Marie-Josée Shaar

FROM YESTERDAY: The Psychologically Healthy Workplace Conference held in Washington, DC last weekend gave everyone concrete and reliable evidence to make the topic a priority. The conference showed that creating…

As a wellness consultant, one of the questions I get most often is “Wow! I love what you do! This is so important, and so needed in today’s world!  What…

On an apparently meaningless bus drive home, Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany: “I am not as happy as I could be.” She also realized that the problem might not be the conditions of her life, per se, but with how she lived and perceived it. She wondered if she could change her life without actually changing her life, and made a year-long commitment to work on improving her happiness.

I visited Maui, a breath-taking beautiful island where I experienced multiple moments of awe, elevation, spirituality, and connection with all things larger than myself. Stepping outside urbanization and its demands stimulated my strengths of open-mindedness, appreciation of beauty and capacity to love. Today, I am more motivated than ever to be respectful of the environment through the dozens of everyday choices that we know about, and should never fail to make.

Article roughly 925 words.  Reading time 4 minutes. Three years ago, “the most wonderful time of the year” became a much dreaded time of year for me. New family dynamics…

Are your employees eager to work for you each and every day? Few leaders can answer this question with a confident yes. Here’s a tip to help you be one of them. This technique enables you to adjust your practices so they support the leader you want to be and helps you reinforce the behaviors you want to see. Equally important, it keeps you accountable for the behaviors you are encouraging in others.

596 words, 2 minutes reading time I was headed to a conference last week and I knew it would be a long drive, so I brought an audio tape. This…

We all know one. Someone whom you are sure to find busy on two phone lines and on email simultaneously whenever you walk into his office. His desk is full of paperwork through which he scrambles furiously when he needs information he can’t remember, which is often since he’s so busy multi-tasking that he may not be able to register much. His typical answer after you’ve announced the reason for your visit is “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite get that. Can you say it one more time for me?”

Word count: 795; Reading Time: 3.5 minutes. A good friend of mine could be the next Martha Stewart. In fact, let’s call her Martha. Martha loves to cook and does…

Are you a victim of sleep debt? If changing just one of your daily habits was enough to make you more alert, efficient, energetic, productive and motivated, would you implement that change? Here’s what you can do about it….

If changing just one of your daily habits was enough to make you more alert, efficient, energetic, productive and motivated, would you implement that change? According to William Dement, illustrious discoverer of REM sleep, “Sleep deprivation is the most common brain impairment.”

As a kid, did you love taking a bath every day? I didn’t. Fast forward 25 years later, taking a shower is so ingrained in my habits that I couldn’t possibly fathom the idea of going to work without a prior healthy dose of body wash. …When a man at least ten years older than my Dad raced by me effortlessly in a 3-mile run, I realized that physical activity is an important part of personal hygiene. Why did I resist a practice I know is good for me, and then how did I break out of the resistance?

If you met Denni Chipollini before one of his speaking engagements, you’d see his communicative smile and feel his positive attitude. But you’d never guess what the story behind his energy is.

Why is it that we are so fearful to talk about love at the office? Let’s explore love at the office as a good thing for a minute, and before you lift your brow, no, I’m not talking about having a love affair at the office. I am rather suggesting that those who experience care and companionship in their work environment have a sustainable, competitive advantage over those who don’t.

Think about the leaders you’ve followed in the past. Which one has had the most positive influence in your life? What three words best describe what this person contributes to your life? In a recent study bringing more clarity on this complex topic, Gallup interviewed over 10,000 people and asked them the two questions you’ve just answered.

You are in front of the traditional, very tempting Holiday buffet. If you choose self-regulation over temptation, chances are you will be satisfied and energetic. If you give in and pig out, you will experience a bloated and guilty feeling. So what do you do? Here are my top 10 strategies for healthy buffet-management.

Did you know that the average American puts on 10 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas? And how much do you figure the average Holiday shopper has spent per year for the past 10 years? Try $961! We are observing epidemics in obesity, inactivity, and indebtedness. But here’s the good news.

As I am sure you have, I recently witnessed a heated argument between two neighbors who disagree over the Presidential campaign. If your relations with people supporting the opposing view have been more difficult as of late, please pay attention! … Studies of everyday reasoning show that people tend to make their decisions instinctively and then try to find evidence to support their point of view.

Have you ever noticed that individuals are more innovative, energetic, stimulating, and engaging than most corporations? Let’s take a closer look at one such system: companies spend considerable amounts of money surveying their employees to find out about job satisfaction. Yet, this may not be the best measurement to use.

Have you ever noticed how food influences mood? What should you eat to be alert and persuasive for the big presentation? Or to be a divine conversationalist for the cocktail party? What, then, is the optimal brain food for good moods? Here are the four golden rules…