photo by Willow&Monk

Bears do it.

Koi fish do it.

So do frogs, squirrels, and several other animals. So why should you allow yourself to feel bad when you feel it’s effects? What I’m talking about here is hibernation.

Of course, humans don’t hibernate fully, but when the cold and short days of winter come around, many of us feel a physical change. We may want to sleep more. We may want to eat more. We may want to be less active and leave our home less frequently. I had a revelation about this recently. Since this is totally normal and most everyone experiences it, then there is absolutely no reason to feel bad about it!

The way to transform your winter blues is simple. Reconsider these winter changes from a new perspective. Here’s how:

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image by Brett L.

When we think of our to-do list, what do we primarily think of? Tasks, right? Processing tasks like a robot can make us feel like uninspired drones. But don’t despair, here’s a small but powerful idea that can instantly transform your day from mundane to special. Read the rest of this entry »

photo by Stitch

Did you know that a major key to happiness is giving to others? This is substantiated in an excellent book by Rick Foster and Greg Hicks,”How We Choose to Be Happy: The 9 Choices of Extremely Happy People–Their Secrets, Their Stories.” In the book, they describe the profound effect giving to others can have on your level of happiness.

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photo by mikebaird

(Happiness Video Below!)

Generally I like to smile and be happy, but sometimes I’ll catch a glimpse of myself passing a mirror and think, “Whoa, why so serious?” (or angry, frustrated, etc.) And when I observe myself, I can see that I’m holding onto that mode. If I ask myself why, I don’t have a good answer.

Well, I think I found the answer with this video, or rather the antidote. Read the rest of this entry »

photo by nertzy

This is a guest post written by Andrew of How to Stop Emotional Eating.

Emotional eating is when you consume food to deal with tough emotions rather than to satisfy actual physical hunger. Emotional eating is where the phrase “comfort foods” comes from. Comfort food is usually junk food or fast food. It’s food that you probably wouldn’t consume on a daily basis because of it’s high fat or sugar content. Often we eat comfort foods to soothe tough or negative emotions.

Have you ever came home from a long stressful day at work and skipped your planned workout? Instead, you just head straight for the fridge and before you knew it were eating your favorite comfort food? Maybe it was ice-cream, pizza, cookies or potato chips. Afterwards, you probably felt lazy, and relaxed the whole night, probably watching tv or surfing the net. You probably woke up the next day feeling guilty about sabotaging your weight loss efforts the previous night. You maybe even promised yourself that from now on you will never do this again. However, deep down you know that when you engage in emotional eating you lose control. If you were honest with yourself you might even admit that sometimes you are powerless over your junk food cravings.

Here are 5 Tips to End your Emotional Eating:

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photo by materials boy

Do you find yourself constantly frustrated about money? Do you find that no matter how much money you have, you always seem to just be making ends meet? If you can relate to these statements then you may benefit from reading the book called “When Money Talks, Listen!” by Rich Ezzo.

What follows is an interview with the author about his inspiration for writing this book and why he thinks he can help YOU and your money issues. Read the rest of this entry »

photo by Dale Gillard

As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve been writing more and more about healthy eating and healthy living in general. Now that I eat a Vegan diet (no animal foods), I discover and create great new recipes all the time. I’ll be sharing the best ones with you here. You don’t have to be Vegan to eat them, but, shhhh, here’s a little secret, if you do eat them, they will make you really healthy and make you less likely to crave foods that are bad for you. So don’t tell that part of yourself that thinks being a vegetarian is something you could never do. Just eat it an enjoy!

So here’s my favorite smoothie recipe: Read the rest of this entry »

photo by hansengel

I’ve been missing in action from this blog for a few weeks now because I was working on an e-book. But I’m back now! I don’t know when the book will be available, but I will let you know as soon as possible!

The topic of the book is about healthy living and I believe Read the rest of this entry »

Online Happiness Course

I have discovered a wonderful “happiness course” that is available online. The course is called “Awakening Joy” and it is offered both online (for anyone, anytime) and on-site (for folks living in San Francisco). The course is taught by James Baraz, a mediation instructor and founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California.

Where and When Read the rest of this entry »

photo by darkpatator

This is a guest post by Maria Murphy of Simply Put Together.

Finding balance and life satisfaction in today’s world is a challenge, even on a good day. After practicing as a psychotherapist for over 15 years, I have formulated my own philosophy about how to attain a sense of simplicity and balance. I believe there are seven fundamental steps to gaining the life satisfaction many of us seek. These steps are Read the rest of this entry »