Lifestyle
Alongside taking care of other people and the planet, make sure you take good care of yourself. The Lifestyle section at the Optimist Daily has solutions for everyday wellbeing on topics like food, beauty, fashion, and the latest trends. Curious about caring for houseplants, eating plant-based, or parenting tips? It’s all in there.
The quiet power of meditation
Whether it's improving our day-to-day lives or surviving a sudden calamity, there's no substitute for clear-headed mental discipline. And a growing number of people believe they know how to find it. Allan Lokos and his wife, Susannah, were on vacation when their plane crash-landed in the Southeast Read More...
Be The Change!
Amidst challenges, setbacks and painful events, many, many more things in our world go right than wrong. Enjoy this compilation. And share it: While we are spreading the better news, we're making it as Read More...
Mindfulness training an antidote to lawyers’ stressful lives
One of the most prestigious law firms in the world is discovering the benefits of mindfulness. The lawfirm Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), based in London and Sydney, has run over a dozen mindfulness programs over the past year, with “extraordinary” results, as is reported by Lawyers Weekly. Read More...
8 reasons why you need to get out of your comfort zone
If you're happily all wrapped up in your plushy, 1000-thread-count comfort zone, good for you. This message isn't for you. This message is for the person who isn't content with mediocracy. This message is for the person who wants bigger things, better things, and knows deep down inside that they Read More...
These resilience factors protect teen children of parents with a depression
Teen children of parents with depression often suffer from mental health problems. But some teens remain remarkably resilient, and researchers are now trying to find out how they do that. It seems there are some factors they all have in common: warmth from the parent with mental health problems, Read More...
How to find meaning in suffering
Recently, mass killings have been front and center in the news. The terrorist attacks in Paris struck a chord worldwide, and similar attacks in Beirut, Baghdad, Mali, Lake Chad, and elsewhere have made the horror seem never-ending. Yesterday marked the three-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Read More...
5 simple practices for a healthier, happier life
Too often we focus on one and not the other and wonder why we achieve neither. We neglect to realize that health and happiness often go hand in hand. I spent my teens trying to lose weight because I thought being skinny was the key to happiness. I spent my twenties ignoring my health, abusing my Read More...
How a 2-minute therapy could help cure fear of spiders
Researchers found that propranolol - a beta-blocker used to treat high blood pressure, chest pain and other heart conditions, and which has previously been found to have amnesic effects - significantly reduced fearful behavior in participants with arachnophobia, after brief exposure to a tarantula. Read More...
Adopt this routine and dominate your New Year's resolution
The beginning of 2016 is upon us. In less than a month, we'll have the opportunity to start the New Year with a fresh set of goals. You probably know that most people will not make the changes they set out to for their New Year's Resolution. For some reason or another, they just lose the routine Read More...
New style of police training aims to produce "guardians," not "warriors"
So far this year, police in the U.S. have fatally shot over 900 people—more than twice the number recorded in any previous year by federal officials. Anti-brutality activists and some law enforcement leaders argue that if police were better trained to de-escalate conflict, some of those people Read More...