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7 Essential Tips to Survive Holiday Meals as a Vegan

Whether you’re newly vegan or have been following a plant-based diet for years, the holiday season can be challenging. Once November hits, your mind goes to, “How will I survive the holidays?” Just smelling the delicious aromas coming from the kitchen will put your stomach in a frenzy. The holidays have a way of making a vegan meal plan difficult to sustain—and although more people than ever are converting to veganism, the odds of finding yourself at a dinner party full of other like-minded eaters is slim. With the right attitude and these essential tips, however, you can still have a happy holiday season—without going hungry. 1. Be wise: veganize. Whether you are a vegan host, or are having a party where there will be vegan guests, Tofurkey is a good choice for a main dish or alternate main dish. It comes with vegan stuffing, gravy and “turkey,” and many skeptical nonvegans have been known to appreciate the taste. You can also easily veganize most side dishes without losing any flavor. When making mashed potatoes or other starches, just substitute butter and cream with Earth Balance or another butter substitute, almond milk, olive oil or even tofu. When cooking green vegetables, steam them or sauté in olive oil. A quick Google search reveals a wealth of vegan recipes for every taste—even holiday desserts. 2. Bring a dish. If someone invites you to a dinner or cocktail party, offer to bring a dish that everyone can enjoy. This not only helps lighten the host’s load but also ensures you’ll have something to eat! 3. Appreciate the effort. If you notice someone is making an effort to make sure you are included in a meal, such as not putting cheese on the salad, be sure to take a big serving and say thank you! 4. Offer to help in the kitchen. Not only is helping out a kind gesture, but while you’re at it, you can help veganize some of the meal prep and take stress off the host. 5. Trample temptation. If you think you’ll be tempted by nonvegan foods at holiday parties, have a plan in place. Remember all the positive reasons why you became a vegan, but that will only take you so far. Like the Boy Scouts, you must be prepared. Before heading out to a dinner of questionable veganity, pack nuts, dried fruits or other favorite snacks in your pocket or bag. 6. Don’t diss the turkey. That giant golden-brown bird or carved ham at the center of the table probably looks unappetizing to you, but a holiday party is not the right place to tell someone their food is gross, give a speech about slaughterhouses, etc. If anything, that kind of attitude will steer meat eaters away from veganism for the foreseeable future. 7. You don’t have to be the spokesperson for veganism. You will probably receive questions about veganism at family holiday parties. It’s helpful to be prepared with grounded answers, but if you don’t feel like defending and explaining—or you’d rather not argue about animal rights with Uncle Abner, again—steer the conversation in another direction: “Did you see the new season of Stranger Things?” or “Are you doing anything fun on New Year’s Eve?” What is your strategy for navigating the holidays? Let us know in the comments below! Casey Johnson is Live Happy's E-Commerce Marketing Manager.

Self-Care

8 Expert Tips for Better, More Restful Sleep

Imagine your health is a triangle, and nutrition, exercise and sleep represent the three sides. Until recently, sleep had not received the same kind of serious attention as nutrition and physical fitness. However, it is just as important to your health, according to new research. Routinely sleeping less than six or seven hours per night can have serious consequences on your health, says Matthew Walker, Ph.D. He is a sleep scientist and the Director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley. In his new book, Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, he writes that sleep deficiency is associated with a compromised immune system, greater risk of cancer, problems with concentration and memory, and possible shortened life spans. Matthew recommends eight hours sleep a night and is actually lobbying doctors to prescribe sleep. (Sleep, not sleeping pills.) While some people may cut short their sleep on purpose to gain more waking hours, many others long for a solid eight hours of rest, but have trouble getting or staying asleep. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, approximately $63 billion is lost each year due to insomnia; it has become a national crisis. For many of us, active, stressed-out brains—our monkey minds—keep us in overdrive. How can we make our racing minds relax so we can get that badly needed sleep? “Count backwards from 300 by 3s,” says Dr. Michael Breus, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, sleep expert and author known as “The Sleep Doctor.” “It is mathematically so complicated you can’t think of anything else, and it is so boring you are out like a light.” Stress and anxiety are the big culprits for making us toss, turn and lose our ability to will ourselves back to sleep. Both cause physical tension in the body, Michael explains, and they also cause the body to release hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine, which boost energy and alertness and raise heart rate and blood pressure, priming the body for fight or flight. Fortunately, several approaches have proven effective to help you get back to sleep. Tips From Matthew Walker: 1. Get out of bed. If you are having trouble falling asleep for more than 15 minutes, he suggests getting out of bed so your brain doesn’t associate that as the place where you don’t sleep. He recommends going to a dim room to read a book—no digital devices, no screens. When you get sleepy again, go back to bed. 2. Meditate. Scientific data supports meditation as a powerful tool for falling asleep and getting back to sleep. Meditation can be as simple as paying attention to your breathing. 3. Keep it cool. Sleep in a cool room if you can; a temperature of around 68 degrees is ideal. Visit Matthew's website to learn more about the importance of sleep, and how to get more of it. Tips From Michael Breus: 4. Realize that how you spend your day impacts your night. Think of consistent attention to relaxation as a round-the-clock investment in your nightly sleep. Are you drinking excessive caffeine in the afternoon? Watching a scary movie right before bed? Expect to see an affect on your sleep. 5. Use self-directed phrases that promote relaxation. Quietly or silently repeat words or phrases such as “I feel supremely calm” that cultivate sensations of warmth and heaviness in different regions of the body. 6. Try 4-7-8 breathing. Inhale for four seconds, hold breath for seven seconds, exhale slowly for eight seconds. Repeat several times. “A long slow exhale has a meditative quality to it that is inherently relaxing,” he says. 7. Use visual imagery. Imagine yourself on a restful journey—such as floating peacefully in a calm ocean, being rocked by gentle waves and caressed by a warm breeze. This can help separate you from a stressful day. 8. Try progressive relaxation. Working with one area of the body at a time, tense and then relax each muscle group from your toes to the top of your head. As you do this, be aware of what your body feels like when it is relaxed. Visit Michael's website to find more advice for getting to sleep, articles, apps and more. Sandra Bilbray is a contributing editor for Live Happy, and the CEO and owner of themediaconcierge.net.

Practice

Create Family Rituals for Greater Happiness and Connection

Rituals that include elements like togetherness, positive emotions, laughter or resilience provide opportunities to build well-being for both parents and children. Free-Wheeling Fun When Australian Kath Ballard thinks about family rituals, bike riding immediately comes to mind. When her first child was 12 months old, Kath and her family transported bikes and camping gear to the Netherlands and spent three weeks exploring the Dutch coastline. When a second child came along, the family cycled down from Germany, through Slovakia and into Hungary. Years later, with a growing family of three children, the plans and equipment became even more intricate. The eldest, at 5 years old, cycled on her own, the 4-year-old pedaled on a tag-along bike, and the littlest rode in a child trailer. Together they cycled through Switzerland, Germany and Austria. “Part of how we define ourselves as a family and a big part of the memories we have as a family are created on these trips,” Kath says. “We talk about the memories for a long time after. Some of my happiest family memories are from these trips.” Kath says that bike trips have provided a resilience mindset for her family. “Most days are just a journey of joy, cycling from one playground to the next, and then on to ice cream rewards at the end of each day,” she says. “Some days were harder when the path was uphill or the distance between stops was longer. This is when working together as a family pulled us through, overcoming challenges and rewarding persistence. The satisfaction when we met these harder goals was always great.” Singing Brings Joy in Singapore Simple family rituals can foster well-being, especially when done regularly. Sha-En Yeo, a mom of two happy-go-lucky girls in Singapore, seizes opportunities for family connection whenever she finds them. Recently Sha-En’s oldest daughter, Sherrie, shared a song she had learned called “I Love the Mountains.” The song is fun and interactive with a place for singers to insert names of things they love in the chorus. “It’s such a catchy song,” says Sha-En. “We have taken to singing this song as a way to bring positivity into the home and to remember what we love.” Sha-En says in doing so, her family gets to know and appreciate what’s important to one another. Little Zoey, the youngest daughter, might sing about loving her pillow or her doggy, while older sister Sherrie sings of more sophisticated things, like loving her iPad or her best friend. Even Sha-En and her husband sing along, adding their own loves to the mix. Sha-En reports that it is not diffcult to sing along, which they do until they are all out of loves. “Generally, we are in a much better mood after singing,” she says. Serving Others—Together Tiffany Davis-Baer is a busy mom with three active boys and a daughter on the way. But that didn’t keep her from creating a ritual for teaching her sons about sacrifice and living a life of service. When Tiffany and her husband, Lt. Cmdr. Rick Baer, were stationed overseas, they noticed that great care was taken in the upkeep of cemeteries that honor the ultimate sacrifice of service members in the World Wars, including those from the United States. This level of care left such an impression on them that they vowed to teach their children the beauty of a life of service. Tiffany created a powerful family ritual of visiting her father’s grave at a national cemetery each holiday to honor the sacrifices he made. “We want our children to understand the significance of sacrifice and of service, as well,” Tiffany says. Not only are Tiffany and Rick teaching service, but they are also strengthening the foundation of well-being in their children. Psychologists Marshall Duke, Ph.D., and Robyn Fivush, Ph.D., teamed up on research that demonstrated the positive impact that knowledge of family history has on the self-esteem and well-being of children. Their “Do You Know...?” scale to assess a child’s knowledge of family narrative turns out to be an excellent predictor of children’s emotional health and well-being. Through the vehicle of family ritual, Tiffany and Rick have discovered a beautiful way to connect themselves and their children to something larger than themselves, one key element of well-being. “My oldest sings ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ beautifully and my middle recites the Pledge of Allegiance each time we pass a flag,” Tiffany says. “I believe they get it!They understand the sacrifice our ancestors made.” Beyond that, Tiffany also sees the values that her father instilled in her through the actions of her sons. “Each day I see my dad in them, the confidence, the strength to push themselves and each other. The ability to see the good in people,” she says. “I know my dad’s with us...he smiles at me through my sons.” Jan Stanley has worked with Fortune 500 companies, the U.S. Army and Harvard Business School to develop leaders. She is a writer, coach and speaker who helps others find meaning and joy in work and in life.

Flourishing Center

Understanding Other People’s Behavior

Take a glimpse into the world of positive psychology withThe Flourishing CenterPodcast. Each episode is divided into three sections giving you insights into living an authentic happy and flourishing life. What you'll learn in this podcast: Science Says—Explore the impact of technology on social well-being. LifeHack—Learn the simple strategy for brain matching. Practitioner’s Corner—Katrina Goff shares how transitioning from a dental clinic to a resilience coach and trainer changed her life. Learn more aboutThe Flourishing Center Read the interview from the Practitioner's Corner: Transcription provided by The Flourishing Center Emiliya: Hello everyone and welcome Katrina Goff to our positive psychology Practitioner Corner. Katrina is a Certified Resilience Trainer through The Flourishing Center. She helps people talk back to their thoughts, work with their emotions, and show up in the world the way they want to. She's joining us today from Ozark, Missouri. Something you might not know about Katrina is that she is a grandmother to 20 children. That's two-zero, 20 children. Her and her husband are blessed that between them they have eight children and 20 grandchildren. She is not only thriving in family but thriving in opportunities to share positive psychology with the world. We're so excited to have her here. Thank you Katrina. Katrina: Thank you Emiliya. It's a pleasure to be here today. Emiliya: Katrina, tell us what brought you to this work? Katrina: Oh my goodness. I was on a journey. I went back to school and I was working in a dental clinic. That's where most of my experience work wise has been. I was working with the military but also very passionate to me is helping people to have healthy, happy relationships. I thought that I was on a path to become a marriage and family therapist, but somewhere along the way all the work with the military and hearing my patients come in and share with me that they had PTSD. They would share their stories but I just always noticed their countenance dropped every time that they told me, "Ma'am, I might hit the floor if I hear a loud noise." When they just mentioned that they had PTSD, these very macho and brave men would look defeated. My first class with anything to do with positive psychology was a social psychology class. That was where I first learned about post traumatic growth. I was hooked. I had something that I could share with people that could give them hope rather than a diagnosis that didn't give them hope. I'll never forget the next patient that came in and shared with me that he had PTSD. I listened to his story as I always did and I sat there and then when the opportunity arose, I just asked the patient, "Have you ever heard of post traumatic growth?" He had not and he wanted to know more. I shared with him that it was growth that occurs after you've had a traumatic event and that you either experience a greater purpose and meaning in life, a connection to others, a greater appreciation for your own life, better relationships and connection to a cause. I'll never forget the look on that patient's face when he said, "Ma'am, I got that. I think I have that," and was able to share and pick out a story of how he had been in an improvised explosive device detonation, an IED. Through that, when he came back, he was a drill sergeant so he was able to share with his new recruits how to avoid IEDs because he had experienced it firsthand himself. His whole face lit up. You just saw the positive change that happened. That was my first piece of positive psychology that I learned and I couldn't get enough from there. Emiliya: Wow. What an incredibly touching story, Katrina. Thank you. What are some of the ways in which you're implementing positive psychology today? Katrina: I have been blessed to be able to implement it in many different ways. For the last four years, I've taught at a career college so I knew that these skills and positive psychology were the missing piece of the curriculum, that we could teach people skills and we could teach them knowledge in their field. Positive psychology helps people be able to handle life. We can teach skills that help you show up in the world the way that you want to. I use character strengths with my students so they were able to be prepared for an interview knowing where they were strong. They didn't go into an interview and say, "I'm bubbly." They actually knew where their strengths lied and how they had used them to help them through challenges. That was very empowering. I participated in several years of “character day” at the school and that was really always very rewarding for me as well. I taught a lot of resilience skills as well to my students. I found that growth mindset and fixed mindset showed up so much in my students and how I could help them to see that and to ask questions that were going to leave them somewhere rather than questions that just cause them to judge themselves. Emiliya: For our listeners that are tuning in that might not be familiar with growth mindset and fixed mindset, can you tell us how to share this concept with others? Katrina: I definitely can. Growth mindset and fixed mindset comes from Carol Dweck. I have to admit that I had the book for a while without ever reading it. I knew it was a book I wanted to get to but once I dove into that book and I could see how much that all of us have these tendencies to not just be one way or the other, but both of them show up in our lives in certain ways. Growth mindset will lead people to embrace challenges and to see that we can learn from failure. Fixed mindset tends to show up where you see people who are afraid to make any mistake whatsoever. They don't want to do a procedure. They don't want to learn a new task because they're afraid that they won't be good enough, and why make a mistake? I saw that so often with my students so I was able to teach them that we learn through making mistakes. That was the perfect place to be learning and making mistakes was when we had plastic patients rather than real patients because those times you don't want to make a mistake. I was able to help them to see that and to hopefully recognize it in other areas of their lives so that they could persevere outside the classroom with those skills as well. Emiliya: Thank you for sharing that Katrina. I'm curious, what are some of the more poignant ways in which positive psychology has personally impacted you? Katrina: I think one of the key things again is the character strengths and how, when I was able to recognize my own character strengths and how they showed up my life, then I could really feel free to incorporate those. Even though I was already incorporating them, they're how we show up in the world, but it really gave me a better understanding of myself. Plus, it helps me to look at others and be able to see their strengths and how teams are formed and how we can—where I'm weak and I can use where someone else is strong to accomplish a goal better. Growth mindset and fixed mindset shows up in my world as well. There are still challenges for me. I'm probably in that big group of people that feel that sales is one of those things that I'm just not good at, yet I know through all of this education and this field that we can learn and develop if we put enough time, practice, and get the right resources, that we can be good at anything that we choose to do in life and that there's nothing that's outside of our reach. It may take me a little bit longer, that may not be an area that I'm super strong in, but I can develop those skills. Emiliya: Thank you Katrina. What are some of the most exciting things you're up to right now? Katrina: I have just accepted a position at a community dental clinic as a coordinator of six dental clinics. With this work, I will be able to use positive psychology in my training and hiring and evaluations and putting teams together. I'm really, really excited to find a position that allows me to use my skills and my work as well as my love and passion and knowledge in positive psychology. It's just a great fit. I have a lot of freedom to incorporate this as I see will benefit the teams and the clinics. I'm really excited about that. Emiliya: Thank you Katrina. In positive psychology, we frequently talk a lot about the importance of self-care. We say that self-care is healthcare. What are some of the self-care principles that guide you in your day to day life? Katrina: I'm so glad you brought that up because that is something that I really do incorporate into my life. Sometimes we get so busy that we actually forget even though we know this is so important to who we are. It's so important to take that time to replenish ourselves. One of the things that I do that my husband thinks is pretty funny is I refuse to choose where we eat. It’s something that depletes me to make that decision, so I don't really like that; I save my decisions for more important things in life, so I tell him I don't have to choose where we eat. I'll just pick what I want when we get there. I love being out in nature. I do love the beauty of the sunrise and the sunset and the stars and the ocean. Recently, my husband and I just got back from Florida. We were able to take some down time to just really invest in ourselves personally and in our relationship because both of us are in this helping field of coaching and speaking and training. We do tend to put so many other people before ourselves so we do have to recognize that self-care, whether that's a bubble bath, whether that's just quiet time, your favorite music, exercise, whatever that works for you. For me, I enjoy quiet time and I do enjoy just the beauty of nature around me. Emiliya: Thank you for sharing that. One of the questions we've been asking our interviewees is: What is your definition of what it means to flourish? Katrina: That's a great question, Emiliya. I definitely love “to show up the world the way that you want to.” I think that we all have that ability when we are equipped with the skillset and mindset of resilience. It really does help us to push through life and to thrive. I feel like when we're using our gifts, our skills, and our passions and we're incorporating that as our purpose in life, how we show up in this world, that's when I feel like I'm thriving. That's where I feel like I am right now in my life because that I have been equipped with the knowledge from The Flourishing Center and through other sources as well and that I know what my gifts are, I know what my strengths are, and I know what I'm passionate about, and I know that I get to show up in the world and I get to use my purpose. I take my purpose with me everywhere that I am. I think so many people are so scared of the word purpose and they are thinking it's elusive in that they can't reach it when our purpose is what we're living daily. We can take that with us. Recently, I was struggling with a few things. We hear when your why is big enough, you don't have to worry about your how. I thought about that and it's so true but when your why is big enough, you don't have to worry about your how or your where. All you have to worry about is that you do because you take that calling and that purpose with you. When you do that, you are thriving. Emiliya: Wow. Such an inspiration with those words, Katrina. Yes, the words “showing up the world the way that you want to,” which refers it to me by Dr. Srikumar Rao, are ones that I both repeat often. It's a question I ask myself often, "Am I showing up in the world the way that I want to? How do I want to show up in the world around this situation?" It's a powerful question to ask. Katrina, what have you found have been some of the biggest obstacles you faced in trying to introduce positive psychology? Some would say, "Wow, in a dental office, how does that work?" I would imagine that not every single person is not as bright eyed and bushy tailed, or some people might think you've drank some Kool-Aid. I think one of the biggest challenges is just helping people to understand that positive psychology isn't “happyology.” It isn't about happy all the time. There is definitely times in our lives and situations where it's not appropriate to be happy but working with our emotions, not getting stuck in our emotions, is one of the things that I really want people to know. That is how I want to help them in this world, is learning when and how. It's learning character strengths, when you can overuse one or underuse one. There's just so much that we can use in positive psychology to touch every person. I believe it belongs in every company, every organization. I think just that it's still so new to a lot of people—they just aren't understanding what we have to offer in the world. I think reframing it in ways that really help people to realize the benefit is one of the ways that we can push past some of these challenges. Emiliya: Katrina, how can people learn more about you and follow up with you if they have any questions about your work? Katrina: Probably the best way is on my Facebook, PS3 Coaching. That's usually where you'll see my workshops that I have going on. You'll also see a link to the character strengths survey so that everyone can have access to that information. If they want more information on what to do from that, then they can reach me. I give a free consultation and help people to see if incorporating coaching can help them to reach those goals in their life that they would like to. I give a lot of workshops at the Bounce Back Better® system. Thank you, Emiliya, for creating that and sharing that with us so that we can share it in the world, one of the most incredible experiences that I ever had to go through the program as well as the CAPP Program. Both of those are so intense in my life and they have really equipped me with everything I need to help people to know more about this work. I teach pieces of positive psychology that I incorporate in with MLMs. I recently did a Growing Your Mindset, Growing Your Business. I just incorporated some pieces of the growth mindset from Carol Dweck and some other elements that I feel like are very important for people to grow their business and just understand those key elements of how our self-doubt shows up and what we can do with that. Emiliya: I know earlier we mentioned that you have such a robust family. I'm curious, how do you bring positive psychology to eight children and 20 grandchildren? Katrina: They get it whether they want it or not probably. It's who I am. It's how I show up in the world. I love that I have this knowledge base to share with my children and our grandchildren, teaching them how to look for what's strong in others, even growth mindset. I sat down with one of my granddaughters who has very high expectations for herself. She was reading and every time she came to a word that she didn't understand, if I had to help her with the word or if I chose to help her when she wasn't getting the word, then she would stop and she would go back to the page and start all over again. I thought, "Well, how can I incorporate growth mindset into this situation with my granddaughter to help her to understand?" I said, "Can I read the next poem in your book?" She said, "Yes, Nana, you can." I started to read and I got to a word and I pretended that I didn't understand the word or didn't know how to pronounce the word and I tried to pronounce it. Then, I said, "Can you help me with this? This is kind of a tough one." I said, "You know? It's okay that we don't know every word. It's all right that we're just learning. The next time we'll probably get it right after we learn it." We got through that and I did that exercise with her a few times. The next time when she went to read again, every time she came to a word that she would try and did not know how to pronounce, she would look at me, I would help her and then she would say it and she would continue on. She didn't have the need to go back to the beginning of the story again because she didn't want to be wrong. I thought, "Wow, I teach this but this is real time." We can see how beneficial this is in real time to teach our children and our grandchildren that it's our right to make a mistake. We don't have to be perfect and we learn from our mistakes. Emiliya: I love that. Thank you for sharing such a specific and impactful way to bring growth mindset into the life of a child. Again, just want to highlight how it's the micro moments, those tiny little moments that add up to the bigger changes that we can make over time. Katrina, thank you so much for being here with us. It's been an honor to learn more about you and how you're implementing this work in the world. Thank you so much for sharing everything that you have with us. Katrina: Thank you Emiliya. I really appreciated the opportunity. As I said before, I can't thank you enough for creating the CAPP Program, the Certification in Applied Positive Psychology, and I followed that program for a while before I was able to step out and take it. It was one of the most impactful things in my entire life. Then with the Bounce Back Better® Program as well. Everyone needs this information. Every company, every organization, every school needs it. I'm just so proud to be able to pin it into my piece of the world and help people to have the skills to face adversity and just keep going. Emiliya: Thank you so much Katrina. It's an honor to be able to just create the container and share these tools. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Have a question about the science of happiness and wellbeing? Or, have an issue that you'd love a life hack around? Send us a message to info@theflourishingcenter.com and we'd love to offer you some positive psychology based skills to address your questions. Thanks for listening and we look forward to connecting with you soon.

Illustration of animals with religious symbols on them

science

Have a Little Faith to Find Happiness

Dena Fields can’t remember a time when religious ceremonies weren’t part of her life. As the daughter of a Church of Christ pastor, she grew up in an environment where religious rituals were part of her daily routine. Prayers, bible study and singing hymns were ways of connecting with her faith, and even as she grew older and pushed back against many of her parents’ rules, she found that she still valued that foundation. “For me, being raised as a Christian really opened a door,” says Dena, a hairstylist who also teaches yoga. “What I grew up with was very, very structured, and I took components of that with me. I still practice some of those very same things,” even though her beliefs have deepened and evolved since childhood. She has explored a variety of religions and practices but always finds components of the faith of her childhood within them. “My daily prayer and meditation time is really important to me,” Dena says. “I spend about 10 minutes talking to God and praying, and then spend about 20 minutes listening and meditating. Then I finish with worship like singing and expressing gratitude.” She says her upbringing showed her the importance of devoting time to such practices and gave her the discipline to commit to that time even on days when she is busy or doesn’t feel like doing it. Along the way, she has incorporated elements of other faiths into her spiritual journey, as well as pursuing aspects of positive psychology practices. “Things like gratitude and joy and mindfulness—those all are things that I feel raise me to a higher level. I feel the world needs that, so practicing positive psychology helps me keep that front of mind. And when I am reminded to look for the good in people, it helps raise me up, too.” Gratitude, she believes, is among the most important practices. She keeps a journal and spends her 10-minute drive to work giving thanks for the day ahead of her. “Being grateful keeps me in a place of expecting good things to happen in my life and knowing that I am making a difference,” she says, adding that she doesn’t draw a line between the spiritual rituals and psychology practices. “For me, all of these different beliefs and practices work together.” Spiritual Melting Pots Dena’s multifaceted approach to spirituality isn’t entirely unique. In fact, the many parallels between positive psychology and religion have led researchers to compare the two and explore what each can learn from the other. Religious practice and positive psychology share many traits. For example, Christianity is among the many religions that emphasizes virtues such as gratitude, humility, hope and forgiveness, among others. Buddhism encourages meditation and the cultivation of wisdom and compassion. Judaism has a strong focus on community, giving back and finding meaning. Positive psychology encourages all those virtues and practices; you might say they follow the same path using different vehicles. “If you look at character strengths, a lot of those came from religion,” says Greg Evans, Ph.D., a faculty member of The Flourishing Center and current chair of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association. Developing our character strengths—24 positive attributes that fall under six virtue categories—promotes well-being. Among those strengths are forgiveness, humility, self-control, gratitude, hope and spirituality. “In general, positive psychology is just viewing it through a different lens,” Greg says. “I think it’s important for us to look at what religion is doing well, what positive psychology can learn from that, and what religion might be able to learn from positive psychology.” Many Blessings Science repeatedly supports the far-reaching benefits of faith and spirituality. Longevity researcher Dan Buettner says that people who attend church services four times a month add, on average, up to 14 years to their life expectancy, regardless of their denomination. Being part of a community of like-minded believers also adds tremendously to the support believers get from a strong faith foundation. Practicing faith fills us with a sense of purpose—which is important for satisfaction and overall well-being—and helps us navigate life’s ups and downs. “You have a weekly chance to downshift, you can relinquish some of the stress in your life and you have a built-in social network—all of those things favor a better health outcome,” Dan notes. “And, if you’re going to church, you’re less likely to be participating in risky behaviors.” In fact, Thomas G. Plante, editor of the book Religion, Spirituality, and Positive Psychology: Understanding the Psychological Fruits of Faith, reviewed more than 20 studies conducted between 1996 and 2012 and found that to be a consistent outcome. The studies showed that, overall, people who regularly engage in a spiritual or religious activity are less likely to participate in behaviors such as drug abuse, unprotected sex and smoking. They show fewer incidents of alcoholism, depression and anxiety and enjoy better physical health. “Even when people aren’t religious, but they participate in a regular religious practice, they do well,” Greg explains. “Religion supports feelings of social connection and, specifically, engages you in the feeling of doing something good for others.” Peace of Mind Rebecca Carpenter, a devout Christian who lives in Carrollton, Texas, has been involved in the church her entire life. Like Dena, she grew up as the daughter of a minister, and today she works as an administrator in the youth education department of her Methodist church. She is involved in mission work and ministries related to her church, including those for single women. “When you are raised in a home where you have a minister as a dad and they practice the faith, they teach you and that is all that you know,” she says. “It’s not until you get older that you make it your own. You have to learn that it is your own faith and no one else’s. That is the walk.” Rebecca values the connection that comes both from her volunteer work with the church and the fellowship she enjoys with other congregation members. “When you are together in a group, you share with each other what you have learned and it keeps your faith going,” she explains. “You can share bible scripture with each other or just pray together and just share. It’s a big part of your faith.” Beyond that social connection, the sense of transcendence, or being connected to something larger than ourselves, has a powerful effect on both our physical and mental well-being, Greg says. That connection to something that can outlast or outlive you creates a sense of deeper meaning. For Rebecca, that connection gives her greater peace of mind every day. Currently facing breast cancer for the second time, she is moved by the prayers, love and support of her fellow church members, but she also feels the transcendence of her personal relationship with God. “It keeps me balanced to know that I am connected with God,” she says. “Things will knock you down, but the good thing is that when you do give that burden up and pray and ask God to help you get through something, that’s when the peace comes. When I started praying through that, that’s where the peace came and the anxiety finally went away.” In Sickness and in Health Religious, spiritual and positive psychology practices share the benefit of providing a path toward greater personal happiness and positive emotion. Patty Van Cappellen, Ph.D., of Duke University, says studies have shown us specifically which religious practices cause a greater sense of well-being, creating a sort of guideline for people who are interested in enhancing positivity in their lives. “What it shows us is that there are ways to achieve that whether you’re religious or not. It gives us an idea of the ingredients that are most important, and how we can build those resources.” Getting people involved may be easier than keeping them engaged, however. While some people, like Dena and Rebecca, consider spiritual practices an essential part of their daily routine, others turn to it only on an as-needed basis. That’s one more shared trait of religion and positive psychology: It’s not unusual for individuals to become interested in it because they’re facing personal adversity. When their difficult time has passed, they may lose interest and discontinue their practice. Patty is studying how to keep people engaged in their practices even when life is going well. “Research shows that people tend to heavily invest in religion and spirituality during difficult times, but they may opt out when times are good,” she says. “The truth is, adversity is not the only path to discovering these things. When there is no adversity, then it opens the door for people to have meaningful, uplifting emotions like awe. If we can learn how to build these resources when we’re feeling good, we can prime ourselves for more of these transcendent moments.” Listen to our podcast: Religion and Positive Psychology With Patty Van Cappellen Read more: Faith and Positive Psychology Merge in The Happiness Prayer Read more: 10 Best Books About Faith Paula Felps is the Science Editor for Live Happy magazine.

Flourishing Center

Managing Social Comparison

Take a glimpse into the world of positive psychology withThe Flourishing CenterPodcast. Each episode is divided into three sections giving you insights into living an authentic happy and flourishing life. What you'll learn in this podcast: Science Says—Learn how social comparison impacts eating behaviors. LifeHack—Explore how to stop worrying what other people think of you. Practitioner’s Corner—Nancy Bonamy shares how her journey of spreading positive psychology is changing the lives of peope in need. Learn more aboutThe Flourishing Center Read the interview from the Practitioner's Corner: Transcription provided by The Flourishing Center Emiliya: Hello everyone and join me in welcoming Nancy Bonamy. She is an expert in transitions, resilience and well-being. She specializes in helping humanitarian aide workers and ex patriots by helping them boost positive changes in their life and their career. She's joining us from Washington, D.C. However, she has lived in many parts of the world, which she'll tell you about. Something you might not know about Nancy is that she loves chocolate and every day is marked with just a little bit of sweetness, preferably Swiss chocolate because she is Swiss. So Nancy, it is so great to have you. Thank you for being here with us. Nancy: Thank you very much Emily for welcoming me here today. Emiliya: Nancy, tell us how did you get started in the field of Positive Psychology? Nancy: To make a long story short, I think to explain that I need to just go back little bit about where I come from meaning like you just mentioned at the beginning, I'm a military expatriate, meaning I am expatriate more than 20 years and I lived a lot of transition in my life. I lived in 10 different countries, all over the world and I had as well four different careers. At one stage, all these changes were ... at the end I could change them into something positive, basically. But there were two careers, two transitions that were more difficult for me. The day when I became a mom because it was like a tsunami in my life. I had to find again what were my priorities, how to balance my working and personal life. That was a big change for me. And the day I came out from the humanitarian field because I worked for 10 years as a humanitarian delegate in war countries in armed conflict situations. The day I decided to quit this job was very difficult for me to find a new career that as meaningful as this one, that could combine all my past experiences. That's where little by little where I came to Positive Psychology, meaning that I started to read books about Positive Psychology to find out how I could maybe better transition during that time. Finally, during all this time, I decided to study again and to study coaching. So I did that in New York where I did your certification in personal and professional coaching. During this training I learned a lot about Positive Psychology but it was only on the surface. I decided then later to go more in depth into that and it's when I started to do certification with The Flourishing Center. Emiliya: Beautiful Nancy. Thank you. Tell us, what are some of the ways in which you're utilizing Positive Psychology professionally? Nancy: It changed a lot for me. I was using a few things here and there but thanks to the certification with The Flourishing Center I really now have a lot, a lot of different tools that are all science based to offer to my clients. What I use a lot with my specific niche of clients, meaning the expatriates community and the humanitarian workers, is how to transition better, how to with positive changes, how to have a vision about what you would like to do not only next year but in five or 10 years because from there on they can make better decision for today. Or how to increase your well-being. What happens often with humanitarians, for example, is they take care of others. But they forget to take care of themselves, or they think they don't have the time, or it's not a priority. What I learned through my personal experience, as a humanitarian, as a mother, and then thanks to the training is that to be able to take good care of others really need to take care of ourselves first. There are a lot of tools for that. One that was at least for me very important that I often give to my clients is how to deal better with your mind chatter. For example, how to deal better with your ... should it be your voice, should it be your relationship, to be first kind with yourself as well so that you flourish better. That's one thing, that mindfulness is very important. It is a very important component of my coaching as well. Then it's a lot about goal setting, goal meeting, how to reach our goals because often its easy, not always easy but if we set goals it doesn't mean that we will meet them. There are really great tools to help us meet our goals, how to make sure that we can do that. It's kind of tough called resilience, it's a huge part of what I speak about. Mind chatter is one component but it’s as well about emotional resilience, how to deal with your emotions and then even physical resilience, which was for me a big discovery during this certification. How important it is to move, exercising of course but to move. Simply to not be always on your chair and to move, to breath well, and all this stuff. Emiliya: Tell us more about your background. Where were you actually born and what are the places that you've been to? Nancy: Okay so I was born in Kinshasa in DRC in Africa. After that when I was only one I moved to Germany for four years. After that I moved to Switzerland, which is my country of origin, and I lived there until I was 20. All my life I said I would go back to Africa because I was born there, and I wanted to go back to Africa. At first what I did, I was a teacher for primary schools, so the first posting as a teacher was in Africa in Madagascar. I did three years there as a teacher. After that I went to France where I changed completely my career, I became a professional manager for professional musicians, so I had musicians to get into festivals and to have and all this stuff basically. After that I decided to really go into a humanitarian organization, so I started to work with International Committee of the Red Cross. There I worked first in Jerusalem. Then I went to Chechnya, then I went to Sudan, south Sudan in Darfur at that time. After that I worked in Iraq, and then a few years in Geneva as well, so I came back as well in my home country, which is why expatriates often always say it's more difficult to go back home than an expatriation as such. So it's an experience as well to go back home after a few years of expatriation. I was three or four years I Switzerland. Then it was countries with more diplomacy than really conflict situations, so we went to New York and now we're in Washington. Actually my husband is still working for the International Red Cross so that's why my life is still ... every three years we know that we move, so I had to find as well a job that is compatible with my husband moving all the time. My small children that are now seven and nine and the fact that I want to spend time with them but as well flourish professionally. That was the big transition for me. That's what I have now, by being self-employed, being a coach, and offering now workshops as well about Positive Psychology. Emiliya: So much richness to your life experience, and it's inspiring for me to hear you share also with our listeners this ease with which you just let yourself go where the universe is taking you. I think so often people feel a little stuck like how do I make a career transition. Well you've had four. You've had four and that's one of the beautiful things about our world today is that people can continue to learn and grow and follow their heart and just see where they're being guided. Nancy I know that there's so much resilience work that you must find within yourself as you said moving so often and also with your young children and how you helped them adapt to the changes. I'm curious what have you learned about helping your children to grow up to be more resilient, go through Positive Psychology and through your life experience. Nancy: Yeah it's really the big, because when I started the Positive Psychology certification I thought about it especially to use it professionally, but it was such a person transformation and now I brought a lot of it to my family and to my children. I love all the tools that we can apply to the kids. A few things ... first I explain to them how the brain works because that's a big finding for us. But a big training for them to understand there are times when suddenly ... when we're under emotions we have really the amygdala who is taking control, and it's not our thinking part who is taking control so just by breathing, just by taking some time to breathe they can come back to a place where they can think better about the situation, not react too fast. About growth mindset, a lot meaning that ... I really emphasize the importance ... of its important, the learning process is much more important than the result as such. Saying it's good if you have good grades. It's good if you are good at something but what is more important is the energy you put into it and if you are not good at something you can decide to be good in that. You just need to work on that. I think that for one for my son it was important messages to bring to him. As I explained once, I have as well done a lot with them about strengths. I love this topic, so I know from Positive Psychology now that we have 24 strengths in us. Some of are more developed or less but we have all of them in us. That is something that I wanted to discuss with my kids and bring this vocabulary to them to know that perseverance, kindness, all that are really strengths, creativity and so on. Discuss that and see what are their strengths and how they could use their strengths when they face a problem or when they want to do something and so on. That was real interesting. We did a tree, a family tree with the strengths of each of us so that we can see together where we are. We have common strengths and where one of us can really bring his own strength in the family and so on. Emiliya: I love that. Thank you so much for highlighting those three absolute powerful things to bring into the family dynamic. Teaching children about how their brain works that they have an emotional part of their brain and a rational part of their brain and what happens when the emotional brain gets a bit hijacked is so incredible. And to give them words at such a young age to capture that they have strengths within them and it’s not just what they do. They're different than their skills and their talents. Their strengths of how they'd be in the world and how they shine and that we can highlight and amplify these things. Nancy, I'm curious, what are some of the interventions that have helped your expatriates and your humanitarian workers through your work? What resonates the most with them? Nancy: I think there are two or three things. One is with all of them I ask them to pass a test to find their strengths actually. And for most of them it's very new and very strange at the beginning to speak about strengths and not only weaknesses. And to have this knowledge it really had them to then use their strengths or double up their strengths to transition better to create the change that they want. Or for some of them want to career to be able to speak about them in a different way with a new vocabulary. That's one thing. Another thing that's often very surprising for them is that some of them are spouses of expatriates, and they come ... they follow their husband, and they left their job, their life, their friends, their family home and they are now here, and they don't know what to do in their life here. They consider this time in expatriation as a parenthesis for them and what I tell them is to really look into what do they want in five years. What would be their best self in five or 10 years and for them it's strange at the beginning that I ask to project themselves so far because they think about just now, here as an expatriate. And that's wrong because if they want to take good decision here today or to make the most of the expatriation here today, they really need to have a vision about what they want to have in five or 10 years. That's one thing that we do through visualization. Yes of course I speak a lot more in my workshops of the importance of being in the present moment because again as an expatriate we tend to either ... some of them tend to either thing about the what they left and the reason, the reminding in the past in their home country, or the previous country because they loved it so much. Some are already, all the time, what will be next, what will be after this expatriation, they don't savor so much the present time. That's so important to be really in the moment and to savor it. Not to regret later on that we didn't savor and make the most of what we had right now. That we know now is Positive Psychology. That it's anyway one of the most important thing for your well-being is to be able to savor what you have and to be grateful for what you have, to find the positive in your situation today. There are a lots that I can now give to the expatriate that I am able to relate to Positive Psychology. Emiliya: Beautiful. Thank you Nancy. You mentioned that mind chatter is one of the skills that made the biggest impact on you. I'm curious, what are some of the other Positive Psychology interventions that nurture your self-care? Nancy: Again quite a few. I think I mentioned mindfulness again. That's really a huge one. Not only meditation but really mindfulness. I'm the type of person, I go a lot to buy foods. I love driving. But when I was going somewhere since ever, I'm running to that place, so I was only concerned about the destination and never enjoying the journey to the destination. When I go to pick up my kids, I was almost running to go to pick them up and with my thought or either it was what I still had to do or with what I will have to do. Now I learned to appreciate the journey to them, and I know that it's really helping myself because my mind is making a pause, and my mind is looking at the nature around because in Washington there are a lot of trees, so it's looking at what's going on around, it's smiling to the person I just see. It's really savoring the fact that I'm walking and not only thinking about the next step. That give me a lot more presence for my children. A lot of more presence for myself. That's one of the thing. I learned through the mind chapter what I learned is to be less perfectionist as well. Before I wanted to be everything perfect all the time. I think one thing I know now is to be more kind to myself. One big insight I had was to understand that we never talk to our friends as we talk to ourselves meaning that we are often so harsh for ourselves, we would never say that to our best friends. I try now to be as much as possible my own best friend, so to talk to myself with compassion, with understanding, saying, “it's okay, you are not perfect, but it's okay, you will learn out of that.” That's huge for me. That's really helping me a lot. I think I'm much more aware about my emotions as well, how they work, why they are there, that they are all useful. Recently, very recently I had very bad news about a very close friend. I was of course very sad. I think in the past I would have just thought I should not be sad and try to avoid that. There I allowed myself to be sad during two full days. It allows me today to be much better and to move forward because I know that each emotion is important. I think that's another thing that I learned. Emiliya: These are incredible. Thank you so much for sharing such specific tools and pathways that we can take on and as you know and our listeners might know we follow the mind, body, medicine affirmation that “self-care is healthcare.” I celebrate that you do the simple things that recognizing that if you walk a little bit more mindfully to pick your kids from school it will make all the difference in the way that you connect with one another. It's not about the big things that we do. It's the micro- moments of connection, micro-moments of tuning into oneself, micro-moments of caring for oneself that lead to the overall well-being. Thank you for sharing those with us. Nancy, I'm curious, how would you define flourishing? Nancy: That's a good question. For me flourishing and that's from CAPP, or from The Flourishing Center, is becoming the best version of ourself. It's just being us, but it being us as we would like to be and being us, the best of us, basically. That's what I love about it. It's not to change us. It's just to make sure that we work with our strengths, that we do things that help us being the way we want to be. Speaking about self-care, one thing I understood is how much sleep has an impact on myself. If I sleep well enough, then I will be well for myself first with my emotions and everything and for my children, for my family, and for my clients and for everything. I know that now very well. Now to flourish myself, I need to have my sleep. I cannot do that every day, but I will make sure if suddenly I am out of track with my sleep, the first thing I will do is to work on this one. For me flourishing is to be able to be the best of yourself. Emiliya: Beautiful Nancy. Thank you. I love that. Love that expression. In addition to all the wonderful work you're doing in the world in sharing Positive Psychology you're also multi-lingual, and I'm curious what ... firstly what languages are you bringing Positive Psychology into (which could be so helpful for our international audience to hear) and also what are some of the challenges that you've noticed in translating Positive Psychology both through vocabulary but also multi-culturally? Nancy: So I work in English with my little accent and then in French. So that's the two languages I work with. For me the challenge would be more in English actually because I want to make sure that the way I translate the things are well understood and that it makes fully sense to people. Thanks to the fact that I studied in English I think that I have the basic vocabulary. In French what is difficult is that we don't have the same kind of words. In English words are really well illustrating some concepts that in French we don't have so you have to make more sentences or more explanation about what we speak about too. It's more about that. Then culturally I don't find big challenges because all of my clients are expatriates, already people who used to being different culture. I would say the big difference between the Americans and the French-speaking population is how much we tend more in Europe to look at the negative side of the things. We all know know it's due to our brain and we all have that. I would say it a bit more strong even in Europe. Then the fact as well .... yeah that's the big thing maybe. Even to look at schools, the way education is in schools here in the US it's much more focusing on the positive. In France, in Switzerland it tends to first underline what's not going well before underlining what's going well. So that's a big thing. Emiliya: Very cool. Thank you so much Nancy. Tell us how can people learn more about you and what you're up to in the world and perhaps work with you if they're interested. Nancy: I have a website, which is like my name nancybonamy.com. Thanks to CAPP actually because it was a dream since a long time. I like to write, and I wanted to launch a blog. Thanks to CAPP, I found the courage to do it because I have so many things to say. In addition to coaching and workshops I really want to reach more people by explaining what all these Positive Psychology tools. I have a newsletter now, a blog actually. A blog that I write every two weeks in French and in English and so your people can subscribe to the newsletter if they want to know more. I started that in the beginning of August and it really is speaking about Positive Psychology tools. I have as well published three weeks ago, free ebook that gives you nine keys to boost positive changes in your life and best navigating your personal and professional transitions. It's in French and in English too, so you can download this ebook. That's a way to get to know me a little bit more. But on my website as well there's a video about me. Emiliya: Thank you so much Nancy. You're a prime example in our model of what it means to be an individualizer change agent. Meaning your primarily offering individualizing, and you're adding in and empowering yourself as an inventor to create learning experiences for people as a way of both getting your word out to a wider audience, but also to give you ways of bringing more people into your work for the individual work, which is really exciting. Nancy: Thank you so much Emiliya and all your team. I mean my life really changed and that's in my first blog. My life really changed thanks to this certification. It's not only that I was training Positive Psychology but it's really that I'm now part of your community and this big community of like-minded persons and you continue to give us a lot of information and possibilities of trainings and programs and so on. Thank you, Emiliya, for what you did for me and my fellow students. Emiliya: Thank you Nancy. Thank you. Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you for doing the work that you're doing in the world and sharing Positive Psychology in this unique way with so many and we look forward to connecting with you soon. Thanks Nancy! We hope that today's episode has been helpful for you, giving you opportunities to look at things like judgment and social comparison through the lens of what is it trying to offer us and how can we think the way we want to think, feel the way we want to feel, and do the things in this world that we want to do? Thanks for listening and feel free to check out more information about Positive Psychology approaches to becoming happier and healthier at our website, theflourishingcenter.com.

Lifestyle

The Best Holiday Pies Come From Family

Growing up with two grandmothers who were both fine bakers, certain pies were fixtures on our holiday table. Over the years, I’ve tried different pie recipes with varying degrees of success, but since starting my own family, I’ve come to appreciate those hand-me-down recipes and realize the value of cultivating family food traditions. My paternal grandmother, who was the daughter of German immigrants, grew up on a farm. They had a few sour cherry trees, and during the fruit’s short summer season, she and her mother would put up jars of sour cherries to use throughout the autumn and winter. My other grandmother, Nana, had a more urban sensibility but was also an enthusiastic baker and a devotee of the celebrity chefs of the 1960s and ’70s, such as Julia Child and James Beard. Whichever house we were visiting, holiday meal prep was a family affair. I have so many memories of staying up late to help make the cranberry sauce, turn the turkey in its brine or get those pies done while the oven was still free. We would be covered with flour and exhausted but happy by the end of the night, and the whole house would smell of toasty pie crust. The next day, everyone would marvel at our creations. My grandmothers are no longer with us, but baking is still a family affair at the holidays. We still get covered with flour and have a great time. I know that somewhere, Grandma and Nana are enjoying little glasses of sherry and nodding their approval. Gingery Autumn Pumpkin Pie I’ve added a little surprise to Nana’s go-to recipe, creamy and custardy, which we think came from James Beard in the 1960s: a hidden layer of candied ginger, for a delicious punch of flavor. If this sounds like too much for you, sprinkle candied ginger on top instead. Makes 8–10 servings For the Flaky Double Crust Pie Dough: 2½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted ¼ teaspoon salt 2 sticks butter, cut into ½ -inch cubes ½ cup ice water, or as needed For the Pumpkin Filling One 15-ounce can (scant 2 cups) puréed cooked pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) 1 cup light brown sugar 6 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten 2 cups cream, at room temperature ½ teaspoon salt ¾ teaspoon ground ginger ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¾ teaspoon ground cloves ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/3 cup brandy ½ cup finely chopped candied ginger To make the dough, in a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the butter, tossing the cubes in the flour to coat. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut and toss the butter into the flour until the lumps of butter are the size of large peas. Don’t overwork the dough. Make a well in the center and add the water a few tablespoons at a time, mixing and pressing with cool fingertips until the dough just comes together. Divide the dough into two disks, wrap with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour before using. Let the dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling each disk out into a 12-inch round. Use one to line a 9-inch pie pan, folding the edge underneath itself and crimping, and place the dough-lined pan in the refrigerator to chill for another hour. Place the second dough round (for cutting out decorations) on a baking sheet to chill. Meanwhile, make the filling. In a large bowl, combine the puréed pumpkin with the sugar, eggs, cream, spices and brandy, and stir well. Let sit at room temperature while you prebake the pie shell. Heat the oven to 400 F. Line the pie shell with parchment paper and fill with pie weights, letting the weights come up the sides of the pie if possible. Place on a baking sheet and prebake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the paper and weights, and reduce the oven temperature to 375 F. Let the pre-baked pie shell cool while you use the second dough round to cut out leaf shapes with a cookie cutter. Scatter the candied ginger over the baked pie bottom and pour in the pumpkin filling. Use a pastry brush to dampen the undersides of the dough leaves, then gently press around the rim of the pie crust to make a decorative border. Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until the custard is just set, keeping in mind that it will continue to set after you remove it from the oven. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Cook’s Note: Keep an eye on the pie crust as it bakes, and if the rim is browning too quickly, create a foil collar to shield the pie rim but keep the custard exposed to the heat. Tart Cherry Lattice Pie Sour cherries are easier to find in jars than fresh, so they are a perfect way to add bright color and flavor to the autumn table. I sprinkle a layer of almond meal over the crust before filling it, to keep the bottom crust from becoming soggy. A very thinly rolled-out layer of almond paste also works. Makes 8–10 servings For the Flaky Double Crust Pie Dough: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 sticks butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1/2 cup ice water, or as needed 2 24-ounce jars sour cherries in light syrup 3 tablespoons cornstarch 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons almond extract or amaretto 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup almond meal 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 tablespoon milk 1 tablespoon coarse sugar To make the dough, in a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the butter, tossing the cubes in the flour to coat. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut and toss the butter into the flour until the lumps of butter are the size of large peas. Don’t overwork the dough. Make a well in the center and add the water a few tablespoons at a time, mixing and pressing with cool fingertips just until the dough comes together. Divide the dough into two disks, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill for at least an hour before using. Let the dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling each disk out into a 12-inch round. Use one to line a 9-inch pie pan, trimming the dough overhang to 1 inch and placing the dough-lined pan in the refrigerator to chill for another hour. Place the second round of dough (for cutting out the lattice) on a baking sheet to chill. To make the filling, drain the cherries, reserving the liquid from the jar, and measure out ¹/3 cup of this liquid. In a large bowl, whisk the cherry liquid together with the cornstarch to make a slurry. Stir in the cherries, lemon juice and almond extract. Sprinkle with the granulated sugar and the salt, toss and set this filling aside at room temperature. Position a rack in the lower third of oven and preheat to 425 F. Remove the pie shell from the refrigerator and scatter the almond meal over the bottom. Remove the other dough round from the fridge and, using a pastry wheel with fluted edge or a sharp knife, cut out ten 3/4-inch-wide strips for the lattice. Pour the cherry filling into the pie shell, mounding it slightly in the center and dotting with the butter. To make the lattice, arrange up to half of the dough strips vertically over the filling, then fold back every other strip onto itself and place a horizontal strip over the unfolded strips. Unfold the vertical strips, fold back the previously unfolded strips and place another horizontal strip. Continue in this manner to make a lattice. Trim the dough strip overhang to 1/2 inch, fold the bottom crust dough up over ends of the strips and crimp the edges with a fork to seal. Brush the lattice crust (but not the edges) with milk. Sprinkle the lattice with the coarse sugar. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 F. Continue baking for about 1 hour longer, until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown, covering the rim with a foil collar if it is browning too quickly. Transfer the pie to a rack and let cool completely. Cut into wedges and serve. Want more pie? Try our Salted Caramel Apple Tart recipe. Sarah Putman Clegg is a veteran cookbook editor and writer who lives in Northern California.

work

Develop Your Signature Strengths in 4 Steps

Do you have the chance to do what you do best each day at work? If that sounds far from reality, you’re not alone. While most of us may have moments of feeling engaged, energized and happy with our jobs, the reality is that 70 percent of employees around the globe report that most days they don’t feel engaged. But surely that’s just the reality of work, right? It turns out a growing body of research over the last decade has found that when you have an opportunity to use your strengths—those things you’re good at and enjoy doing—even for just part of your day, you’re likely to feel more confident, more energized and up to six times more engaged. And the good news is, not only will you feel happier, but this sense of well-being has a ripple effect. This means your work colleagues and customers are also more likely to feel happier. It’s a win-win outcome. So why is it so hard? Unfortunately, we are wired with a negativity bias: the bad stuff around us just screams louder and longer than the positive. This is why Ryan Niemiec from the VIA Institute, one of the leading researchers and teachers on character strengths, suggests we look for new ways to develop our strengths at work. Here are some of Ryan’s suggestions: 1. Take the free VIA Character Strengths survey In just ten minutes you’ll be able to identify your character strengths. By reflecting on the moments when you’ve felt most engaged and energized, you’ll be able to easily see how these strengths show up in your job. 2. Align your strengths to your job No matter what your job might be, you can always find ways to bring your best qualities to an activity, conversation or routine to improve your engagement. List the five things you do most frequently at work (it could be filing, leading team meetings or emailing clients). Then write down one way you can use your top five VIA strengths for each of the five work tasks. For example, it might be using creativity to end each team meeting with a new quote. 3. Subtract a signature strength It can be easy to take for granted the impact your strengths have on what you do. However, what would happen if you couldn’t use your strengths? First consider how one of your top five VIA strengths has helped you so far in life: it could be building relationships, achieving many things, or feeling happy and contented. Now, imagine that you're not allowed to use that strength for the next month. For example, if you choose curiosity, you can’t ask questions, try new experiences, new foods or search the Internet. Consider what that would be like, and how you would feel. 4. Create a strengths habit Research shows that one of the most effective ways to make a change is to create a small daily strengths habit and be consistent in practicing it. Just select the strength you want to focus on and harness your brain’s neurological habit loop by creating a cue to trigger off the habit, a routine to use your strength for at least ten minutes or more, and then make sure you reward yourself immediately for your effort so your brain learns to love this routine. For example: “When I arrive at work, I’ll spend ten minutes developing my strength of curiosity by reading something new and my reward will be getting my morning cup of coffee.” To learn about more than 70 different strengths habits, join Live Happy and the VIA Institute for the free Global Strengths Challenge. How can you start putting your strengths to work? Michelle McQuaid is a best-selling author, teacher and coach with a masters in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. She has written extensively on well-being in the workplace.

Practice

How Zesty Are You?

As part of our special series onCharacter Strengths, we are posting articles that highlight the24 strengths(your best innermost qualities) outlined by theVIA Institute on Character, and discussing how to better apply them in your everyday life.To take thefree survey and find your own top strengths, click here. When you think of zest, you might imagine a co-worker who is always eager and wired, even first thing in the morning. Or, you might picture the Energizer Bunny pounding its drum or a person singing and dancing in the rain. These images are a bit extreme for the character strength of zest, which might explain why most people don’t especially relate to it. But, zest is important for all of us. It means to activate yourself, to live life fully. It is one of two character strengths (along with hope) that is most connected to happiness. Zest brings many benefits such as greater meaning, better physical health and a higher level of engagement in life. While we can’t all be zestful Energizer Bunnies, each of us can naturally come alive with energy. Consider this: What situations bring out your zest? Maybe it’s anytime you are around your children or grandchildren. Or maybe it’s when you get to spend time on a work project you love. Or perhaps practicing your favorite hobby. We all have moments in which a higher amount of energy is flowing within and from us. And, if you are mindful of these moments, you can create more. What does the research say about how to build zest? Here are three practical strategies: 1. Talk about the good: When something good happens to you, share it verbally with someone and not just through social media. Research shows that frequently sharing positive events boosts your energy and zest. 2. Find nature during the day: Take your work breaks outdoors, whenever possible. Research shows that going outside, especially in nature, boosts zest. If you aren’t working, be sure to arrange bits of your day that involve going outside. 3. Activate your behavior: Think of the exercise/activity that you find most pleasurable. Be sure to consider the many varieties of movement such as yoga, tai chi, walking, dancing, swimming, biking and sports. Structure your week so you can do this one specific activity a few times per week. Read more: 3 Ways toFind the Funny in Everyday Life Read more:Appreciate the Beauty All Around You RYAN M.NIEMIEC, Psy.D., is a licensed psychologist, certified coach, author and Education Director of the VIA Institute on Character, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His latest book,Character Strengths Interventions: A Field-Guide for Practitioners, was released early this year. For more, visitviacharacter.org.

Reading

7 Amazing Books That Will Unlock Your Creativity

One secret to unleashing your creativity and putting it to work is to first tell yourself that you are creative. Artists, writers, musicians and chefs are always thought of as creative types, but everyone—regardless of talent or profession—has the capacity for creativity. Start by believing in your own ability to create. To hone your creativity further, pick up one or more of these inspiring, motivating books and help tap into your muse. 1. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity By Julia Cameron Journalist and poet Julia Cameron started by sharing ideas with other authors in her living room. Her book, The Artist’s Way, has become a road map for people looking to tap into their creativity. Learn concrete ways to become more productive and imaginative, as well as understand how creativity is linked to spirituality. One of her tips is to write “morning pages,” which are three sheets of longhand, stream-of-consciousness writing done at the start of the day. She suggests not overthinking the process and capturing what comes to you. 2. Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention By Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi What leads to your most creative moments? Drawing on 100 interviews with exceptional people, including biologists, politicians, business leaders and artists, as well as his many years of research, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi explores why we need to cultivate creativity for the future of our country and world. He contends that creativity is so fascinating because when we are involved in it, we are living more fully than during the rest of life. 3. Let Me Out: Unlock Your Creative Mind and Bring Your Ideas to Life By Peter Himmelman Award-winning musician and founder of the website BigMuse.com explains how to use science-based left- and right-brained thinking to take action on your goals. Knowing who you are and what you stand for gives you strength of purpose, he writes. Think like a kid again; they don’t worry about fear and judgment. Entertain wild ideas with your childlike sense of wonder. 4. A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the World By Daniel Pink Learn how to grow your creative thinking with six fundamental abilities that are necessary for professional and personal success. Even if you are a logical and linear left-brain thinker, this book was written to help everyone tap into the potential of the right side of their brain. 5. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are By Brene Brown Do you know what kills creativity? Perfectionism. Author Brene Brown shows how to give up perfection to connect with your true self and take more risks. She writes, “Understanding the difference between healthy striving and perfectionism is critical to laying down the shield and picking up your life…” 6. Start Where You Are: A Journal for Self-Exploration By Meera Lee Patel Blank journals can spark insights by connecting you to your inner voice, but Start Where You Are is an interactive journal that facilitates creativity, mindfulness and self-motivation. Take the time to slow down, notice the world around you and discover who you are. Use encouraging prompts such as “all the answers are already inside you” and “write down three thoughts that made you smile today” to help inspire your creativity. 7. Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All By Tom Kelley and David Kelley David Kelley, founder of the global design and innovation company, IDEO, and his brother Tom Kelley show you how to unleash your creativity. Drawing on stories from their work at IDEO with top companies, the authors impart principles and strategies on how to use your creative potential at work and in your personal life. Be innovative to solve problems, they write. And once you acknowledge that you are creative, you can use that confidence to go out and do great things. Read more: 10 Best Books to Boost Productivity Read More: 9 Best Books to Spark Spiritual Enlightenment Sandra Bilbray is a contributing editor for Live Happy, and the CEO and owner of themediaconcierge.net.