The stories we tell weave moments, days, and years into a meaningful sense of life. Researchers have found that the way we tell those stories about our own lives is directly related to long-term …

When we chose the theme of relationships as a topic for PPND this month, I asked myself, what is true love? I would describe myself as a (covert/genuine/tentative-but-rational … Heathcliff!!) Romantic, so was a bit …

The International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) World Congress this June was an inaugural success, attracting more than 1500 people from 52 countries, and widely covered in the press. In his opening remarks, IPPA President …

Yesterday, the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center announced the Templeton Positive Neuroscience Awards and a new research initiative aimed at understanding how the brain enables flourishing.
Supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, …

Chronic stress has been linked to many health disorders, including depression, heart disease, cancers, and Alzheimer’s disease. But the stress response engages a number of adaptive, complementary systems fine-tuned to find a balance between stress and solace. Take pleasure seriously, and sow it generously.

In February, PPND announced our first ever contest. We asked readers to submit a photograph that captured the meaning of love. Dave further inspired our contest by offering the top three contestants a copy of Positivity by Barbara Fredrickson! And the winners are….

How do you want to feel in your life? In your work? Doug Newburg interviewed hundreds of world-class performers, including athletes, business leaders, artists, and surgeons, to find out what made them tick. A consistent pattern emerged from their stories.

Love changes the brain. In general, change in life correlates with physical change in the brain made possible by neural plasticity. The human ability to learn and adapt is king among our capacities – and research suggests that love is the queen of conditions enabling change and growth. We are wired, mind and body, to love and learn.

Several years ago, my mother gave me The Soul of Money by Lynn Twist, and it is one of the best gifts I’ve received. In the book, Lynn presents a candid, genuinely transformative treatise about the meaning and impact of our relationship to money.

Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel outlines five principles for this new science of mind. In this context, I like to think of character strengths as old good habits–correlating to strong neural networks that can be engaged for new learning and reinforced with practice.