It’s only now with sophisticated brain imaging that we are starting to see the neurological impacts of habits, giving us new clues into how to change them. While the elixir still eludes us, Charles Duhigg has brought us a few steps forward in his book The Power of Habit, discussing not only the habits of individuals but also the habits of organizations and societies.

In various models of well-being, positive emotions seem to have less gravitas than other factors. One reason may be that they are often equated with hedonic pleasure. So it was with great curiosity that I stumbled across a philosophical approach to pleasure that suggests that there is more to the hedonic life than initially meets the eye.

In the days leading up to Christmas Day, some people like to use an Advent Calendar to count down the days, some with a small gift each day such as a chocolate. In 2011, Kurt Shuster turned this idea around to create the online Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar. Find out why and what he learned in this interview by Amanda Horne.

My passion is connecting sleep, food, mood, and exercise. I love to discuss how these four groups of habits are connected and how improvements in one can make it easier to make improvements in the others. Since making any habit change can sound daunting, today I’d like to share ways to improve your health and simultaneously save energy.

“Happier people live longer” is old news for us positive psychology fans. That happier people tend to be healthier is also something we’re now well aware of. While it’s already helpful to identify that happiness can support good health habits, I’d like to provide more explanation on why that is – and how to manage that process intentionally.

During a recent course, an executive turned to us to say, “All this stuff is great and I want to change my behavior, but how do I make sure it sticks long term?” This is an important question for positive psychology practitioners. Reading an article by Brendan Koerner, I realized there is much that Alcoholics Anonymous can teach us about long-term change even in the face of addiction.

How many of you admit to having at least one bad habit? If you’re honest with yourself, then you nodded your head. Pick your head up, because habits are learned. Therefore, you can unlearn bad habits and learn new, positive habits to replace them. How? Let’s explore the brain’s mechanisms that underlie habit formation and what it takes to form new habits.

Happy New Year! How are those New Year’s Resolutions coming along? I know it has only been a handful of days, but today is ~ a good day ~ to check-in and assess how your goals are progressing or regressing and to think about ways that goal-setting theory can keep you on track.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), developed by Segal, Williams, and Teasdale, has been shown to be effective in reducing relapse among people with three or more depressive episodes. Like positive psychology, MBCT helps participants to observe their negative thoughts with curiosity and kindness, to accept themselves and stop wishing things were different, to let go of old habits and choose a different way of being, and to be present and notice small beauties and pleasures in the world.

Delegates from more than 50 countries joined forces at the inaugural Exercise is Medicine™ World Congress with two goals: Unite with others across borders to build a healthier world and globalize Exercise is Medicine™ as a positive movement. The goal is to make exercise the most widely prescribed drug in the world!