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Need a change from all the negative news in the media? These feel-good stories from August will lift your spirits. Ed Gould shares his Top Ten round-up from the month. August may have seen plenty of news stories about political turmoil and social unrest around the world, but that is not the whole story. In fact, there were plenty of feel-good news items out there, even if these tales of happiness did not always get the attention they deserved. Read on to get some perspective on the feel-good news you may have missed and put a little happiness into your day! 1. Over half of millennials eat in an environmentally-friendly way According to the New York Post, a large survey conducted in the United States has found that millennials have made significant changes to their diets in order to benefit the environment. The poll, commissioned by Sweet Earth Foods, found that nearly 60 per cent of millennials had a low carbon footprint diet, including veganism and eating less red meat. Of these, most said they were motivated by climate change, although some said welfare issues were the primary driver. 2. MBSR can help to improve cognition In news that will bring happiness to anyone who suffers from mild forms of cognitive impairment, a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course can help to reverse its effects. The news came following a study conducted by Dr Rebecca Erwin Wells of the Wake Forest School of Medicine in North Carolina. It's hoped that the technique will now be used as a therapy that can help to slow down or even reverse Alzheimer's Disease, a condition that is often associated with milder forms of cognitive impairment. 3. New protections for giraffes They may be elegant creatures, but giraffe conservationists know that these giants have little by way of international protection. In news that will bring happiness to animal lovers, a summit of international signatories has decided to place giraffes in a safeguarded group. Although the summit failed to make any significant headway with the ivory trade, better protections for giraffes and, more specifically, their natural environments, was a success. Many are now feeling more confident about future giraffe numbers, according to New Scientist. Giraffes offered new protection shutterstock/Craig Fraser 4. Canadian firm announces new geothermal technology Eavor Technologies, a Canadian clean technology business, has announced that it's put together a geothermal system which will be able to be installed just about anywhere. Although geothermal techniques are used in places where there's a sound geological reason to do so, such as Iceland, replicating it elsewhere has always been a challenge. In feel-good news for environmentalists, the company says its Eavor Loop system will need minimal drilling to produce sustainable energy, which can last decades with no ongoing carbon footprint. It's being billed as geothermal technology for your back garden. 5. New multiple sclerosis treatment may be on the cards In studies that have been conducted on the brains of rats, scientists have come up with a way to make brain cells healthier. It's hoped that oligodendrocyte progenitor cells will now be able to be manipulated in a way that will fight the worst effects of multiple sclerosis (MS). It has long been known that the destruction of myelin, which helps to convey electrical signals in the brain, is associated with MS. Researchers at the University of Cambridge reckon their work will enable these cells to help protect the myelin in MS patients' brains. 6. Could seaweed lower the globe's methane levels? As a greenhouse gas, methane is a big problem, especially when it comes from big herds of beef and dairy cattle. However, in a new move, seaweed could be used as a food supplement to reduce the amount of methane that's produced, as reported in Sustainability Times. The idea is that the seaweed would mean cows simply produce less methane and lower their carbon footprint by as much as ten per cent. Work is ongoing at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia to make the idea work. Could cows soon be eating seaweed? shutterstock/divedog 7. Schoolgirls win a prize for combatting breast cancer Few feel-good news stories from August are as heart-warming as the announcement that the World Invention Creativity Olympics, held in Seoul, had awarded two Indonesian teenagers with its gold medal. The pair, who are high school students, researched the breast cancer curative properties of a local plant after following up on local folklore about it. Known as bakajah, the root of the plant was found to kill off cancer cells in rats following the girls' work. It's now hoped that the active compounds in the plant can be isolated to turn it into a drug therapy. 8. Magnets may remove plastics from the sea soon According to Science Alert, magnetic coils could be deployed into the rivers and seas of the world in order to break down micro-plastics. So-called nano coils are able to create a chemical reaction in the polymers that plastics are made from, which means that they then dissolve. Tests are still underway in the laboratory but the move could make a big difference to the millions of tonnes of waste plastic currently floating in the world's waterways. 9. Wind energy study states Europe could power the world In reports made in The Independent, an academic study published in August has calculated that Europe has sufficient space and the right meteorological conditions to supply enough electrical energy to meet the whole world's needs. By 2050, 497 exajoules of power could be derived from wind in the continent, which is more than enough to go around. The study says that a mixture of both onshore and offshore would be needed to meet this, especially as global demand rises. Turkey and Norway were singled out as countries which were particularly suited to wind energy. Europe could become a wind energy superpower shutterstock/Space-kraft 10. Could red wine help treat depression? Although most doctors agree that alcohol should be avoided when dealing with serious mental health issues such as depression, a report in Medical News Today has suggested modest intakes of red wine may be beneficial. Essentially, the diversity of bacteria in the drink is thought to be helpful for overall bodily health. Researchers from King's College London think that the complex make-up of red wine, especially the polyphenols it contains, means it could also help with depression in certain cases. The team conducted their work with 916 female twins across three different countries to establish their findings. Alongside red wine, other alcoholic beverages, such as beer and cider, were tested. The researchers were keen to stress that only moderate rates of red wine were included in the study. ● Written by Ed Gould Ed Gould is a UK-based journalist and practitioner of Reiki.

Old age can last half a century, says physician Louise Aronson, so it needs a better definition — and more praise. By Jenara Nerenberg on behalf of Greater Good Science Center. What do you think of when you think of “old age?” Maybe you think of it as your time of decline — something to be avoided at all costs. Many of us imagine the few short years just before our death, rather than the long stretch of time often available to explore new interests and relationships and activities. Author and physician Louise Aronson wants to change that. In her new book, Elderhood, she argues that old age or “elderhood” is a much richer, more nuanced experience than most people understand, and that treating it like an illness or pathology is the wrong approach. She believes people need to embrace elderhood as another normal phase of life — just like childhood and adulthood — with its own challenges and rewards. By reclaiming the narrative around older age, she hopes to not only support elders, but to impact family life, health, research, policy, and society as a whole. In our interview, we discuss this and more, including how to shift our attitudes around aging and what happiness looks like in elderhood. Jenara Nerenberg: How do you define elderhood? What does the term mean to you? Louise Aronson: I define elderhood as one of the three main phases of life — what comes after childhood and adulthood. It captures the years that begin between ages 60-70 and continue until a person’s death. And if a person lives until the age of 100, then that means elderhood lasts almost half a century. Human civilizations from the ancient Greeks and Romans to the early Chinese and Egyptians have been defining old age beginning between 60-70. Because people don’t like hearing that it starts so young, they’ve pushed that to the extreme, whereby people think of “old” as a debilitating phase that only lasts the very few short years right before death. RELATED: Planning a healthy retirement: stress relief tips for seniors JN: So what is the narrative shift or change in public conversation that you’d like to see happen regarding aging and elderhood? LA: Part of why I wanted to introduce the term elderhood to a wider audience — I did not make it up — was so that we would begin thinking about elderhood the way we think about childhood and adulthood. “Old age” absent the term elderhood is the subject of a lot of prejudice and bias, so we end up with phrases like “silver tsunami” and “no one wants to be old” or “aging is life’s great disaster.” By reframing it as this long phase of life with multiple sub-phases — just like childhood and adulthood — we take a broader approach and we can look at it as a society and community, and not just as individuals. So, right now having “old” be devalued, with everyone being meant to face it on their own, we hear questions like “can we cure aging?” Why are we treating something that is normal and natural and that has always existed as pathology? Louise Aronson and her book Elderhood (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019) Now, are there things that come with aging that we would feel much better without? Sure. But we don’t tend to pathologize other entire phases of life. Take adolescence. We recognize that there are behaviors that adolescents are more likely to do that are not good for them or society, but we don’t necessarily say we should get rid of adolescents the way that people often talk about older people. “Let’s go house them somewhere separately, let’s not think about them, let’s build a world for children and adults and then blame older people when that world doesn’t match with their needs or interests.” JN: What compelled you to write the book now? LA: There’s more and more out there about age, and there’s so much good stuff; but I felt like the most well-intentioned material was still insulting old age and old people by saying, “Old is only how you feel, 70 is the new 50, 100 is the new 70.” All these things are saying that being old is never in and of itself a good thing or a desirable thing and by extension people who are old are never good people or desirable people. I didn’t like that. “Now, are there things that come with aging that we would feel much better without? Sure. But we don’t tend to pathologize other entire phases of life.” I also didn’t see anything that pulled together all the different ways in which we’re addressing aging — culturally, medically, socially, historically. We tend to think we’re doing all these novel, innovative things with aging, and although some of the specifics differ, human thoughts and approaches about old age are pretty much the same as what we have in evidence from 2,000 to 5,000 years ago. The attempt to understand and adapt to aging is a very human task and such history shows how important these questions are and how existential they are. JN: What changes would you like to see within academia and medicine to reflect the needs of elder people? LA: In medicine, we tend to say that such and such population — children, women, people of color, old people — is somehow different from “the norm,” defining the “norm” as middle-aged white guys, because that’s who was doing medicine. Medical research has begun to acknowledge that children aren’t just variations of adults, and women aren’t just variations of men, and people of color aren’t just variations of white people. We need to recognize that being old is as different from being an adult as an adult is from being a child. We change throughout our lives. For example, with vaccine schedules, we have different schedules for adults and children because of different biology and behaviors. Well, biology and behaviors also change from age 75 onward. Even in diseases that primarily affect older people, the research at best will be on the younger range of older people. So, we say that older people are different, and yet we apply results from people different than them to them. Then we blame bad outcomes on old age rather than on what it was — a scientific setup that was destined to fail or hurt people because it didn’t study the target population adequately. JN: Do you think there’s a different conception of happiness that emerges during elderhood? LA: That’s such a good question. Most people are shocked to learn that happiness and life satisfaction go way up just before 60 and continuing into the 80s. So people who are older are much happier than adults in midlife, on average. On average people get happier, and part of that has to do with a real comfort with self and confidence in one’s priorities so that people are more focused on spending time in ways they value and on spending time with people that they value. So their life becomes positive and self-reinforcing. Another thing that was just reported this year is that older people generally rate their health pretty good. They look around at other people and generally conclude that, yes, their health is better than they thought it would be. So some of this is about having perspective, which takes decades, and also a comfort with who you are and where you are. “Most people are shocked to learnt that happiness and life satisfaction go way up just before 60 and continuing into the 80s.” And when you think about things like meditation and mindfulness and retreats and such, these are the things that elders are best at naturally. So it’s really interesting that we have this untapped population group that are doing the exact things that so many adults are hungry for and yet adults still disparage the very group that is living the things they wish for themselves. JN: How can younger generations be more supportive in helping to shift the elderhood narrative? LA: I think it has to be bidirectional because we have so much to learn from each other. There are increasing reports of old people giving relationship, career, and love advice to younger people and then younger people giving advice on tech and things like that. Everybody has their strengths, and I think the best relationships are the ones that work in both directions. RELATED: What teens gain when they contribute to social groups More and more older people are working, exercising, doing all these things we consider “normal activities.” Part of that is cultural change and reminds me of when my mother was in school and they played basketball. They weren’t allowed to go past half court because their “frail” female bodies would be “adversely affected” and they’d have trouble “bearing children.” We have these prejudices, so we really need to push against them. I’d like to see young people thinking about what they can learn, what they can give, and what they’ll want to do [when they are older]. How do they want to be treated? Do they want to be warehoused and ignored or do they want to be engaged? Because chances are they’ll want to do the same things they do now. They’ll want to be engaged, have sex, go out to dinner, and hear who they’re talking to. So how do you build a world that is set up for all of us throughout our lives, from childhood to adulthood and elderhood? That’s an exciting challenge that has so much exciting potential for innovation — not just in science and medicine but in tech, art, culture, and society. Whatever anybody is doing, this is the growing segment of the population and they are eager to partner with younger people to make the world better for aging. ● Main image: shutterstock/vectorfusionart Written by Greater Good Science Center This article originally appeared on Greater Good, the online magazine of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. Happiness.com is honoured to republish it with the kind permission of the Greater Good Science Center. greatergood.berkeley.edu

Retirement should be a time for seniors to relax and enjoy themselves, but all too often stress and isolation get in the way. Own very own senior, Marilyn Coates-Lower, says keeping your mind and body active is key to a healthy retirement. As we age, some of us may find that life becomes more stressful rather than easier. As retirement grows nearer, we look forward to the changes that this will bring, often planning to do the many things that we never had time for during our busy working lives. However, ensuring you have a happy and healthy retirement isn't always straightforward. Indeed, according to Patrick J. Skerrett, Former Executive Editor of Harvard Health: “If we're not careful, retirement can bring about many health problems rather than contentment, and that we should look upon it as a ‘process rather than an event.'” Planning a healthy retirement Some of us will have planned carefully for when we retire and will remain financially secure, while others will suddenly face a huge drop in income. Naturally, this can limit what we can achieve. According to research carried out by Dr George E. Vaillant, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, there are several ways in which retired seniors – even those 80+ – can remain happy and healthy, attaining a rewarding lifestyle that doesn't require a high income level. These ways include: Making new friends When retiring from work, you may leave many of your friends behind, but building a new social network of like-minded, similarly aged people will prove to be good for both your physical and mental health. Joining clubs There are so many to choose from, including sports such as golf, swimming and tennis, ballroom dancing, walking and bridge. They will not only get you out of the house but also provide the opportunity to make new friends. Keeping your mind and body active Why not take up a new hobby, something you've always wanted to do? Gardening is a great work out and has many mental health benefits, too. Or you could learn a new language or take a new course, or maybe discover the healing power of pets. A dog will not only be a great companion but will also get you out walking and meeting people. All of these suggestions are not only enjoyable but also provide excellent stress relief, which will keep body and soul together and make for a happier and healthier retirement. We should make the most of every moment because, as this quote from Ausonius attains: “Let us never know what old age is. Let us know the happiness time brings, not count the years.” Indeed, every day is precious, and a happy and healthy retirement can be found in something as simple as journaling or talking to a friend. Flower power: gardening can lead to a healthier retirement Stress and how it affects senior health A handy factsheet produced by the American Psychological Association (APA) Office on Ageing and Committee on Ageing suggests that, if we're not careful, stress can affect us badly as we age – lowering the chance of a healthy retirement. The APA say that one of the simplest ways to remain healthy is to eat nourishing food – helping seniors to maintain a reasonable weight – and to take regular exercise. The APA explain that stress is being caused by our bodies responding to danger, releasing hormones into the bloodstream, which speed up the heart and increase the pulse rate: the ‘stress response’. They go on to explain that research has shown that too much stress will impair the immune system, decreasing our ability to fight off disease and mental health problems. It offers several stress relief tips for retiring seniors, including: Staying positive Avoid negative talk such as, “I’m too old”, or, “I can't do it anymore”. This type of talk will not help, and, while you may feel that doing nothing is your solution: think about what you can do instead. Staying focused Never feel helpless because, no matter how difficult something might seem, there's always a solution. Each problem is a test or challenge that will keep your mind active as you consider your options. Meditation Relaxation techniques, meditation and especially MBSR (meditation based stress reduction) have been developed to deal with stress based on techniques that have been around for centuries. According to Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, just ten minutes a day can help to control stress, reduce anxiety and contribute to improving cardiovascular health, which, in consequence, will make you healthier during your retirement years. Dr Stöppler goes on to say that meditative techniques were first pioneered in America during the 1970s by Harvard physician Herbert Benson. It has since gained acceptance worldwide, by both doctors and therapists, to be a valuable complementary therapy for symptom relief of many different illnesses. “When it comes to a happy and healthy retirement, here are several ways in which retired seniors can remain happy and healthy, with a rewarding lifestyle that does not require a high level of income.” Dr Stöppler states: “No matter how the relaxation state is achieved, the physical and emotional consequences of stress can be reduced through regular practice.” Stress relief, in this form, can also lead to happiness and inner peace. For a first glance at stress relieving meditation practices, try 'Mindfulness daily', an easy-to-follow course developed by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. Meditation and yoga can lower blood pressure and stress in seniors A happy and healthy retirement Every one of us will see retirement differently; how we use all this extra time that we suddenly have on our hands depends very much on individual circumstances according to Harvard Health Publications. They explain that, if your job has been tiring, boring or unrewarding, then retirement will come as a great relief. Whereas, those of us that have thoroughly enjoyed our work and thrived on the structured lifestyle will see retirement in an entirely different way; this in itself will require you to work harder to ensure you have a happy and healthy retirement. A couple who are happily married, or in a long-standing relationship, are far more likely to enjoy their retirement than someone whose home life is unstable. Healthy retirees will be looking forward to an active and rewarding time, whereas, those who are in bad health will not have this option. Whichever category you fit into, still keep as active as possible and keep your mind and body busy. Senior stress relief: seeking help One of the biggest stress relief tips offered by the fact sheet produced by the APA is to seek help before everything gets on top of you. Of course, when we talk about a healthy retirement, we are also referring to optimal mental health as a senior. Here are three ideas for achieving this: CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) This will explore and help to discover the underlying reasons for stress and contributes to change negative thoughts into positive ones. Supportive therapy Often a non-judgmental ear can help to justify why feelings of anxiety exist and to offer stress relief tips to introduce a more positive way of thinking. Relaxation training Related to meditation, it also includes education about stress and tension and how to achieve muscle relaxation. Fitness and friends: two great ways to stay healthy during retirement Stress relief: what you can do Dr Dossett recommends talking to loved ones or close friends, as well as visiting your doctor. Talking about problems that are stressing you can sometimes lead to a solution, but, healthwise, as Dr Dossett explains, your doctor will be able to check your blood pressure and recommend a healthy lifestyle change, particularly with diet; anti-depressants are also an option for the severely distressed. “Every one of us will see retirement differently; how we use this extra time that we suddenly have depends very much on individual circumstances.” He also states that one of the best stress relief tips is to focus on triggering exactly the opposite of the stress response – the relaxation response – through, as previously mentioned, MBSR, meditation or tai chi, yoga and deep breathing exercises. All of these will lower oxygen consumption and the heart and breathing rate, so reducing blood pressure and stress hormones, helping to maintain a much more positive outlook on life. As American actress Valerie Bertinelli so aptly said: “Happiness is a choice. You can choose to be happy. There's going to be stress in life, but it's your choice whether you let it affect you or not.” Indeed, seniors can and will face issues around loneliness, health and potential cognitive impairment, but staying optimistic is essential. By trying out these stress relief tips for seniors, you can increase your chances of a happy and healthy retirement. Enjoy it – you deserve it! ● Main image: shutterstock/rawpixel.com Written by Marilyn Coates-Lower I am a free spirit who wakes up with a smile every morning. My life has been an adventure and, although now officially retired, I continue to work as a writer and proofreader. I live in a stunning part of Brittany, France together with my horse and cat, enjoying views of the woods that surround my house and across the valley to the village. By way of my experiences, I hope to inspire people, through my writing, to become more positive, happy and forward-thinking.

Need a change from all the negative news in the media? These feel-good stories from July will lift your spirits! Ed Gould shares his Top Ten round-up from the month. 1. Baths lead to better sleep Feeling the happiness of a good night's sleep is something that many miss out on. However, new research suggests that taking a hot bath a couple of hours before you retire can really help you to nod off. As reported by CNN, according to new research from the University of Texas, bathing in hot water helps us to feel sleepy because the body naturally cools a little before sleeping. By taking a warm bath – and not a stimulating shower – you can replicate this natural process and therefore enjoy more chance of a healthy night's rest. RELATED: Can't sleep? 14 fixes to get a good night's rest 2. Huge numbers of new trees planted in Ethiopia Ethiopia is rarely in the news as a place of much happiness. That said, several news outlets, including The CEO Magazine ran with a story about saplings being planted in the country in July. In a bid to combat climate change, over 350 million were planted – incredibly, in just one day. These were spread out across the country but taken together it represents a world record. The country's tree-planting programme aims to see four billion new trees planted in total to improve reforestation rates in East Africa. Trees in Tigray, Ethiopia © shutterstock/Aleksandra H. Kossowsk 3. Ear stimulation could prevent premature ageing conditions In a study conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Leeds, it was found that tickling the ear with a small electrical current could help combat certain conditions associated with premature ageing, such as Parkinson's disease. The idea behind the research is that the ear acts as a kind of gateway to the body's nervous system so stimulating it can help to promote activity in it, thereby rebalancing it. It's hoped a treatment can be developed that will help with things like irritable bowel syndrome and even depression, too. 4. Gut microbes found to be crucial in motor neurone disease The Guardian reported in July that scientists had made a breakthrough in the study of ALS, a highly debilitating form of motor neurone disease. A microbe in the gut known as akkermansia muciniphila was found to secrete a molecule in the body that slows down the course of the condition. It does so by improving the function of some of the muscle-controlling neurons found in the brain. The Israeli research team has more work to do to understand why this happens but they are currently embarking on further studies to do so. 5. Pupils practising mindfulness lowers teacher stress The link between mindfulness and better outcomes among children in school has been long-established and more and more educational authorities around the world are encouraging it in public education systems. However, according to Metro, deploying it in schools also redounds to the benefit of teaching staff, too. Work undertaken at Swansea University showed that mental well-being also improved among teachers when mindfulness courses were followed by pupils. Class act: meditating schoolkids © shutterstock/wavebreakmedia RELATED: 7 mindfulness tips for staying engaged 6. The tiger population is on the up The Daily Telegraph reported that the numbers of tigers roaming around India may have risen by as much as 30 per cent since 2014. Back then, new measures were brought in to protect these big cats. This means that well over two-thirds of the wild tiger population now lives within India's borders. The country is now on track to meet its internationally agreed commitments to improve global tiger numbers by creating safer habitats for these impressive creatures. Some 26,000 cameras are now in operation around these habitats in order to count the tiger population more accurately and deter harmful activities against them. 7. Marijuana may be more potent than aspirin According to Sky News, a scientific study into anti-inflammatories has found that certain molecules in cannabis plants could be up to 30 times stronger than common drugs like aspirin. The work, undertaken in Canada, builds an even stronger case for the use of certain therapies derived from cannabis plants. According to the lead researcher, Professor Tariq Akhtar, the molecule in question has no psychoactive effect, potentially making it ideal for a new medicine. 8. Mexico makes a wildlife reserve for endangered species According to the Rainforest Trust, it has teamed up with Turtle Conservancy and the Global Wildlife Conservation to create a new nature reserve in the Chihuahuan Desert. The idea is to help to protect some endangered tortoise species and lizards, as well as some very rare mammals in the region. In addition, it's hoped that the area will help to improve the numbers of both nesting and migrating birds. The reserve was set up after 8,850-acre former cattle ranch was bought specifically for the purpose of maintaining a new wildlife habitat. Well shell: tortoise protection © shutterstock/FOTOGRIN 9. Large study into altruism launched According to CBS, scientists are taking some of their first steps to try and understand altruism from a physiological point of view rather than focussing on the psychology. Professor Abigail Marsh of Georgetown University in the US has been examining the brains of people who are known to be altruistic because they all donated kidneys to perfect strangers. The study, she claimed, indicates that there may be specific brain functions associated with altruism. Although her work is ongoing, from her collection of brain scans so far, she has noted some enlarged areas of the brain from those people who made such donations! RELATED: The power of kindness 10. Thermal transfer technology could heat homes from subways As anyone who's travelled on them knows, underground tunnels and subways build-up heat during summer! Researchers from Lausanne in Switzerland have come up with a plan to capture this energy and put it to good use. Their idea is to use heat pumps to capture the energy and transfer it, either to heat nearby homes or to cool them down by converting the heat into power for air-conditioning. According to one researcher involved, it could save millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per city per year! Now that's great news for all of us. ● Written by Ed Gould Ed Gould is a UK-based journalist and practitioner of Reiki.

Governmental psychologist Dóra Guðmundsdóttir explains what makes a society flourish. By Jill Suttie on behalf of Greater Good Science Center. The World Happiness Report comes out every year, providing some data about how well-being varies from country to country and how it shifts within a country from one year to the next. But what makes some countries happier than others? Dóra Guðmundsdóttir is one of many researchers around the world studying happiness and well-being at the population level. By analyzing large data sets, she's helped to uncover the “epidemiology of well-being” — how different groups within a country are faring in response to changing social and economic forces, such as inequality, recessions, and education policies. By understanding these effects, she helps a country’s politicians and policymakers make better decisions to support the well-being of their citizens. To date, she's worked with the government in her home country of Iceland, where she is the director of determinants of health and wellbeing at the Directorate of Health. I recently interviewed Guðmundsdóttir about her research and what we can do to build more flourishing societies. Jill Suttie: What made you interested in studying social or environmental factors influencing happiness? Dóra Guðmundsdóttir: When I started studying the causes of happiness, I became very interested in the “causes of the causes” of happiness — meaning, the environmental factors that keep people from feeling connected, safe, and autonomous, all of which contribute to happiness. Even though many individual choices affect happiness, how easy or difficult it is to make those choices often depends on social or environmental factors, like government welfare programs or gender equality, for example. JS: According to the World Happiness Report, happiness has been decreasing around the world (as a whole) and there is more “happiness inequality” within countries. Why do you think that’s the case? DG: There might be many reasons for a decline in happiness. One of them might be higher expectations. In many countries, people are faring better each year — living longer, healthier lives. So, maybe people have a stronger sense that they have the right to feel good. It may also be that many people are more open about their mental health so they are more willing to say when they're unhappy. Or it might be that younger generations have less tolerance for adversity and pain (both physical and mental) than previous generations. RELATED: Happiness across different cultures In terms of inequality, there has always been more happiness inequality within countries than between countries. We also see that there is more happiness inequality within municipalities than between municipalities in the same country. It would be helpful to look at those who score high in happiness and those who score low, and then monitor changes in both, to see how policies impact these groups differently. But our current measure of happiness gives us only a very limited view of the situation. We need broader measures of mental well-being to better understand differences. Icelanders are well-known for their happy nature © shutterstock.com JS: This year, Iceland was ranked as the fourth-happiest country in the world. What is it about Iceland that makes the people there so happy? DG: According to studies around the world, it seems that the most important contributor to happiness is one’s social relationships. In a small country like Iceland, it's quite easy to be in good contact with your family and friends. The majority of the population lives within an hour’s drive from the Reykjavik capital area. Another important factor related to happiness is health, and the health status in Iceland is quite good compared to other countries. We have the lowest infant mortality rate in the world and one of the highest life expectancies; the majority of citizens have access to good-quality health care. RELATED: Happiness – what is it exactly? Iceland is also a very peaceful nation — for example, we have never had an army. There's a high level of trust in the society, too. Children can go places freely and play outside without supervision. Icelanders also have quite a bit of control over their lives. They have access to quality education, whatever the educational background of their parents. And Iceland is the country with the narrowest gender gap in the world, where it's now illegal to pay women less than men for the same job. “According to studies around the world, it seems that the most important contributor to happiness is one’s social relationships. In a small country like Iceland, it's quite easy to be in good contact with your family and friends.” All of this makes it easy and acceptable to try out different things, so people do not feel that they are stuck in a particular path they have not chosen. Their level of safety and autonomy probably has a big impact on their happiness. JS: How much — and in what ways — is happiness affected by economic forces, according to your research? DG: Income only predicts one per cent of the happiness in Iceland when other factors are taken into account. That means making a higher income is not going to lead to more happiness, necessarily — it’s a fairly low predictor [of happiness] compared to social relations. RELATED: Money can't buy happiness (except when you spend it like this) At the same time, the biggest predictor for unhappiness is having financial difficulty. Those who find it difficult to make ends meet have the lowest happiness score of all groups, lower than those without a job and those with the lowest income. This means that those with the lowest income are not necessarily the same group as those with financial difficulties. There are people with high incomes who have financial difficulties, and that is worse for your happiness than having a lower income with no financial difficulties. JS: You’ve been looking at research around how economic disasters affect well-being in a country. What are your most surprising findings? DG: When we studied the effects of the banking system collapse in Iceland, we found that happiness among adolescents went up after the collapse, even though the happiness levels of adults went down. That’s because after the collapse, adults were working fewer hours, which meant parents had more time to spend with their adolescents. As it became easier for the adolescents to get emotional support from their parents, their happiness increased, even though working less may have resulted in a lower GDP [Gross Domestic Product] for the country. The natural beauty of Iceland brings joy to many JS: Do you think that having greater levels of happiness in the population acts as a kind of buffer against strong economic downturns? DG: Yes. When a person faces a challenge, it's likely that the level of well-being before the challenge would play a role in the impact of the challenge. A person who has low well-being and has few resources to handle adversity might be more vulnerable than a person high in well-being with more resources. In our study, we saw that adolescents who had strong relationships with their parents were not harmed by the economic crisis, while those who had weak relations with their parents had a decrease in their happiness. So, good relations with parents are not only good for your happiness but can also act as a buffer (protecting factor) for your well-being in times of crisis. JS: How have governments responded to your research and used it to create policy? DG: In 2007, public health authorities in Iceland decided to include public mental well-being measures in a national survey on Health and Wellbeing. That decision had an impact on both health policies and policies for the whole society. Well-being measures were then used as an indicator in the development of the Health 2020 policy for Iceland, as well as in the broader governmental policy for the economy and community, named Iceland 2020 and led by the prime minister. “Income only predicts one per cent of the happiness in Iceland when other factors are taken into account. That means making a higher income is not going to lead to more happiness, necessarily.” Public health indicators, including indicators of happiness and well-being, are published every year for seven health districts, providing profiles for each district. These profiles reflect the strengths and challenges in each district, which enables health authorities, municipalities, and other stakeholders to prioritize, plan, act, and evaluate according to the best available knowledge. For example, this information has been used to distribute financial resources for mental health services around the country. Additionally, municipalities (who score below the country average in happiness) have used the results to develop an action plan to increase happiness among their citizens. Close proximity to family helps Icelanders happier JS: What still needs to be done to increase resilience in your country, in your opinion? DG: In order to increase resilience, it's important to teach skills in schools — like, coping, self-efficacy, social and emotional learning, and mindfulness. Fortunately, we got funding from EU Horizon 2020 for developing a training program on mental resilience in schools in five European regions. The project is called UPRIGHT, and its general objective is to promote mental well-being and prevent mental disorders by enhancing resilience capacities in youths. It was designed by psychologists, pedagogists, methodologists, and technology experts from around Europe, and will focus on increasing resilience in adolescents (12-14 years of age), their families, and schools; validating the effectiveness of the program; and providing scientific evidence on specific resilience factors that contribute to promote positive mental well-being. JS: What do you think other countries can learn from your research? DG: Countries need measures beyond GDP to help them with policy planning. It’s very important to measure happiness and well-being on a national and local level and offer the results to the public, because what you measure gets attention! When you present well-being results to the public, it opens people’s eyes about differences in well-being and creates a desire to understand why the situation is like this and what can be done to improve it. It’s only when citizens ask for change that politicians listen and act. ● Main image: shutterstock/Aleksei Potov Written by Greater Good Science Center This article originally appeared on Greater Good, the online magazine of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. happiness.com is honoured to republish it with the kind permission of the Greater Good Science Center. greatergood.berkeley.edu

Hast du auch gerade ein paar gute Nachrichten nötig? Ed Gould teilt seine Top Ten Zusammenfassung vom Juni. Unter anderem geht es um Kanadas Plastikverbot, den Rückgang von Wilderei an afrikanischen Elefanten und die Geheimnisse des Glücks, die durch eine neue Umfrage enthüllt wurden. Der Artikel erschien im Original im englischen happiness Magazin Im Juni gab es viele Wohlfühlnachrichten. Diese können ein wenig Glück in eine derzeit ansonsten eher unruhige Welt bringen. Ließ weiter und erfahre mehr über diese positiven Neuigkeiten, über die du in den Mainstream-Medien möglicherweise nichts gehört hast. 1. Große Fortschritte im Papierrecycling Laut The Week wurde an der Rutgers University in den USA eine clevere neue Technik zum "Entdrucken" von Papier entwickelt. Dort ist es Wissenschaftlern gelungen, schwarze, blaue, rote und grüne Tinte von gedruckten Seiten zu entfernen, sodass bereits gedruckte Dokumente gelöscht und anschließend wiederverwendet werden können. Dieser Prozess kann bis zu fünf Mal wiederholt werden. Da dies vor Ort erfolgen kann, entfallen die Kosten und der Energieverbrauch für den Transport von Büropapier zu Papierrecyclingfabriken. 2. Umfrage zeigt auf, was uns glücklich macht Eine in der Zeitschrift Metro veröffentlichte Studie gibt Hinweise auf die Schlüssel zum Glück. Die Umfrage wurde von dem privaten Krankenversicherer Bupa in Auftrag gegeben. Wenn es darum geht, was uns glücklich macht, sind der Umfrage zufolge eine liebevolle Beziehung und die Nähe zur Familie das wichtigste. Unter die Top Ten der Dinge, die glücklich machen, kamen außerdem mindestens 8 Stunden Schlaf, regelmäßige Bewegung, ein Haustier zu besitzen, Zeit in der Natur zu verbringen und schließlich – vielleicht entscheidend – häufiges Lachen. Für die Studie wurden 2.000 in Großbritannien lebende Erwachsene im Alter von 55 Jahren gefragt, was ihrer Meinung nach der Schlüssel für ein langes und glückliches leben wäre. Auf die Frage, in welchem Alter die Befragten die Geheimnisse zum Glück erkannt hätten, wurde am interessanterweise am häufigsten mit 49 Jahren geantwortet. Verwandtes Thema: Warum Glück eine Reise und kein Ziel ist Für einen Lacher gut: Lachen erfüllt uns mit Glück 3. System zum Entfernen von Mikroplastik entwickelt Viele Menschen werden sich immer bewusster darüber, welche Mengen an winziger Plastikpartikel im Meer und an unseren Küsten zu finden sind. Es gibt jedoch gute Neuigkeiten für die Meeresumwelt. Ein hawaiianisches Team hat einen riesigen Staubsauger entwickelt, mit dem Mikroplastik von Stränden abgesaugt werden kann. Laut Bloomberg wurde das System bereits verwendet, um Bestandteile alter Zahnbürsten, Flaschen und Fischernetzen zu sammeln und so die Menge an menschlichem Abfall zu reduzieren, die in den Ozean gelangt. 4. Natürliche Bakterien können Allergikern helfen Laut Gentechnik- und Biotechnologie-News setzen Wissenschaftler Darmbakterien ein, um die Auswirkungen bestimmter Lebensmittelallergien zu bekämpfen. Forscher des Boston Children’s Hospital leiteten die Studie, die erstmals in der angesehenen Fachzeitschrift Nature veröffentlicht wurde. Es ist zu hoffen, dass aus ihren Erkenntnissen eine neue Behandlung für Allergiker entwickelt werden kann, die die derzeitige Methode der oralen Immuntherapie verbessern wird. 5. Wilderei an afrikanischen Elefanten geht zurück Dank erfolgreicher Anti-Wilderei-Initiativen in weiten Teilen Zentral- und Südafrikas ist die Zahl der Elefanten, die dort Elfenbeinjägern zum Opfer fallen, in den letzten sechs Jahren um bis zu 50 Prozent gesunken. Tatsächlich berichtete CBS, dass in einem Reservat in Mosambik während eines Zeitraums von zwölf Monaten kein einziger Elefant an Wilderer verloren gegangen sei. Dies ist vor allem bemerkenswert angesichts der Anzahl der Tiere, die früher gejagt wurden. Fachleute behaupten, dass der eigentliche Grund für diesen Erfolg die Senkung der weltweiten Nachfrage nach Elfenbein sei. Diese Entwicklung beeinflusse das Handeln der Wilderer in erster Linie. Braucht gute Nachrichten: Wilderei bedroht Elefanten 6. Stars unterstützen Wohltätigkeitsorganisation für Achtsamkeit Eine britische Wohltätigkeitsorganisation hat sich der Förderung von Achtsamkeit an Schulen und Hochschulen verschrieben. Jetzt gab sie bekannt, dass sie einige große Namen als neue Förderer gewinnen konnte. Am Ende der World Wellbeing Week teilte das Mindfulness in Schools Projekt mit, Jerome Flynn, Star von Game of Thrones, und die Umweltaktivistin Caroline Lucas MP als Repräsentanten für ihre Kampagnenarbeit gewonnen zu haben. 7. Verbot für Einwegplastik übertrifft alle Erwartungen Eine der Top Gute-Laune-Nachrichten im Juni kam aus Kanada. Weltweit wurde berichtet, dass die kanadische Regierung ein Verbot aller Arten von Einwegkunststoffen anstreben. Beeindruckend ist, dass sie sich ein Ziel gesetzt hat, das selbst einige Aktivisten für zu ehrgeizig halten. Sobald die erforderlichen Gesetze verabschiedet sind, könnte das vollständige Verbot bereits 2021 in Kraft treten und damit den Standard für andere Länder festlegen. Das können wir nur hoffen! 8. Vermeintlich ausgestorbene Tiere wiederentdeckt The Independent berichtete, dass ein in den Regenwäldern von Honduras arbeitendes Naturschutzteam eine Reihe von Tierarten wiederentdeckt hat, die als ausgestorben galten. Insekten, Reptilien und sogar Säugetiere – in diesem Fall eine Fledermausart - wurden in einem abgelegenen Abschnitt des Mosquitia Dschungels dokumentiert. Das Team beschrieb ihre Entdeckung als "schockierend". Derzeit werden weitere Arbeiten durchgeführt, um herauszufinden, was möglicherweise noch in der Gegend zu finden ist. 9. Können Tomaten im Kampf gegen Diabetes helfen? Laut The London Economic, haben französische Forscher die potenziellen Vorteile von Tomatenhaut und ihre Wirkung auf Entzündungen untersucht. Dr. Jean-Francois Landrier erklärte an der Universität Marseille, dass Lycopin – ein Wirkstoff in der Haut von Tomaten - dazu beitragen kann, die Entzündungsreaktion zu dämpfen, die durch einen toxischen Aufbau von Glukose verursacht wird. Diese Akkumulation findet statt, wenn nicht genügend Insulin im Körper vorhanden ist. Die Haut hilft: Können Tomaten bei Diabetes helfen? 10. Hybridflugzeuge stehen kurz davor, kommerziell eingesetzt zu werden Als Hybridautos entwickelt wurden, um den Verbrauch fossiler Brennstoffe zu senken, gab es einige Zweifler. Aber mittlerweile ist dies eine alltägliche Technologie. In der Flugzeugtechnik wird immer mehr Interesse an Hybridtechnologien bekundet, welche auch für kommerziellen Flugverkehr eingesetzt werden können. Laut Aviation Today hat eine speziell entwickelte Hybrid Cessna die Branche begeistert, nachdem sie im Juni ihren Erstflug angetreten hatte. Der Flug, der in Kalifornien stattfand, wird als großer Schritt in der Luftfahrtgeschichte angesehen. Während des beeindruckenden ersten Testfluges setzte das Sechs-Sitzer-Flugzeug sowohl seinen Elektromotor als auch seinen konventionellen Motor erfolgreich ein! ● Geschrieben von Ed Gould Ed Gould ist Journalist aus Großbritannien. Er praktiziert gerne Reiki.

In the need for some feel-good news? Ed Gould shares his Top Ten round-up from June, including Canada's plastic ban, a decline in African elephant poaching, and the secrets to happiness revealed in a new survey. In June, there was plenty of feel-good news to bring happiness to an otherwise troubling world. Read on and find out a little more about the positive news stories you may have missed in the mainstream media. 1. Paper recycling receives a boost According to The Week, a clever new technique for 'unprinting' paper has been developed at Rutgers University in the USA. Scientists there have created a way of erasing black, blue, red and green ink from printed pages, meaning already-printed documents can be erased and then reused (up to five times). As its done locally, this eliminates the costs and energy consumption associated with transporting office paper to reprocessing centres. 2. Survey reveal what makes us happy A study reported in the Metro revealed the keys to happiness in June. The survey, commissioned by private healthcare group Bupa, showed that having a loving relationship and being close to family was most important when it came to what make us feel happy. Other things that made the Top Ten included getting at least eight hours of sleep, regular exercise, owning a pet, connecting with nature, and – crucially, perhaps – laughing frequently. The study asked 2,000 UK-based adults aged 55 what they though the secrets to a long and happy life were. Interestingly, the average age respondents said they finally realised what the secrets to happiness were was 49! RELATED: Why happiness is a journey, not a destination A giggle is good: laughter is a key happiness provider 3. System for removing microplastics developed Many people are becoming more aware of the level of tiny particles of plastic that are in the sea and our coasts. In positive news for the marine environment, a Hawaiian team has developed a huge vacuum cleaner to suck up microplastics from beaches. According to Bloomberg, the system has been used to collect debris from old toothbrushes, bottles and fishing nets, helping to prevent the amount of human waste that finds its way into the ocean. 4. Natural bacteria can help allergy sufferers Scientists have been using gut bacteria to combat the effects of certain food allergies, according to Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital led the study which first appeared in Nature, the respected academic journal. It's hoped that a new treatment for allergy sufferers can be developed from their findings which will improve upon the current method of oral immunotherapy. 5. Poaching of African elephants in decline Thanks to successful anti-poaching initiatives in much of central and southern Africa, the number of elephants there falling prey to ivory hunters has fallen over the last six years by up to 50 per cent. In fact, CBS reported that one reserve in Mozambique had seen no elephants lost to poachers over the course of an entire 12-month period – remarkable given the number of animals that used to be hunted. Specialists claim the real driver in this success has been lowering global demand for ivory which, in turn, disincentives the practices of poachers in the first place. Tusk luck: poaching of African elephants is in decline 6. Stars line up to support mindfulness charity A UK charity devoted to promoting mindfulness in schools and colleges announced that it has some fairly big names acting as its new patrons. At the end of World Wellbeing Week, the Mindfulness in Schools Project said that it had secured Jerome Flynn, star of Game of Thrones, and the environmental campaigner Caroline Lucas MP to act as figureheads for its campaigning work. 7. Single-use plastic ban exceeds expectations One of the top feel-good news stories from June came from Canada. Reported widely across the globe, the Canadian government is seeking a ban on all forms of single-use plastic in the entire country. Crucially, it has set itself a target that even some campaigners thought might be overly ambitious. Once the necessary legislation is passed, the total ban could come into force as soon as 2021, thereby setting the standard for other countries to follow. Let's hope so. 8. Animals thought to be extinct rediscovered The Independent reported that a conservation team working in the rainforests of Honduras has discovered a number of animal species that were previously thought to be extinct alive and well. Insects, reptiles and even mammals – in the case of a type of bat – have been documented in a remote section of the Mosquitia jungle. The team described their discovery as 'shocking' and further work is now being conducted to see what else may be found in the area. 9. Can tomatoes help in the fight against diabetes? According to The London Economic, French researchers have been looking into the potential benefits of tomato skins and how they act on bodily inflammation. Speaking at Marseille University, Dr Jean-Francois Landrier explained that lycopene – the active ingredient in tomato skins – can help to dampen the effect of inflammation caused by a toxic build up of glucose, something that happens when insufficient quantities of insulin are available in the body. Skin win: could tomatoes help fight diabetes? 10. Hybrid aeroplanes are close to becoming commercially viable When hybrid cars were designed to lower fossil fuel consumption, it's fair to say there were some doubters, but now the technology is commonplace. And when it comes to aircraft, there's more and more interest being shown in hybrid technologies being used for commercial flying, too. According to Aviation Today, a specially developed hybrid Cessna has wowed the industry, having taken its inaugural flight in June. The flight, which took place in California, is being seen as a big step in aviation history. The six-seater plane successfully used its electric engine as well as its conventional one during the impressive first test flight! ● Written by Ed Gould Ed Gould is a UK-based journalist and practitioner of Reiki. #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own Mailchimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. 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When you're feeling lonely it can be easy to sit around feeling sorry for yourself. Instead, try one of these 11 ideas from Calvin Holbrook to relieve the pain of loneliness and isolation. Loneliness sucks. I've been there and maybe you have too: stuck alone at home wishing you were out having fun with friends. Instead, for whatever reason, you're inside feeling lonely and wondering how and why you ended up in that position. However, feeling lonely isn't your fault and can often be a result of life circumstances: perhaps you've just moved to a new town/city and are struggling to make new friends. Maybe you've just come out of a relationship – or all your friends are suddenly getting into relationships. Or perhaps you've been struggling with depression or anxiety and can't face seeing your social network right now. Whatever the reason, science says that feeling alone for long periods of time is bad for your mental – and physical – health. In fact, studies show that a lack of social connections could be as harmful to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. The same research suggests that loneliness increases the likelihood of mortality by a staggering 26 per cent. So, friendships can be powerful tools for staying well and healthy. But not all of us have a large circle of buddies. In the UK, 1.9 million older people often feel ignored or invisible. But contrary to popular opinion, it's not just the elderly that have feelings of loneliness: over 40 per cent of Britons say the TV or a pet is their main source of company. Similarly, in the US, nearly half of all Americans claim to feel lonely. Indeed, social isolation can touch us at any age, and can be affected by our personality, motivation and physical location. Feeling lonely? Here's what you can do Developed countries are clearly going through a loneliness epidemic. So, what can you do if you are one of those affected? Well, there are plenty of ways you can make new friends as an adult, such as joining social groups or developing bonds with colleagues, but if you're feeling lonely at home right now and are seeking ways to cope with negative feelings, here are 11 practical ideas to help you feel better and combat the pain of loneliness. 1. Welcome an old friend: loneliness First of all, even though it may not be welcome, treat loneliness as an old friend that’s just popped by for a visit. That's because resisting loneliness only makes it worse, so accept how you feel in this moment. Do not blame yourself. Instead of fighting against lonely feelings, accept these painful emotions into your heart with self-compassion and it will help ease the pain a little. Accept your loneliness and make friends with it. 2. Get creative If you're feeling lonely it can be easy to start ruminating over how you’re in that position and whether you could have done things differently to avoid it. Getting creative is a simple and fun way to take your mind off of your thoughts and engaged in something more productive. You could try mandala coloring, making a collage out of magazines, drawing, or writing, for example. Being creative will keep your mind busy and provide you with a sense of satisfaction and achievement. Colour your life when you're feeling lonely © shutterstock/Serhii Krot 3. Write a gratitude journal Accept your feelings of loneliness and instead of dwelling on them, shift your consciousness to all the great things in your life that you're grateful for. Take ten minutes to write everything down in a gratitude journal. Journals help us to know ourselves better by clarifying our thoughts, emotions and feelings. In fact, a 2015 study published in Europe’s Journal of Psychology suggested that practising gratitude may help decrease feelings of loneliness, and, in turn, possibly improve our health, well-being and happiness. 4. Give your brain a puzzle Use your alone time positively to boost your brainpower by doing a jigsaw or crossword. When solving a jigsaw, we must look at different pieces to figure out where they fit within the larger picture. Doing this improves our visual-spatial reasoning. As well as helping to relieve loneliness, studies show that doing puzzles can help delay the symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Completing a jigsaw also reduces stress by occupying and engaging the mind to create a sense of calm. As a puzzle is pieced together, external worries and stress decrease as the mind focuses on a task that is both meditative and satisfying. “Whatever the reason, science says that feeling alone for long periods of time is bad for your mental – and physical – health.” 5. Get out of the house Unless you’re keeping occupied with some of the loneliness-busting tips above, staying inside alone will only mean you concentrate more on those feelings of isolation. Simply going outside for a walk outside changes your environment and thoughts. Take a stroll and practise mindfulness, taking in all that is around you: the smells, sounds and sights. Or, try something cultural: pop to an exhibition or treat yourself to a film and get engrossed in something other than loneliness: see it as a personal date night! Alternatively, if you have green space nearby, have a walk in a park or do some forest bathing – the benefits of connecting with nature are proven by science. If you're feeling alone, take a mindful walk in nature 6. Get active Doing physical exercise is a great way to take your mind off your situation if your feelings of loneliness are taking over. Instead of mulling over things inside, head outside for a jog or run and boost your happiness hormones. Better still, head to the gym and try a new group class – you're more likely to strike up a conversation with someone. And if you do find yourself chatting with someone new and hit it off, don’t be afraid to ask for their number or ask them to go for a coffee together. You never know; they may be feeling just as lonely as you. 7. Sing out loud Singing is another proven way to fight the feeling of being alone, so blast out some of your favourite tracks and get those vocal chords warmed up. In fact, singing is a natural anti-depressant as it’s known to release mood-boosting endorphins. It's also been shown to boost our immune system, reduce stress levels and, according to a report published in the Journal of Music Therapy in 2004, help patients cope with chronic pain. Joining a choir is a great way to reap the benefits of singing and combat feelings of loneliness as you meet many new people at once. The Community of Voices research study (2012–2018) found that singing in a community choir for six months reduced the participants’ feelings of loneliness and also increased their interest in life. Singing in a choir can combat loneliness © shutterstock/Monkey Business Images 8. Share your skills with others Getting involved as a volunteer is a fantastic practical way to reduce feelings of loneliness. Volunteering for at least two hours a week may go a long way toward helping to ease feelings of loneliness and isolation, according to research published in Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences. Volunteering almost always involves interacting with others, hence helping to build social connections and reduce isolation. In fact, the benefits of volunteering are many. If you're feeling alone, think about possible volunteering ideas and start researching what you can do in your local community. RELATED: Why is volunteering important? 9. Check in with yourself It’s OK to feel alone sometimes. Remind yourself that life isn't always fun and games and that there are plenty of ups and downs. Indeed, your circumstances will not always be the same and nothing last for ever – good or bad. Try to be patient with your loneliness, and with time and effort, it will ease. Remember that tomorrow is a new day when you can consider working on alleviating your loneliness and making new friends – if you're ready. 10. Consider getting a pet If you have the space and time, think about welcoming a pet into your home. The companionship that a pet offers is scientifically-proven to reduce loneliness, anxiety and stress, whether it’s a cat, bird, gerbil or iguana. However, dogs are the clear winners when it come to loneliness-busting pets: they force you to get out of the house and connect with other dog-loving humans. The healing power of pets is real. Animals, especially dogs, help to relieve loneliness 11. Use compassionate visualization As I wrote at the start of this article, perhaps you're feeling lonely while other friends are having fun while you're left alone. You could even feel jealous and envious of these people who are sharing good times together and seemingly not living with loneliness. Perhaps you weren't invited to a party or group holiday and feel upset about it. However, instead of carrying negative thoughts about those involved, show compassion. Try to visualize them at whatever event it may be and feel happy for them regardless. Feeling happy for others despite your sorrow can be healing and actually make you feel happier too. ● Main image: shutterstock/Antonio Guillem How do you deal with feeling of loneliness? Do you have any other ideas to add to the list? I'd love to read your suggestions below! Head over to the Forum to share more ideas on combating loneliness. Written by Calvin Holbrook Calvin edits the happiness magazine, as well being an artist and travel lover. He also enjoys hiking, nature, swimming, yoga, sweaty dancing, and all things vintage!

Tired of reading negative news? Then these feel-good stories from May will help spread some cheer. Ed Gould shares his Top Ten round-up from the month... Although international trade conflicts and domestic politics tended to dominate the major news outlets in May, the month had more than its fair share of positivity! From the benefits of volunteering to how eating greens really is good for you, here are our pick of May's feel-good news stories. 1. Adidas to make totally recyclable trainers Global sportswear brand Adidas announced in May that it would soon be making footwear that can be entirely recycled when it comes to the end of its useful life. Back in 2016 the German manufacturer started to use recycled plastics found in the sea and went on to make six million pairs of trainers from it. Adidas executives confirmed that the business has now committed itself to using only recycled polyester for 100 per cent of its production by 2024. A company making great strides ahead! 2. Scheme to kayak Europe for free announced A newly-launched scheme means that tourists can kayak the great waterways of Europe without charge. Rather than paying to rent a kayak for a day or two during their stay, people will now be able to obtain them without cost. The catch? You have to collect rubbish from the canals in urban centres. The initiative is up and running in Denmark thanks to an organisation called GreenKayak but it's hoped the scheme will spread to other big cities with man-made waterways. It seems like a win-win situation to us! Paddle power: clean up by kayaking 3. Volunteering helps you live longer Great minds definitely think alike! Psychology Today published an article about the benefits of volunteering, and here at happiness.com, we did the same to celebrate Volunteers Week in the UK. Science shows that volunteering is important and may not be entirely altruistic: that's because those who get involved in voluntary work frequently end up living longer as a result! Indeed, volunteering gives people multiple health advantages – from lower stress to being able to fighting depression – so volunteers may not just have a happier life but a longer one, too. 4. Mindfulness is changing the way we work According to CEOWorld Magazine, the increasing use of mindfulness techniques among executives and employees is making the workplace a better place to be. At work, when people can communicate with their colleagues or bosses in a mindful manner, it encourages a greater level of focus and accord. In turn, this benefits the business which becomes more productive as a result. The business magazine argued that more companies should encourage mindfulness at work since they'll ultimately benefit from it. 5. Eating greens really is good for you Research published in May suggested that certain greens – in particular, broccoli and kale – contain compounds that are great at suppressing the growth of tumours and other cancerous cells. A team from Harvard Medical School in Boston spent time researching prostate tumours and their reaction to compound indole-3-carbinol (which appears naturally in green vegetables). Known as a suppressor protein, the compound could be used as a way to treat tumours and even prevent them from occurring in the first place, according to Medical News Today. Go green: compounds in some green veg could suppress tumors 6. Could Google help to prevent cancer? Hands up if you've Googled any health symptoms in the past to work out what condition you might have. OK, so that's all of us, then! Of course, going to the doctor remains the best advice, but, that said, Google announced in May that its new algorithm could help medical professionals to spot the early signs of lung cancer, one of the most lethal forms of this disease. As reported by Interesting Engineering, the artificial intelligence used is 94 per cent accurate, which is actually a big advance on current methods. 7. Salt for storage? In the fight against fossil fuels, renewable energy has come a long way, but what do you do when the sun isn't out or the wind isn't blowing? The answer, of course, is to store energy. The trouble is that this has proved a problem to achieve on a large scale in an environmentally-friendly way. Now a German thermal power station has teamed up with Swedish team to overcome the problem. They're using salt to store heat so that it acts like a giant battery. What's more, there's plenty of perfectly harmless salt available to use unlike other approaches, such as lithium-ion batteries, for example. 8. Running is great for your heart The Daily Mail reported on a study about marathon training and heart vessels undertaken by researchers at the University College London. In it, the researchers established that the relative ages of arteries in people training for a marathon could see an improvement equivalent to a four-year drop in the ageing process. Indeed, a significant drop in systolic blood pressure was also noted in runners who trained for a period of six months. These are the results you'd expect of a long course of medication and mean that heart disease and stroke become much less likely. Run and reduce: lower heart disease risk with running 9. A healthy gut can lower anxiety The benefits of healthy gut bacteria have long been known to medical science as helping with digestion and all-round physical health. According to several reports in the West, Chinese researchers have also found that a healthy gut may lead to better mental well-being. A team at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine discovered that consumption of foodstuffs containing probiotics – which help to promote a healthy gut – could lead to lower anxiety levels. In fact, the researchers said their work demonstrated that it was a good idea to treat anxiety symptoms by regulating a patient's intestinal microbiota. 10. The success of the Endangered Species Act in America According to The Hill, a Washington-based political journal, the Endangered Species Act has been a great success, helping to save over 70 marine species from danger, including sea turtles and marine mammals, such as otters and seals. Over 30 different species were studied and just two populations were found to be in decline after the act was passed into law in the United States. Great stuff! ● Written by Ed Gould Ed Gould is a UK-based journalist and practitioner of Reiki.

Psychologist Beth Kurland explains how to face emotional challenges using mindfulness, acceptance and self-compassion. On behalf of the Greater Good Science Center. When I was 15, my mother died in a car accident. Not knowing how to deal with the enormity of my loss and grief, I threw myself into homework and activities, never missing a day of school and trying to control everything in my life. This strategy succeeded in some ways — I was able to get good grades, for example. But the inner cost of pushing away my grief and sadness showed up in other ways. I became anxious around things I couldn’t control, like unexpected changes of plans and minor injuries. And, as I grew older, I started to harbor irrational worries, such as the fear of exposing my baby in utero to toxic fumes when walking past a strange smell. It was not until my first child was born, with the help of a therapist, that I was able to fully grieve the loss of my mother and feel all of the emotions I had spent so many years trying to ward away. Embracing the uncomfortable As I write about in my new book, Dancing on the Tightrope, the desire to avoid what’s unpleasant (and seek what’s pleasant) is part of human nature. But avoiding unpleasant emotions — rather than accepting them — only increases our psychological distress, inflexibility, anxiety, and depression, diminishing our well-being. Sit with it: embracing anxiety and depression can be positive Research suggests that when we turn toward our cravings, we're less likely to engage in addictive behaviors; when we turn toward our physical pain, we're less likely to be trapped in cycles of chronic pain; when we turn toward our sadness, we're less likely to be stuck in depression; and when we turn toward our anxiety, we're less likely to be paralyzed by it and can find it easier to bear. Learning to embrace dark emotions brought not only a significant reduction in my anxiety, but an ability to experience the joys of life more fully and a growing trust in my ability to handle life’s challenges. As a therapist, I've also seen tremendous healing with my patients as they've learned to embrace their difficult emotions. “Research suggests that when we turn toward our sadness, we're less likely to be stuck in depression. When we turn toward our anxiety, we're less likely to be paralyzed by it.” If we want to live more fully and be our most authentic selves, we need to turn towards our pain, not try to suppress it. But what can help us get there? The tools of mindful attention, self-compassion, and acceptance — which all come together in a practice I call “The Door.” To do this practice yourself, make sure to start with emotions that are not too intense; you might want to work with a skilled therapist, especially for more intense emotions. Here’s what The Door involves: Step 1: Develop a willingness to open the door Imagine that you're opening the door and welcoming your emotions in, to come and have a seat somewhere in the room. You can picture this seat as close to or as far away from you as you like. From this perspective, you can take a gentle and curious look at what is there. Often people will picture their emotions as having some kind of color, shape, or form; sometimes they envision their emotions as cartoon characters or as younger parts of themselves. Part of the practice is simply to accept whatever arrives. This is a new experience for most people. Who wants to let anxiety in the door? Who wants to welcome in sadness or anger? But when we let in whatever arrives, and see it from a bit of a distance, we can take a curious look and explore what's there. Step 2: Take a curious look at whatever walks in the door Mindfully observing what we're feeling can help us cope with whatever is before us. It can be useful to name our feelings (oh, that’s hurt; that’s jealousy; that’s anger) because, as simple as this sounds, we often don’t pay attention to the nuances of what we are feeling; consequently, important information gets lost along the way. Labeling our distressing emotions gives us a way of validating our inner experience, but it has the added benefit of dialing down their intensity. “Who wants to welcome in sadness and anger? But when we let in whatever arrives, we can take a curious look and explore what's there.” It can also be beneficial to see our emotional “visitors” as temporary guests. Adding the phrase “in this moment” to a statement like “I'm feeling stress, anger, or hurt” can help us be with what is there without feeling overwhelmed. Other things you might say to yourself include: Can I allow myself to notice how this is showing up in my body and in my thoughts? If this feeling or part of me could talk, what might it say? What might it want or need? Being curious rather than fearful or rejecting provides a better lens for understanding your feelings. Step 3: Give yourself the gift of compassion Besides pushing away uncomfortable feelings, many of us have been conditioned to judge our emotions in negative ways. We’ve learned that if we show sadness, it’s a sign of weakness; that we're a bad person if we feel anger or jealousy; that we should “move on” when we experience loss. When we come face to face with difficult emotions, we often tell ourselves to buck up and stop being silly or that there’s something wrong with us. Self-compassion: imagine sitting with a caring friend When we practice mindfulness in combination with self-kindness and a recognition of our common humanity (the fact that we all suffer as human beings), we cultivate self-compassion, a quality that has been linked to psychological well-being. To practice self-compassion, imagine sitting with a good friend who is suffering and think about how you might extend a gesture of compassion. What would your body language be like? How might you listen? What sensations would you feel around your heart? Now picture that person extending compassion towards you. What might they say or do? What words would you find comforting or soothing? “When we practice mindfulness in combination with self-kindness and a recognition of our common humanity (the fact that we all suffer), we cultivate self-compassion.” Chances are, they would not be telling you to cut it out or that you shouldn’t be feeling this way. They might say, “That sounds really hard. I’m here for you.” Or perhaps they might simply extend a hand. When we can learn to sit mindfully with our own emotions, and bring compassion to whatever we're experiencing, it’s as if we've become that caring friend, sitting with ourselves. Learning to be there for ourselves, through the positive moments as well as the painful ones, can be tremendously healing. While embracing our dark emotions takes courage and practice, using The Door technique allows us to open to a gift on the other side. Each time we practice being with our difficult emotions, we grow inner resources, learn to trust in our capacity to handle our experiences, develop resilience for moving through life’s challenges, and find ways to pursue what truly matters. Each of us has the power to face what's hard, if we only open the door. ● Main image: Marc Bruxelle Written by Greater Good Science Center This article originally appeared on Greater Good, the online magazine of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. happiness.com is honoured to republish it with the kind permission of the Greater Good Science Center. greatergood.berkeley.edu

After suffering years of chronic pain, Jill Satterfield healed herself and developed her own unique practice: Vajra yoga and meditation. Sienna Saint-Cyr takes a deeper look at the method and the woman behind it. Most yoga practices involve breathing and movement. Some are body-based and focus little on the mind or proper breathing and movement. My first experience with yoga was this kind: the instructors showed off, while the others in class competed to see who could get into the more difficult pose. This level of competition and showboating didn’t center me, relax me, or bring me any sort of joy. It took years for me to discover that not all yoga was like the showy gym classes I’d taken. In fact, some instructors and practitioners take their methods to new levels by making the practice unique. There are many reasons to make a practice your own. Whether it’s body limitations, personal desire, or simply following your intuition. One woman, Jill Satterfield, created a method called Vajra Yoga & Meditation. In Vajra, she combines mindfulness, meditation, compassion, Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and yoga asana (pose/position of the body). Jill Satterfield: walking a different path Jill Satterfield's journey of discovering her own process began when she was fairly young, around the age of 19. She’d been diagnosed with chronic pain, and for years, doctors were unable to find the cause. She endured multiple surgeries and eventually, a doctor found the problem. Surgery repaired some of the issue — see the interview with Jennifer Raye — but it didn’t get rid of her pain. Later, Jill was told she’d have to live with the pain or take very risky steps to deaden her nerves. Jill had already explored movement and meditation and wasn’t going to take this bad news lying down. So, she decided to work with her mind, since that’s where the pain was being registered. After a few years of meditation and specific yoga practices, she managed to heal parts of herself that the doctors claimed wasn’t possible. This led her down the path of 35 years of what she coins “integrative healthcare”. RELATED: Healing trauma with yoga What Jill Satterfield has done – and continues to do – is combine many methods of yoga, meditation, relaxation, mindfulness, and so forth, to achieve her goals. Jill teaches internationally: she's a wellness program director, speaks and coaches, and is the founder of Vajra Yoga & Meditation and founder and Director of the School for Compassionate Action: Meditation, Yoga and Educational Support for Communities in Need. Indeed, Jill certainly knows her stuff! Shambhala Sun magazine (now Lion's Roar) named her one of the four leading yoga and Buddhist teachers in the United Kingdom. A happy and healthy life has more than one piece While there are many parts to her practice, one of Jill's methods I found helpful is called Checking In. Unlike some practices that have the practitioner focus solely on their breathing and body, during 'check in', Jill has the practitioner focus on the room as well: What temperature is it? Is there sound? What about smell? .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Check out how to check in: Jill Satterfield's yoga © YouTube/Eckhart Yoga Jill's method broadens the space of which we can be aware of our surroundings and present in them while keeping focus inside the body as well. It’s more of a meditation to use throughout the day or right before your yoga session. Combining the meditation and physical yoga movements really assist with balancing the mind and body. “After a few years of meditation and specific yoga practices, Jill Satterfield managed to heal parts of herself that the doctors claimed wasn’t possible.” Jill Satterfield also teaches how to move from the inside out. Rather than the very body-based yoga poses I’d previously tried, Jill teaches how to set the mind and heart straight first, then go into the asanas. The difference is rather than a rigid body pose — a thing I struggle with constantly — the body is much softer. An example of this is in her Heart Opening sequence. The idea is to pull from a place of love within, then carry that into our poses. To push that feeling into our bodies and outward into our surroundings. Trying to feel peace from the actual pose has never worked for me. But beginning in the heart and moving outward into the body gives me the inner calm that leads me to feel filled with joy on a daily basis. The art of heart: Jill's Heart Opening seqeuence © YouTube/Eckhart Yoga Mindfulness practices for yoga and every day Adding in the Buddhist beliefs takes this practice to a place of even higher intent as it involves a lot more mindfulness than typical yoga. Buddhism is a way of living. Not just a belief, but daily actions. Being mindful means being aware of thoughts and actions. Buddha Net has a Five Minute Introduction to Buddhism where they explain some of the basic principles. Again, much of this is about mindfulness. RELATED: Do mindfulness apps work? To fully understand how all of these things work together and make Jill Satterfield’s practice so effective, I did some research on how mindfulness itself helps us achieve happiness. In 2012 Berkeley Science Review did a study on mindfulness and published the results. Once completed, researchers found what connects mindfulness with happiness. In their studies, they discuss something called the 'self-discrepancy gap'. What this gap is, is the space between our actual self and our ideal self. It's in this gap that we fill ourselves with self-judgment. These two views of self tend to contradict one another, thus creating negative emotions because our natural drive is to close the gap between these two selves: we want to be this but we’re really that. After an eight-week mindfulness-based, cognitive therapy (for depression relapse prevention) session, those that completed the mindfulness therapy had fewer discrepancies between their actual self and ideal self. In essence, the gap became smaller. “Being mindful – which includes being present in the mind and body – directly leads to happiness. It shatters this internal conflict of these two aspects of ourselves.” While the review goes into several reasons as to why this happened, it's clear that mindfulness helps us to be present. When we’re present, we’re focused on the here and now. This isn’t to say we can’t have goals, but the practice helps us honor who we are in the moment. It helps us to see that the gap between who we are and who we want to be isn’t as big as we thought. RELATED: Happiness is a journey, not a destination Being mindful — which includes being present in the mind and body — directly leads to happiness. It shatters this internal conflict of these two aspects of ourselves. How your body can teach you to be mindful The Berkeley Science Review brings me back to what Jill Satterfield shared in her interview with Jennifer. Jill knew that she needed to listen to her body and mind. That she needed to honor what her body was telling her it needed. She understood that the true healing would happen in her mind and carry out into her body. If you haven’t tried this type of yoga practice, or if, like me, you were stuck in classes of people showing off, I can’t recommend Jill Satterfield’s practice enough. She is supportive of people making their practices their own. She coaches as needed because she understands that we know what our bodies need. The more present we are in our bodies, the faster we can go about healing ourselves. Jill Satterfield serves as an example of what we can achieve when we honour our needs and use integrative therapy to heal. ● Main photo: Colorbox.com Portrait of Jill Satterfield: vajrayoga.com Written by Sienna Saint-Cyr Sienna Saint-Cyr is an author, advocate, and the founder of SinCyr Publishing. She speaks at conventions, workshops, and for private gatherings on the importance of having a healthy body image, understanding enthusiastic consent, using sexuality to promote healing, navigating diverse or non-traditional relationships, having Complex PTSD, and more. Sienna loves sharing her journey of healing and finding happiness with her readers. Along with writing erotica and romance, Sienna speaks at conventions, workshops, and for private gatherings on such sex-positive topics as a healthy body image, using sexuality to promote healing, and navigating diverse or non-traditional relationships. She writes for several websites. Find out more.

Gratitude was always part of her happiness routine, but when Sienna Saint-Cyr started practising yoga for gratitude, she found a new lightness, peace and energy within. Gratitude – and gratitude yoga – is a catalyst for happiness. When we're grateful for what we have, we stop focusing on the things we lack. But why exactly? Gratitude expert Robert Emmons shares that when people help one another, they feel happier. The actions they take release the feel-good hormone oxytocin. It's this same chemical that positive touch activates. So, while gratitude itself doesn't release the happiness hormone, the actions we take when we are full of gratitude do. From my personal experience, I know that holding gratitude in my heart and mind always leads me to feel happier. For me, it’s not just the actions I take but the reminder that I have so much to be thankful and appreciative for. That alone can get my thinking from dark and depressed to being full of joy. Gratitude is a vital step in my happiness and the benefits of gratitude practice are many. Gratitude yoga: what is it? Since I’d already tried compassion yoga with Adriene, I wanted to try 'Grounding Into Gratitude – Root Chakra Yoga' with her as well. Gratitude – in my experience – is more practical as opposed to just a ‘feeling’, so incorporating it into my yoga practice sounded like an excellent method for increasing my gratitude and, therefore, happiness. “Gratitude and gratitude yoga is a catalyst for happiness. When we're grateful for what we have, we stop focusing on what we lack.” Right from the start, Adriene asked that we trust ourselves, her, and the gratitude yoga practice. She opens with a request that we are the ‘observer’. It made perfect sense, since, in order to feel full of gratitude, we have to be able to observe the good happening around us. It takes us from a place of internal focus and allows us to look outward. This video is also shorter than the last, only about 30 minutes. So it’s a good one for those that don’t have a full hour for daily practice. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Gratitude yoga from Adriene Connecting to chakras Next, Adriene has the practitioners focus their energy in their root chakra, which is the space right behind the pubic bone. Our root chakra is our base, foundation, our connection to the Earth and the physical. When it's out of balance, we can experience higher levels of negativity, trouble eating, greater insecurity, greediness, and more. With all the negative aspects of the root being out of balance, having a practice that focuses on balance seemed the right choice. While I mentioned the heart chakra in compassion yoga, I didn't get much into it. But in this case, understanding chakras is helpful as they're often used in yoga to focus on a particular area of the body, an energy flow. The chakras are associated with seven energy points in the body, colours, organs, and they have corresponding yoga poses to help balance them. Because yoga and balancing the mind, body, and spirit are very connected to the thoughts in our heads, Yoga Journal uses words like ‘imagine’, which took the idea of the chakras from a place of ‘this is real, and therefore we must prove it’ to a place of ‘this is real in my mind and therefore, helpful for visualisations during my practice’. I mention this because when I go to therapy, we often discuss the differences between things that are proven scientifically and things we simply believe. Belief is powerful; there’s no doubt about it. But science and belief aren't the same. So, if you're new to the idea of chakras and desire a science-based explanation, you might do better with the idea of chakras as visualisations as opposed to actual energy points in the body. For our purposes here, the root is our base and our balance. Gratitude yoga: the practice The first gratitude yoga pose in which I felt my energy and grounding – or connection to the earth – was the Malasana pose. It was hard to stay in it at first, as I felt unbalanced. But I kept trying. Slowly, my hips opened. I felt my energy shoot from my root down through the floor and into the earth, then fresh energy back up into me. I visualized this energy, and the more I did so, the sturdier I felt. Gratitude yoga: Malasana pose Finally, I was able to stay in the gratitude yoga pose and fully embrace that feeling of balance, which then led to me feeling so much giddy happiness. Because when I feel balanced, I feel like I can trust myself, and that is a vital step in maintaining my joy. During a variation of Malasana, Adriene has the practitioner work with their feet. She mentions that feet are an essential step in finding grounding. Since my feet often ache, I took what she said to heart and massaged my feet while rocking back and forth in a sort of frog-like squat. It’s close to Malasana, but not quite the same. “Slowly my hips opened. I felt my energy shoot from my root down through the floor and into the earth, then fresh energy back up into me!” I found this helped me relax into the more challenging poses later on. If I was struggling with balance, I rubbed the bottoms of my feet for 30 seconds, and I was instantly able to balance more efficiently. Another gratitude yoga pose I found helpful was called Humble Warrior. I’d done Warrior pose many times, even Peaceful Warrior, but not Humble. I was amazed how much this pose released in my body. All the tension I carry in my shoulders and neck began to loosen, and the longer I maintained the posture, the more I felt the release. Yoga for gratitude: Humble Warrior pose Gratitude yoga: 'I am,' and happiness I can’t deny that when I finished the video that I felt lighter, more grounded, connected to Earth, and at peace with myself. One of the mantras Adriene used — because as she stated in the video, it relates to the root chakra — was ‘I am’. During the entire session, I focused on gratitude for all the wonderful people in my life, for the healing in myself that I've allowed happening and worked so hard for, and also the thought 'I am'. I kept repeating ‘I am’ in my head. Sometimes I’d say it aloud. Each time, I felt more accepting of myself. Less judgement and self-shaming behaviour for all the things I am not. I've known about ‘I am’ for years now. In fact, my first introduction to it was when I was young and being raised in a religious household. I was told that this was God’s response when asked what he was. Later I was shown meditations and Native American and Buddhist practices that also incorporated it. “When I finished the gratitude yoga video I felt lighter, more grounded, connected to Earth, and at peace with myself.” But I didn't understand that really all ‘I am’ means is acceptance and embracing of the self. It’s not to embrace my bad habits, but to embrace that I have those bad habits and to choose to love myself anyway. It’s in accepting myself fully that I find the ability to break my bad habits. Not only is the mantra ‘I am’ helpful for self-acceptance, but it’s also useful for gratitude toward others, as well as affirmations: I am thankful… I am grateful… I am happy… Self-acceptance is an important step on our path to happiness. In fact, self-help books and too-large goal setting can lead to unhappiness. There's a ‘should be’ and ‘should do’ mentality and it directly leads to ‘I am not enough’. The right place to start with developing one self though is self-acceptance and being happy enough. While self-acceptance – 'I am' – can result in seeing our worth as we are. As I mentioned above, this isn't reason to perpetuate bad habits. What it is is an opportunity for embracing ourselves and loving who we are. I feel gratitude, the ‘I am’ mantra, and happiness are connected. I didn't possess any of these until I jumped onto the wheel (as I see it in my mind’s eye). Once I had gratitude, I felt happier. Once I felt happier, I was able to accept the parts of myself that I was judging. Then when I let go of self-judgement, I felt a deeper level of gratitude. If I stay on this wheel, these things feed one another, and I end up feeling each stronger. Give yoga for gratitude a try and also read on for yoga for moodswings, part three of this series. Namaste! ● Main image: colourbox.com. Other images: Yoga with Adriene Written by Sienna Saint-Cyr Sienna Saint-Cyr is an author, advocate, and the founder of SinCyr Publishing. She speaks at conventions, workshops, and for private gatherings on the importance of having a healthy body image, understanding enthusiastic consent, using sexuality to promote healing, navigating diverse or non-traditional relationships, having Complex PTSD, and more. Sienna loves sharing her journey of healing and finding happiness with her readers. Along with writing erotica and romance, Sienna speaks at conventions, workshops, and for private gatherings on such sex-positive topics as a healthy body image, using sexuality to promote healing, and navigating diverse or non-traditional relationships. She writes for several websites. Find out more. happiness.com | The fine art of being: learn, practise, share Are you a happiness.com member yet? 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In the final part of her series, Sienna Saint-Cyr looks at yoga for mood swings. Learn how to calm the shift in your mood through this set of yoga poses. As I ventured into the final part of this yoga series looking at yoga for mood swings, I began to see something pop up again and again: our moods are vital to us living a happy life. Psych Central, the Journal of Depression and Anxiety, Psychologist World and many more sources agree that happy people live healthier lives and make better decisions. Through that, happy folks bring more positive experiences into their lives. The sources also agree that our mood directly affects our happiness. Indeed, it takes mere seconds for even the most fortunate people I know to go from beaming with joy to being sour-faced and irritated. It's in this moment that we need to build resilience. Rapid changes in mood are due to the vast amount of stimuli that can affect us. We might get cut off in traffic, receive a bad review at work, hear a song, or even get a whiff of a random smell that can trigger a mood shift. Even when I'm happy overall in life, I can lose the feeling for days at a time if I don’t address my current mood of anger, sadness, fear or anxiety. When my current mood takes centre stage, all my focus shifts there. If the mood is a slight shift, I don’t tend to notice, and both the emotion and my overall happiness can coexist within me. But the moment my emotion moves to a place of being the focus, then it tends to hide my happiness from me. Mood swings and yoga Since yoga was doing so well for me in other areas, I began looking at Adriene’s videos on mood. I’d already used hers for compassion yoga and gratitude yoga, so this was a natural place to search. To my surprise, she had several options to choose from. I decided to try yoga for mood swings. This one called to me most because in the description Adrienne mentioned life’s little annoyances and how they can shift our mood fast. She also mentioned the stress hormones such as Cortisol and how yoga can help with these. According to the American Psychology Association, this hormone is natural to the body and helps regulate certain systems, but when there's too much of it flowing, it can cause adverse effects. So, when there's too much Cortisol in the system, it’s time to give it the boot! .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Y Yoga for mood swings from Adriene The practice: yoga for mood swings In her yoga for mood swings video, Adriene begins with a suggestion to let go and not worry about ‘doing it right’ for this practice. Her focus is more on the body’s needs, so she suggests allowing whatever is going on to exist. To do this, she keeps the practitioner in Sukhāsana (Easy pose) for longer than I found in other videos. In this cross-legged sitting position there's a heavy focus on breath and listening to the body rather than movement. As she brings the hands into play, Adriene gives the option to have soft hands or active hands. This was helpful because when we’re angry, we may want more pressure and use of our muscles. Personally, I found that I was able to release anger more efficiently when I maintained active muscles. On the contrary, when I'm sad or depressed, keeping my muscles soft assisted in releasing those emotions more effectively. The heavy focus on listening to our body in this video made a significant difference in the way I worked through my current mood. Another aspect of this practice that I felt helped me was the release portion. Rather than suggest the practitioners release slowly, she suggested doing what felt right at that moment. It might be jerky and fast, slow and steady, or whatever we need to release our emotion. When I was angry, the quicker and firmer movements helped. When I was sad, the slower releases from poses was most effective. “In her yoga for mood swings video, Adriene begins with a suggestion to let go and not worry about 'doing it right' for this practice. Her focus is more on the body's needs.” We then moved into Downward Dog, then into Walk the Dog. The walking kept my legs active. I was again surprised to notice that even when I did the practice during a sad moment, by the time we’d reached this spot in the video, the walking and active legs part was helping. Even though prior, the softer muscles worked best. I took this as a sign that the releasing was working and I made a conscious note of it. Had I started with Walk the Dog, it would have added to my sad mood rather than help it. Yoga for mood swings: downward dog pose After Walk the Dog we went back to a seated position and stayed there through the rest of the video, placing much focus on stretching. This was to bring us back into our 'flow', as Adriene calls it. The flow we have when the little things don’t happen to shift our mood. Adriene maintains positive affirmations throughout the yoga for mood swings video, things like, “I am supported”, which I found incredibly helpful in combination with the poses. She ended with the Reclining Goddess pose, also known as Supta Baddha Konasana. The moment I was in this pose, I felt relief from the emotions that had affected my mood so much. I don’t know why it worked, but it just did. Perhaps because spreading my legs open in such a manner forces my heart upward at the same time as it puts me in a vulnerable position at my base. As a victim of sexual abuse, opening my legs can be a struggle, even when I’m alone. The more I trust myself and the situation, the easier it becomes to open them. RELATED: Healing trauma with yoga But no matter how safe I feel, that position still makes me feel very vulnerable. But when I’m able to feel vulnerable rather than shut it down, it means that I’m working through whatever is causing me emotional pain. Yoga for mood swings: Reclining Goddess pose Shifting mood and thought I wholeheartedly believe that proper yoga for mood swings can change our attitude. If I was doing the wrong kind, like a bunch of super soft poses while I was full of rage, I don’t think that would be helpful. But with Adriene's method of listening to our body’s needs, we can embrace what our instincts tell us and work through the emotions that are sucking the happiness from us. We will always be affected by our surroundings. We live in a chaotic world the majority of the time. Having the tools to stop, breathe, listen to our body, then move in a manner that releases, could change how we go about our day. Imagine if I was in line at the grocery store and someone cut in front of me knowing I was there first. No matter what I chose to do at that moment, I’d still have emotions around what happened. I might get angry and say something. I might decide to suck it up and not start an argument. But either way, I’m going to feel slighted. If I don’t deal with the emotion at that moment, it would add to the list other things that happened that day until I became overwhelmed and full of rage. “Having the tools to stop, breathe, listen to our body, then move in a manner that releases, could change how we go about our day.” But what if I recognized my anger and what the person did, tuning into my body right there in the line? I could focus on my tense muscles. Listen to my body and what it needed. Then I could stretch or move onto my toes to activate my calf muscles. Many things could be done to release the feeling right there. And this means I don’t need to carry what happened beyond the store. By shifting my thoughts on how to respond to others, I can also change my mood. If we all began behaving in this manner, the chaos that so many of us know would eventually cease to exist. Yoga for happiness: series conclusions If you haven’t checked them out yet, please read part one: Compassion Yoga and part two: Gratitude Yoga as well as this one on yoga for mood swings. This series is designed to give us tools that will assist with the pursuit and ability to maintain happiness and introduce mindfulness, also for those who have difficulties with meditation. From my experiences, Adriene’s yoga series worked for achieving a greater level of happiness. But I had to commit to it completely. This experience taught me that balancing the mind, body and soul becomes easier when incorporating the practices of yoga and mindfulness. I now pay attention to my thoughts, my body and the tension in it, and my gut, which will conflict with my thoughts more often than I care to admit. These parts of me make up the whole me and keeping them in balance is vital to me being present, complete, and happy. Namaste! ● Images: colourbox.com happiness.com | The fine art of being: learn, practise, share Are you a happiness.com member yet? Sign up for free now to: ■ enjoy our happiness magazine with practical life tips ■ share and support in our happiness forum ■ self-develop with free online classes in our Academy Mindfulness | Stress management | Burnout Written by Sienna Saint-Cyr Sienna Saint-Cyr is an author, advocate, and the founder of SinCyr Publishing. She speaks at conventions, workshops, and for private gatherings on the importance of having a healthy body image, understanding enthusiastic consent, using sexuality to promote healing, navigating diverse or non-traditional relationships, having Complex PTSD, and more. Sienna loves sharing her journey of healing and finding happiness with her readers. Along with writing erotica and romance, Sienna speaks at conventions, workshops, and for private gatherings on such sex-positive topics as a healthy body image, using sexuality to promote healing, and navigating diverse or non-traditional relationships. She writes for several websites. Find out more.

In the need for some feel-good news? Ed Gould shares his Top Ten round-up from the past month, from amazing seaweed water pods to a new alternative for coffee waste... 1. Mindfulness centre of excellence to open In an exciting bit of positive news for mindfulness fans, the University of London announced in April that it would open a centre of excellence in mindfulness in 2019. Academics believe it will bring together researchers from a wide range of disciplines to share ideas, with the goal of increasing the level of scientific evidence for all sorts of mindfulness-based practices. The university president said the centre would lead to world-leading research that would have a real impact on the global mindfulness debate. RELATED: 7 mindfulness tips for staying engaged 2. Seaweed drinking vessels set sail at the London Marathon! The organisers of the London Marathon have to deal with thousands of single-use water bottles (which, of course, can be an eyesore as well as an environmental headache). At this April's race, however, drinking pods derived from a biodegradable material were used for the first time. Now expected to be the norm, the use of seaweed-based drinking vessels could run and run... and run! Both completely edible and flavourless, the pods simply break in the mouth, releasing the fluid within. Smart stuff! .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Water works: these pods could reduce plastic bottles 3. Could plastic help in the fight against climate change? OK, so plastic is rarely the source of a good news story, but this April, reporters at The Science Times bucked this trend. According to them, research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Metal Research has shown how certain plastic crystals can be harnessed to provide a refrigerating effect. If it works out, then the energy consumed by chiller cabinets, fridge-freezers and air-conditioning units could be vastly reduced, thereby helping to lower carbon-emitting fossil fuel usage. 4. Mother of pearl could be used to help bone repairs A 3D printing technique has been deployed by scientists to make mother of pearl for the first time, as reported in The London Economic. Tougher than many man-made materials, mother of pearl can be manufactured, but it's costly and involves some pretty nasty chemical processes. This new approach means a relatively cheap and safe way of making the material which can be turned into medical applications like artificial bones and implants. It's all down to the research of Professor Anne Meyer from the biology department at the University of Rochester. 5. A surprising alternative to palm oil In good news for anyone who checks their food for palm oil, two Scottish entrepreneurs have come up with a sustainable alternative to this pervasive foodstuff. Their eco-friendly approach is to use waste coffee granules (which are either thrown away or composted locally, at present). Working under the name Revive Eco, the pair are developing a process to extract and purify the oils found in coffee waste, which could then be used in cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals. Revive Eco has already gained £235,000 of funding for their idea from the Zero Waste agency in Scotland. Something brewing: could coffee replace palm oil? 6. Breakthrough found in the fight against Parkinson's disease Scientists at the University of Ontario in Canada have found a way to restore movement to patients with advanced stages of this debilitating condition. According to reports from the BBC, the team's brain implantation method has produced results which exceeded all expectations. They hope to turn their approach into a full treatment which will restore both mobility and confidence to sufferers. 7. Proton therapy to be deployed to save memories Using any sort of medical technique inside the brain to fight against tumours is tough. According to BT, this is particularly the case with younger patients but now safeguarding childhood brain activities – including protecting precious memories – will be possible thanks to the use of proton therapies. Already rolled out to adult patients on the NHS in the UK in April, the superior accuracy of the method should be able to help children with tumours to preserve the healthy parts of their brains, thanks to the Danish research which has pioneered the technique. RELATED: The Bright Side – positive news from March 8. Mindfulness is helpful for carers A report in Science Daily stated that the role of mindfulness should not be underestimated when it comes to people caring for others. In research undertaken at the University of Illinois, it appears that practising mindfulness techniques can help those offering care to relax and focus on the important job they're doing. By gaining mindfulness-based cognitive therapy skills, the researchers found that their work with veterans was most useful in reducing levels of stress. Care calmly: being mindful can help those looking after others 9. A huge clean up of Mount Everest has begun According to the Kathmandu Post, an operation to clear much of the rubbish which has simply been abandoned on the world's highest mountain got underway in April. Although other clearance campaigns have operated in the past, this one is on a much larger scale. The operation has already started to clear rubbish from Everest Base Camp but it should go on to remove around ten tonnes of material from the whole mountainside. 10. World's rainforests to be helped by drones According to the Evening Standard, drone technology could make a significant impact on the fight against global deforestation. Of course, trees help to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their trunks. Therefore, speeding up the process of planting new ones can only help to combat climate change. Helpfully, an Oxfordshire-based start-up has been working on ways to do just that. It has deployed drones successfully in Myanmar to plant new trees in a mangrove forest, a global habitat which has been severely deforested in recent years. ● Written by Ed Gould Ed Gould is a UK-based journalist and practitioner of Reiki.

Which are the best happiness apps out there on the market? Rae Bathgate selects the top six that help boost your well-being. Apple coined the phrase “there's an app for that,” and it's true many of us tend rely on our smartphones and apps for so much these days. There are apps for music, dating, exercising, health, transport, learning new languages, and even tuning a guitar. But what are some of the best happiness apps out there? There are so many happiness apps these days, how do you know which are the best? Well, below I review six of the top science-based happiness apps to reveal their strengths and weaknesses. The best happiness apps are, first and foremost, free (at least for a trial run). Many also use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as a basis for their concept. While apps are indeed very different than an hour of talk therapy with a counsellor, the way that apps can work within the realm of CBT is to try to modify your thinking patterns and by helping you to change patterns of behaviour through repetition. This can be of help if you are trying to stop ruminating. Who uses happiness apps? There are various reasons why self-care apps can be a positive addition to your life and push you a little bit closer towards your quest to happiness. They're more common than you think, and people already tend to use the iPhone, an extension of themselves, as a way to learn more about and to be more in tune with their mind. Get appy: which happiness apps boost your well-being? Indeed, according to Nature, about 29 per cent of “disease-specific mobile health apps” are focused on mental health. For example, two common mental health related apps for more dire circumstances are the PTSD Coach app or FOCUS for users with schizophrenia. While these two don't illustrate why the average happy hunter uses happiness apps, they have some of the same benefits. So, can an app really make you happier? First of all, the best happiness apps are helpful for those with a busy schedule, as they are always available. After all, you never know when you’ll need help. The app also interacts positively with the user. Just like getting constant notifications or updates on social media might be stressful, receiving reminders to do a task or maybe an affirmation just when you need it could help you feel a lot better. “Apps within the realm of CBT try to modify your thinking patterns and by helping you to change your patterns of behaviour through repetition.” While not all the apps are free, many beat the cost of going to see a mental health professional, and, what’s more, the stigma of going to see a specialist unfortunately still exists. Some of the advantages of using happiness apps are: You can practice them everywhere; If you use them as much as you use your smartphone, you'll use them regularly; It can remind you to be happier if you forget; Many of them are cost effective, if not free. Of course, it's important to remember that happiness and health apps are an excellent way to keep working towards better mental health at the forefront of your everyday life and can consolidate healthy habits, but even the best happiness apps by no means replace visiting a mental health professional, or even just simple human contact. Think of these happy apps like vitamins – supplements are great, but they can never replace the real thing. So, without further ado – and in no particular order – here's our pick of the best happiness apps on the market right now. 1. Happify Android: Free iPhone: Free Happify comes in both website and app form, and claims to: increase happiness through fun activities and games; help you learn life-changing habits based on science; reduce stress and build skills for a happy healthy life. The Happify app has various “scientifically validated tracks” that are suggested to you after you take a short questionnaire detailing your life and health. Each track has a theme and is divided into parts (usually four). These are then divided into activities, ranging from guided meditations to reflective writing assignments to fun games. How many tracks depends on if you pay the monthly subscription or downloaded the free version. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Happify app: an overview of this happiness application For the more socially minded, there's a community page with inspirational comments from other users. You can add your own too to brighten someone else’s day since it’s proven to make you feel happier. There are 58 'core activities' to begin with, with different variations, adding up to an amazing 1,200 various activities in total. These activities were designed with the help of a psychology professor, and they range from asking you to write down what you’re looking forward to in general, or looking forward to doing for a friend. Each of the 58 activities has a “Why it works” icon next to it, to explain you more about the science behind the fun games. Every two weeks, your phone gives you a happiness check-in. “While not all the best happiness apps are free, many beat the cost of going to see a mental health professional.” The reception for Happify app has been overall positive. In fact, 86 per cent of the app's users reported feeling better about their lives after just two months of using it during testing, with many reporting feeling more motivated and productive, indicating that it helps people to solidify positive, helpful habits that are the framework for a more confident and happy life. Happify app allows you develop life-changing habits Users can also access Happify Daily – free content based around happiness – as well as the Happify community and forum. And, if you really feel the app is working for you, you can unlock the full range of actives and reports by subscribing to Happify Plus. So, as a recap, here's why you should download the Happify app: It helps you build resilience for stressful experiences; It helps you build happy, healthy habits tied to positive thinking; Since even reflecting on happy memories releases happiness hormones, you can boost your well-being by making a digital scrapbook to remind you of sunnier pastures when you feel blue. 2. Happy Habits Android: free iPhone: unavailable The Happy Habits app describes itself as relying heavily on the principles of CBT, and that it works by helping to “create the conditions for happiness in [the user's] life. It starts out by giving its users a 119-item test to assess their happiness based on 14 factors; then, they administer results and suggestions, through games and soothing audios to talk you through your quest for happiness. Another Happy Habits feature are Emotion Training Audios. These are to help with managing emotions so that you can be more aware and cultivate a more positive attitude, best used when you feel overwhelmed by anger, sadness, or stress. Happy Habits: a sneak peak inside this well-being app Then, if you're feeling particularly anxious, you can also use the Relaxation Audios to unwind and to learn deep relaxation. Or, for those of you who like to find out more about the concept and the history of the pursuit of happiness, there's their Choosing Happiness Audio to delve into the idea of and search for well-being. For those of you who like to cross things off of a list, the Happy Habits app also features a Customisable Happy 'to do' list. “The best happiness are free (at least for a trial run). Many also use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as a basis for their concept.” Like most of the best happy apps, it's gamified, which means using it is fun, rather than a chore, with a points feature that helps you to keep track of progress. Users who like to write and keep track of their thoughts will be happy to know that the app also has a happiness journal for writing personal affirmations and recording positive events to look back on later. The Happy Habits design is a little retro, but it uses positive colours like yellow and orange, and it’s customizable. So, a recap of why you should use Happy Habits: It's based on CBT, a method that's proven to help depression and anxiety; It has a large variety of calming audios for you to listen to in the car, on the bus, or at home; It gives you a gratitude scrapbook to look back on when you need to cheer up. 3. SuperBetter Android: free iPhone: free Building resilience – the ability to stay strong, motivated and optimistic – even in the face of change and difficult challenges is tough. But the makers behind the SuperBetter app believe that using their tool will unlock your heroic potential so you can overcome tough situations and achieve goals that matter most. RELATED: Happiness podcasts – 8 that we rate At the heart of SuperBetter is the Live Gamefully® method, a framework that brings the psychological strengths and mindset of gameplay to real life. The method promotes new levels of personal growth as a result of stress and change. That's why it's called SuperBetter. A key part of building happiness is developing resilience. While bouncing back from life’s challenges is important, it’s not easy. SuperBetter makes the process easier by taking you through a series of activities that help you build resilience while reducing anxiety and depression, leading to a happier life. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } XX Feeling super: SuperBetter founder Jane McGonigal The SuperBetter app has gamified the process of building happiness by creating short and simple activities that you complete as you head off on quests to build happiness-boosting skills. Completing the activities provide you with quick wins to jump-start your happiness journey. With SuperBetter you become the hero of the app, as you gain points and power by completing and tracking daily activities. Simple tasks such as taking a walk or drinking a glass of water count as a step toward your ultimate goal. You can also do it with a secret identity and superhero story of your choosing. The SuperBetter lets you collect power-ups on your quests, fight off bad guys, and get help from allies. One of our best happiness apps: SuperBetter Another unique thing about the SuperBetter app is that it's heavily science-backed. A study by the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia found that when people played SuperBetter for 30 days, their mood improved, symptoms of anxiety and depression decreased, and self-belief to achieve goals increased. So, a recap of why you should use the SuperBetter app: Gamified and fun; Helps you to build resilience, adopt new habits, improve skills and strengthen relationships; Research has shown it has positive results. 4. HAPPY Android: free iPhone: free OK, call us biased, but we really think our own app, HAPPY, is also one of the best happiness apps on the market too! One of the most significant factors to impact our happiness is a sense of community, and that's what HAPPY, our own well-being app, focuses on. Many of the apps on this list aim to improve our mental health, foster resilience and actively build our capacity to live happier lives by offering concrete personal exercises such as gratitude journals, mindfulness exercises, creating healthy habits, etc. These are all practical measures which we at happiness.com highly recommend. However, they are primarily done in solitude and through introspection. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } The HAPPY app makes use of the key feature of the happiness.com platform – community. It's a happiness app that allows you to be in touch with people worldwide to share your struggles and support each other. To find strength in our shared humanity, our imperfection, and our deep care for each other and the planet. HAPPY is an app that aims to build a community and to use it to elevate your well-being through: Joining a conscious, global community. Engaging in big topics and intimate conversations. Sharing common interests and new perspectives. Building mutual support through shared struggles. Everyone experiences ups and downs, but how do we master the downs skillfully? The HAPPY app facilitates a safe and mutually supportive community where tools, practices and experiences enable everyone to live happy and fulfilled lives. HAPPY: our well-being app focuses on community For example, are you awake at 3am full of anxiety? Share your struggles live on the HAPPY app, and who knows where in the world someone else will be awake who relates to your experience and has kind words of support. Maybe you are in the metro on the way to work, and you can be the person who is offering those accepting words and emotional support. The HAPPY App is the mobile addition to happiness.com: your pocketful of happiness. Making the healing power of human connection – the happiness community – accessible on your phone. 5. Happier Android: unavailable iPhone: free Happier is an Apple app on a mission: to make sure you appreciate life to the fullest. Happier app was developed by Nataly Kogan, a TEDtalk speaker who emigrated from Russia when she was young and went through hard times, escaping oppression in the Soviet Union while her family got on their feet in the Detroit projects. Allegedly, Kogan vowed to find happiness, first looking towards success and wealth to achieve it. Quite understandably, this did not lead her where she wanted, so she turned towards her father's work – science – to see what next steps she could take. Happier app: an overview of what's inside In practice, the app works by helping you to be "more present and positive throughout the day," working like a life appreciation platform, or a personal life coach. Each day it prompts you to write what you're most grateful for, be it the sun shining on your back, a moment spent with a loved one, making every stoplight on the street, or getting your favourite ice cream – you can even add pictures • JOIN US! Discover more tips on happiness with our open and inspired community • These are moments that you might not notice if not for Happier, with which you can "create, collect and share those tiny positive moments." Ways you can use it are to lift your mood, take a meditation break, or enjoy the moments that make your day happier. “Happier app works by helping you to be 'more present and positive throughout the day', working like a life appreciation platform, or even a personal life coach.” The Happier app is portable and can be used on Apple watch as well, acting as your gratitude journal. It also offers “bite-sized, expert-led courses,” to teach you more about the practice and science of happiness on which the app is based, breaching subjects like strength, calmness, and gratitude. What's more, it works as a sort of happiness social media platform, where you can connect to those around you (if you want, since sharing publicly is entirely optional) and get inspired by their gratitude posts. There's something very zen about Happier, an app which urges you to think of happiness, not like a feeling, but more like a muscle to be trained and on which you can rely on your day-to-day life. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } So, here's a recap as to why you should use the Happier app: Instead of selling you unattainable happiness, it helps you to appreciate what you already have; To keep a picture, easily updatable scrapbook on what you're most grateful for; It helps you learn more about the science behind positive psychology. 6. Yolife Android: free iPhone: free A relative newcomer into the happiness app scene, Yolife is described as 'your personal coach to live longer in good health'. Indeed, the vision of the Yolife founders is to add 15 healthy years to the lives of at least one million people in the world. And what does great health bring? Greater happiness, that's what. Signing up via log-in or Facebook, the first stage of Yolife involves completing an engaging health consultation, answering questions about your health, habits, exercise, social life and such. Your responses determine just how many extra healthy years they suggest you'll live in good health. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Love life: Yolife wants you to live longer in great health Furthermore, with each answer you give there's a scientific explanation behind it and the chance to read more. Indeed, Yolife is thoroughly research-based, using clinical studies and advisory board for input. The design is modern and sleek, with a refreshing sense of humor in the texts, too. After completing the consultation you can see how many estimated healthy years you have. What comes next is your personalized programme of activities which aims to boost those healthy years further by helping you to discover which areas you have the greatest potential to improve. The programme includes classes on subjects such as optimal sleeping conditions, the purpose of life, sex makes you live longer (!), different ways of fasting, and plenty more. “The vision of the Yolife app is to add 15 healthy years to the lives of at least one million people in the world.” Yolife co-founder Tassilo Weber has his own definition of happiness which is very much present in the app: "I'm not only an entrepreneur, I also studied philosophy and still consider myself a philosopher by heart. Therefore, the pursuit and definition of happiness has always been a major topic in my life. And that influence cannot be hidden, as you use the Yolife app. The happiness app Yolife has a sleek, smart design “There's even one full session called “A formula for happiness”. It boils down to two things: 1. Find and follow a purpose. 2. Stay healthy for as long as possible. With these two pillars in place, happiness has the best chance to thrive. As Yolife is an app that helps you to live longer in good health and guided by purpose, I consider happiness as one of the main value propositions that we intend to bring to at least one million people.” So, here's a recap as to why you should use the Yolife: Science-backed suggestions on practical life changes; Track your progress and growth Sleek, modern design and great colours; The best happiness apps: conclusions Of course, using these happiness apps alone won't be enough to change your life. Spending too much time on your smartphone – even on happiness apps – won't give you time to put what you learn on these apps into practice. Still, there is science to back up the claims behind these programs. For example, a meta-analysis of 51 “positive-interventions” like mindfulness activities, gratitude writing, and goal-setting found them to “significantly enhance well-being and decrease depressive symptoms.” More specifically, one of the main ideas behind the majority of these apps, counting your blessings, has been proven to make you happier. We invite you to try out what we think are the best happiness apps to see what works best for you, and what pushes you to do the little things that will make your life better. Let us know below in the comments which ones have helped you the most! ● happiness.com | The fine art of being: learn, practise, share Are you a happiness.com member? Sign up for free now to: ■ enjoy our happiness magazine ■ share and support in our happiness forum ■ develop with free online Academy courses Learning | Mindfulness | Meditation | Coaching Written by Rae Bathgate Rae Bathgate is an American journalist based in Barcelona, where she enjoys sunlight, yoga, and bookbinding.