The Optimist Living
8 ways to ask questions and improve your relationships
Being able to ask questions is a key aspect of relationships. Whether you’d like to know whether someone is being truthful, or perhaps whether the other person is someone you’d like to get to know better, being able to produce and deliver good questions can significantly improve your Read More...
Events don’t upset you. Beliefs do
The line above says it all. Shakespeare captured it well too: “Nothing either good nor bad but thinking makes it so.” We have nothing to Read More...
Simple yoga poses provide a gentle way to relieve back pain
New research finds that a yoga class designed specifically for back pain can be as safe and effective as physical therapy in easing pain. Using more gentle poses while avoiding difficult ones, such as inversions, participants can treat back pain in an easy manner without the need for pain Read More...
Why trees are the ultimate meditation teachers
In Buddhism, trees have long been recognized as living things worthy of recognition and protection. For one, they are excellent meditators. They sit in one spot for decades and watch everything that goes by. See here what trees can teach you about Read More...
How to change your perspective on stress and turn it into a good thing
We tend to view stress as a negative thing, but it doesn’t always have to be that way. In fact, stress may actually be good for you if you learn to embrace it and use it properly. See here how you can harness the power of stress to your Read More...
How taking “a daddy day” became the norm in the Netherlands
Do you ever take a Papadag? In the Netherlands, taking a “Daddy Day” is becoming the norm as reduced work weeks allow parents to spend more time with their children. A Unicef report suggests that Dutch children’s relationships with their fathers have improved incrementally in step with the Read More...
Study: To prevent trouble in relationship you have to give each other hope
Many people end relationships to prevent being left behind. Our desire for security can prompt us to preemptively strike against an uncertain threat, even if in doing so we also hurt ourselves. The usual explanation is that preemptive behavior comes from fear. A new study shows that lack of hope Read More...
The comeback of in-home health care
There was a time that the doctor made house calls. In the 1930’s almost half of all interactions between doctors and patients happened at their homes. Today, in the U.S. that figure has dropped to lees than one percent. With the advent of more advanced and larger medical equipment, it just made Read More...
The surprising (or not so surprising) connection between diet and depression
The western world suffers from a depression epidemic. An estimated 300 million people are struggling with their mental health. It turns out that a healthy diet can substantially improve symptoms of Read More...
How Googler’s avoid burnout (and secretly boost creativity)
Google is built upon projects like the self-driving car: endeavors that push at the point of resistance for growth, where struggle and productive failure aren’t consequences of the work, but rather the driving forces behind it. In short, Google has nailed the recipe for stress for its employees. Read More...