“Out With the Old”(New Study Shows Why It’s Better to Tackle Bad Habits All at Once)
— The New York Times, May 12, 2016
New research suggests that it’s better to address all of our bad habits at once rather than try to make incremental changes in our lives. According to one of the scientists involved in the project, “The limits of the human capacity for change may be much greater than we, as scientists, have given people credit for.”
“Why Do We Feel Awe?”
— Greater Good – Berkeley, May 10, 2016
Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends our understanding of the world. There are important evolutionary reasons why it exists: it’s good for our minds, bodies and social connections.
“Neuroscience Confirms That to Be Truly Happy, You Will Always Need Something More”
— Quartz, May 15, 2016
Neuroscience shows that the act of seeking, rather than the goals we realize, is key to satisfaction. This innate human desire to seek means that the fact that we don’t have everything we want is exactly what makes life so fulfilling. It also makes sense of the many different studies that show that achieving major goals doesn’t cause lasting changes in happiness.
“Harvard Has a New Center for Happiness”
— The Atlantic, April 26, 2016
The Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health just opened, and will focus on how to cultivate lives that are not simply free of disease, but are imbued with purpose, meaning and optimism.
“Obama Administration Issues Rules for Employee-Wellness Plans”
— CNBC, May 17, 2016
Almost a year after proposing them, the Obama administration is finally giving U.S. employers the rules of the road for structuring wellness programs that won’t violate health privacy and discrimination regulations.
A STRIKING STAT
Survey of nine nations shows how wellness behaviors differ
Russians tend to dance (15x/month) and sleep the most. Mexicans laugh the most and push themselves to the limit during workouts (29 percent of time). Americans spend the most money on fitness ($16/week). Brits daydream the most (49x/month). And Germans spend the most time socializing with loved ones, run the furthest, and are one of the lowest populations in time-spent-with-technology.
Source: Reebok & Censuswide Global Study, May 2016
