There’s a moment in the third season of The West Wing where President Jed Bartlet declares that stress is something that happens to other people. Sadly, many of us are holding ourselves to the same harsh standard with devastating consequences for our health.

Stress is a natural physical reaction and it’s useful - the problem is that in modern life we don’t give our bodies time to recuperate. Instead we subject it to yet more stress and the cumulative effect can lead to health problems such as high blood …

Tags: anxiety , GTD , personal development , self help , self improvement , stress , wellness

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Forget New Year’s Resolutions that make everything harder and more complex. Why is it always about doing more? Can we all do less for a change? It’s time for a serious paring down; a hard core detox. It’s time for simplifying.

There’s nothing super about being a superwoman. So, with the beloved holidays behind us and tax deadlines still somewhat comfortably in the future, it’s a good time of year to lose a bad habit, ditch a possession or expense, and just let go of whatever could be holding you …

Tags: guide , hacks , lifestyle design , money , personal development , self improvement , tips

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Chronic complainer? We’ve got the cure.

My life is good. And compared to millions of people around the world in very unfortunate circumstances, my life is very, very good. But despite the love, health and prosperity I am so lucky to have, I still find it pretty easy to tumble into a downward spiral of the gripes.

While ranting about one of my “problems” to a friend, she interrupted me and said “Keep a gratitude journal.” And that was it. I knew what I had to do.

Later that night I pulled …

Tags: health , personal development , self improvement

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You know, I really have to chuckle when science comes up with well-researched conclusions that most of us have already known all along. Here’s the latest: having happy friends can make you happy. In an extensive 20-year study, Harvard Medical School and UCSD researchers concluded that happiness is contagious but sadness isn’t.

What was really interesting about the study, though, is that they found a holographic effect with happiness. If something makes you happy, your friends, who may not even be around, have a higher chance of feeling happy, …

Tags: happiness , health , personal development , self help , wellness

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A few years back, Robyn Griggs Lawrence wrote The Wabi-Sabi House, a book about the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection. Lawrence, also the EIC of Natural Home magazine, recently took some time out to chat about her wabi-sabi life, and offer EcoSalon readers tips to begin creating their own.

Wabi-sabi is not a decorating style, but rather a mindset, with no list of rules. Creating a wabi-sabi home, she says, is the result of developing our wabigokoro, or wabi mind and heart: living modestly, learning to be satisfied with life once

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Tags: decor , lifestyle , personal development , robyn griggs lawrence , wabi sabi

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