We know that eating healthy has many benefits. We know that it lowers the risk of chronic diseases, reduces inflammation in the body, improves bone and muscle health, boosts the immune system and may also lead to weight loss. But did you know that eating healthy can also make you feel better and happier? Dr. Will Cole, a functional medicine expert, shares with us why a happy gut creates a happy outlook. 

The Link Between Food and Mood

If you ever noticed that you feel a little “blah” after eating junk food or a highly processed meal, you’ve already experienced the food-mood connection in real time. I say it all the time, but every piece of food you eat sends a message to your body that either promotes overall health and wellness, or creates imbalances and disease.

This isn’t “woo-woo” thinking, either. The research on this connection is well established. Studies have linked mood disorders to a higher intake of certain foods, including: ...

The past two weeks we shared an article series about habits that will help you live a better and happier life. We’re wrapping it up with a list of habits that you can do on a regular basis. Let’s begin. 

Give back
If you find that giving daily compliments provides a needed boost to your mood, consider making a monthly routine of giving back on a larger scale. Maybe that’s helping out at a food bank on the third weekend of every month or offering to watch your friend’s kids one night per month.

Take yourself out
No one to go out with? Well, what rule says you can’t go out alone? Consider going to your favorite restaurant, taking in a movie, or going on that trip you’ve always dreamed of. Even if you’re a social butterfly, spending some deliberate time alone can help you reconnect with the activities that truly make you happy.

Create a thought list
You arrive for an appointment with 10 minutes to spare. What do you do with that...

Here’s part two of the article on habits to help you live a happier life. Part one talked about daily habits you can start working on. You can read it here.

Declutter
Decluttering sounds like a big project, but setting aside just 20 minutes a week can have a big impact. What can you do in 20 minutes? Lots.

Set a timer on your phone and take 15 minutes to tidy up a specific area of one room — say, your closet or that out-of-control junk drawer. Put everything in its place and toss or give away any extra clutter that’s not serving you anymore. Keep a designated box for giveaways to make things a little easier (and avoid creating more clutter). Use the remaining 5 minutes to do a quick walk through your living space, putting away whatever stray items end up in your path. You can do this trick once a week, once a day, or anytime you feel like your space is getting out of control.

See friends
Humans are largely considered social beings, and while the research is mixed on...

We know about our bad habits. Sometimes these habits can be firmly established and will take time to unlearn. However, our values and good habits are also deeply rooted in us and nurturing them or building new good ones can certainly help us live happier. At Healthline, they came up with a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly list of positive habits to choose from and start working on. This week we’ll focus on the daily list. Choose one or two habits that you feel you can improve daily and see how this week goes for you. Ready? Set. Go.

1. Smile

You tend to smile when you’re happy. But it’s actually a two-way street. We smile because we’re happy, and smiling causes the brain to release dopamine, which makes us happier. While not completely foolproof, researchers have found that the link between smiling and happiness could be attributed to the “facial feedback hypothesis,” where facial expressions may have a modest influence on emotions.

That does...

These days, no matter what stage of life you’re at or what season you’re in, it’s crucial to always have hope. According to Psychology Today, hope is much more than wishful thinking. It’s a powerful tool in the life toolbox that’s built on strategies for strengthening well-being, resilience, and accomplishment. Hope can empower you to create and sustain a more positive future in many areas of your life—at work, at school, and at home. It can strengthen your emotional health and happiness, augment your stress reduction skills, and amplify your ability to achieve goals. Furthermore, clinical neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf said, “Hope leads to expectation, which creates peace, excitement, and health in our minds, thus increasing brain and body health.”

So how do we harness the power of hope in our lives? An organization called Hopeful Minds came up with the acronym SHINE as five keys to create hope.

S - Stress Skills
You can...

Happy Monday!

We wanted to kick-off the week with some goodness from our dear friend Dr. Daniel Amen. In his newest book, You, Happier: The 7 Neuroscience Secrets of Feeling Good Based on Your Brain Type he reveals how to improve your overall brain health to consistently enhance your mood and elevate your happiness. We love this excerpt on creating more micro-moments of happiness…

“The big “H”— happiness—doesn’t require major life-changing events, accomplishments, or milestones. Start finding joy in the smallest things you can: hearing a bird sing outside your window, feeling the warmth of the sun on your face when you step outside, petting your dog or cat, taking that first sip of your favorite brain healthy smoothie, or cracking open a new book.

I call these micro-moments of happiness.

Most of us gloss over these little things, searching instead for the big experiences. I want you to savor these precious times because, when your brain...

Welcome to a new week of freshness and rejuvenation with our thoughts and mind. We thought it would be encouraging to check-in with one of our amazing RISE Expert Faculty… Dr. Amen! Today, we want to share with you a special acronym coined by Dr. Daniel Amen called ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts) which can create an ant infestation of the mind, ruin your day and make you feel bad. Become an Anteater and learn how to control the negative thinking and self-talk eliminating one ANT at a time.

“I have a terrible ant infestation in my house, and there’s a terrible ANT infestation in our country that’s driving anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief. ANTs are the automatic negative thoughts that ruin your day, steal your happiness, and prolong grief. These days, ANTs are everywhere.Do any of these thoughts sound familiar?

“Nothing will ever be the same.”

“Everyone’s going to get COVID and die.”

“The economy is ruined....

This has been quite a unique season, with more difficult twists and turns than any of us expected. So, we thought it would be encouraging to start the week by taking a deeper look at joy from the wisdom of Kay Warren…

“Happiness is completely connected to what’s happening to us on the external circumstances of our lives. But when joy is turned around with a new definition of joy, it makes all the difference as it has nothing to do with the circumstances that are happening in our lives…

This type of joy has everything to do with what I believe about God, what I believe He can do on the inside of me, and my choice then in response to what’s happening to me is to give praise back to Him.

That becomes something that’s within my control. I can’t always control what’s happening to me on the outside, but I can most definitely control my response, what I do with it, what I believe about God, what I believe he’s going to do about...

How are you? How was your week? We hope you are well! 

This week, we wanted to share with you a very simple, but incredibly important skill to bring greater joy, hope, happiness, and purpose to your day and life. 

According to researchers, what is the source that generates the most power and energy to live well and be happy? If you guessed “healthy relationships” you’d be correct! 

In fact, according to medical scientists, the three relational sources which influence your physical health more than anything else are; Love, intimacy, and friendship. You mean it’s not our diet? It’s not our exercise? It’s not how we handle stress? But rather, it’s how connected we are that has demonstrated to have the greatest impact on our emotional, spiritual, and yes, even our physical health. The latest scientific research has uncovered when we are isolated or disconnected from important life-giving sources, such as close and...