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Find the Sacred in Everyday Life

In our fast-paced and commodified world, we are encouraged to fly at lightning speed and to relish the latest material thing or fleeting pleasure. At the same time, the study and practice of spirituality has grown enormously in popularity and continues to receive widespread attention. Our frenzied, plugged-in lives have driven us to seek some sort of spiritual refuge or respite from the technological whirlwind. (See: the success of a meditation app like Headspace or other evidence of an increased search to slow down and unplug.) Perhaps this heightened interest in spirituality reflects a personal thirst for meaning in our lives. Many of us are seeking not only to slow down but also to find a firm footing on a more solid—and perhaps sacred—ground. The search for the sacred "Spirituality can have a positive impact on our well-being by helping us focus on what we value most in life," says Ken Pargament, a world-renowned scholar of religion. The Bowling Green State University psychologist has been studying spirituality for more than 35 years and has written several books on the subject, including Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy and The Psychology of Religion and Coping. Defined as “the search for the sacred,” spirituality enables us to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, Ken says. "Sacred" refers to human perceptions on qualities often associated with the divine or higher powers: transcendence, ultimacy (essential and absolute truth), boundlessness, interconnectedness and spiritual emotions. Spirituality enhances well-being Research has shown that people who find the sacred in various spheres of life—such as relationships, work, and nature—enjoy enhanced well-being. For example, a 2010 study conducted by Ken and colleagues found that pregnant couples who viewed their marriages and pregnancies as sacred experienced increased positive emotions and were better able to overcome adversity during tough times. Similarly, research headed by Yale professor Amy Wrzesniewski in 1997, then at the University of Michigan, found that people who see their work as sacred report higher levels of job satisfaction. More recently, a 2014 study by Ken and colleagues showed that sacred moments were commonly reported by mental health providers and were linked with positive outcomes for the patient, the provider and the therapeutic relationship. Patients experienced healing and growth, and providers a greater sense of meaning in their work, according to Ken. Read More: The New Prayer Finding the divine If you feel you may be missing aspects of the divine and the sacred in your own life, Ken suggests asking yourself these questions to help foster a more integrated sense of spirituality: What do you hold sacred? Do some soul-searching to identify what matters most to you. How much time are you devoting daily to your spiritual strivings? How might you find more time everyday to search for the sacred? Where do you find the sacred? There are many spiritual pathways. Some of us find the sacred in relationships, some in prayer or meditation, still others through study or action. Reflect on where you experience your deepest feelings of awe, gratitude, mystery, timelessness and love. Emotions like these provide clues about where you might find the sacred and might try to spend more of your time. How committed are you? Practice makes perfect in the spiritual realm as in other areas of life. Spiritual growth takes commitment and hard work. Prepare yourself for a long-term process and don’t be discouraged by frustrations along the way. Read more by Suzann PileggiPawelski: The Power of Passion Suzann Pileggi Pawelskiis a freelance writer specializing in the science of happiness and its effects on relationships and health.

News & Trends

Amazon and the Problem of Modern Work Culture

I typically have to flip to the Business section of The New York Times to get to the news I can use–information about workplace culture and management practices—all relevant to my job as an organizational consultant and executive coach. Imagine my surprise to see a long feature article, “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace,”on the front page of the Sunday paper. What could possibly be so big that it made front page news? Drones that can talk? Books that read themselves?What's the big surprise?I started reading and didn’t get it. Business review meetings that are anxiety producing? Aren’t they all? Putting in long hours and then logging onto email at night? A common practice for many, unfortunately. Employees who are put on “performance review plans”? Again, no different than countless other large corporations. As the title suggested, some people flourish in this fast paced, hard-charging environment, while others do not.A pointed rebuttalAfter reading the Times article I did a little poking around and found Nick Ciubotariu’s LinkedIn Blog debunking many of the claims against Amazon. Nick heads up Infrastructure at Amazon. His experience over the last 18-months has been quite different. And, if the over 600 comments (at the time of my writing this post) was a Gallup poll, we would find employees who have both flourished and floundered at Amazon. Before you cheer or damn Amazon, consider this one sentence that grabbed my attention:Thanks in part to its ability to extract the most from employees, Amazon is stronger than ever.”Extraction vs. InspirationClients often ask my co-author, Senia Maymin, and me, “How can I get the most out of my people?” We suggest they ask themselves a somewhat different question—one that doesn’t conjure up images of sucking every last ounce of energy out of employees, such as, “How can I get people to perform at their best?” The answer is simple. By getting them to identify, cultivate and use their strengths every day. Improving productivity using a strengths-based approach results in an energy-producing work environment where employees want to do their very best and will go that extra mile to accomplish their work and more.Negativity biasIt sounds simple enough, but in reality, focusing on strengths is very difficult for some people due to what psychologists call negativity bias. We are keen at finding fault. Many of us view the world through a deficit lens and are constantly asking questions such as: What’s missing? What isn’t right? What needs fixing? What are our gaps?From the Times article, it would appear that Amazon may be more focused on finding fault (and pointing it out immediately and vocally) than in cultivating strengths. Then again, Amazon has an amazing success record, which indicated they are doing something right.The danger here is that other companies eager to emulate Amazon’s success and looking for a quick fix may actually try to adopt some of the practices reported in the Times, even though the article was meant more as an exposé than a how-to. Amazon has been successful using the “squeeze-the-most-out-of" approach, but buyer—or job candidate—beware: Consider what work environment will bring out the best in you.Margaret H. Greenberg is an organizational consultant and executive coach, and the co-author ofProfit from the Positive: Proven Leadership Strategies to Boost Productivity and Transform Your Business.She is also the Live Happy Positive Work columnist with Senia Maymin. For more information about Margaret, visitProfitFromThePositive.comandTheGreenbergGroup.org. Follow her on Twitter @profitbook andFacebook.com/ProfitFromThePositive.

Practice

33 Ideas on Mindfulness

Being mindful helps us to stay in the present moment and to appreciate the world around us. Here are 33 ideas to help you calm your mind.1. Read Be Here Nowby Ram Dass.2. “In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived; how well we have loved; how well we have learned to let go.” —Jack Kornfield3. Watch Peaceful Warrior.4. Download Headspace.5. Listen to “Across the Universe” by The Beatles.6. Read Hardwiring Happinessby Rick Hanson, Ph.D.7. “Be happy in the moment, that's enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.” —Mother Teresa8. Watch I Heart Huckabees.9. Get more Metta.10. Listen to “Thank U” by Alanis Morissette.11. Read Wherever You Go, There You Areby Jon Kabat-Zinn.12. "The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival." —AristotleRead More: Mindful Parenting 10113. Watch The Mindfulness Movie.14. Take a walk without your phone.15. Listen to “No Rain” by Blind Melon.The Mindfulness Coloring Book: Anti-Stress Art Therapy for Busy Peopleby Emma Farrarons.17. Meditate.18. Listen to “Just Breathe” by Pearl Jam.19. Read The Mindfulness Revolution edited by Barry Boyce.20. “Self-awareness is not just relaxation and not just meditation. It must combine relaxation with activity and dynamism. Technology can aid that.” —Deepak Chopra21. Watch Room to Breathe.22. Be present.23. Listen to “Realize” by Colbie Caillat.24. Listen to "Do You Realize" by The Flaming Lips.25. Read The Now Effect by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.26. “Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different.” —James Baraz27. Watch The Dhamma Brothers.28. Do nothing.29. Listen to “Living in the Moment” by Jason Mraz.30. “Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.” —Thich Nhat Hanh31. Watch The Wizard of Oz.32. Watch Dying to Know.33. Check out the September/October issue of Live Happy for 33 Ideas for finding purpose in life.Read More: 3 Must-Have Mindfulness Apps

science

Upping Your Downtime

We’ve all been there: We spend weeks and even months anticipating that dream vacation, only to return to work afterward feeling like we need a few days off. Even our weekends, which are supposed to help us relax and rejuvenate, often leave us feeling exhausted. So if downtime is supposed to make us happier and healthier, then why do so many of us feel depleted by it? “People today are doing more with less, and there are tremendous levels of burnout,” says Jamie Gruman, Ph.D., associate professor of organizational behavior at University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. “People really need to figure out how to decompress in their leisure time”. Cut the cord One way to make better use of time away from the office is to actually leave it behind. People who leave work at work tend to be more satisfied with their lives and experience fewer symptoms of psychological strain than those who bring it home. What’s more, a study published in Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology found that “psychological detachment” during the weekend may even improve our job performance during the workweek. Read More: How to Be Present Still plugged in “It’s not enough to just physically leave the office,” Jamie says. “You have to mentally leave the office. Very few people do this.” Sure, you might be sitting by the pool, but your mind might still be parked at your desk. “If you’re checking your email every half hour, if you’re not turning off your head and allowing yourself to enjoy the moment, you’re psychologically attached to your obligations,” he says. Technology has made it easier than ever to check in with work, which in turn has made it that much harder to check out mentally. Jamie recommends giving high-tech the heave-ho as much as possible. That could mean turning off email notifications on your cell phone or creating an out-of-office auto-reply so you don’t feel the need to respond immediately. Even better, have two cell phones—one for work and another for personal use—allowing you to turn off the work phone on nights, weekends and vacations. Read More: Unplugged Learn to detach Of course, turning off devices is easier than turning off thoughts. If you’re the type who broods about what happened at work or worries about what might happen, you may need to change how you spend your free time. A study by Sabine Sonnentag, Ph.D., called “Psychological Detachment from Work During Leisure Time: The Benefits of Mentally Disengaging from Work,” published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, found that meaningful activities like volunteering and mindfulness practices such as meditation can help us detach from work. You’ll stand a better chance of detaching if you bring tasks to completion before clocking out, notes Sabine, a leading researcher in organizational psychology and a professor at University of Mannheim in Germany. She’s published a number of studies showing that a heavy workload and high time pressure are the strongest predictors of low detachment from work. That’s why it’s wise to take vacations during slow periods at work or on the heels of a big deadline. And, if you absolutely must do some work on evenings, weekends or a vacation, set aside a specific time for it—and don’t allow yourself to dwell on it before or afterward. Read More: 6 Steps to Mindful Meditation How long is enough? No matter how well-timed the vacation, work will likely pile up in your absence. That’s just one of the reasons Jamie and other experts recommend taking frequent short vacations instead of infrequent long ones. Less time away means less catch-up and stress when you return; shorter vacations also require less preparation, which reduces stress in the days beforehand. “It’s not the [amount of] time but the quality of the time that matters,” Jamie says. “Research shows that three-day weekends can be as replenishing as longer vacations.” In his study “Vacationers Happier, but Most Not Happier after a Vacation,” published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life, Jeroen Nawijn, Ph.D., found that vacation length does not affect post-vacation happiness and confirmed previous findings that a vacation’s positive effects are short-lived. However, we can prolong our getaways’ positive effects by looking at photos, telling friends about the trip and otherwise keeping vacation memories alive, says Jeroen, a lecturer at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Both he and Jamie advise building in some “recovery time” between time off and returning to work. Read More: 5 Tips for an Energy Boosting Vacation Cut down on lag time “People think the way to get the most out of their vacation is to spend the most time away. It’s logical, but it’s a mistake,” Jamie says. Instead, leave time for laundry, grocery shopping and even recovering from jetlag when you return home, he says. And rather than getting home late Sunday night and going back to work Monday morning, consider coming home Saturday night—or at least early in the day on Sunday—to give yourself time to re-enter your world. Do downtime differently While relaxation is important to well-being, the way we relax could be keeping us from optimal happiness. “We’re not very creative in our downtime,” Jamie says. “We just do whatever is our habit.” He advises taking time to assess the effects of your habits. Does TV time relax you and improve your mood? If you go for a walk before you sit down to watch TV, do you feel better? Do the people you spend time with bring out the best in you? Ask yourself if there’s something you used to love doing that you aren’t doing anymore, and then start doing it again. “Doing something you enjoy is key to getting a boost out of downtime,” Jamie says. “We play a role in how happy we’re going to feel.” Read More: Tripped Up

Practice

3 Must-Have Mindfulness Apps

Although technology is known as a great distracter, it also has allowed for the creation of some terrific tools to help fine-tune your mindfulness. If you’re looking for a way to become more mindful, here are a few apps designed to help: Insight Timer Available for both Android and iOS users, the Insight Timer is a combination meditation timer and mindfulness guide. Enjoy guided meditations by gurus like Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield, and find others in your area who are meditating. This one uses a guided meditation as well as Tibetan singing bowls to create the meditation experience that’s right for you. Free. The Mindfulness Training App Designed for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, the Mindfulness Training App walks you through a number of practices and styles, all presented by experts like Dr. Andrew Weill and Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn. Whether you’re looking for a basic introduction to mindfulness and meditation, want to cultivate spiritual awareness and physical well-being or find-tune your deep breathing skills, this robust app covers all the bases with a full library of resources that are designed to be shared with friends. Free. In-app purchases available. Stillness Buddy Who doesn’t need a friend to remind us to take a break, take a breath and re-center ourselves? That’s the role that Stillness Buddy plays. This desktop application can be customized to your schedule, and at the chosen time, you’ll get a message on your screen that reminds you to take a moment of stillness. You can also choose what exercise you prefer to be guided through during that moment, and can choose from meditations by spiritual teachers including Thich Nhat Hanh, His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama and Barry Long; there are also programs on mindfulness-based stress reduction and stretching. Free 14-day trial; after that, user licenses provide access to content for about $15 a month.

Self-Care

Tom Rath: Are You Fully Charged?

Tom Rathis an author and researcher who studies the role of human behavior in business, health, and well-being.He is the author of sixNew York Timesbestsellers, includingHow Full Is Your Bucket?His book StrengthsFinder 2.0was the top-selling book of 2013 and 2014 worldwide on Amazon.com. In total, his books have sold more than 6 million copies and have made more than 300 appearances on theWall Street Journalbestseller list.His latest book,Are You Fully Charged?: The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Lifeisthe subject of a feature-length documentary. You can get a taste of it in the trailer, below.In addition to his work as a researcher, writer, and speaker, Tom serves as a senior scientist for and advisor to Gallup, where he previously spent thirteen years leading the organization’s work on employee engagement, strengths, leadership, and well-being. He is also a scientific advisor to Welbe, a startup focused on wearable technology.Want to learn more from Tom Rath? Check out his interview on the new Live Happy Now podcast available now on iTunes!

3 Practices for Developing Your Mindful Parenting Superpower

relationships

Mindful Parenting 101

Sometimes it feels like it takes more than a village to raise a child—it takes a superhero. On any given day, we have work, commitments, emails and, of course, people (big and little) fighting for our attention. The problem is, we’re not superheroes. We can’t fly, we don’t have super-speed, nor can we be in several places at once. And unfortunately for us, we don’t have eyes in the back of our heads (what a handy parenting super-power that would be!). What is mindful parenting? There is, however, one superpower we can all have, if we develop it: mindfulness, which can easily and usefully be applied to parenting. Simply put,mindful parenting is when we pay attention and listen to what our children are saying, become aware of their emotions, are compassionate toward our children (and ourselves) and accept them for who they are, without judgment. When we add elements of mindfulness to parenting, our relationships with our children are strengthened by the warmth, trust and sharing. And, as an added bonus, our own stress tends to ease and is replaced by a sense of calmness. With that in mind, here are three easy ways to implement mindful parenting into our daily lives—no super-human strength required: 1.Self-Regulate When your little one doesn’t clean his room or when the wall becomes the canvas for artwork, “pay attention to what you’re feeling, but don’t act on it,” advises Laura Markham, Ph.D. The Peaceful Parents, Happy Kids author says our first responsibility as parents is to be mindful of our own inner state, particularly during challenges. “Mindfulness is the opposite of losing your temper.” Instead, imagine the world, and how you appear and sound, from your child’s perspective, say Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., and his wife, Myla, the authors of Everyday Blessings. Doing this allows you to use self-talk to think about how you carry yourself in your body and the words you use, and modify them as needed. 2.Practice Gratitude One of the best ways to foster mindfulness in children (and ourselves) is by encouraging them to identify the good thoughts and feelings they experienced throughout in the course of the day, as well as and who or what brought them about. Kristen Race, Ph.D., author of Mindful Parenting, suggests creating a gratitude jar for family members to write or draw pictures of who or what they’re grateful for and then reviewing the jar together each week. Or, make sharing gratitude a daily event by encouraging family members to acknowledge three things they’re grateful for each night during dinner or before bedtime. “In order for our children to be grateful, they must first slow down enough to recognize all of the blessings in their lives,” say Jeffrey Froh, PsyD, and Giacomo Bono, Ph.D. “Being mindful does just this.” 3. Disconnect to Connect To create moments for connection daily, whether it’s snuggling before bedtime, engaging in active listening and conversation, taking a walk together outside or immersing ourselves in child-led playtime, we have to disconnect from technology, tasks and thoughts of other responsibilities. “The trick here is to notice when our attention has wandered, and then gently bring it back to our child,” says Carla Naumburg, Ph.D., in her book, Parenting in the Present Moment. “Imagine that a specific event is the last time you’ll ever experience it.” Because while we don’t move as quickly as the Flash, time can feel like it does. Little moments with our children are more significant than all the other things that seem so important. After all, our kids deserve our mindfulness superpower, and so do we. Dr. Colleen Georges is a nationally certified psychologist, licensed professional counselor, certified positive psychology coach, Rutgers University lecturer and mom who lives her purpose of helping others to see the good in themselves. Colleen authors the positive psychology blogSeeing All The Good, blogs for the Huffington Post, and is a co-author in the award-winning Contagious Optimism,as well as 10 Habits of Truly Optimistic People,101 Great Ways to Enhance Your Career, and The Book of Success.

News & Trends

Chocolate Is Good for Your Brain

We already know that a good dose of chocolate can make us happy. But new research shows it can give our brains and energy a boost as well. When thinking starts to get fuzzy this afternoon, reach for a piece of dark chocolate to sharpen your mind, says a new study published in the journal NeuroRegulation. Chocolate boost A 60 percent cacao confection will get you past a midday slump by making your brain more alert and attentive while its stimulants give your blood pressure a short-term boost, according to the research from Northern Arizona University. A regular chocolate bar with high sugar and milk content won't be as good, Larry Stevens, Ph.D. and NAU professor of psychological sciences, told the university's news center. 60% is the magic number His team's first-ever chocolate consumption study using brain-wave measuring electroencephalography, or EEG technology, also measured blood pressures of its 122 participants. (It must have been tough to recruit participants for this study!) The Hershey Company, the study sponsor, provided confections that looked identical but had either low cacao content, higher cacao (60 percent), or higher cacao plus L-theanine, an amino acid in green tea that acts as a relaxant. Chosen for taste and availability, the 60 percent cacao was moderate and kept its effect small but statistically significant, researchers said. If you want to go for it, "there are quite palatable chocolate preparations publicly available containing up to 90 percent cacao," they added. Really. (Because the study was sponsored by Hershey, you may want to take the results with a grain of salt—er, sugar.) Jim Gold is a veteran journalist who divides his time between Seattle and the Bay Area.

relationships

Dear Mom, I Love You

A Letter to My Mom is a collection of dozens of heartfelt letters written by both celebrities and non-famous people, celebrating the sacrifices and unconditional love we often take for granted. Contributors include Oprah Winfrey, Kristin Chenoweth, Robin Roberts, Tyler Perry and many others. Live Happy sat down with editor (and former Oprah producer) Lisa Erspamer to talk about the book: What inspired you to write this book? The first book I did in this series of "Letters to," was about my dog, and it was really a fluke. But I fell in love with the concept of writing letters. When my father was dying, he wrote each of us a letter, and it was one of the most amazing things I have experienced. I believe a letter is the best gift—and certainly the most emotional gift—you can give and get. Every letter in this book creates an emotional reaction. It makes you feel something. It makes you feel alive. Do you think letters are important in the age of email? I love technology but I do think we’ve become very short-form. It doesn’t have to be handwritten—it could be typed, it could be emailed. We move so fast and everything is so quick and short, it’s not the medium that’s important to me, it’s the emotional content. Every person who participated in this book was vulnerable and intimate when they wrote their letter. For people whose moms are not here, it was a cathartic experience. It brought them back to all the things moms do for us, all the sacrifices they make. What things do you think people want to express to their mothers that they have trouble saying face-to-face? I wouldn’t let my mother read the letter in front of me—it was that emotional and vulnerable. “I love you” I think is one thing many people won’t say in person. We also forget to tell our Moms “thank you.” We take our moms for granted—that was a big one. What was the most striking thing you heard when doing this book? There is a young man who wrote a letter to his mom who had been slowly dying of cancer and died when he was 13. He wrote about how every day of his life his mom read him the book I Love You Forever. The last night of her life, she asked him to read it to her. To see a video of one unbelievable story of maternal love sacrifice, click here. Whose letter was the most surprising? Why? Suze Orman, who is a very good friend of mine, surprised me with how open and honest she was willing to be. She wrote about how her mom and she were inseparable when she was a little girl, constantly saying “I love you.” But when she got older, her mom stopped saying it, and it was because she didn’t accept her being gay. Her mother lived to be 99 years old. But it was interesting because Suze chose to believe that her mother loved her anyway, but she just wasn’t expressing it in the same way anymore. Tell me about Kristin Chenoweth’s letter. First of all, Kristin is one of the most amazing people—pure joy. Her mom supported her dreams and made her believe she could be anything. I think that had a huge impact on her life and what she was able to become. What about Melissa Rivers? Melissa is an amazing human being and her letter is fantastic—so witty. The beautiful thing is, she gave it to Joan so that Joan got to read it before she died. And then soon after that, Melissa read it at her funeral. The letter is funny and reminds you of her mom and the love between them. Lisa Erspamer is the former Chief Creative Officer of OWN and Co-Executive Producer of the Oprah Winfrey Show. She plans to produce more than a dozen more titles in the “Letters” line of books. Get out tips for making this Mother's Day the most memorable yet.

Well-Being

Green is Good

Sprawling across three city lots, the Bodine Street Community Garden in Philadelphia is a far cry from the trash-strewn eyesore it once was. In 1980, an organization named Philadelphia Green transformed this vacant area into an urban oasis, providing a place for nearby residents to grow flowers and vegetables or just to gather and meet neighbors.An urban outdoor oasisWhile the reinvention of the space is highly praised foradding outward beauty to the area, it also plays another pivotal role—improving the physical and mental wellbeing ofthose who visit it.Mathew White, Ph.D., a lecturer in risk and health at theUniversity of Exeter Medical School at the European Centre for Environment and Human Health in Truro, Cornwall, UnitedKingdom, says a 2009 study about how nature influenced participants piqued his interest in the potential health properties of green spaces.Research goes back to nature“Spending time in nature came out as the most positive[activity] people reported,” he recalls. “This was totally unexpected, and I wanted to learn more.” That led to the study, “Longitudinal Effects of Moving to Greener and Less Green Urban Areas,” which Mathew conducted with colleagues Ian Alcock, Benedict W. Wheeler, Lora E. Fleming and Michael H. Depledge.The study, published in December 2013 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, tracked mental health data for five consecutive years. It showed study participants who moved to greener areas enjoyed measurable improvements in their mental health scores, while those who moved to less green areas “showed significantly worse mental health.” The study concluded “environmental policies to increase urban green space may have sustainable public health benefits.”Long-lasting health benefitsWhat was most surprising to the study’s authors, Mathewsays, is how long the positive effects lasted. While those who moved to less-green areas eventually adapted and returned to their baseline mental health state, those who moved to greener areas continued to show improved mental health scores.“The fact that these benefits lasted over time, withoutdecreasing, was the most surprising find,” he says. “People didn’t adapt to more green space.”His findings support those discovered by University of Essexresearcher Jules Pretty, who found that just five minutes in a green space such as a park (or even a backyard) provides a significant mental health boost.Mathew notes that depressive disorders are on the rise,something he believes is related to the fact that nearly 78 percent of people in the world’s developed regions live in urban areas.Nature linked to less stressThis urbanization has significantly reduced our access to green spaces, which has been identified as a natural stress reliever in numerous studies, including the 2012 report “More Green Space is Linked to Less Stress in Deprived Communities” published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning.“There are several theories [as to why increased exposureto green spaces is beneficial],” he says. “They include stress reduction, cognitive restoration, increased physical activity—which is good for mental health—and place attachment.”While scientists haven’t quite pinned down why it works so well,the research clearly shows its benefits. The best news for city dwellers is that even small strips of green space and community gardens can make a big difference. “A new paper we’re about to publish suggests that even having street trees near the home is good for mental health,” he says.