Self-Care

Make Every Day Christmas

Make Every Day Christmas

Don’t you wish you could bottle up the joy and excitement of the holidays? While we may dismiss this idea as just an impossibility, it is possible to build the ability to spark joy in everyday life. Learn to balance the obligatory items with everyday life in this week’s blog.

Does Happiness Impact Your Immune System?

Does Happiness Impact Your Immune System?

Numerous books have extolled the value of happiness, resulting in “life coaching for happiness” becoming a thriving industry. Much of the research on psychological well-being is related to depression and stress with ill health. Even taking negative emotions into account, the linkage between happiness and health is distinctive (Steptoe, 2019). Studies over two decades show that happiness affects our physical health in the following ways…

Are Happiness and Joy the Same?

Are Happiness and Joy the Same?

Happiness is an emotional state—feeling happy about something means feeling satisfied—or maybe it’s an assessment of our life or someone else’s. Joy is an episodic emotion and is felt concurrent with the situation prompting this emotion and arises during activities. The following factors can explain the main differences between joy and happiness…

Are Gratitude and Appreciation the Same?

Are Gratitude and Appreciation the Same?

Most dictionaries define gratitude as the quality of being thankful and a readiness to show appreciation. Appreciation is recognizing the actions or good in someone or something. While these definitions somewhat overlap, our feelings of gratitude may lead to appreciation. Here’s the takeaway…

How Does Practicing Gratitude Affect the Brain?

How Does Practicing Gratitude Affect the Brain?

Our brains scan for and notice negativity without conscious thought. Today, however, it is possible to rewire our brains for positivity vs. negativity. A gratitude practice is an effective way for us to do this. It works because the more you practice gratitude, the more you strengthen the brain’s neural circuits for gratitude. Here’s what gratitude does to your brain…