’t ruminate or obsess about others’ opinions of them. They value other people’s perspectives and are open to advice and guidance, but happy people ultimately stay true to their core beliefs and don’t waver from them—even if that means not fitting in with everyone else. 2. Happy people don’t waste time doing things they dislike While there are always going to be things we don’t like doing (laundry, taxes, etc.), happy people don’t waste time on activities that they don’t have to do and don’t enjoy. Happy people don’t spend time watching TV shows they don’t love; they don’t attend events that make them feel anxious; they don’t stay in careers that don’t fill them with joy. One of the greatest secrets of happy people is that they know what they don’t enjoy, and they don’t waste time on it out of a sense of fear, inertia or obligation. 3. Happy people don’t try to manipulate or change other people Happy people know that change is an inside job, and the only way people change is if they want to. This knowledge is essential to happy living because it means not wasting time trying to manipulate others. Most happy people aren’t shy about sharing their opinions or thoughts, but they’re aware that they cannot force transformation in others (and that trying to do so will only be a waste of time). Instead they focus on what they can do to take themselves out of a negative situation. 4. Happy people don’t allow themselves to stay stuck in the past Focusing too much on the past is one of the quickest ways to become unhappy, and this is something that happy people inherently know to be true. While happy people do pay attention to—and strive to learn from—things that have happened in the past, they’re careful not to spend too much time ruminating on what was. Happy people know that the present is much more valuable than the past, and they focus most of their attention on the now. 5. Happy people don’t obsess over what might happen in the future It’s important to plan for the future, but it’s detrimental to obsess and worry over what might happen. Happy people know that there are a great many things they cannot control, and the future is one of them. Rather than worrying about what could go wrong, happy people strive to prepare as best they can and then direct their attention back to the present moment. 6. Happy people don’t strive to achieve absolute perfection Perfectionism is the enemy of happiness, and happy people are well aware of this. Though they strive to do their best and aim high with their goals, they aren’t caught up in having “perfect” lives or being the “perfect” spouse, worker or parent. They don’t try to compare their real lives to those “highlight reel” images on Instagram and Facebook. Sometimes good enough is good enough. 7. Happy people don’t forget to be thankful for what they have One of the quickest ways to access lasting happiness is to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Happy people spend more time thinking about what they’re lucky to have and very little time wishing for things they don’t have. They look for and find the silver lining in a bad situation, and are able to remind themselves of just how fortunate they are. 8. Happy people don’t value material possessions over experiences Scientific research has shown that people who use their money to buy experiences such as travel, sporting activities and outings to the theater enjoy a greater, more prolonged sense of happiness than those who spend money on objects. The happiest people seem to have figured this out; they value activities such as spending time with friends and family, traveling to new places and stepping outside of their comfort zones. 9. Happy people don’t seek fulfillment in the wrong places For happy people, fulfillment doesn’t come from the size of their bank accounts, the amount of likes on social media or the type of car they drive. Happy people see fulfillment in meaningful things—connections with others, spirituality and meaning, and rewarding career paths. They know that status symbols are not as valuable in the long run as a sense of belonging and giving back to the community and the world at large. 10. Happy people don’t stay in negative situations for long Perhaps most important of all, happy people don’t stay in negative situations or tolerate negative people in their lives. Happy people find a way to leave situations, careers and relationships that cause excessive amounts of stress. They avoid spending time with people who dwell on the negative. And under no circumstances do they tolerate emotional or physical abuse. While some people have, by default, happier temperaments than others, happiness is something that requires dedication and hard work. If you’re looking for more happiness in your life, don’t just think about the practices such as meditation, exercise and good sleep habits, but also consider this list of don’ts, so you won’t get stuck in a negativity trap. Dani DiPirro is an author, blogger and designer living in a suburb of Washington, D.C. In 2009, she launched the websitePositivelyPresent.comwith the intention of sharing her insights about living a positive and present life. Dani is the author ofStay Positive,The Positively Present Guide to Life and a variety ofe-books. She is also the founder of Twenty3, a design studio focused on promoting positive, modern graphic design and illustration.

Self-Care

Top 10 Reasons to subscribe to Live Happy magazine

The article you are trying to view is only accessible to Live Happy magazine subscribers. Subscribe toLive Happymagazinefor an informed, comprehensive look at what we can do to empower ourselves and make a positive difference in the world. You can subscribe today for only $14.95 for 1 year. Each print subscription includes free access to the digital edition. Go Digital–Get instant access to enriched content with handy links and video all in a convenient tablet format. Available in the Apple App Store or Google Play for $9.99 a year. Top 10 Reasons to subscribe to Live Happy magazine: A one-stop shop for all things positive and uplifting from the world of positive psychology. Entertaining celebrity interviews. Delicious recipes to try at home. Beautiful and award-winning illustrations! Insightful book reviews and recommendations to expand your positive outlook. We give you tips and tools for long-lasting happiness. Be part of a likeminded community focused on positivity with #happyacts and other activities. Exclusive deals to the Live Happy Store. Product recommendations to support your happy lifestyle. Many platforms to share great content with friends and family.

science

Should We Aim To Be Perfectly Happy?

If you were to score yourself on a scale of zero to 10, how happy were you yesterday? And how happy are you today with your life? Over the last decade, researchers, workplaces and governments have begun repeatedly measuring our levels of happiness. Why? As we have documented in Live Happy over the past two-and-a-half years, a growing body of research suggests happy people are more successful in marriages, friendships, earning money, work performance and physical health. So surely the higher our happiness scores, the more success we’ll all have. Right? Well perhaps. A more nuanced look at happiness “In our achievement-oriented culture, we often expect to see scores go up,” explains Dr. Peggy Kern from The University of Melbourne, and one of the world’s leading researchers on well-being and its impact. “But I think being 10 out of 10 on a happiness or well-being measure is probably maladaptive. It’s good to have a high level of happiness and to maintain that over time, but it’s also important to be aware that we can have too much of a good thing. And depending on what’s going on in your life, being happy is not always appropriate” For example, researchers have found that while many of us may believe reducing our level of stress is key to improving our happiness, the Gallup World Happiness Report has found that countries with high stress also score high on happiness and well-being. Despite the common perception, stress is not necessarily a bad thing. Happy lives are not stress-free, nor does a stress-free life guarantee happiness. The right kind of stress Health psychologist Kelly McGonigal in her best-selling book The Upside of Stress explains: “The Gallup Poll found that raising a child under 18 significantly increases the chance that you will experience a great deal of stress every day—and that you will smile and laugh a lot each day. Entrepreneurs who say that they experienced a great deal of stress yesterday are also more likely to say that they learned something interesting that day. Rather than being a sign that something is wrong with your life, feeling stressed can be a barometer for how engaged you are in activities and relationships that are personally meaningful.” As psychologists Richard Ryan, Veronika Hutaand Edward Deci write in a chapter of The Exploration of Happiness, “The more directly one aims to maximize pleasure and avoid pain, the more likely one is to produce instead a life bereft of depth, meaning and community.” The many facets of happiness “Happiness comprises multiple elements, such as positive emotions, engagement in life, relationships, a sense of meaning and accomplishment and good physical health,” explains Peggy. “By regularly measuring how we are doing in different areas, we can start to understand what happiness means to us personally, and how we’re impacted by the actions we choose to take and our life experiences.” “Again the goal is not a perfect score in every domain,” she says. “Instead, it’s about noticing when you are living in a way that is most adaptive for you based on what you value, the situations you find yourself in, the resources you have to draw upon and the results you want to achieve. Then take steps to maintain this consistently, or make adjusts as needed.” How can you broaden your measures of happiness? Here are six evidence-based steps: Track your well-being Take the free PERMAH Workplace Wellbeing Survey developed by Peggy to see how you’re doing, set small goals for improvement and access a database of more than 200 different evidence-based practices to improve your happiness at work. Balance your emotions Researchers have found that both positive and negative emotions have their place when it comes to flourishing. While positive emotions can boost our energy, self-confidence and creativity, negative emotions can trigger our awareness that something important to us is not right. They can be a catalyst for change. Happiness is about having the psychological flexibility to understand when heartfelt positive emotions serve us best, and when we need to practice being comfortably uncomfortable with stress and anxiety. You can track your emotions and reflect on their impact using the free two-minute test at www.positivityratio.com. Develop your strengths Researchers have found using our strengths—those things we’re good at and enjoy doing—can help us feel more confident, engaged and energized about our work. They also caution that focusing only on our strengths can give us a false sense of competence, result in over-used strengths and ignores the power of our weaknesses. Happiness requires being able to find the right strength, in the right amount and for the right outcomes, and being able to tackle our weaknesses head-on when they are important. You can start by discovering your strengths using the free 10-minute survey at www.viacharacter.org. Create authentic connections Considerable scientific evidence suggests other people matter. Practicing gratitude not only improves our relationships, but has also been found to reduce stress and negative emotions, and increase our levels of energy and resilience. Before you leave work each day, take the time to genuinely thank one person for how they made your day a little better. Be specific about what you appreciated and why. Find a healthy sense of meaning Adam Grant, Ph.D., expert in altruism and professor at the Wharton Business School of Business, notes the single strongest predictor of having a sense of meaning and purpose is the belief that what we do has a positive impact on others. Think about how what you do each day can help others—even if it’s just the person sitting next to you. Then take time each week to savor the difference you make. Be aware, however, that when our passion becomes obsession (and you hear yourself saying “I have to” instead of “I want to”), this can undermine happiness in the long term. So try to aim for balance, not obsession. Nurture hope While 89 percent of us believe tomorrow will be better than today, only 50 percent of us believe we can make it so. Researchers suggest this belief is the difference between wishing and hoping. When we hope, we set clear “want-to” goals, pathways to reach them, and we find ways to maintain our willpower. As a result, hope can add about an hour a day in terms of productivity, and it helps to improve our health and well-being. You can map your hopes at work by following these simple steps. So this year on the International Day of Happiness, what steps can you take to improve your happiness? Michelle McQuaid is a best-selling author and coach with a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Her work has been featured in Forbes, The Harvard Business Review, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal and many other outlets.

science

Get Ready for the International Day of Happiness

And once again Denmark tops the list of happiest countries. In 2012 the United Nations established March 20 as the International Day of Happiness (IDOH), acknowledging that well-being is as important a measure of a population as longevity or wealth. World Happiness Report Every year during the lead-up to IDOH, the United Nations releases the World Happiness Report 2016, a ranking of the world's countries ranked according. This year, the United States comes in at a tepid 13, which is two better than in 2015. Topping the list once again, after briefly losing first place to Switzerland last year, is Denmark: Land of the Frozen Smile. At the other end of the spectrum are war-torn countries such as Burundi, Iraq and Syria. Happiness walls Live Happy has adopted the IDOH celebration as our own; we start the month off with our #HappyActs campaign, which builds up a joyful momentum, encouraging everyone to spread happiness around the globe. Each year, giant orange Happiness Walls are erected across North America as a focal point for people to pledge how they will share happiness with others. To find out where you can get to a Happiness Wall near you, check the map here. Schools, offices and local community organizationscan also join in the celebration by hosting their own happiness walls. This Friday, March 18, our “Happiness Ambassadors” will be hosting 68 walls in cities across the country, including Cincinnati, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Detroit, Michigan, and many more. Family Happiness Boards If you won’t be able to make it to a Happiness Wall, you can always create a Family Happiness Board at home. It's a fun, crafty project you can do with the whole family that will bring back joyful memories all year long. Ten Practices for Choosing Joy Just in time for the International Day of Happiness, Live Happy is proud to launch our new book, Ten Practices for Choosing Joy. Live Happy Co-Founder and Editorial Director Deborah K. Heiszand award-winning documentary filmmaker Nicholas Kraft will be presenting the book for the first time at the United Nations Bookshop on Thursday, March 17, at 1 p.m.

Practice

Happiness Around the Clock

There are 1,440 minutes in a day, and while we can’t expect every moment to be blissful, we each have the means to increase our sense of joy, connection and well-being in our daily lives. Two main strategies will help you achieve this. One, through simple actions you can train your brain to “tilt toward positivity,” says neuroscientist Alex Korb, Ph.D., author of The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time. Two, you can live more harmoniously with your body’s natural rhythms by aligning activities like eating, sleeping and when you turn on and off the lights to your circadian clock. Throughout the day this built-in internal timer regulates everything from body temperature to the release of hunger hormones. Follow these cues and you’ll flourish, disrupt them and you’ll experience an avalanche of disturbances, from insomnia and weight gain to foggy thinking and depression. “Circadian rhythm hygiene is every bit as important to good health as washing your hands,” says Christopher Colwell, Ph.D., director of the Laboratory of Circadian and Sleep Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. With expert advice, we’ve put together a template of what these two strategies would look like in an average day. Consider it a tick-tock of contentment. Adjust the timing to your needs but try to follow the general principles for a week or two. You’ll likely find you experience more happy moments each and every day. 6:30 a.m.: Wake up to an alarm clock that mimics the rising sun. A study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology shows that gradual light exposure during the last 30 minutes of sleep can increase alertness, enhance both mental and physical performance, and improve mood. The Soleil Sleep Spa and the Philips Wake-Up Light both combine dawn simulation with nature sounds like morning birds or ocean waves. 6:45 a.m.: Devote a few minutes before you get out of bed to a mindful check-in. Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D., author of MBSR Every Day: Daily Practices from the Heart of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, suggests asking yourself questions like, “How am I starting this day? How is my body feeling? How am I feeling emotionally?” If you notice you’re tense, Elisha suggests widening your arms to expand your chest, opening your mouth a few times to stretch out the jaw muscles and dropping your shoulders. “You want to begin your day from a place of ease,” Elisha says. 6:50 a.m.: Make Your bed. This simple act creates a small sense of satisfaction and pride that sets a positive tone for the rest of your day. Charles Duhigg, author of the best-selling book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, notes that a daily tidying of the sheets correlates to better productivity and a greater sense of well-being. 7 a.m.: Shower with intention and attention. “Mindful showers have transformed my life,” Elisha says. “I always thought of the morning shower as one of those daily tasks you have to do.” That changed when he bought a bar of rose-scented soap. The fragrance evoked sensory memories of the summers he spent at his grandmother’s house in Burlington, Vermont, and summoned feelings of love, warmth and comfort. Now, Elisha begins his showers by holding the bar of soap, inhaling its scent for a few deep breaths and paying attention to the feeling of the warm water against his skin. “The small splurge on a special soap is a way of taking care of yourself, and that can boost your feelings of self-worth,” he says. 7:30 a.m.: Eat breakfast within the first two hours of waking up. “Delaying any longer than that and you’re skipping a meal, and that depletes your physical and mental energy,” says Lisa Dierks, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program. The ideal breakfast will include a protein, a grain and a fruit or vegetable. For example, plain Greek yogurt topped with berries and low-sugar granola. 8 a.m.: Take your first 10-minute dose of daily exercise. Don’t have time for a lengthy workout every day? No sweat! Shorter bouts of exercise can boost your well-being just as effectively as a single sustained session. Maybe even more. One recent study at the Healthy Lifestyles Research Center at Arizona State University showed that walking briskly for 10 minutes, three times a day, was significantly more effective in lowering blood pressure than a single half-hour session. 8:30 a.m.: Find ease during your morning commute. Whether we battle bumper-to-bumper traffic or crowded subway cars, the commute to work can be stressful. The road to relaxation? Cultivating a sense of community with your fellow commuters. When Elisha finds himself getting tense on the drive to Los Angeles’ Center for Mindful Living, which he co-founded and where he practices as a clinical psychologist, he turns inward rather than venting at the drivers around him. “I ask myself, ‘What am I really needing right now? What are the other drivers around me needing?’ ” The answer often leads him to silently recite, “May we all have more ease and patience in this traffic.” This creates a shift, Elisha says, “that completely transforms my experience. I go from disconnection to connection and the whole frustrated mind seems to dissipate.” 9 a.m.: Center yourself before you transition to a new activity. We often carry around the equivalent of an emotional doggy bag as we move through our day, bringing the stress of a harried morning to an important meeting or the fatigue of a three-hour business meeting to giving our kids a bath. “A lot of time our focus gets stolen,” says Sam Chase, author of Yoga & the Pursuit of Happiness and co-owner of New York’s Yoga to the People studio. To begin a new activity fully present, he suggests slowing down for a moment of transition. “When I’m about to go into a new situation, I’ll pause and take three breaths right at the doorway,” he says. “That helps me let go of what I was doing and open myself up to whatever I’m entering without distraction.” 12:30 p.m.: Choose a true happy meal for lunch. Skip the fast food and opt for a mix of protein, veggies, whole grains and healthy plant-based fats like those found in avocados or olive oil. “I think of food as edible happiness,” says chef and nutritionist Karen Wang Diggs, author of Happy Foods: Over 100 Mood-Boosting Recipes. “On the most fundamental level, food, beyond just sustaining us, has the capacity to nourish us on a deeper level.” When we eat heavily processed meals that are heavy in refined carbs, like white rice or pasta, and sugar, we set in motion a series of physiological responses that lead to the release of stress hormones, mood swings, fatigue, and, as a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed, a higher risk of depression. 1 p.m.: Take your second dose of daily exercise. Want to get even more benefit from your brisk walk? Seek out some greenery—a tree-lined street, a local park, an urban garden amid city skyscrapers. Studies show that a walk in nature reduces activity in the part of the brain associated with rumination, that endless loop of doomsday thinking and self-reproach. Another way to put more bounce in your step is to share your walk with a co-worker or two. Strong relationships with co-workers are one of the most important factors in workplace satisfaction. 3 p.m.: Beat the mid-late afternoon slump with a healthy alternative to a sugary snack. Karen suggests half an avocado with a sprinkling of sea salt and a dash of lemon juice; a slice of turkey or ham wrapped in a romaine lettuce leaf or ½ cup full-fat yogurt with a tablespoon of sunflower seeds. Instead of a cup of coffee—caffeine after 2 p.m. can interfere with sleep—try this energizing alternative: Keep a bottle of an essential oil, like rosemary or peppermint, in your desk drawer or purse. Place three drops in the palm of your hands, rub them together, hold your palms up to your face and inhale deeply for three breaths. 4:30 p.m.: Pause for a moment to consider your personal values. Make a habit of taking a break from meetings and emails for a moment of self-reflection and inspiration. Erica Brown, a Jewish scholar and educator, suggests thinking about a different aspiration or emotion each day. In her new book Take Your Soul to Work: 365 Meditations on Every Day Leadership, she suggests pondering questions like, “What does your authentic self look like when no one is looking?” “When is the last time you shared something of beauty with those who work with you?” and “Name something you love so much that it can never fail you.”6 p.m.: Build a better to-do list. Before you leave your workplace for the day, create a to-do list for tomorrow. Along with jotting down the tasks you need to complete, make sure you’re carving out time in your day for things you love to do. Researcher Lahnna Catalino, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, calls this “prioritizing positivity.” Her research shows that it’s a far more effective tactic for achieving happiness than striving to feel joy, contentment, gratitude or peace every second of the day. Prioritizing positivity means different things to different people, Lahnna says. Two activities that elicit positive emotions in most people are connecting with a loved one and doing something physically active. 7 p.m.: Enjoy dinner with family or friends. Close relationships with other people are a keystone to happiness, and the dinner table is a natural place for connecting. A new study of more than 11,000 adults shows that face-to-face interactions with friends and family members offer powerful protection against depression; contact by phone, text or emails don’t have the same power. Plus, a slew of studies have shown family meals lead to a wide range of benefits, including better grades and fewer incidences of behavior like smoking and drinking in teens. 7:30 p.m.: Close down your kitchen. Scientists are discovering that when you eat is nearly as important as what you eat. “Our bodies are designed to take in calories over 12 hours and fast for 12, says Christopher, the neuroscientist. Research at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego has shown that disrupting this natural order by, say, snacking at midnight or 2 a.m. leads not only to poor sleep and weight gain but also to the kind of metabolic disorders seen in people with diabetes. Now, a study just completed at Christopher’s lab suggests that mistimed eating can also impair memory and learning. 8 p.m.: Take your final dose of exercise. Go for a post-dinner stroll but avoid intense aerobic exercise. We fall asleep when our core body temperature drops, says Christopher, and when you do a heavy workout you raise the body temperature, thwarting slumber. 9 p.m.: Eliminate sources of blue light two hours before you hit the hay. “Light is a huge anchor for sleep,” says Colleen Ehrnstrom, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs in Denver, and co-author of the upcoming book End the Insomnia Struggle (coming October 2016). Just as the light of dawn awakens us, the dimming of light cues our body to produce melatonin, a hormone that quiets alertness and preps us for slumber. The kind of blue light that’s emitted by our electronics devices is especially disruptive. You can filter out some of the blue light by lowering the brightness of your screen, donning glasses with orange lenses or covering your screens with an orange filter. (You can find a range of products at lowbluelights.com.) 10:30 p.m.: Transition to bedtime with a nightly ritual. “We often think that going to sleep is like shutting off a computer,” Alex says. “You just hit the power button and you shut your brain down. But, in fact, your brain requires a little more time to relax and unwind.” Along with brushing your teeth and cleansing your skin, prime yourself for sleep with simple yoga stretches, prayer or meditation. 11 p.m.: Lights out. Spend your last few minutes of wakefulness noting a few things that you’re grateful for. These can be both big—the good health of your family—and small—the lemons ripening on your windowsill. Keeping a gratitude list will make you more optimistic, healthier and alert. You’ll also be more likely to make progress toward an important personal goal and more likely to help others. Shelley Levitt is an editor at large for Live Happy magazine.

Practice

Create a Family Happiness Board!

Whether you are part of a traditional family, or have a group of friends who are as close as family, chances are you derive a significant portion of your happiness from spending time and sharing experiences with the ones you love. Science tells us that looking forward to those experiences as well as reflecting on joyful memories generates a boost to your well-being that is almost equal to the experience itself! Bringing happiness back home As the editorial director of Live Happy, I’ve spoken at the United Nations and traveled the world as an ambassador for the importance of happiness in our lives. Now I am bringing the message back home with the Family Happiness Board—and I’d like to invite you to make one, too! A happiness board not only reflects past joyful moments, but it works as a reminder of what we love and how we can share happiness with the world around us. Here’s how I—and Live Happy contributing editor Sandra Bienkowski—put ours together. Please share photos of your boards with us using the hashtag #HappyActs on Twitter or Instagram. It’s also easy and fun to do. First, have each member of your family reflect on three questions: What makes me happy? What makes my family happy? What can we do together to make the world a happier place? Discuss the answers, and then get started making your board. Gather photos, quotes, mementos and other items that are meaningful and reflect on those times when you’ve been the happiest. I created a board with my family, and it was a blast. My children love to stare at it and talk about what every detail means to them. They point to the pictures and reminisce about vacations we took years ago. When we look at it together, it is an opportunity to go over what we do as a family to make others happy through our church, scouts or Live Happy’s #HappyActs campaign. Seeing the board hanging on the wall every day is both a reminder of great memories and a signal to do more to bring happiness to each other and to our community. It definitely raised the Gross National Happiness quotient in my house, and I highly recommend you give it a try, too. For more information on the International Day of Happiness on March 20 and how you can be a part of it, check happyacts.org.

Podcast

Holly Raynes on Creativity

Holly Raynes was inspired by a family member who was a Titanic survivor and another who escaped from Poland in World War II. Her book, Nation of Enemies, combines lessons from the past with a healthy fear of the modern landscape. A longtime member of Boston’s writing community, Holly has a history of trying anything once (acting, diving out of a plane and white water rafting). Out of all the things she has tried, writing and raising children seem to have stuck. In this episode, Live Happy co-founder and Editorial Director Deborah K. Heisz talks with Holly on one of 10 practices for choosing joy—creativity. What you'll learn in this podcast: The many forms of creativity Why we need to make time for creativity in our busy schedules The importance of supporting others in their creative journeys Links and resources mentioned in this episode: Read a free chapter from Nation of Enemies Purchase Live Happy: Ten Practices for Choosing Joy Thank you to our partner—AARP Life Reimagined!

Podcast

What’s Your Next Happy Act?

Mark Twain once wrote, “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer someone else up,” and now science proves his sentiment to be true. Research shows us that lasting happiness comes from helping, appreciating and caring for others. When we share small acts of kindness (Happy Acts) to boost someone's happiness with a simple smile or compliment, our own happiness soars. Soon, joy becomes contagious. And that’s what the International Day of Happiness on March 20 is all about—spreading happiness. Four years ago, the United Nations established March 20 as the International Day of Happiness after passing a resolution that “happiness is a fundamental human goal.” The initiative to declare the special day came from Bhutan—a country whose citizens are considered to be some of the most joyful in the world. “Happiness for the entire human family is one of the main goals of the United Nations,” says U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Each year Live Happy celebrates International Day of Happiness with its #HappyActs campaign to drive positive change and spread serious cheer around the globe. Orange Happiness Walls are put up across the United States and Canada as gathering places for people to pledge how they will share Happy Acts and inspire others to live purpose-driven, meaningful lives. Host your own wall! For those who can't make it out to one of the walls, we also encourage you to host your own happiness wall at your school, business or community organization. It's a great way to inspire and unify employees and coworkers, neighbors and students around a positive theme! For instructions on creating your own wall, check here for more information. March to happiness This year, Live Happy’s theme for International Day of Happiness is “March to Happiness.” On each day of March, Live Happy will share on its social media pages a simple Happy Act that you can do, or you can keep up by checking our calendar. Each science-backed tip will include exactly how it boosts well-being. Nanette Pelletier’s happy act has gone big. She wanted to share some warm meals with the homeless on Christmas. She started a program called Feed Hawaii’s Homeless with her husband and daughter three years ago and shared 18 warm meals. Nanette’s program quickly inspired others to donate food items, time and money to her cause. On Christmas Day 2015, they prepared and shared 1,000 meals and gifts for the homeless. “It was so amazing to see it come together and be successful, I cried the entire day as we pulled the pictures and video together,” she said. Each warm meal was wrapped with a Live Happy notecard bearing a positive message like, “Someone in the world is thinking of you right now.” Nanette said some people sobbed as they read the uplifting messages. Lots of celebrations are planned around the world, including happiness flash mobs (people who gather with delightfully original signs created to spread cheer to strangers—last year’s messages included “Hey, you got this!” and “Hey gorgeous—yes, you!—smile!”) and community potlucks designed to turn strangers into friends. Michele McKeag Larsen of The Joy Team will be putting up happiness billboards starting March 14 with positive messages like “You make a difference.” Or, “Make some magic. Fairy dust optional.” Your own Happy Acts can just be small, positive moments. Hold the door open for someone, buy coffee for the stranger behind you in line or give a compliment. Small acts can leave a big impact. When you are happy, it changes how you think and behave, opening you up to opportunities, and making life more positive and fun. Together we can turn the world into a more connected place and make happiness contagious. What #HappyActs will you do? Start planning now!

Reading

Birth of a Book

As those of us here on the Live Happy staff know very well, there are loads of books about happiness on the shelves. So what makes Live Happy: Ten Practices for Choosing Joy, special? We sat with our own editorial director, Deborah K. Heisz, to find out what sets this new book apart and what makes it a compelling read. LIVE HAPPY: Deborah, what made you decide we needed to create this book? DEBORAH K. HEISZ: As you said, bookshelves are full of books about happiness, and since I read them all—or try to, anyway—I noticed they fell into three distinct camps. One kind of happiness book is written by positive psychologists and is often targeted to the scientific community. Another kind of book is someone’s personal reflections on happiness, and the third type is written for businesspeople. We realized there was a huge gap that needed to be filled. There was no book that distilled the science on happiness—the results coming from the research of positive psychologists—for the average consumer and provide examples of people putting them into action. Doing that is the mission of this magazine and it was also the driving mission behind the book. LH: What do you think is the most common misperception people have about happiness? DH: Most people have the basic recipe for happiness exactly backward. They think that if only they had the right relationship, the right job, the right amount of money in the bank, then they would be happy. Yet happier people are more likely to attain success of all kinds. Happy people are the ones who have good relationships. Happy people get better jobs and make more money than unhappy people do. So you don't have to wait to be happy. My hope is that this book provides you with the tools to create happiness now. LH: The book’s subtitle says there are 10 practices for choosing joy. What are those practices? And why do you say that joy is something we can choose, since life can throw us all curveballs? DH: Happiness is a choice and something we can work on and increase all our lives. The wonderful thing is that so many aspects of our lives can bring us happiness. We just have to take the steps. We have to commit to the journey. The 10 practices that science shows us can lead to a happier life are these: a positive attitude, deep connections with other people, a sense our lives have meaning, creativity, gratitude, mindfulness, health, resilience, spirituality and giving back. Realizing that there are 10 things that contribute to joy means we all have an opportunity to become happier. Maybe you already take good care of your health and have a wonderfully positive attitude, but you realize you could develop your spirituality and resilience more. Or maybe you get stuck thinking about the past too much and you realize that becoming more mindful could hugely increase your well-being. And today there are so many people who have all the trappings of success, but they feel hollow inside—and they need to find a life of meaning that’s congruent with who they are. Identifying the practices we can work on is how we choose joy. LH: You also included 40 stories about people who used these practices to increase happiness. Why? DH: It’s one thing to learn the scientific facts about happiness, and another thing altogether to see how those facts play out in real people’s lives. Yes, we can conduct scientific research on happiness, but the insights take on much more power and are more memorable when we see how they truly impact people. LH: Were there particular stories that stood out for you? DH: There are so many stories in the book I will never forget. Some of them taught me practices that have made my life better…exercises in positive thinking and gratitude, for example. Some of them totally made my day, like the story of the Flennikens, who adopted a daughter and, 10 years later, a baby boy. Then just a few months later, they learned their son Zach’s two older brothers, ages 2 and 3, needed a home. Not only did the Flennikens take in both boys, months later they opened their hearts and home to his older sister. Within a year, their family went from three to seven! And, the dad told us, “We feel blessed beyond belief.” Then there were the stories that made me cry, stories of people who have been through the most awful tragedies I could ever imagine who somehow found their way back to happiness. I’m thinking in particular about Celeste Peterson, whose only child, Erin, was killed in the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007. Her daughter was her greatest joy, her greatest accomplishment as an at-home mom. Yet she found a way to make something good out of what happened by creating a nonprofit and using her motherly love to make a real difference in the lives of at-risk boys, including one her daughter had befriended. Those stories awe me. They show me how strong the human spirit is. They have changed me in a profound way. LH: Some of the stories are from celebrities. Why did you decide to include their stories in the book? DH: Just 10 of the 40 stories are from celebrities; the others are from regular people. The really interesting thing is, the celebrity stories aren’t any different from the others. We all have our struggles in life. We all need the same things to be happy—love, a sense our lives have meaning, the resilience to bounce back from setbacks. The journey to happiness seems to be a great equalizer. LH: What was the most important thing you learned from the book? DH: Anyone, regardless of what has happened to him or her, can find deep and lasting happiness. The science tells our brains that it’s true. But the stories go straight to our hearts. They are what really convince us that happiness is possible, no matter what. Order your copy of Live Happy: Ten Practices for Choosing Joy now to get a special package of happiness gifts.