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National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

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Neurons help flush waste out of brain during sleep | WashU Medicine

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Findings could lead to new approaches for Alzheimer’s, other neurological conditions

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Neurons help flush waste out of brain during sleep

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Insight and lessons for living a more joy-filled life from.... Finland!

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Why Finland Was Just Named the Happiest Country in the World for the 7th Year in a Row

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The results are in: Finland is the world’s happiest country for the seventh consecutive year. Here’s why, plus how other countries compare.

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The emotionally Intelligent School Leader! 

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The emotionally Intelligent School Leader! 

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David, a school counselor, took a deep breath when he saw a missed call from his principal. As he touched the screen to call back, he braced for the "bark and the bite" he was accustomed to hearing from Principal Carrie.

This time was different.

In fact, he told us he was stunned when the voice that picked up sounded kind, even cheerful. He couldn't believe it. After years of working together, he had grown to dread interactions with Principal Carrie, as had most of his colleagues. But this was clearly a different version of her. Who was this new principal, and what had she done with Carrie?

Carrie was finishing up a year of engagement in emotionally intelligent leadership coaching-a program designed to enhance leaders' well-being through education and training in social and emotional skills.

Recent research from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence supports the notion that emotionally intelligent school leadership predicts educator well-being, and we know that well-being and emotional intelligence skills are necessary for effective leadership, especially in times of crisis-from higher job satisfaction to lower emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions. Indeed, even when leaders, especially in education, have little to no control over their environment, they have control over their own behavior and can still cultivate a culture of healthy relationships and emotionally intelligent responses to uncontrollable circumstances. School leaders who have decided to invest in their own emotional intelligence and well-being consistently report interactions like the one between David and Carrie.

But doing so is no easy feat. Carrie came to us as many school leaders have in recent years: chronically stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted. The job she loved was feeling increasingly unsustainable. Her distress was also affecting her colleagues, to the detriment of teachers and students alike. Carrie had been in education for nearly 25 years, but it was the last four years that had shaken the sustainability of her career. And who could blame her?

Ever-shifting rules, regulations, and ripple effects of the pandemic brought demands on school staff and leadership to a peak, straining an already turbulent educational landscape. Monitoring COVID-19 absences, distributing laptops in bulk, adapting curriculum for uncharted virtual territory, and consoling frightened, grieving students and families suddenly became daily tasks for which school leaders were held accountable.

Those new responsibilities added to pre-existing pressures and crises that they were already navigating daily, such as teacher turnover, inequitable funding, politicization of learning material, mental health, school safety, standardized testing, and, of course, the overwhelming influence of social media, artificial intelligence, and technology. Altogether, these factors created a web of uncertainties and challenges so great for even the most effective, seasoned leader to sustain.

So, where does that leave school leaders like Carrie?

While she could not fix, on a day-to-day basis, the systemic problems that made her job so stressful, Carrie could invest in her well-being by regularly practicing emotion regulation techniques and modeling these behaviors for others, like practicing reframing and turning moments of harsh criticism to compassion. While she could not eliminate the stress, she could be more committed to getting more sleep, cutting down on sugar, and walking 10 minutes a day-activities that will positively affect mental and physical well-being. It is crucial that school leaders have the tools to realistically assess what they can and can't do to create greater well-being and leader effectiveness.

And this is just what Carrie did-and all school leaders can do-using strategies provided in our new book, Emotional Intelligence for School Leaders. We offer tips for harnessing a healthier you and, in turn, healthier relationships. It's this emotionally intelligent leadership that will help you to not just survive but thrive in the ever-demanding landscape of education.

Check in with your emotions regularly-and honor them. Before rushing into the hectic schedule of each day, pencil in time to sit and reflect on how you feel. Your emotions give you important information. They are not something to simply ignore or push away. Your emotions will inevitably influence your conversations, behaviors, and relationships whether you notice it or not (recall David's long-held impression of Carrie). Prior to a meeting, event, or other obligation, prioritize a few minutes to honor and assess your own well-being. This could be through silent reflection, journaling, or even apps on your phone like How We Feel, a handheld journal that helps you name, track, and better understand your emotions.

Regulate your emotions. Checking in with your emotions is one crucial piece of the emotional intelligence puzzle; you have to be able to name it to tame it. Regulating, or managing, those emotions is another. While feeling joyful or proud may not require strategies to help you stay grounded, feeling angry or burned out certainly do-and you may experience all of these emotions on any given school day. Identify strategies that are sustainable and beneficial for managing your big emotions in challenging moments, such as mindful breathing, meditation, or pausing your schedule to take a walk outside before a demanding situation overwhelms you. Such practices don't actually take up much time-just a few minutes-but the benefits are evergreen.

Establish clear boundaries and stick to them. We know how hard this one can be. In an environment that constantly asks you to say "yes," we challenge you to say "no" more often. This can look like rescheduling a meeting (or canceling it if it "could've been an email") or extending a deadline for your colleagues so everyone has some breathing room. Leaning on emotion regulation techniques above, identify circumstances that are most emotionally taxing for you, which tasks you can delegate to others (don't be afraid to ask for help!), and where you can reallocate your energy for better use.

Listen with empathy and without judgment. School leaders cannot afford to be "too busy" to listen to each other and elicit feedback in school settings. Active listening builds trust. The moment we are too overbooked to engage in authentic conversation with colleagues, we can quickly lose our emotional regulation, our boundaries, and our purpose. It's a slippery slope to devolving into unhealthy, transactional relationships. Even in the most strenuous circumstances, aim to be an emotion scientist -curious about your own and others' emotions-and a learner, not just a responder in times of crisis.

Reflect often. It is critical that school leaders create safe spaces or practices dedicated to self-care through self-reflection. Some leaders pipe in music to create a meditative environment throughout school hallways, others close their doors to give themselves space when needed. Some take a five-minute walking meditation outside the school. We have seen more and more leaders embrace personal/professional coaching to create regular time to reflect on actions taken, decisions to be made, and emotional responses. Because leadership entails co-regulation, reflection leads to opportunities for strengthening your own emotion regulation muscles as well as co-regulating with others.

Nurture your relationships. The people you work with will enhance your mood or squash it. And you can enhance or squash theirs. Aim to be the enhancer by greeting people with a smile, asking them how they are feeling and taking time to listen to the answer, creating opportunities for everyone's voice to be heard, giving others a shoutout when they achieve, and remembering to be a curious emotion scientist. Investing time and energy in your relationships will make all the difference in building trust and motivation needed for others to wholeheartedly join you in making your vision a reality.

Model for others. Emotions are social and contagious components of life. When you prioritize your own emotional well-being, boundaries, and interpersonal relationships, it shows and it rubs off on others. Just as annoyance or frustration from your morning meeting can spill into your afternoon check-in, so can your balance, appreciation, or gratitude. In using the techniques we've discussed, you simultaneously model for others what emotional intelligence looks like in practice to the benefit of your students, staff, and self.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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Seven Ways to Be an Emotionally Intelligent Leader

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Emotional intelligence skills can improve your well-being and help you be a better leader.

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Tina's Day 1 Essential Slides, T. Boogren (1)

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community" ( 1).

This definition, while representing a substantial progress with respect to moving away from the conceptualization of mental health as a state of absence of mental illness, raises several concerns and lends itself to potential misunderstandings when it identifies positive feelings and positive functioning as key factors for mental health.

In fact, regarding well-being as a key aspect of mental health is difficult to reconcile with the many challenging life situations in which well-being may even be unhealthy: most people would consider as mentally unhealthy an individual experiencing a state of well-being while killing several persons during a war action, and would regard as healthy a person feeling desperate after being fired from his/her job in a situation in which occupational opportunities are scarce.

People in good mental health are often sad, unwell, angry or unhappy, and this is part of a fully lived life for a human being. In spite of this, mental health has been often conceptualized as a purely positive affect, marked by feelings of happiness and sense of mastery over the environment ( 2- 4).

Concepts used in several papers on mental health include both key aspects of the WHO definition, i.e. positive emotions and positive functioning. Keyes ( 5, 6) identifies three components of mental health: emotional well-being, psychological well-being and social well-being. Emotional well-being includes happiness, interest in life, and satisfaction; psychological well-being includes liking most parts of one's own personality, being good at managing the responsibilities of daily life, having good relationships with others, and being satisfied with one's own life; social well-being refers to positive functioning and involves having something to contribute to society (social contribution), feeling part of a community (social integration), believing that society is becoming a better place for all people (social actualization), and that the way society works makes sense to them (social coherence).

However, such a perspective of mental health, influenced by hedonic and eudaimonic traditions, which champion positive emotions and excellence in functioning, respectively ( 7), risks excluding most adolescents, many of whom are somewhat shy, those who fight against perceived injustice and inequalities or are discouraged from doing so after years of useless efforts, as well as migrants and minorities experiencing rejection and discrimination.

The concept of positive functioning is also translated by several definitions and theories about mental health into the ability to work productively ( 1, 8), and may lead to the wrong conclusion that an individual at an age or in a physical condition preventing her/him from working productively is not by definition in good mental health. Working productively and fruitfully is often not possible for contextual reasons (e.g., for migrants or for discriminated people), which may prevent people from contributing to their community.

Jahoda ( 9) subdivided mental health into three domains: self-realization, in that individuals are able to fully exploit their potential; sense of mastery over the environment; and sense of autonomy, i.e. ability to identify, confront, and solve problems. Murphy ( 10) argued that these ideas were laden with cultural values considered important by North Americans. However, even for a North American person, it is hard to imagine, for example, that a mentally healthy human being in the hands of terrorists, under the threat of beheading, can experience a sense of happiness and mastery over the environment.

The definition of mental health is clearly influenced by the culture that defines it. However, as also advocated by Vaillant ( 11), common sense should prevail and certain elements that have a universal importance for mental health might be identified. For example, in spite of cultural differences in eating habits, the acknowledgement of the importance of vitamins and the four basic food groups is universal.

Toward a new definition of mental health

Aware of the fact that differences across countries in values, cultures and social background may hinder the achievement of a general consensus on the concept of mental health, we aimed at elaborating an inclusive definition, avoiding as much as possible restrictive and culture-bound statements.

The concept that mental health is not merely the absence of mental illness ( 1, 8) was unanimously endorsed, while the equivalence between mental health and well-being/functioning was not, and a definition leaving room for a variety of emotional states and for "imperfect functioning" was drafted.

The proposed definition is reported herewith:

Mental health is a dynamic state of internal equilibrium which enables individuals to use their abilities in harmony with universal values of society. Basic cognitive and social skills; ability to recognize, express and modulate one's own emotions, as well as empathize with others; flexibility and ability to cope with adverse life events and function in social roles; and harmonious relationship between body and mind represent important components of mental health which contribute, to varying degrees, to the state of internal equilibrium.

The addition of a note explaining what is meant in the definition by the expression "universal values" is deemed necessary, in the light of the misleading use of this expression in certain political and social circumstances. The values we are referring to are: respect and care for oneself and other living beings; recognition of connectedness between people; respect for the environment; respect for one's own and others' freedom.

The concept of " dynamic state of internal equilibrium" is meant to reflect the fact that different life epochs require changes in the achieved equilibrium: adolescent crises, marriage, becoming a parent or retirement are good examples of life epochs requiring an active search for a new mental equilibrium. This concept also incorporates and acknowledges the reality that mentally healthy people may experience appropriate human emotions - including for example fear, anger, sadness and grief - whilst at the same time possessing sufficient resilience to timeously restore the dynamic state of internal equilibrium.

All components proposed in the definition represent important but not mandatory aspects of mental health; as a matter of fact, they may contribute to a varying degree to the state of equilibrium, so that fully developed functions may offset an impairment in another aspect of mental functioning. For instance, a very empathetic person, highly interested in mutual sharing, may compensate for a moderate degree of cognitive impairment, and still find a satisfactory equilibrium and pursue her/his life goals.

The main reasons underlying the choice of the components included in the definition are provided hereafter.

Basic cognitive and social skills are regarded as an important component of mental health in the light of their impact on all aspects of everyday life ( 12- 15). Cognitive skills include the ability to pay attention, remember and organize information, solve problems, and make decisions; social skills involve the ability to use one's own repertoire of verbal/non-verbal abilities to communicate and interact with others. All these abilities are interdependent and allow people to function in their environment. Reference to the "basic" level of these abilities is meant to clarify that mild degrees of impairment are compatible with mental health, while moderate to severe degrees of impairment, especially if not balanced by other aspects, may require support by other members of the society and a number of social incentives, such as facilitated job opportunities, financial benefits or ad hoc training programs.

Emotional regulation, i.e. the ability to recognize, express and modulate one's own emotions, is also regarded as an important component of mental health ( 16). It has been proposed as a mediator of stress adjustment ( 17, 18), and a link between inappropriate or ineffective emotional regulation and depression has been found in clinical and neuroimaging studies ( 19- 22). A variety of modulated emotional response options, that can be flexibly employed, contribute to an individual's mental health, and alexithymia (i.e., an inability to identify and express one's own emotions) is a risk factor for mental and physical disorders ( 23, 24).

Empathy, i.e., the ability to experience and understand what others feel without confusion between oneself and others, enables individuals to communicate and interact in effective ways and to predict actions, intentions, and feelings of others ( 25). The absence of empathy is not only a risk factor for violence and a feature of antisocial personality disorder, but also impairs social interactions at all levels.

Flexibility and ability to cope with adverse events are also deemed important to mental health maintenance. Flexibility refers to the ability to revise a course of action in the face of unpredicted difficulties or obstacles, change one's own ideas in the light of new evidence, and adapt to changes that different life epochs or contingent situations may require. Lack of flexibility may result in great distress for a person undergoing sudden and/or important life changes, and is an important aspect of several psychiatric disorders, such as obsessive personality or delusional disorder ( 26).

The basic ability to function in social roles and to participate in meaningful social interactions is an important aspect of mental health and particularly contributes to resilience against distress; however, social exclusion and stigmatization often impair social participation, so any definition of mental health alluding to this aspect has to avoid "blaming the victim" and to carefully analyze social patterns of stigmatization, discrimination and exclusion that impair participation ( 27).

The inclusion of a harmonious relationship between body and mind is based on the concept that mind, brain, organism and environment are heavily interconnected, and the overall experience of being in the world cannot be separated from the way in which one's body feels in its environment ( 28). Disturbances of this interaction may result in psychotic experiences, eating disorders, self-harm, body dysmorphic disorder or poor physical health.

CONCLUSIONS

The definition of mental health drafted in this paper is aimed to overcome perspectives based on ideal norms or hedonic and eudaimonic theoretical traditions, in favor of an inclusive approach, as free as possible of restrictive and culture-bound statements, and as close as possible to human life experience, which is sometimes joyful, and at other times sad or disgusting or frightening; sometimes satisfactory, and at other times challenging or unsatisfactory.

The proposed definition is also compatible with the recovery movement perspective, in which recovery after an illness is seen as a process aimed to attain a fulfilled and valued life by building on the functions spared by the illness, in spite of the fact that other functions have been impaired ( 29).

Acknowledgments

This paper was drafted as part of the activities of the Committee on Ethical Issues of the European Psychiatric Association.

References

1. World Health Organization. Promoting mental health: concepts, emerging evidence, practice (Summary Report) Geneva: World Health Organization; 2004. [ Google Scholar]

6. Keyes CLM. Mental health as a complete state: how the salutogenic perspective completes the picture. In: Bauer GF, Hämmig O, editors. Bridging occupational, organizational and public health. Dordrecht: Springer; 2014. pp. 179-92. [ Google Scholar]

8. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Mental health: a report of the Surgeon General. Rockville: U.S. Public Health Service; 1999. [ Google Scholar]

9. Jahoda M. Current concepts of positive mental health. New York: Basic Books; 1958. [ Google Scholar]

Articles from World Psychiatry are provided here courtesy of The World Psychiatric Association

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Toward a new definition of mental health

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community" ( 1).

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How do we hold on to what matters in a distracted age?

On a subway train not long ago, I had the familiar, unsettling experience of standing behind a fellow-passenger and watching everything that she was doing on her phone. It was a crowded car, rush hour, with the dim but unwarm lighting of the oldest New York City trains. The stranger's phone was bright, and as I looked on she scrolled through a waterfall of videos that other people had filmed in their homes. She watched one for four or five seconds, then dispatched it by twitching her thumb. She flicked to a text message, did nothing with it, and flipped back. The figures on her screen, dressed carefully and mugging at the camera like mimes, seemed desperate for something that she could not provide: her sustained attention. I felt mortified, not least because I saw on both sides of the screen symptoms I recognized too clearly in myself.

For years, we have heard a litany of reasons why our capacity to pay attention is disturbingly on the wane. Technology-the buzzing, blinking pageant on our screens and in our pockets-hounds us. Modern life, forever quicker and more scattered, drives concentration away. For just as long, concerns of this variety could be put aside. Television was described as a force against attention even in the nineteen-forties. A lot of focussed, worthwhile work has taken place since then.

But alarms of late have grown more urgent. Last year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported a huge ten-year decline in reading, math, and science performance among fifteen-year-olds globally, a third of whom cited digital distraction as an issue. Clinical presentations of attention problems have climbed (a recent study of data from the medical-software company Epic found an over-all tripling of A.D.H.D. diagnoses between 2010 and 2022, with the steepest uptick among elementary-school-age children), and college students increasingly struggle to get through books, according to their teachers, many of whom confess to feeling the same way. Film pacing has accelerated, with the average length of a shot decreasing; in music, the mean length of top-performing pop songs declined by more than a minute between 1990 and 2020. A study conducted in 2004 by the psychologist Gloria Mark found that participants kept their attention on a single screen for an average of two and a half minutes before turning it elsewhere. These days, she writes, people can pay attention to one screen for an average of only forty-seven seconds.

"Attention as a category isn't that salient for younger folks," Jac Mullen, a writer and a high-school teacher in New Haven, told me recently. "It takes a lot to show that how you pay attention affects the outcome-that if you focus your attention on one thing, rather than dispersing it across many things, the one thing you think is hard will become easier-but that's a level of instruction I often find myself giving." It's not the students' fault, he thinks; multitasking and its euphemism, "time management," have become goals across the pedagogic field. The SAT was redesigned this spring to be forty-five minutes shorter, with many reading-comprehension passages trimmed to two or three sentences. Some Ivy League professors report being counselled to switch up what they're doing every ten minutes or so to avoid falling behind their students' churn. What appears at first to be a crisis of attention may be a narrowing of the way we interpret its value: an emergency about where-and with what goal-we look.

"In many ways, it's the oldest question in advertising: how to get attention," an executive named Joanne Leong told me one afternoon, in a conference room on the thirteenth floor of the midtown office of the Dentsu agency. We were speaking about a new attention market. Slides were projected on the wall, and bits of conversation rattled like half-melted ice cubes in the corridor outside. For decades, what was going on between an advertisement and its viewers was unclear: there was no consensus about what attention was or how to quantify it. "The difference now is that there's better tech to measure it," Leong said.

Dentsu is one of the world's leading advertising agencies, running accounts for Heineken, Hilton, Kraft Heinz, Microsoft, Subway, and other global corporations. In 2019, the firm began using digital technology to gather data that showed not only how many people attended to its ads but in what ways they did-information that could be applied to derive a quantitative unit of attention value. In 1997, the technology pundit Michael Goldhaber had envisaged a world in which attention supplanted money as a dominant currency. ("If you have enough attention, you can get anything you want," he lamented.) Since then, advertising has caught up with the trade.

"Six years ago, the question was around 'Can this usefully be measured?' " Leong said. Now it's a circus. "There are companies that use eye tracking. There are companies that do facial coding"-reading emotions through micro-expressions. "It's no longer a matter of convincing clients that this is something they should lean into-it's how."

There is a long-standing, widespread belief that attention carries value. In English, attention is something that we "pay." In Spanish, it is "lent." The Swiss literary scholar Yves Citton, whose study of the digital age, "The Ecology of Attention," argues against reducing attention to economic terms, suggested to me that it was traditionally considered valuable because it was capable of bestowing value. "By paying attention to something as if it's interesting, you make it interesting. By evaluating it, you valorize it," he said. To treat it as a mere market currency, he thought, was to undersell what it could do.

Advertisers' interest in attention as a measure was sharpened with the publication of "The Attention Economy" (2001), by Thomas H. Davenport and John C. Beck, which offered a theory of attention as a prelude to action: we pay attention in order to do (or buy). But there have long been varied views. The neuroscientist Karl Friston has suggested that attention is a way of prioritizing and tuning sensory data. Simone Weil, one of attention's eloquent philosophers, also resisted the idea of attention as subject to economic measure.

In the Dentsu office, Leong, who had her hair in a neat ponytail and wore a sweater with wide, simple horizontal stripes, sat beside the company's head of research and measurement, Celeste Castle, an executive who oversees the math behind Dentsu's own answer to the question of attention's worth-the "effective attention cost per a thousand" impressions. The old metrics used in advertising were based on an opportunity to see. "An 'impression' is just a measure that the ad was served," Leong said. But recent data revealed that even most supposedly "viewable" ads weren't being viewed. "Consumers' span of attention is now believed to be less than eight seconds," Raja Rajamannar, the chief marketing officer of Mastercard, a Dentsu client, told me. "That is less than the attention span of a goldfish."

At Dentsu, as elsewhere, the aim has become to get more from these shrinking slivers-an endeavor some outsiders liken to fracking, the process used to force lingering pockets of fossil fuels out of the earth. When I asked whether these efforts would dissipate people's focus further, Castle said that optimizing would result in ads being even more precisely tailored to entice their audiences. "As attention measurement matures, things will fall by the wayside and we can eliminate some of the waste," she said.

In "Scenes of Attention," a collection of scholarly essays published last year, the editors, D. Graham Burnett and Justin Smith-Ruiu, challenge the idea that shortened attention spans came about because of technological acceleration alone. True, tools and lives are faster, they write. But claiming innovation as the original cause is backward: " Human beings make the technologies -and they make them in the context of other human beings needing and wanting various things." It wasn't as though people, after millennia of head-scratching, suddenly "discovered" the steam engine, the spinning jenny, and the telegraph, and modernity unspooled. Rather, people's priorities underwent a sea change with the onset of the modern age, turning to efficiency, objective measurement, and other goals that made such inventions worthwhile. The acceleration of life isn't an inevitability, in that sense, but an ideological outcome.

Burnett, a historian of science at Princeton, is the author of five books, ranging in subject from seventeenth-century lens-making to New York's judicial system. For the past several years, he has been working on a history of the scientific study of attention. I went one day to the main branch of the New York Public Library to hear him speak at the invitation of the New York Institute for the Humanities. "It was the sciences that sliced and diced this nebulous, difficult-to-define feature of our conscious and sensory life so that the market could price it," Burnett said.

As an academic at the lectern, Burnett cut a curious figure. He was tall, with a graying backpacker's beard and light-brown hair pulled into a topknot. He wore sixteen silver rings, gunmetal nail polish, and an outfit-T-shirt, V-neck sweater-vest, climbing pants-entirely in shades of light gray. He looked as if he had arrived from soldering metal in an abandoned loft. Scientific models of attention, he argued, had been products of their eras' priorities, too. So-called "vigilance studies," which figured attention in terms of cognitive alertness, had coincided with the rise of monotonous control-panel jobs in the years after the Second World War. When soldiers began having to deal with multiple directives over the wire, attention science became preoccupied with simultaneous inputs.

It was a short leap from there to attention-chasing advertising. Companies that once resigned themselves to using billboards and print ads to appeal to a large American public now target us in private moments. The legal scholar Tim Wu, in his book "The Attention Merchants," notes, "Without express consent, most of us have passively opened ourselves up to the commercial exploitation of our attention just about anywhere and any time." No wonder young people struggle. Burnett, in an opinion piece that he co-wrote in the Times last fall, argued that schools, rather than just expecting students to pay attention, should teach them how.

I visited Burnett one afternoon in Washington Heights, where he lives with his partner, the filmmaker Alyssa Loh, and his two teen-age children. The windows of his living room were open; breezes off the Hudson River twirled silver spiral streamers hanging from the ceiling. A sideboard featured a blown ostrich egg, delicately etched with an image of the bird's skeleton-a gift from a student.

"It's a perfect mix of scrimshaw technique and X-ray of the form of the bird," Burnett commented from an open kitchen. He was chopping radishes for a salad.

The rest of the living room was artily posed, as if presented for study by visitors. There was a faded dhurrie rug and a dining-room table made from a single slab of tree trunk. In one corner, a kind of altar had been assembled with peculiar objects: a feather-trimmed bow and arrow from Guyana; a bird skeleton; and a short stack of old leather-bound books, such as the first English edition of "L'Oiseau" ("The Bird"), a nineteenth-century study of birds by the historian Jules Michelet, and "Canaries and Cage-Birds," by an ornithologist named George H. Holden. I opened it. "The lectures on which these chapters are based were appropriately announced as given under the auspices of one of our bird clubs," the book read, "for the word auspices comes from the Latin avis,-a bird,-and spicere,-to look at."

The passage touched a memory for me. Years earlier, I had heard of something called the Order of the Third Bird-supposedly a secret international fellowship, going back centuries, of artists, authors, booksellers, professors, and avant-gardists. Participants in the Order would converge, flash-mob style, at museums, stare intensely at a work of art for half an hour, and vanish, their twee-seeming feat of attention complete. (The Order's name alluded to a piece of lore about three birds confronting a painting by the ancient artist Zeuxis: the first was frightened away, the second approached to try to eat painted fruit, and the third just looked.) I had tried then to get in touch with the Order. My efforts had led nowhere. "It's a Fight Club thing," someone later explained to me, with a degree of earnestness that, like much about the Order of the Third Bird, I struggled to gauge. "The first rule of the Birds is you don't talk about the Birds." I'd wondered whether Burnett might be involved.

Burnett was a longtime Bird, he admitted. The Order's work was more complex than it sounded, he said, and some of the Birds, concerned about widespread loss of attention, were more willing to discuss their practice than they'd been in the past. For years, the Order had devoted itself to its subject: what attention was, how to channel it, what it could do. With Burnett's help, I sent up a new flare in Birdland, expecting to hear nothing. That wasn't what happened at all.

One Sunday morning, I received a cryptic text from a performance artist named Stevie Knauss, whom I had never met. "Let's tentatively plan on meeting in the zone indicated on this map," the message read. A Google satellite image of the neighborhood around 155th Street and Broadway was attached, with a red arrow pointing to the Hispanic Society Museum & Library.

Later, as the train that I was on travelled uptown, Knauss sent me a Find My iPhone request. I followed it across Audubon Terrace, a plaza named for the nineteenth-century artist and ornithologist, and into the Hispanic Society's gallery. My eyes took a moment to adjust. At the place where my phone told me Knauss was stationed, a young woman in a black T-shirt sat on a bench with her back to me, staring at a painting. I sat beside her. "Stevie?" I said.

She was wearing wide-legged green Dickies, high-laced leather work boots, and dangly asymmetrical earrings. She turned to regard me, then looked back at the painting.

Knauss identified herself as an emissary affiliated with the Birds, and began to describe the way their actions worked. "The practice lasts twenty-eight minutes-four parts of seven minutes each," she said. "The movement from one part to another is announced by a bell."

Knauss told me that the Birds who were about to convene might not have met before. Actions were called in e-mails from alias accounts-she had heard about this one from "Wrybill Wrybillius"-with invitees' names hidden. Any Bird could call an action; the Order was decentralized and ungoverned. Existing Birds invited new participants at their discretion, and, in this way, the Order slowly brought additional people into local chapters, known as volées. Nobody was sure how many Birds were in the world-New York City alone was home to several volées, overlapping to some degree-but there were believed to be hundreds. Actions had taken place as far afield as Korea, the Galápagos, and Kansas.

Knauss eyed some passersby. "The first seven-minute phase is known as Encounter," she said. "I think of it as entering a party. First, you take a look around the scene." On arriving at the action site, the Birds wander. The subject of an action is rarely, if ever, identified in advance, but usually it is the most desperate-looking work in sight. ("In a museum, it will be, like, the painting next to the bathroom or on the wall opposite the 'Mona Lisa,' " Burnett told me.) The work is unnamed because the Birds are supposed to find it by paying attention. Those who don't can follow the flock.

Next comes Attending, announced by the first bell. "At the party, that's when you maybe settle into conversation with someone," Knauss explained. The Birds line up before the work, side by side, in what is known as the phalanx. For seven minutes, they silently give the work their full attention. Three things are discouraged during this period, Knauss told me. "One is what we call studium"-analysis from study. Another is interpretation, and the third is judgment. If Birds find a work offensive (or simply bad), they're meant to put aside that response. Alyssa Loh, Burnett's partner, who is also a Bird, told me that she understands the injunctions as a guard against the ways that people shut down their attention. "There's a question you often hear in relation to art objects: What is it for and what do you do with it?" she said. "In the Bird practice, we mostly answer that in negatives-you can't 'solve' it, can't decide if it's good, can't victoriously declare that you have correctly identified its origins or that it's an example of an eighteenth-century whatever." You just keep attending.

The second bell heralds the start of Negation, a phase in which Birds try to clear the object from their minds. Some lie down; some close their eyes. At the third bell, seven minutes later, the group reconvenes in the phalanx for Realizing.

Knauss said, "A good way to think of Realizing is the question: What does the work need  ?" In some cases, the answer may be concrete-to be moved to a nearby wall-but it is often abstract. Perhaps a sculpture needs children climbing on it. "It might need you to hear its song," Knauss somewhat mysteriously noted. At the final bell, the Birds disperse. "Leave the scene, find somewhere quiet to sit, and write down your experience of the four phases," Knauss said.

A short while later, they meet up, usually in a café, for Colloquy, in which they take turns describing what they went through, distractions and all. Some Birds consider Colloquy the most important stage; it distinguishes their approach from "mindfulness" and other solo pursuits. The discussion can take on an uncanny charge. "It's unusual to spend so much time in a small group looking at one thing, and even more unusual to talk about your impressions to the point of the ultra-thin vibrations and the associations they give rise to," a Bird named Adam Jasper, an assistant professor of architectural history at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, told me. "With people I've Birded with more than a few times, I know more about how they work emotionally and mentally than I have any right to." The writer Brad Fox described the experience as "seeing people at their best."

Knauss, checking her phone, seemed suddenly in a hurry. "I'm going to leave you," she said. "But first there's a tradition that I give you this." She pulled a piece of saffron-colored cloth from one of her belt loops, tore off a strip, and handed it to me. It was how the Birds recognized one another, she said.

"After I've gone, you'll walk out the door over my left shoulder, onto the terrace, and turn right." She stood. "The work will be on your left."

"But how will I know which one it is?" I asked.

"You'll know," Knauss said, and walked away.

Outside, in the sunlight, a mother was playing with her two children at a yellow installation by Jesús Rafael Soto: not a Bird. An older man sat at a table: possible, but unlikely. Then I saw them: a tall, thin man and a pregnant woman crossing the terrace, indistinguishable from other pedestrians but for flashes of saffron like mine. The Birds were here.

Despite all the recent laboratory study, attention was for centuries a path of humanistic exchange. The Stoics wrote of prosochē, an alert attention, as a prerequisite of moral consciousness. For Freud, gleichschwebende Aufmerksamkeit, "evenly hovering attention," was the analyst's working mode. Burnett often cites Henry James's image of attention, in "The Wings of the Dove," as a "great empty cup" on the table between a busy doctor and his suffering patient-what Burnett describes as "somewhere between an offering and a readiness to be receiving."

In many people's view, it is William James, Henry's brother, who supplied the first comprehensive American model of attention. In a chapter devoted to the subject in his "Principles of Psychology" (1890), James portrayed attention as a restless thing. When we think we're holding it, our mind is winging out on errands and returning; sustained attention is, in effect, a stream of attentional moments. Thus, despite the complexity and multiplicity of the world, "there is before the mind at no time a plurality of ideas." (This insight went on to frame James's philosophical work.) When we look at a statue, the stone doesn't change, but the art work we see does, because we are continually noticing different things. James's model pushes against the idea that attention is something you pay out, free of wandering thoughts and individual reverie.

Nested in James's understanding is also a serviceable definition of art. In its objective state, van Gogh's "Starry Night" is daubs of paint on a canvas. On the moon, without an audience, it would be debris. It is only when I give the canvas my attention (bringing to it the cargo of my particular past, my knowledge of the world, my way of thinking and seeing) that it becomes an art work. That doesn't mean that van Gogh's feats of genius are imagined, or my own projection. It means only that an art work is neither a physical thing nor a viewer's mental image of it but something in between, created in attentive space. The Brazilian art critic and political activist Mário Pedrosa wrote of the experience as a dialogue between form and perception.

"It's actually pretty straightforward," Len Nalencz, another Bird, told me at one point. "The Birds use attention as a medium-like clay or words or marble or oil paint. You use your attention to make something, but only you can see the thing you've made. And so you have to translate it into words to share it."

Nalencz spent several years working as a union organizer, but now he is an assistant professor of English at the University of Mount St. Vincent, in the Bronx. Many of the Birds I met were academics. A number expressed Faustian dismay at having mastered rigor in their fields without, it seemed, coming closer to the human artistry that originally stirred their interest. Joanna Fiduccia, an assistant professor of art history at Yale, told me, "There is an art historian, Michael Ann Holly, who writes about a 'melancholic' posture art historians have in knowing we're never actually going to get it right, never going to get to the thing that we were drawn to in the first place. Then Birding came along for me. It was this other way of being within art work that was joyously collective and yet emergent from subjective consciousness, or 'experience.' "

"I think it's a puzzle for all of us what to do with-or even just how to be in the presence of-a work of art," Jeff Dolven, an English professor at Princeton and a Bird, said. "Here we are together. Well, what do we do now?" There is a middle-school-dance aspect to the endeavor: people feel something real across the room but, without a way into the conversation, settle into wallflower analysis. For some, the Birds provide a framework and an aesthetic, expressed through a disproportionate number of pamphlets and guides, all printed in an epigrammatic style that might suit a fortune-teller's card table. "I remember that this protocol was a little off-putting at first-like, are you serious with all this oldy-worldy hear-ye typeface?" Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, a curator, told me. "But what I have observed in many years of attentional practice is that the more scaffolding you put in, the freer the experience becomes."

Unable to refrain entirely from academic habits, a subgroup of Birds have produced their own outlandish body of work. Early in the last decade, Burnett and a couple of his colleagues began writing and assigning articles for an imaginary peer-reviewed journal devoted to scholarly study of the Birds. At first, the project was a way of sharing ideas about the Order's attention work without writing about it directly. (Like the Birds themselves, I was allowed to participate in actions on the condition that I not describe the experience in print. "My fear," one longtime Bird said archly, "is that people will mistake the description of the thing for the thing.") But many enjoyed writing for the imaginary journal of the so-called Esthetical Society for Transcendental and Applied Realization (now incorporating the Society of Esthetic Realizers)-or ESTAR(SER) -and some seem to have enjoyed it more than their real work. When Burnett and two co-editors culled a selection, in 2021, they ended up with a book more than seven hundred and fifty pages long.

Landing somewhere between "Pale Fire" and the formal irony of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, the volume, called "In Search of the Third Bird," is rendered in the voice of hapless researchers trying to chase down the elusive Order. The articles are not pure fiction-they include real attention scholarship-but neither are they a hundred per cent objectively true. Counterfactual histories filter in, cross-referencing one another. Some articles are by real scholars, while others run under birdy pseudonyms ("Molly Gottstauk") with preposterous author biographies. Justin Smith-Ruiu, a writer and a professor at the Université Paris Cité as well as an editor of "In Search of the Third Bird," touted to me "the world-making dimension" of it. "Our idea was: Let's turn academic practice into an art form," Smith-Ruiu said.

Even many members of the Order describe the ESTAR(SER) work as a bit precious. "The amount of effort in the book is huge, but its effect is, uh, marginal," Adam Jasper said. "It sort of fits into the Birds' ethos of not being concerned with inputs and outputs." In a sense, it is bizarre that ESTAR(SER) -an acronym that, being two forms of the Spanish "to be," is largely un-Googleable-has become the Order's public front, mounting lectures and exhibitions across the country. (Last year, it had an exhibition at the Frye Art Museum, in Seattle; this spring, it will present a show at the Opening Gallery, in Tribeca.) But that improbability is the point. Catherine L. Hansen, an assistant professor at the University of Tokyo and another editor of the book, describes the project as a defiantly playful performance of humanities scholarship's twenty-first-century limits-the way that disciplines are increasingly pressed to approach the work of human imagination with the objective rigor of a science.

"When I look at the world, I feel that something is being lost or actively undermined," she told me. "Sometimes it feels like attention. Sometimes it feels like imagination. Sometimes it feels like"-she thought for a moment-"that thing you wanted when you became an English major, that sort of half-dreamed, half-real thing you thought you were going to be. Whatever that is: it's under attack."

One recent afternoon, I visited an Apple Store to try the company's new augmented-reality goggles, called the Apple Vision Pro. I had seen YouTube videos of people wandering around in the devices, interacting with invisible objects and making obscene-looking grabby-squeezy gestures with their hands. When I put on the contraption, under the care of an employee, I found myself trapped in a realm where my attention was at once more passive and more active than it usually was. The details of the world within the goggles seemed premade for my inspection: I was moved from snowy Iceland to the edge of a lake near Mt. Hood. The landscape, quiet and perfect, with no other creatures in sight, revealed itself in measure with my gaze; scenery came and went by way of menus, which I called up with a button near my eyes. When I watched a 3-D video clip of a girl blowing out the candles on a cake, my heart broke with loneliness. I felt as if I were the last human being on Earth.

On the other hand, wherever my eyes moved, something happened. When I opened Microsoft Word, a keyboard floated up. I was told to type using my eyes. I did-or, rather, D-i-d-moving my gaze from letter to letter. For someone used to touch-typing while sometimes ranging his eyes around the room, this immersion in the key-by-key process was a surreal way to write, like driving a car from the camshaft.

The idea of following visual attention through the motion of the eyes goes back more than a century. In the eighteen-seventies, Louis Émile Javal, a French ophthalmologist with terrible glaucoma, began studying tiny eye movements-he called them "saccades," for the jerking movements of horses under rein-with an aim toward understanding how people read. In the middle of the twentieth century, the Soviet psychologist Alfred Yarbus (né Kraćkowski) suctioned a contact lens to the surface of the eye and traced its path across a painting. Yarbus was exploring what had long eluded science: the mysteries of people's attention to art. In his most famous experiment, involving Ilya Repin's "They Did Not Expect Him," a realist painting depicting a Russian revolutionary returning to his family, viewers were asked to look at the canvas both freely and in response to prompts, which changed the course of their attention. In the Soviet Union, the results of the experiment could be taken to speak to the power of social education. In the West, the notion that the eye's attention was suggestible had commercial weight. In recent decades, researchers and advertisers have used updated versions of Yarbus's technique: instead of employing a contact lens, they often track the eye with infrared technology, a method that also helps support the Vision Pro.

But people see what they are looking for. One theory of our attention crisis is that it's actually a measurement crisis, because the signals we are focussed on define our understanding of the field. If "attention" entails a battle for our immediate gaze, then that gaze becomes the valuable commodity, more than a slow-accruing mental simmer.

"You have this idea of attention as an object that is traded between people, so all of your science goes into measuring this object," Mike Follett, the managing director of Lumen Research, which claims to hold the largest eye-tracking data set in the world, told me. In the past decade, more than half a million people have participated in Lumen's studies (for which they have been paid); the company supplies much of the raw attention data used in Dentsu's models. At first, Lumen mailed out infrared kits to track eye movements, but the process was tricky. So the company created an app that uses smartphone cameras to measure glints of light off the eyes. "Now we can get a thousand people to do a research project in an afternoon," Follett said. "We'll observe not only how many people looked at ads or for how long but how many people clicked on the ads and, if they did click, whether anyone bought things."

And yet, Follett said, our minds are not merely our eyes. "Eye tracking is not attention, in a number of important ways," he told me. "You can look without seeing-and you can see without looking."

Other body language signals attention of different kinds. People watch TV screens with a posture distinct from the one they use for looking at their phones or laptops. They read a Times article in a different position than they search for flights to Paris in. The more types of data one admits into the science, the more surprising and enigmatic the picture of human attention becomes. By many measures, Follett said, one of the very worst advertising environments is social media: "People are scrolling so tremendously quickly, like on a slot machine in Vegas-is it any wonder no one actually looks at these ads?" One of the most valuable advertising spaces, according to his data, is next to long, absorbing articles from trusted publications.

"It turns out that attention to advertising is a function of attention to content," he explained. A general schlock-ification of material may have helped create a mirage of shortening attention. " Maybe people do not have time to spend looking at a thirty-six-second ad-or maybe they just don't do it on Facebook," he went on. "So Facebook responds by developing new advertising products meant to work in five or six seconds." The platforms, in this way, produce their own ecology of scarceness. "I don't know if it's chicken or egg," he said.

For most people, attention is not a point of visual focus but something nearer to a warm breeze through an open window, carrying fragrances from far away. We feel its power when we read an absorbing novel. We find it when we visit a new place and notice everything for the first time. To Maurice Merleau-Ponty, the mid-century phenomenologist, attention was the inconvenient truth of modernity, the heart of why both empirical science and pure inner reason were doomed to fall short of capturing the world as it truly was. Modernity prized objective measurement and transmissible bodies of knowledge over experience, and yet, for millennia, experience was intimately tied to knowledge: our elders were our sages.

"Objectivity is a big success, but it scorches the earth of the experiential and makes it merely 'personal,' " Burnett posited one day over a meal at the Watermill Center, in Southampton, New York, where a group of Birds have had a couple of residencies through the support of the artist Robert Wilson. A small dining hall was crowded with them: Loh, Fox, and others. "Phenomenology was saying, Hey, why not go back to experience and not break it across the knee into objectivity and subjectivity, leaving the subjective discarded as weak?" Burnett said. "Can we go back to the experiential and hold it close-but make something that's real and true, not just an outpouring of emotions?"

That afternoon, I walked around with Loh, who had discovered Birding on her own, before meeting Burnett. "It felt like everything I saw in life disclosed the same thing, which was that the world was more interesting than the image of it in my head," she recalled. The Birds' injunctions against studium, interpretation, and judgment seemed to her to apply to people, too. "You're not supposed to use people, or to think that you understand what they're about," she said. "What is the thing you do with a person that's adequate to the thing they are? And my best pass at that is: attention. You attend to them."

For some, the practice of people attending together makes up not only an ethics but a politics. Kristin Lawler, a sociology professor at Mount St. Vincent and the author of a scholarly monograph on surfing, was drawn to Birding for, as she put it, "the idea that people can create their own world together." She went on, "The flood of images that are coming toward us all the time are destroying our subjectivity." It left individuals, especially young ones, less room to decide for themselves what they were interested in. Reclaiming attention, in that way, was an act of resistance.

People of all stripes have tended to agree. In the new book "The Anxious Generation," the sociologist and pundit Jonathan Haidt links smartphone technology to escalating teen depression and other ill effects. "The members of Gen Z are . . . test subjects for a radical new way of growing up, far from the real-world interactions of small communities in which humans evolved," he writes. "It's as if they became the first generation to grow up on Mars."

Seeking a response, Lawler, Len Nalencz, and others have begun teaching through an institution that they helped form, the Strother School of Radical Attention. (It was named for Matthew Strother, a young Bird who died, last year, of cancer.) The school, run by an organization called the Friends of Attention, holds workshops in New York public schools; for adults, it offers evening courses and free weekend "Attention Labs." "Because one doesn't have to be a Bird to produce some of these same effects," Burnett said.

I stopped on a Saturday afternoon at one of the Strother School's adult workshops, at a community center on the Lower East Side. Around fifty people had shown up. A lot were under thirty. "Young people, many of whom I admired, were coming up to me and being, like, 'I need to be more productive,' " the school's founding program director, Peter Schmidt, a former student of Burnett's, told me. "But, once they're in the room, you can create the conditions where less tangible experiences emerge."

We sat in a big circle of chairs; daylight streamed through a set of floor-to-ceiling windows.

"In a moment, what I'm going to do is invite you to choose some spot in this room that you can focus your eyes on," Schmidt said. "Then I'm going to invite you, keeping your eyes fixed, to notice something at the edge of your vision."

He waited ten seconds while we did the exercise, then rang a bell.

"To recap, you had your eyes fixed on some point, and then some other part of you was moving throughout your field of vision," he said. "The question here is: What was that part of you? What moved?"

Attention, of course. Schmidt's exercise made a point of teasing out the difference between a movement of the mind and a movement of the eye.

For the next two hours, there were other short practices to isolate and cultivate attention. A producer and d.j. called Troy (Bachtroy) Mitchell, who had long locs and a lime-green fleece, played an experimental piece of his four times, instructing the participants to listen in a different way with each repetition. Loh and a colleague took a group of people onto the balcony to study the cityscape: directly, in selfie mode, backward (in the black mirror of a switched-off phone), and with eyes closed. Then they gathered in a small circle, Bird style, to recount their experiences.

Nalencz told me about the school's origins. "I met these great people in the Birds, but who were they? Academics, artists, mostly white," he said. And yet the greatest victims of attention predation, he thought, were young people from under-resourced communities, who, like some of his students, were able to access public culture mostly through their phones. "I felt a double need to try to get to students who I thought were really smart but (a) wouldn't show up at the Met because of class reasons and (b) only have phones, not books."

One of his students had been Jahony Germosen, a senior English major who was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in the Bronx. Although she'd got A's in Nalencz's classes, her attendance was irregular. Nalencz challenged her to fix that-and then to try something else.

"He was, like, 'I'm a part of this nonprofit organization. . . . I want you to come,' " Germosen said. She did, and the experience moved her.

"I don't know how to describe the feeling," she told me. "Sometimes the world makes everything and everyone seem so replaceable, like they lack value. But then you come here, and it's, like, no, everything matters. You matter. That building matters." When she realized that the youngest facilitator at the Strother School was an ancient twenty-seven, she applied to join the staff. That afternoon, it was Germosen who began to close out the workshop.

Not all Birds have found comfort in the group's increasing public openness. "I haven't been active in a lot of years," Dorothea von Moltke, a co-owner of Labyrinth Books, in Princeton, New Jersey, told me. "The performance aspect of it was not ever where my interest was-I loved the rogueness." At the edges of the Order, though, a new vanguard is taking shape. "What I feel is extremely important about these practices is that they are open, and people have absolute liberty to reinvent and adapt them," someone who asked to be identified only as Daphne, and who worked at a trans-community-support organization in Montreal, told me. "The way I practice with people in Montreal is very different from the way I practice when I'm with the people who introduced me to it."

The people with whom Daphne practices in Montreal are largely sex workers. "They have a relationship with the city that's engaged with the history of the violent eradication of sex workers in the red-light district," she said. One of the actions centered on the façade of a defunct strip club. A few weeks later, the club burned down, in what she believes was arson: one more piece of that world eradicated. Their attention, Daphne felt, had meant something. "It would have been very different if I'd gathered with that same group of people and attended to, like, a Donald Judd," she said.

One rainy afternoon, I watched an action that a New York Bird had called at the New Museum. When the first bell rang, four Birds emerged from the crowd to settle into the phalanx before "The Giantess (The Guardian of the Egg)," by Leonora Carrington-a surreal painting of a woman being swarmed by birds. The group, two timorous young men and two women in rain parkas, looked nonthreatening, but, by the time the Realizing bell sounded, guards were on alert, peering around dividing walls and texting. Visitors rubbernecked, as if entranced by-what? Reactions of that sort are standard.

"You quickly find that even museums, places supposedly devoted to art, aren't set up for people doing more than the standard fifteen seconds per painting," Burnett said. Recent art vandalisms have led to tightened security, but there has always been pressure. (Among New York volées, the Guggenheim is considered the most laissez-faire.) In 2014, Nalencz initiated an action on a mural, by Julie Mehretu, in the lobby of the Goldman Sachs building in lower Manhattan-a piece that the company touted as being on public display, visible to passersby through the lobby's large windows. As soon as Birds began to gather on the sidewalk, security told them to leave. Under Nalencz's instruction, they went on to attend to the mural through the windows. Police came.

"Tell me where the public sidewalk is," Nalencz said to the officers. "We're just looking at the art work."

"But nobody's looking," a guard pointed out. True enough: the Negation phase had begun. One Bird was studying the bushes. Another had seemingly gone to sleep.

"This is a performance," an officer averred. "You got a permit?"

Nalencz looked at the officer, at the other Birds, and back at the officer. He leaned in confidentially. "I mean, it's not much of a performance, is it?" he said.

The structure that I learned from Knauss-Encounter, Attending, Negation, Realizing-is what's known, within the Order, as the Standard Protocol. Many variations have been devised. There is the Vetiver Protocol, for attendance to fragrances. There is the Protocol of the Sea Watch, to be done in water. (Its final step: "Resurface; lose your gills.") Some inventions are soon forgotten, but the most successful endure. While meeting up with Birds in Shanghai and Beirut, two places where participants in public, semi-performative gatherings could face real risk, Burnett helped develop a walk-by form of action, called the Doppler Protocol: Attending happens on the approach to the work; Negation is the instant of reaching it; and Realization happens over the shoulder, while walking away. "We call it an Orphic Realization, à la Orpheus," Burnett said. Back in New York, he tried it on the statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle, with the Birds attending as they walked up Eighth Avenue.

One of the most affecting protocols is the Prosphorion, performed on an object of great importance that has become inaccessible. In the protocol, one of the participants "becomes" that object. Nalencz once became "Tilted Arc," the Richard Serra sculpture installed in Foley Square and removed, in 1989, after controversy. Again, he was accosted by a guard. "I'm the sculpture!" he cried, and stood unyieldingly, in a "Tilted Arc" sort of way. (The guard said, in a downtown sort of way, "Oh, O.K.," and moved on.)

I was never able to see the Prosphorion. But a number of Birds told me that the protocol carried unexpected emotional weight. In the final phase, the absent object "attends to you." "People cry, or go into trance states," Catherine Hansen said. "It is very difficult not to think of things that you have lost or are missing." Caitlin Sweeney, the director of digital publications for the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, which produces catalogues raisonnés, was so moved by the "Tilted Arc" action that she passed along a written account of it to a friend who worked for Serra. To her surprise, she received an enthusiastic response from Serra's wife, and the account was added to the studio's dossier for the sculpture, making the Birds' art of attention part of the artist's record of his most notorious piece.

Such evidence of the Order's reach made me wonder more about its origins. Sweeney wasn't sure where the Birds came from. Adam Jasper told me, "You see things that make you suspect that this has been going on for a long time, but I don't know. I've virtually accused Graham Burnett of inventing the practice." Burnett said, "I've always thought it's somehow French." I went to look through an archive of unpublished writeups of Bird actions, which, for arcane reasons, was housed in a large travelling trunk in a corner of the office of Cody Upton, the executive director of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Poring over the documents, I noticed that there were no records of actions before 2010. I talked to Hansen. "I would recommend that you speak to Jeff Dolven and Sal Randolph," she said at last. "These are people who most likely witnessed the big bang."

Dolven, when I asked, laughed. "When I started practicing, I was not particularly aware of other Birdish activity," he said opaquely. "It was me and Graham and Sal Randolph. . . ." He drifted off. "Have you talked to Sal?"

Randolph, an artist and a writer who published a book called "The Uses of Art," arranged to meet me at a large Think Coffee in Manhattan. Her hair was cropped short and dyed a deep blue. She told me she'd grown interested in attention in the late nineties, while making art in Provincetown. "You spend all winter making a body of work, which you then show for two weeks in the summer," she said. "People were doing this very familiar-looking dance: I approach the work of art, I tilt my head a little bit, I give a little nod, and I step away to the next piece. It lasts two or three seconds." For months of painting, the response seemed preposterously meagre. "I had this sense that art, poetry, cultural work is being wasted at a phenomenal rate."

In 2010, Randolph met Burnett on a panel. He worked with Dolven, and the three of them started talking. "We began to think of art works in need of attention that they don't receive," she said. I told her I'd found no direct record of Order activity before then. Did that align with her understanding of its origins? She was silent. "It aligns with my sense of when a group of people got to know each other," she offered at last, then met my gaze squarely. "But this is really old."

On one of my last visits with Burnett, I found him in a bubbly mood. A Bird action would take place that evening-"a full-on, paramedics-of-attention situation," he explained. The work, a public sculpture by Peter Lundberg, was encircled by a ramp of the George Washington Bridge, not far away. The Birds had had it in their sights for years. Car passengers might catch a glimpse of it from the side as they sped past, but there was no way to see it from a stable position. Then, last year, the Port Authority reopened the George Washington Bridge's long-dormant north walk, making the piece newly visible to pedestrians.

I arrived on site early. On the approach, I passed Brad Fox sitting on a bus-stop bench in a navy raincoat; in the Birdish way, he registered no recognition. The walkway was lined on each side by a chain-link fence and a green rail. Cyclists sliced around the curves. On rough ground, near a utility truck, lay an elegant steel-and-concrete sculpture, as if someone had set it down in the course of a journey and forgot to pick it up again. I noticed a familiar figure loping up the walkway: Burnett, with a gray hoodie pulled over his head.

A minute later, Nalencz followed, wearing a black jacket and a sports cap that said " PILSNER." I saw Loh, then Fox, then Kristin Lawler. The group eventually fell into the phalanx at the north arc of the walkway. A gray-haired man joined them for a moment, trying to see what they were seeing. When the bell chimed for Negation, the Birds moved out of formation. Burnett studied a drainage grate. Fox found a quiet place to lie down.

A wind rose all at once. The waters of the Hudson darkened to a moody gray. The walkway traced a horseshoe shape around the sculpture, and, on an impulse, Nalencz called Realizing while leading the group to a position on the other side of the curve. They made a new phalanx, facing the opposite direction: five people giving everything to an art work hidden for years. Could it have been my own imagination that the steel flanks of the sculpture seemed to flash with new importance under the force of their attention?

It was sunset now; the skyline of New Jersey carried a thin wire of gold. I watched the group wield their strange power on the art work, and it was one of the most real things I have ever seen. ♦

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Nathan Heller on the Order of the Third Bird, a secret society that includes writers and artists, many of whom have spawned new initiatives like the Strother School of Radical Attention, which offers an education against the distractions of apps, digital ads, and shorter attention spans.

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It’s an age-old question. But a few recent studies have brought us closer to an answer.

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The Positive Impact of Movement On Your Brain! 

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The Positive Impact of Movement On Your Brain! 

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Joy waits for you, on the other side of movement!

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We've all heard that exercise is good for us-how it strengthens our hearts and lungs, and helps us prevent diseases like diabetes. That's why so many of us like to make New Year's resolutions to move more, knowing it will make us healthier and live longer.

But many people don't know about the other important benefits of exercise-how it can help us find happiness, hope, connection, and courage.

Around the world, people who are physically active are happier and more satisfied with their lives. They have a stronger sense of purpose and experience more gratitude, love, and hope. They feel more connected to their communities, and are less likely to suffer from loneliness or become depressed.

These benefits are seen throughout the lifespan, including among those living with serious mental and physical health challenges. That's true whether their preferred activity is walking, running, swimming, dancing, biking, playing sports, lifting weights, or practicing yoga.

Why is movement linked to such a wide range of psychological benefits? One reason is its powerful and profound effects on the brain. Here are five surprising ways that being active is good for your brain-and how you can harness these benefits yourself.

1. The exercise "high" primes you to connect with others

Although typically described as a runner's high, an exercise-induced mood boost is not exclusive to running. A similar bliss can be found in any sustained physical activity.

Scientists have long speculated that endorphins are behind the high, but research shows the high is linked to another class of brain chemicals: endocannabinoids (the same chemicals mimicked by cannabis)-what neuroscientists describe as "don't worry, be happy" chemicals.

Areas of the brain that regulate the stress response, including the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, are rich in receptors for endocannabinoids. When endocannabinoid molecules lock into these receptors, they reduce anxiety and induce a state of contentment. Endocannabinoids also increase dopamine in the brain's reward system, which further fuels feelings of optimism.

This exercise high also primes us to connect with others, by increasing the pleasure we derive from being around other people, which can strengthen relationships. Many people use exercise as an opportunity to connect with friends or loved ones. Among married couples, when spouses exercise together, both partners report more closeness later that day, including feeling loved and supported.

Another study found that on days when people exercise, they report more positive interactions with friends and family. As one runner said to me, "My family will sometimes send me out running, as they know that I will come back a much better person."

2. Exercise can make your brain more sensitive to joy

When you exercise, you provide a low-dose jolt to the brain's reward centers-the system of the brain that helps you anticipate pleasure, feel motivated, and maintain hope. Over time, regular exercise remodels the reward system, leading to higher circulating levels of dopamine and more available dopamine receptors. In this way, exercise can both relieve depression and expand your capacity for joy.

These changes can also repair the neurological havoc wreaked by substance abuse. Substance abuse lowers the level of dopamine in your brain and reduces the availability of dopamine receptors in the reward system. As result, people struggling with addiction can feel unmotivated, depressed, antisocial, and unable to enjoy ordinary pleasures. Exercise can reverse this.

In one randomized trial, adults in treatment for methamphetamine abuse participated in an hour of walking, jogging, and strength training three times a week. After eight weeks, their brains showed an increase in dopamine receptor availability in the reward system.

Jump-starting the brain's reward system benefits not just those who struggle with depression or addiction. Our brains change as we age, and adults lose up to 13 percent of the dopamine receptors in the reward system with each passing decade. This loss leads to less enjoyment of everyday pleasures, but physical activity can prevent the decline. Compared to their inactive peers, active older adults have reward systems that more closely resemble those of individuals who are decades younger.

3. Exercise makes you brave

Courage is another side effect of physical activity on the brain. At the very same time that a new exercise habit is enhancing the reward system, it also increases neural connections among areas of the brain that calm anxiety. Regular physical activity can also modify the default state of the nervous system so that it becomes more balanced and less prone to fight, flight, or fright.

The latest research even suggests that lactate-the metabolic by-product of exercise that is commonly, but erroneously, blamed for muscle soreness- has positive effects on mental health. After lactate is released by muscles, it travels through the bloodstream to the brain, where it alters your neurochemistry in a way that can reduce anxiety and protect against depression.

Sometimes, the movement itself allows us to experience ourselves as brave, as the language we use to describe courage relies on metaphors of the body. We overcome obstacles, break through barriers, and walk through fire. We carry burdens, reach out for help, and lift one another up. This is how we as humans talk about bravery and resilience.

When we are faced with adversity or doubting our own strength, it can help to feel these actions in our bodies. The mind instinctively makes sense out of physical actions. Sometimes we need to climb an actual hill, pull ourselves up, or work together to shoulder a heavy load to know that these traits are a part of us.

4. Moving with others builds trust and belonging

In 1912, French sociologist Émile Durkheim coined the term collective effervescence to describe the euphoric self-transcendence individuals feel when they move together in ritual, prayer, or work. Moving with others-for example, in group exercise, yoga, or dance classes-is one of the most powerful ways to experience joy.

Psychologists believe the key to producing collective joy is synchrony-moving in the same way, and at the same time, as others-because it triggers a release of endorphins. This is why dancers and rowers who move in synch show an increase in pain tolerance.

But endorphins don't just make us feel good; they help us bond, too. People sharing an endorphin rush through a collective activity like, trust, and feel closer to one another afterward. It's a powerful neurobiological mechanism for forming friendships, even with people we don't know.

Group exercise has managed to capitalize on the social benefits of synchronized movement. For example, the more you get your heart rate up, the closer you feel to the people you move in unison with, and adding music enhances the effect. Breathing in unison can also amplify the feeling of collective joy, as may happen in a yoga class.

We were born with brains able to craft a sense of connection to others that is as visceral as the feedback coming from our own heart, lungs, and muscles. That is an astonishing thing! We humans can go about most of our lives, sensing and feeling ourselves as separate, but through one small action-coming together in movement-we dissolve the boundaries that divide us.

5. Trying a new activity can transform your self-image

Every time you move your body, sensory receptors in your muscles, tendons, and joints send information to your brain about what is happening. This is why if you close your eyes and raise one arm, you can feel the shift in position and know where your arm is in space. You don't have to watch what's happening; you can sense yourself.

The ability to perceive your body's movements is called proprioception, and is sometimes referred to as the "sixth sense." It helps us move through space with ease and skill and plays a surprisingly important role in self-concept-how you think about who you are and how you imagine others see you.

When you participate in any physical activity, your moment-to-moment sense of self is shaped by the qualities of your movement. If you move with grace, your brain perceives the elongation of your limbs and the fluidity of your steps, and realizes, "I am graceful." When you move with power, your brain encodes the explosive contraction of muscles, senses the speed of the action, and understands, "I am powerful." If there is a voice in your head saying, "You're too old, too awkward, too big, too broken, too weak," sensations from movement can provide a compelling counterargument.

Physical accomplishments change how you think about yourself and what you are capable of, and the effect should not be underestimated. One woman I spoke with shared a story about when she was in her early 20s and found herself severely depressed, with a plan to take her own life. The day she intended to go through with it, she went to the gym for one last workout. She deadlifted 185 pounds, a personal best. When she put the bar down, she realized that she didn't want to die. Instead, she remembers, "I wanted to see how strong I could become." Five years later, she can now deadlift 300 pounds.

Clearly, we were born to move, and the effects of exercise on our psychological and social well-being are many. So, why not start the new year right and add more movement to your life? No doubt you'll feel better, be happier, and have better social relationships because of it.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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Five Surprising Ways Exercise Changes Your Brain

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We've all heard that exercise is good for us-how it strengthens our hearts and lungs, and helps us prevent diseases like diabetes. That's why so many of us like to make New Year's resolutions to move more, knowing it will make us healthier and live longer.

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We are sleeping less and that is a problem!

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Women, particularly those under age 50, report sleeping less than they need and higher stress levels than men

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For the first time in Gallup polling since 2001, a majority of U.S. adults, 57%, say they would feel better if they got more sleep, while 42% say they get as much sleep as they need. This is nearly a reversal of the figures last measured in 2013, when 56% of Americans got the sleep they needed and 43% did not.

Americans' perception that they aren't getting enough sleep is borne out by the diminished number of hours of sleep they report getting per night.

These differences in average sleep reflect substantial changes over time in the percentage of U.S. adults sleeping eight or more versus five hours or less per night. In 1942, 59% were getting eight-plus hours of sleep, while only 3% reported getting five hours or less. By 1990, the percentage reporting eight or more hours had fallen to 27%, while the proportion getting five or less was up to 14%. Today, a quarter are still getting eight-plus hours, but the percentage getting five or less has risen to 20%.

The latest results are from a Dec. 1-20, 2023, Gallup poll.

Young Women Least Likely to Get Enough Sleep

Women have been consistently less likely than men to report getting enough sleep. The latest poll finds 36% of women versus 48% of men saying they get the sleep they need. Both figures represent significant declines from previous readings in 2013 and 2004 and are the lowest Gallup has measured for each group to date.

Generally, adults 65 and older are more likely than those who are younger to get the sleep they need. This holds true across the trend. That said, the decline this year in getting as much sleep as needed holds for all age groups, though it is less pronounced among young adults, aged 18 to 29. All other groups show declines in excess of 10 percentage points.

Younger women, at 27%, are much less likely than other age-by-gender groups to report getting adequate sleep. Younger men, at 46%, and older women, at 44%, are about equally likely to report getting adequate sleep, while older men, as is typical, are most likely to do so, with 51% getting the sleep they need in 2023.

Given that the percentage of young women getting enough sleep is so much lower than for other groups, the gender gap is much larger among younger than older adults. In 2023, there is a 19-point difference between women and men aged 18 to 49, while the gap between women and men aged 50 and older is seven points.

Younger men show only a modest drop in reporting getting adequate sleep over time, while a growing number of younger women aren't getting the sleep they need. In 2001, a slight majority of younger men, 54%, reported getting enough sleep, dropping to 46% in 2023. For younger women, 42% reported getting the sleep they need in 2001, while today, only 27% say so.

Americans More Stressed Today Than Three Decades Ago

What might be driving these downward trends in sleep? Research on health and wellness shows a strong connection between stress and sleep quality. According to the American Psychological Association, the relationship between sleep and stress goes both ways -- those who sleep less are more stressed, and those who are more stressed sleep less. Indeed, the new poll shows that 63% of those who report wanting more sleep say they frequently experience stress, compared with 31% of those who get the sleep they need.

Over the past 30 years, the number of Americans who are stressed has been on a steady incline after a sharp drop in 2003. The most recent data show that nearly half of all Americans, 49%, report frequently experiencing stress, up 16 points over the past two decades and the highest in Gallup's trend to date.

Just as with sleep, there continues to be a gap in stress levels between women and men in the U.S. That gap has fluctuated over time; it was narrowest between 2004 and 2007. However, over the past six years, the gap has grown. In 2023, 53% of women report frequently experiencing stress, compared with 45% of men.

Younger women are the most likely of the four major gender-by-age groups to say they frequently experience stress, exceeding men their age by 14 points. They are also 29 points more likely than women 50 and older to report frequent stress.

Younger women have also experienced the sharpest increase in frequent stress of the four groups, with their levels rising 23 points since 2007, compared with an eight-point increase among older women. By contrast, the levels of reported frequent stress have increased three points among younger men and five points among men 50-plus since 2007.

Implications

Americans are sleeping less and are less satisfied with the amount they sleep. Reports of frequently feeling stressed are also on the rise. Gallup polling and other research show a strong connection between sleep, stress, and overall health. Thus, the impact of both of these trends on Americans' health could be substantial.

The decline in sleep and the increase in stress levels in the U.S. are consistently worse for younger women than for men and older women. This aligns with Gallup's data on mental health and wellbeing, which show that younger Americans and women seem to be suffering at greater rates. For example, depression is on the rise for women and younger adults, and women and younger Americans are more likely to evaluate their mental health as fair or poor compared with men and older adults. Furthermore, a recent Walton Family Foundation and Gallup study on Generation Z finds that getting enough sleep and relaxation play an important part in happiness among America's youth. Gen Z who report having enough time to sleep and relax are twice as likely to say they are happy as those who do not get enough sleep or relaxation.

To stay up to date with the latest Gallup News insights and updates, follow us on X.
Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.

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A record-high 57% of Americans say they would feel better if they could get more sleep; Americans average a historically low 6.5 hours per night. Stress levels have been rising, especially among young women.

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What Are Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency?

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Sleep deprivation and deficiency are conditions that occur when you don't get enough good quality sleep when your body needs it. This can lead to physical and mental health problems. Learn about the causes, risk factors, symptoms, and treatment for Sleep deprivation and deficiency.

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Here is how to make it happen!

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8 Ways to Stay Hydrated If You Hate Drinking Water

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Add one glass per week, schedule nudges throughout the day, and add herbs to your water or ice cubes.

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A program from NIH to study the impact of food on our physical health and wellness!

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All of Us Booth at Rare Disease Day

Join All of Us at Rare Disease Day on the NIH Campus. On February 29, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, All of Us will have a booth and poster at Rare Disease Day in the Natcher Conference Center on the NIH campus.

Type: Event

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All of Us Research Program | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

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The All of Us Research Program is a historic effort to gather data from one million or more people living in the United States to accelerate research and improve health. By taking into account individual differences in genes, environment, and lifestyle, researchers will uncover paths toward delivering precision medicine.

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Gen z is struggling

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Editors

John F. Helliwell, Richard Layard, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Lara B. Aknin, and Shun Wang

Citation

Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R., Sachs, J. D., De Neve, J.-E., Aknin, L. B., & Wang, S. (Eds.). (2024). World Happiness Report 2024. University of Oxford: Wellbeing Research Centre.

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The World Happiness Report is a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR's Editorial Board. The report is produced under the editorial control of the WHR Editorial Board. From 2024, the World Happiness Report is a publication of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, UK.

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Compassion is the secret to overcoming the pain of empathy. 

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Compassion is the secret to overcoming the pain of empathy. 

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Abstract

Although empathy is crucial for successful social interactions, excessive sharing of others' negative emotions may be maladaptive and constitute a source of burnout. To investigate functional neural plasticity underlying the augmentation of empathy and to test the counteracting potential of compassion, one group of participants was first trained in empathic resonance and subsequently in compassion. In response to videos depicting human suffering, empathy training, but not memory training (control group), increased negative affect and brain activations in anterior insula and anterior midcingulate cortex-brain regions previously associated with empathy for pain. In contrast, subsequent compassion training could reverse the increase in negative effect and, in contrast, augment self-reports of positive affect. In addition, compassion training increased activations in a non-overlapping brain network spanning ventral striatum, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex and medial orbitofrontal cortex. We conclude that training compassion may reflect a new coping strategy to overcome empathic distress and strengthen resilience.

INTRODUCTION

Our capacity to understand others' feelings through empathy is crucial for successful social interactions ( Bird et al., 2010). However, when confronting the suffering of others, intense sharing of the other's pain can be a primary cause for empathic distress and decreased helping behavior ( Batson et al., 1987; Eisenberg et al., 1989). In fact, empathic responses to witnessing another in pain are usually experienced as aversive ( Lamm et al., 2011). This may be especially problematic for people working in professions where suffering is routinely encountered. Physicians, for example, have a high prevalence rate of burnout ( McCray et al., 2008) and an elevated risk for suicide ( Schernhammer and Colditz, 2004). A potential remedy for the excessive sharing of negative affect may be compassion. Compassion is defined as a feeling of concern for the suffering of others that is associated with the motivation to help ( Keltner and Goetz, 2007). Recent studies of others and ourselves have shown that training compassion can foster emotional well-being ( Fredrickson et al., 2008), positive emotions ( Klimecki et al., 2012) and prosocial behavior ( Leiberg et al., 2011). Although compassion emerges as a promising strategy to strengthen personal resources, it is, so far, unresolved how compassion can help to overcome the adverse effects related to empathic distress.

Furthermore, it is unresolved whether the neural systems subserving empathy and compassion can be dissociated. Two recent cross-sectional meta-analyses suggest that empathy for pain crucially involves anterior insula (AI) and anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC) ( Fan et al., 2011; Lamm et al., 2011). This is consistent with the observation that negative affect often covaries with activations in AI and aMCC ( Lamm et al., 2011). On a more general level, AI and aMCC are key structures for processing salient events ( Seeley et al., 2007), and aMCC function has been robustly implicated in cognitive control and pain processing in two recent large-scale meta-analyses ( Beckmann et al., 2009; Shackman et al., 2011). Conversely, several cross-sectional studies ( Lutz et al., 2008; Beauregard et al., 2009; Immordino-Yang et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2009) and one short-term longitudinal study performed by our group ( Klimecki et al., 2012) suggest that compassion is accompanied by activations in regions typically associated with reward, love and affiliation. These regions comprise insula, ventral striatum and medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) ( Beauregard et al., 2009; Immordino-Yang et al., 2009). Animal studies suggest that the neurobiology of the 'care' system can be clearly dissociated from other emotional-motivational systems such as the 'panic' system, as the 'care' system relies on distinct brain structures and is mediated by distinct neurotransmitters comprising opioids, oxytocin and dopamine ( Panksepp, 2011). In addition, affiliative memories in mammals seem to rely on a circuitry that includes mOFC, ventral striatum and ventral tegmental area ( Depue and Morrone-Strupinsky, 2005). Our aim was, thus, to determine whether training empathy and compassion will have distinct effects on neural function and whether training compassion can help overcome excessive levels of distress.

To address these issues, we conducted a prospective training study in which one group of participants was first trained in empathy and subsequently in compassion. We repeatedly acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measures, while participants were exposed to videos depicting others suffering. To train compassion, we used a contemplative technique from secular compassion training programs that aims at cultivating feelings of benevolence and friendliness in a state of quiet concentration ( Salzberg, 2002; for empirical work, see Fredrickson et al., 2008; Leiberg et al., 2011; Klimecki et al., 2012). Similar to strengthening modes of affiliation, compassion training relies on extending caring feelings-which are usually experienced toward close loved persons-to other human beings. The preceding empathy training closely matched the compassion training in form and structure, but focused on resonating with suffering. Unspecific effects introduced by training in groups and by repeated measurements were controlled by including an active control group that received memory training using the Method of Loci ( Bower, 1970). A detailed description of the employed training techniques can be found in the Supplementary material.

On the level of subjective experience, we hypothesized that training empathy would increase empathy and negative affect when witnessing the distress of others. Pertaining to neural function, we assumed that training empathy would induce plasticity in AI and aMCC as these structures are robustly involved in cross-sectional studies on empathy for pain ( Fan et al., 2011; Lamm et al., 2011). In contrast, we expected that a subsequent compassion training would strengthen positive affect and induce specific functional plasticity in a different neural network. This network includes mOFC, ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra (VTA/SN) and striatum, as compassion-related activation changes in these structures have been observed in our recent longitudinal study ( Klimecki et al., 2012).

METHODS

Participants

As gender differences in social emotions were observed in previous neuroscientific research (e.g. Singer et al., 2006), we decided to control for possible gender effects by restricting our sample to female participants only. In the affect group, the study was completed by 25 of an initial group of 30 participants (age: 25.88 ± 4.32 years, mean ± s.d.). In the memory group, 28 of 33 participants completed the study (age: 22.89 ± 4.02 years, mean ± s.d.). Participants for the affect and memory training groups ( Figure 1) were recruited and tested sequentially due to temporal and infrastructural constraints (i.e. scanning slots). To avoid any selection bias, participants in both training groups were recruited with advertisements announcing participation in mental training studies. Furthermore, participants were not aware of the specific training content until pre-test measurement was completed and they entered the training phase. The five persons who dropped out in the memory control group had higher scores on the Beck's Depression Inventory ( Beck et al., 1996) than those who completed the study ( t ₃₁ = 2.31, P < 0.05, dropouts: mean = 7.4, s.d. = 5.6; completers: mean = 3.11, s.d. = 3.49). No other selective dropouts were observed in the memory control group and no selective dropouts occurred in the affect group. To account for selective dropout in the memory group and age differences between both groups ( Supplementary Table S1), we included age and depression scores as covariates in all between-group analyses. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Zurich ('Kantonale Ethikkommission des Kantons Zürich-Spezialisierte Unterkommission Psychiatrie, Neurologie, Neurochirurgie'; E-25/2008) and carried out in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All subjects gave informed written consent, were paid for their participation and were debriefed after the completion of the study. As participants whose data are reported here were part of a larger study, we specify the relation between this study and other experiments ( Klimecki et al., 2012) in Supplementary Figure S1. A description of inclusion criteria, the employed trait questionnaires, data acquisition and data analysis procedures, as well as the training regimes can be found in the Supplementary material.

Measures

Socio-affective video task

Participants' affective experiences and blood oxygenation level dependent signals were measured three times in response to the socio-affective video task (SoVT; for more details about the SoVT properties, please see also Klimecki et al., 2012)-before training (Pre), after empathy or memory training (Post1) and after compassion or memory training (Post2). To avoid habituation and repetition, participants saw one of three parallel video sets matched for valence, arousal and empathy at Pre, Post1 and Post2, respectively. Each set contained 12 high emotion (HE) videos and 12 low emotion (LE) videos. Video scenes were taken from footage cast for news or documentaries and depict men, women and children. LE videos showed everyday scenes, whereas HE videos depicted people who were suffering (e.g. due to injuries or natural disasters). After each video (duration 10-18 s), participants rated how much empathy, positive affect and negative affect they had experienced while seeing the video. To assure that all participants had the same basic notion of empathy, they were instructed before each measurement that the empathy rating captures how much they shared the emotion of the depicted persons. Videos were shown in blocks of three HE or LE videos. Each block was followed by a null event (10 s fixation cross). At Post1 and Post2, participants in the affect training group were encouraged to make use of the trained competences when viewing the videos.

Memory task

To test the effectiveness of the memory intervention, participants were seated in front of a computer screen at each measurement point and asked to encode a different matched list of 34 words. Words were presented for 4 s each, followed by a 2 s fixation cross. Subsequently, participants were given 5 min to fill the recollected words into a computer table, if possible in the correct sequence.

RESULTS

Socio-affective video task

To determine how the different training regimes affected subjective experiences of empathy, positive affect and negative affect in response to the SoVT, we conducted a repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Age and depression scores ( Beck et al., 1996) were included as covariates to account for selective dropout and between-group differences. The within-subject factors were time (three levels: Pre, Post1 and Post2) and video type (two levels: LE and HE videos). The between-subject factor was group (two levels: affect and memory). The main effect of video type was significant ( F 3,47 = 8.18, P < 0.001, η 2 = 0.34). Significant interactions were observed for video type × group ( F 3,47 = 2.85, P < 0.05, η 2 = 0.15) and time × group ( F 6,44 = 6.01, P < 0.001, η 2 = 0.45). The triple interaction time × video type × group was marginally significant ( F 6,44 = 2.3, P = 0.05, η 2 = 0.24). Univariate ANOVAs determined that all three affect ratings showed the main effect of video type (all F ≥ 5.28, all P < 0.05). Follow-up paired t-tests showed that compared with LE videos, HE videos elicited more negative affect and empathy and less positive affect (all t ₅₂ ≥ 15.82, all P < 0.001). The interaction video type × group was significant for empathy ( F 1,49 = 7.01, P < 0.05). Follow-up independent t-tests revealed that when combining all three time points, empathy ratings for LE videos were higher in the affect group than in the memory group ( t ₅₁ = 3.68, P < 0.01). Importantly, the time × group interaction was significant for all three affect ratings (all F ≥ 3.44, all P < 0.05). Follow-up independent t-tests comparing the memory and the affect groups at pre- and post-tests showed that the groups did not differ before training (all t ≤ 0.29, all P ≥ 0.77), that empathy was higher in the affect group compared with the memory group after both trainings (both t ₅₁ ≥ 3.18, both P < 0.01), that a similar trend was present for negative affect after empathy training ( t ₅₁ = 1.75, P = 0.09), and that positive affect was higher after compassion training ( t ₅₁ = 4.37, P < 0.001). Paired t-tests focusing on changes within the affect group between Pre and Post1 and between Post1 and Post2 showed that empathy training increased negative affect ( t ₂₄ = 3.5, P < 0.01) and empathy ( t ₂₄ = 4.66, P < 0.001). Conversely, compassion training decreased negative affect ( t ₂₄ = 3.04, P < 0.01) and augmented positive affect ( t ₂₄ = 4.25, P < 0.001). Paired t-tests in the memory group showed that negative affect decreased from Post1 to Post2 ( t ₂₇ = 3.17, P < 0.01). Finally, Pearson correlations between the change in affect ratings and self-reports of practice duration in the affect group revealed no significant relation (all P ≥ 0.1). In summary, training empathy led to increases in subjective reports of negative affect and empathy. Adding compassion training strengthened positive affect and reversed the observed increase in negative affect ( Figure 2 A).

Memory task

To validate the effectiveness of the memory control training, we computed a 3 × 2 repeated measures MANOVA with the within-subject factor time (three levels: Pre, Post1 and Post2) and the between-subject factor training group (two levels: affect training and memory training group). Age and depression scores ( Beck et al., 1996) were included as covariates. The dependent variables were the number of correctly remembered words and the number of words remembered in the correct position. We found a significant main effect of group ( F 2,46 = 11.35, P < 0.001, η 2 = 0.33) and a significant time × group interaction ( F 4,44 = 11, P < 0.001, η 2 = 0.5). There was a trend for a main effect of time ( F 4,44 = 2.23, P = 0.08). The time × group interaction was significant for both dependent variables (both F 2,94 ≥ 4.67, both P < 0.05). Confirming the effectiveness of the memory intervention ( n = 51; Figure 2B), follow-up independent t-tests revealed that, whereas the groups did not differ at Pre (both P ≥ 0.4), the memory group performed better than the affect group at Post1 and at Post2 on both dependent measures (all t ≥ 3.43, all P < 0.01). Paired t-tests showed that memory performance did not change in the affect group (all t ≤ 1.35, all P ≥ 0.19). In contrast, the number of correctly remembered words and words remembered in the correct position increased significantly in participants of the memory group, both, from Pre to Post1 (both t ≥ 4.37, both P < 0.001) and from Post1 to Post2 (both t ≥ 2.35, both P < 0.05). All other effects were not significant.

Functional imaging changes

To examine functional neural plasticity induced by training empathy and compassion, we analyzed imaging data using event-related statistics on the whole brain ( P < 0.05, FWE corrected using cluster level thresholds; Friston et al., 1994). On the second level, we performed repeated measures ANOVAs with the within-subject factors change (two levels: Pre to Post1, Δ1, and Post1 to Post 2, Δ2) and video type (LE and HE) and the between-subject factor training group (affect and memory) ( Supplementary Table S2). Age and depression scores ( Beck et al., 1996) were included as covariates. Activations in cingulate cortex were classified and labeled based on Vogt ( 2005). Paralleling behavioral findings, in which similar changes occurred for HE and LE videos, no significant triple interaction for video type × time × group was observed. Empathy training, but not memory training [Empathy (Δ1 LE and Δ1 HE) > Memory (Δ1 LE and Δ1 HE)], increased activations in insula, temporal gyrus, operculum, posterior putamen, pallidum, thalamus and head of caudate. In response to HE videos (Empathy Δ1 HE > Memory Δ1 HE), empathy training augmented activations in brain areas spanning insula, aMCC, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), posterior putamen, pallidum and head of caudate ( Figure 3). The same contrast for LE videos revealed overlapping changes in right anterior and middle insula, operculum, temporal gyrus and head of caudate. Notably, activation changes for HE videos after empathy training overlapped with meta-analytic findings on empathy for pain ( Lamm et al., 2011) in aMCC and left AI ( Figure 3A). Conversely, compassion training, but not a second day of memory training [Compassion (Δ2 LE and Δ2 HE) > Memory (Δ2 LE and Δ2 HE)], increased activations in mOFC, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and ventral striatum. Consistently, in response to HE videos, compassion training augmented activity in mOFC, pACC, ventral striatum and right middle frontal gyrus. This overlapped with changes induced by compassion training in response to LE videos in pACC and right IFG. To visualize the change in parameter estimates for each factor, mean activations across all voxels in each cluster were extracted ( Figure 3B). None of the contrasts comparing changes induced by memory training with changes induced by affect training revealed significant activations. To test for any overlap between regions showing functional plasticity after empathy and compassion training, we conducted conjunction analyses of equivalent empathy- and compassion-related contrasts ( Supplementary Table S2). None of the conjunctions was significant, underlining that patterns of induced functional plasticity after empathy and compassion training were distinct and non-overlapping.

Parametric analyses in the affect group revealed that the increase in empathy ratings after empathy training (Δ1) correlated with the increase in aMCC activity ( P < 0.05, FWE corrected, Supplementary Table S3). Activation changes in right AI were also parametrically modulated by increases in negative affect and empathy ratings between Pre and Post1, albeit at an uncorrected threshold of P < 0.001. No significant correlations were found for changes in positive affect ratings after empathy training. Parametric analyses on the changes in subjective ratings and brain activity after compassion training (Δ2) revealed that activity changes in the left supramarginal gyrus ( P < 0.05, FWE corrected) were linearly modulated by changes in negative affect ratings. No significant effects were found for changes in empathy ratings or positive affect ratings after compassion training. Practice duration did not parametrically modulate neural changes. The intervention was probably too short to reveal a robust impact of inter-individual practice differences on neural and experiential changes.

In summary, observed changes in brain activation after empathy and compassion training revealed distinct patterns of functional brain plasticity. The effects of empathy training overlapped with previous peak activations in AI and aMCC as identified in a meta-analysis on cross-sectional empathy for pain studies (Lamm et al., 2011). Subsequent compassion training induced activations in a non-overlapping network spanning mOFC, pregenual ACC and ventral striatum.

DISCUSSION

The goal of this short-term affective intervention study with an active memory control group was to dissociate empathy and compassion and to investigate related plasticity on the neural and experiential level. We hypothesized that although these two socio-affective and motivational states may be related, they may have important differential signatures and consequences. Thus, we anticipated that empathizing with the suffering of others might be associated with negative states, distress and activations in brain networks playing a crucial role in empathy for pain. Conversely, compassion should be accompanied by positive feelings of warmth and concern for the other and increased activations in brain networks related to reward and affiliation.

Indeed, we found evidence for different patterns of emotional experiences and neural plasticity associated with the sequential training of these two social emotions within the same participants: a short-term training in empathy increased empathic responses and negative affect in response to others' distress. In addition, watching others' suffering after empathy training was associated with activations in a network spanning insula, aMCC, temporal gyrus, DLPFC, operculum and parts of basal ganglia. These results align with and extend previous cross-sectional meta-analytic findings on a crucial role of insula and aMCC in empathy for pain ( Fan et al., 2011; Lamm et al., 2011), as well as their involvement in self-experienced pain, and negative affect in general ( Beckmann et al., 2009; Lamm et al., 2011; Shackman et al., 2011).

Importantly, compassion training reversed these effects: it decreased negative affect back to baseline levels and increased positive affect. On the neural level, compassion training increased brain activations in mOFC, pregenual ACC and striatum-a network previously associated with positive affect ( Kringelbach and Berridge, 2009), affiliation ( Strathearn et al., 2009) and reward ( Haber and Knutson, 2010). Interestingly, this distinction is paralleled by recent neuroscientific evidence which indicates that social connectedness is typically associated with activations in brain regions that comprise ventromedial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum, whereas social disconnection is rather associated with activations in AI and dorsal ACC (for review, see Eisenberger and Cole, 2012).

The analyses of subjective ratings revealed that empathy training led to an increase in empathy and negative affect in response to both, LE and HE videos. This suggests that training empathy not only induced a stronger sharing of painful and distressing experiences, but also increased the susceptibility to feel negative affect in response to everyday life situations.

Importantly, compassion training counteracted this effect: it increased positive affect and decreased negative affect back to baseline levels. Remarkably, the increase in positive affect occurred even though participants were still exposed to equally distressing video material. This finding adds to the observation of a previous study in which a similar compassion and loving kindness training increased general levels of positive affect in daily life ( Fredrickson et al., 2008). It is also in line with previously observed experiential and neural effects after a short-term compassion training ( Klimecki et al., 2012). Taken together, this suggests that the generation of compassion in response to distressing situations is distinct from other emotion regulation strategies, such as suppression or reappraisal, which involve an active down-regulation of negative affect ( Gross, 2002). Thus, the generation of compassion focuses on strengthening positive affect, while not ignoring the presence of suffering or changing the negative reality. Future studies may formally compare compassion with existing emotion regulation strategies. As compassion does not rely on the temporal denial of the negative nature of events, one hypothesis would be that compassion training would abolish rebound effects, as observed in the amygdala after effortful emotion regulation ( Walter et al., 2009). Furthermore, acknowledging the negative experience of others rather than suppressing it may be a crucial prerequisite for the development of prosocial motivation and helping behavior. Accordingly, it has recently been shown that the frequency of helping behavior can indeed be increased with a similar short-term compassion training ( Leiberg et al., 2011).

On the neural level, we obtained evidence that short-term empathy training, but not memory training, induced functional plasticity in a network spanning insula, aMCC, temporal gyrus, operculum, DLPFC, posterior putamen, pallidum and head of caudate. The observed activation increases in DLPFC and middle temporal gyrus align with previous findings on emotion regulation ( Kalisch, 2009), cognitive control ( Beckmann et al., 2009; Mansouri et al., 2009; Shackman et al., 2011) and pain processing ( Beckmann et al., 2009; Shackman et al., 2011). Importantly, and as illustrated in Figure 3A, activations in AI and aMCC were concordant with peak activations identified in a meta-analysis performed over more than 30 cross-sectional studies on empathy for pain ( Lamm et al., 2011). Moreover, activation in AI and aMCC has repeatedly been observed to covary with negative affect ratings, both during self-experienced pain and when observing others suffering ( Jackson et al., 2005; Cheng et al., 2007; Lamm et al., 2007; Saarela et al., 2007; Singer et al., 2008; Akitsuki and Decety, 2009). Finally, we previously observed that activations in AI and aMCC are parametrically modulated by individual differences in empathic experiences for distressing videos in the SoVT ( Klimecki et al., 2012). However, the activation changes stemming from empathy training were not limited to AI, but instead spanned the entire insular cortex. This accords with a key role of insular cortex in integrating interoceptive information ( Craig, 2009; Lamm and Singer, 2010).

In contrast to empathy training, cultivating feelings of kindness, warmth and concern induced non-overlapping brain changes in mOFC, pACC and striatum. These findings extend previous functional imaging findings on compassion in cross-sectional studies ( Beauregard et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2009) and one short-term intervention study from our group ( Klimecki et al., 2012). For example, viewing sad facial expressions with a compassionate stance was observed to activate ventral striatum and VTA/SN ( Kim et al., 2009). In addition, activations in the head of caudate and VTA occurred when participants applied unconditional love toward pictures of intellectually disabled individuals ( Beauregard et al., 2009). Finally, the present results mirror our previous findings on the effects of short-term compassion training ( Klimecki et al., 2012) in a network involving mOFC, striatum and VTS/SN. In general, mOFC, pACC and ventral striatum activations have been shown to be centrally implicated in reward processing ( Haber and Knutson, 2010) as well as in the experience of pleasure and positive affect ( Kringelbach and Berridge, 2009). In addition to this convergence with previous neuroimaging findings on positive affect and reward, activations in prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum have been related more specifically to maternal affiliation ( Strathearn et al., 2009), as well as to maternal and romantic love ( Bartels and Zeki, 2004). Similarly, studies in rodents and other mammals suggest that the formation of affiliative memories relies on a circuitry comprising mOFC, ventral striatum and ventral tegmental area ( Depue and Morrone-Strupinsky, 2005). Furthermore, animal models distinguish between different affective and motivational systems such as panic and care systems that rely on distinct brain networks and neurotransmitter systems ( Panksepp, 2011). In line with this notion, our results suggest that empathy and compassion indeed rely on antagonistic affective systems and that even short-term training of compassion has the potential to counteract empathic distress.

The observed increases in brain activation after compassion and empathy training also differed with respect to their location in the cingulate cortex. Empathy training led to an increase of activation in aMCC. A recent meta-analysis of 939 studies ( Shackman et al., 2011) found that aMCC is crucial for processing negative affect, pain and cognitive control. Converging results were provided by a different meta-analysis ( Beckmann et al., 2009) which reported that aMCC is implicated in processing pain, conflict monitoring and error detection. In addition, this part of cingulate cortex was found to be highly connected to dorsal prefrontal regions ( Beckmann et al., 2009). In keeping with this structural connectivity, training empathy in this study increased activations in both aMCC and DLPFC. The comparison of cingulate cortex locations from fMRI studies on reward processing revealed a more anterior activation ( Beckmann et al., 2009), which converges with the present observation of pACC involvement in compassion. Consistent with this notion, this part of the cingulate cortex was shown to be highly connected with ventral striatum and OFC ( Beckmann et al., 2009).

In summary, the present findings reveal that already short-term affective intervention programs can induce reliable experiential and neural plasticity. More importantly, we could show that training two seemingly similar social emotions altered brain activation in non-overlapping neural networks and changed affective responses of opposing valence. Whereas empathy training increased negative affect and activation in associated brain circuits, compassion training reversed these effects by strengthening positive affect and activation in networks associated to affiliation and reward. Compassion may, therefore, represent a very potent strategy for preventing burnout. In light of high prevalence rates of burnout and stress-related diseases in Western societies, we anticipate that the present findings will inform other intervention studies on the plasticity of adaptive social emotions. As this study only focused on females, future studies are needed to address whether the observed training effects can also be generalized to the male population. In the long run, the gained insights will hopefully help to design new training programs aimed at increasing resilience and coping strategies in many domains, including health care, educational settings and high-stress environments in general.

FUNDING

This work was supported by grants from the University of Zurich, the Swiss National Science Foundation and the European Research Council (205557).

We thank the participants, the people who assisted in conducting the experiments, Claus Lamm for advice and Stephan Liebig for help with the figures. Our gratitude especially goes to the teachers Catherine Felder, Annette Rentz-Lühning, Jotika Hermsen and Ariya Ñani.

REFERENCES

Author notes

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com

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Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity after compassion and empathy training

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Although empathy is crucial for successful social interactions, excessive sharing of others' negative emotions may be maladaptive and constitute a source of burnout. To investigate functional neural plasticity underlying the augmentation of empathy and to test the counteracting potential of compassion, one group of participants was first trained in empathic resonance and subsequently in compassion.

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GREAT Self-care ideas on her Tina's Podcasts!

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Self-Care for Educators is the podcast for creating happy, healthy, inspired, badass educators. Host Tina H. Boogren is a lifelong educator, the author of numerous books, and an associate for Solution Tree and Marzano Resources. Each week, Tina will help educators dig into the essential work of self-care via bite-sized episodes that fit into your busy schedule. If you are a teacher, administrator, counselor, coach, singleton, or simply considering a career in education, this podcast is for you.

Because truth be told, this isn't just a podcast; this is a community. We are the caretakers.

It's time to find ourselves again, so we can

create lives we don't

need to escape from.

You are welcome here.

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Self-Care for Educators is the podcast for creating happy, healthy, inspired, badass educators. Host Tina H. Boogren is a lifelong educator, the author of numerous books, and an associate for Solution Tree and Marzano Resources. Each week, Tina will help educators dig into the essential work of self

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Useful daily life hacks!

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On our new series, Happiness Break, psychologist Dacher Keltner and guests guide you through research-based practices to develop more compassion, resilience to stress, and moments of joy and inspiration. And we explain the science behind why these practices work--all in under 10 minutes. A happiness break in your day.

December 29, 2022 | 8:41

This New Year, affirm the wonderful qualities you already possess with this meditative writing practice called "I Am."

Other Episodes

February 11, 2014
A new study finds a biological mechanism behind "thank you"-and reveals one way that it bonds couples together.

October 25, 2017
A new series of studies finds gratitude helps people with cardiovascular disease get healthier.

May 24, 2018
New research suggests that thanking our partners for supporting us through hardship may increase their joy and satisfaction in giving.

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On our new series, Happiness Break, psychologist Dacher Keltner and guests guide you through research-based practices to develop more compassion, resilience to stress, and moments of joy and inspiration. And we explain the science behind why these practices work--all in under 10 minutes. A happiness break in your day.

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An older adult patient once told me, "There are good decades and bad decades." I remember the shock at hearing this - the patient was referring to the relationship with his wife. For many of us, 10 years seems like a very long time to struggle. How do we find joy when experiencing difficulties - or how do we at least make our struggles bearable?

Loss of joy may be a sign of a mental health problem - or it may be a normal response

Life has its ups and downs, but sometimes challenging events occur all at once. When our world is turned upside down, it's normal to feel a lack of joy. Health problems, losses, breakups, housing challenges, natural disasters - the list of severe stressors and traumatic events is long. Most adults will experience multiple severe traumas and losses throughout their lives. Loss of joy in these contexts is a natural part of the human experience.

For some people, however, the lack of joy persists or appears out of the blue. This may occur in a mood disorder like depression. The inability to feel pleasure (also known as anhedonia) is even part of the diagnostic criteria for depression, and it's pretty common. Approximately 8% of US adults will experience depression in a given year, and approximately 20% will experience an episode of depression during their lifetime. A loss of joy may also accompany other mental illnesses, including psychotic illnesses and dementia. Certain medications, including (paradoxically) those that treat depression, can also cause emotional blunting and a loss of joy.

What's the difference between joy and happiness?

Joy and happiness are often used interchangeably. However, happiness technically refers to the pleasurable feelings (emotions) that result from a situation, experience, or objects, whereas joy is a state of mind that can be found even in times of grief or uncertainty. Thus, we can work on cultivating joy independent of our circumstances. Winning the lottery may trigger (short-term) happiness; spending time engaging in meaningful activities may result in long-term joy.

Joy and feel-good neurotransmitters

Although the neurobiology of joy is complex, there are a few neurotransmitters that stand out in promoting positive feelings: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. The good news is that many changes to our lives can increase these neurotransmitter levels. For example, running may produce a "runner's high;" spending time with a baby releases oxytocin, the "cuddle hormone" that makes you feel connected.

The effects of neurotransmitters on the body are broad, from relaxing your muscles to speeding up your heart rate, but they may result in a final common pathway of promoting positive feelings. Whether it's finding a sense of purpose or enjoying supportive relationships, the benefits on the mind and body are far-reaching.

How do you increase joy?

During difficult times, it becomes twice as important to modify your routine, allowing yourself to experience joy. Here are some ideas, although it may take some trial and error to find what works best for you:

Perform regular aerobic physical activity. Think of physical activity as releasing a bubble bath of neurotransmitters - and their effects linger long after the exercise is over.

Dedicate yourself to others. Activities such as volunteering produce greater joy than focusing on oneself.

Connect with your spiritual side. When we join with something larger than ourselves, we develop feelings of gratitude, compassion, and peace. Meditation is a powerful way to modify brain pathways to increase joy.

Discover something new. As humans, we are hard-wired to experience joy when experiencing novelty. Developing a new pursuit can help us refocus our energy.

Give yourself permission to take a few moments of pleasure, especially when you are feeling low. You can try NPR's Joy Generator for a taste.

Pay attention to the good. A joyous mindset can be developed, but takes practice. The three good things exercise helps you keep an eye out for the positives during the day.

Conversely, limit negativity. Whether it's gossipy coworkers, a toxic relationship with a family member, or a complaining friend, spending time around a negative mindset influences us directly. It's okay to set limits.

Focus your efforts on what brings meaning to your life (and don't focus on money).

Ask your doctor about whether your medications can affect your ability to experience pleasure, especially if you are taking antidepressants.

Surprising benefits of joy

Regardless of the changes you make to your mindset or to your daily routine, increasing your ability to find joy may provide long-lasting health benefits. Your immune system can be strengthened by your mental state (immune cells even have receptors for neurotransmitters). Interventions to increase joy may also decrease stress hormones, improve pain, and relieve depression. Finally, finding joy can help you live longer.

About the Author

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How can you find joy (or at least peace) during difficult times? - Harvard Health

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When people are going through difficult times, it's normal to feel a lack of joy. But even while struggling, the ability to find moments of joy can have profound and far-reaching effects on the mind and body.

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Kindness: Measuring Your Impact on Others! 

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Kindness: Measuring Your Impact on Others! 

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Abstract

A simple compliment can make someone's day, start a new friendship, or just make the world a better, kinder place. So, why don't people give more compliments? Perhaps people misforecast the effect their compliment will have. Five studies explored this possibility. In Studies 1a and 1b, compliment givers underestimated how positively the person receiving their compliment would feel, with consequences for their likelihood of giving a compliment. Compliment givers also overestimated how bothered and uncomfortable the recipient would feel (Study 2)-and did so even in hindsight (Study 3). Compliment givers' own anxiety and concern about their competence led to their misprediction, whereas third-party forecasters were accurate (Study 4). Finally, despite compliment givers' anxiety at the prospect of giving compliments across our studies, they felt better after having done so (Study 4). Our studies suggest that people misestimate their compliments' value to others, and so they refrain from engaging in this prosocial behavior.

Keywords: compliment; conversation; prosocial behavior; social influence; well-being.

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Three factors determine 80%+ of our longevity — diet, exercise and sleep. Of those, sleep is by far the easiest to get right!

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Three factors determine 80%+ of our longevity - diet, exercise and sleep. Of those, sleep is by far the easiest to get right.

Why it matters: We aren't. 1 in 3 American adults don't get enough sleep - defined as 7 or more hours a night - per a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.

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Interesting research on the power of optimism

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# data[].attributes.subject
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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The .gov means it's official.
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Abstract

A simple compliment can make someone's day, start a new friendship, or just make the world a better, kinder place. So, why don't people give more compliments? Perhaps people misforecast the effect their compliment will have. Five studies explored this possibility. In Studies 1a and 1b, compliment givers underestimated how positively the person receiving their compliment would feel, with consequences for their likelihood of giving a compliment. Compliment givers also overestimated how bothered and uncomfortable the recipient would feel (Study 2)-and did so even in hindsight (Study 3). Compliment givers' own anxiety and concern about their competence led to their misprediction, whereas third-party forecasters were accurate (Study 4). Finally, despite compliment givers' anxiety at the prospect of giving compliments across our studies, they felt better after having done so (Study 4). Our studies suggest that people misestimate their compliments' value to others, and so they refrain from engaging in this prosocial behavior.

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Mindfulness is the miracle by which we master and restore ourselves. Consider, for example: a magician who cuts his body into many parts and places each part in a different region-hands in the south, arms in the east, legs in the north, and then by some miraculous power lets forth a cry which reassembles whole every part of his body. Mindfulness is like that-it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life.

Hanh (1976, p. 14)

Mindfulness has been theoretically and empirically associated with psychological well-being. The elements of mindfulness, namely awareness and nonjudgmental acceptance of one's moment-to-moment experience, are regarded as potentially effective antidotes against common forms of psychological distress-rumination, anxiety, worry, fear, anger, and so on-many of which involve the maladaptive tendencies to avoid, suppress, or over-engage with one's distressing thoughts and emotions ( Hayes & Feldman, 2004; Kabat-Zinn, 1990). Though promoted for centuries as a part of Buddhist and other spiritual traditions, the application of mindfulness to psychological health in Western medical and mental health contexts is a more recent phenomenon, largely beginning in the 1970s (e.g., Kabat-Zinn, 1982). Along with this development, there has been much theoretical and empirical work illustrating the impact of mindfulness on psychological health. The goal of this paper is to offer a comprehensive narrative review of the effects of mindfulness on psychological health. We begin with an overview of the construct of mindfulness, differences between Buddhist and Western psychological conceptualizations of mindfulness, and how mindfulness has been integrated into Western medicine and psychology. We then review evidence from three areas of research that shed light on the relationship between mindfulness and psychological health: 1. correlational, cross-sectional research that examines the relations between individual differences in trait or dispositional mindfulness and other mental-health related traits, 2. intervention research that examines the effects of mindfulness-oriented interventions on psychological functioning, and 3. laboratory-based research that examines, experimentally, the effects of brief mindfulness inductions on emotional and behavioral processes indicative of psychological health. We conclude with an examination of mechanisms of effects of mindfulness interventions and suggestions for future research directions.

The word mindfulness may be used to describe a psychological trait, a practice of cultivating mindfulness (e.g., mindfulness meditation), a mode or state of awareness, or a psychological process ( Germer, Siegel, & Fulton, 2005). To minimize possible confusion, we clarify which meaning is intended in each context we describe ( Chambers, Gullone, & Allen, 2009). One of the most commonly cited definitions of mindfulness is the awareness that arises through "paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally" ( Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 4). Descriptions of mindfulness provided by most other researchers are similar. Baer (2003), for example, defines mindfulness as "the nonjudgmental observation of the ongoing stream of internal and external stimuli as they arise" (p. 125). Though some researchers focus almost exclusively on the attentional aspects of mindfulness (e.g., Brown & Ryan, 2003), most follow the model of Bishop et al. (2004), which proposed that mindfulness encompasses two components: self-regulation of attention, and adoption of a particular orientation towards one's experiences. Self-regulation of attention refers to non-elaborative observation and awareness of sensations, thoughts, or feelings from moment to moment. It requires both the ability to anchor one's attention on what is occurring, and the ability to intentionally switch attention from one aspect of the experience to another. Orientation to experience concerns the kind of attitude that one holds towards one's experience, specifically an attitude of curiosity, openness, and acceptance. It is worth noting that "acceptance" in the context of mindfulness should not be equated with passivity or resignation ( Cardaciotto, Herbert, Forman, Moitra, & Farrow, 2008). Rather, acceptance in this context refers to the ability to experience events fully, without resorting to either extreme of excessive preoccupation with, or suppression of, the experience. To sum up, current conceptualizations of mindfulness in clinical psychology point to two primary, essential elements of mindfulness: awareness of one's moment-to-moment experience nonjudgmentally and with acceptance.

As alluded to earlier, mindfulness finds its roots in ancient spiritual traditions, and is most systematically articulated and emphasized in Buddhism, a spiritual tradition that is at least 2550 years old. As the idea and practice of mindfulness has been introduced into Western psychology and medicine, it is not surprising that differences emerge with regard to how mindfulness is conceptualized within Buddhist and Western perspectives. Several researchers (e.g., Chambers, Gullone, & Allen, 2009; Rosch, 2007) have argued that in order to more fully appreciate the potential contribution of mindfulness in psychological health it is important to gain an understanding of these differences, and specifically, from a Western perspective, how mindfulness is conceptualized in Buddhism. Given the diversity of traditions and teachings within Buddhism, an in-depth exploration of this topic is beyond the scope of this review (for a more extensive discussion of this topic, see Rosch, 2007). We offer a preliminary overview of differences in conceptualization of mindfulness in Western usage versus early Buddhist teachings, specifically, those of Theravada Buddhism.

Arguably, Buddhist and Western conceptualizations of mindfulness differ in at least three levels: contextual, process, and content. At the contextual level, mindfulness in the Buddhist tradition is viewed as one factor of an interconnected system of practices that are necessary for attaining liberation from suffering, the ultimate state or end goal prescribed to spiritual practitioners in the tradition. Thus, it needs to be cultivated alongside with other spiritual practices, such as following an ethical lifestyle, in order for one to move toward the goal of liberation. Western conceptualization of mindfulness, on the other hand, is generally independent of any specific circumscribed philosophy, ethical code, or system of practices. At the process level, mindfulness, in the context of Buddhism, is to be practiced against the psychological backdrop of reflecting on and contemplating key aspects of the Buddha's teachings, such as impermanence, non-self, and suffering. As an example, in the Satipatthana Sutta (The Foundation of Mindfulness Discourse), one of the key Buddhist discourses on mindfulness, the Buddha recommended that one maintains mindfulness of one's bodily functions, sensations and feelings, consciousness, and content of consciousness while observing clearly the impermanent nature of these objects. Western practice generally places less emphasis on non-self and impermanence than traditional Buddhist teachings. Finally, at the content level and in relation to the above point, in early Buddhist teachings, mindfulness refers rather specifically to an introspective awareness with regard to one's physical and psychological processes and experiences. This is contrast to certain Western conceptualizations of mindfulness, which view mindfulness as a form of awareness that encompasses all forms of objects in one's internal and external experience, including features of external sensory objects like sights and smells. This is not to say that external sensory objects do not ultimately form part of one's internal experience; rather, in Buddhist teachings, mindfulness more fundamentally has to do with observing one's perception of and reactions toward sensory objects than focusing on features of the sensory objects themselves.

The integration of mindfulness into Western medicine and psychology can be traced back to the growth of Zen Buddhism in America in the 1950s and 1960s, partly through early writings such as Zen in the Art of Archery ( Herrigel, 1953), The World of Zen: An East-West Anthology ( Ross, 1960), and The Method of Zen ( Herrigel, Hull, & Tausend, 1960). Beginning the 1960s, interest in the use of meditative techniques in psychotherapy began to grow among clinicians, especially psychoanalysts (e.g., see Boss, 1965; Fingarette, 1963; Suzuki, Fromm, & De Martino, 1960; Watts, 1961). Through the 1960s and the 1970s, there was growing interest within experimental psychology in examining various means of heightening awareness and broadening the boundaries of consciousness, including meditation. Early electroencephalogram (EEG) studies on meditation found that individuals who meditated showed persistent alpha activity with restful reductions in metabolic rate ( Anand, Chhina, & Singh, 1961; Bagchi & Wenger, 1957; Wallace, 1970), as well as increases in theta waves, which reflect lower states of arousal associated with sleep ( Kasamatsu & Hirai, 1966). Beginning in the early 1970s, there was a surge of interest in and research on transcendental meditation, a form of concentrative meditation technique popularized by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ( Wallace, 1970). The practice of transcendental meditation was found to be associated with reductions in indicators of physiological arousal such as oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide elimination, and respiratory rate ( Benson, Rosner, Marzetta, & Klemchuk, 1974; Wallace, 1970; Wallace, Benson, & Wilson, 1971).

Despite the fact that research on mindfulness meditation had already begun in the 1960s, it was not until the late 1970s that mindfulness meditation began to be studied as an intervention to enhance psychological well-being. Application of mindfulness meditation as a form of behavioral intervention for clinical problems began with the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, which explored the use of mindfulness meditation in treating patients with chronic pain ( Kabat-Zinn, 1982), now known popularly as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. Since the establishment of MBSR, several other interventions have also been developed using mindfulness-related principles and practices, including Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT; Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993a) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999). In this review, both meditation-oriented interventions (i.e., MBSR and MBCT), as well as interventions that teach mindfulness using less meditation-oriented techniques (i.e., DBT and ACT), are considered as a family of "mindfulness-oriented interventions", and thus are of empirical interest.

Correlational Research on Mindfulness and Psychological Health

Relationship between Trait Mindfulness and Psychological Health

Many studies of mindfulness to date have reported on correlations between self-reported mindfulness and psychological health. Such correlations have been reported for samples of undergraduate students (e.g., Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer, & Toney, 2006; Brown & Ryan, 2003), community adults (e.g., Brown & Ryan, 2003; Chadwick et al., 2008) and clinical populations (e.g., Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004; Chadwick et al., 2008; Walach, Buchheld, Buttenmuller, Kleinknecht, & Schmidt, 2006). Before going over these findings, it may be helpful to review questionnaires that have been developed to measure mindfulness. Questionnaires that assess mindfulness as a general, trait-like tendency to be mindful in daily life include: Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory ( Buchheld, Grossman, & Walach, 2001), Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS; Baer et al., 2004), Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003), Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire ( Baer et al., 2006), Cognitive Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised ( Feldman, Hayes, Kumar, Greeson, & Laurenceau, 2007), Toronto Mindfulness Scale-Trait Version ( Davis, Lau, & Cairns, 2009), Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale ( Cardaciotto et al., 2008), and Southampton Mindfulness Questionnaire ( Chadwick et al., 2008). Some of these questionnaires measure mindfulness as a single-factor construct. For example, the MAAS ( Brown & Ryan, 2003) assesses mindfulness as the general tendency to be attentive to and aware of experiences in daily life, and has a single factor structure of open/ receptive awareness and attention. Other questionnaires measure mindfulness as a multi-faceted construct. For example, the KIMS ( Baer et al., 2004) contains subscales that correspond to four mindfulness skills conceptualized in DBT's framework: observing one's moment-to-moment experience, describing one's experiences with words, acting or participating with awareness, and nonjudgmental acceptance of one's experiences. In addition to trait measures of mindfulness, state measures of mindfulness have been developed to measure momentary mindful states. These measures include the Toronto Mindfulness Scale ( Lau et al., 2006) and Brown and Ryan (2003)'s state version of the MAAS.

Trait mindfulness has been associated with higher levels of life satisfaction ( Brown & Ryan, 2003), agreeableness ( Thompson & Waltz, 2007), conscientiousness ( Giluk, 2009; Thompson & Waltz, 2007), vitality ( Brown & Ryan, 2003), self esteem ( Brown & Ryan, 2003; Rasmussen & Pidgeon, 2010), empathy ( Dekeyser, Raes, Leijssen, Leysen, & Dewulf, 2008), sense of autonomy ( Brown & Ryan, 2003), competence ( Brown & Ryan, 2003), optimism ( Brown & Ryan, 2003), and pleasant affect ( Brown & Ryan, 2003). Studies have also demonstrated significant negative correlations between mindfulness and depression ( Brown & Ryan, 2003; Cash & Whittingham, 2010), neuroticism ( Dekeyser et al., 2008; Giluk, 2009), absent-mindedness ( Herndon, 2008), dissociation ( Baer et al., 2006; Walach et al., 2006), rumination ( Raes & Williams, 2010), cognitive reactivity ( Raes, Dewulf, Van Heeringen, & Williams, 2009), social anxiety ( Brown & Ryan, 2003; Dekeyser et al., 2008; Rasmussen & Pidgeon, 2010), difficulties in emotion regulation ( Baer et al., 2006), experiential avoidance ( Baer et al., 2004), alexithymia ( Baer et al., 2004), intensity of delusional experience in the context of psychosis ( Chadwick et al., 2008), and general psychological symptoms ( Baer et al., 2006). Research also has begun to explore the association between mindfulness and cognitive processes that may have important implications for psychological health. For example, Frewen, Evans, Maraj, Dozois, and Partridge (2008) found that, among undergraduate students, mindfulness was related both to a lower frequency of negative automatic thoughts and to an enhanced ability to let go of those thoughts. Two other studies have also demonstrated an association between mindfulness and enhanced performance on tasks assessing sustained attention ( Schmertz, Anderson, & Robins, 2009) and persistence ( Evans, Baer, & Segerstrom, 2009).

Mindfulness has been shown to be related not only to self-report measures of psychological health, but also to differences in brain activity observed using functional neuroimaging methods. Creswell, Way, Eisenberger, and Lieberman (2007) found that trait mindfulness was associated with reduced bilateral amygdala activation and greater widespread prefrontal cortical activation during an affect labeling task. There was also a strong inverse association between prefrontal cortex and right amygdala responses among those who scored high on mindfulness, but not among those who scored low on mindfulness, which suggests that individuals who are mindful may be better able to regulate emotional responses via prefrontal cortical inhibition of the amygdala. Trait mindfulness also was negatively correlated with resting activity in the amygdala and in medial prefrontal and parietal brain areas that are associated with self-referential processing, whereas levels of depressive symptoms were positively correlated with resting activity in these areas ( Way, Creswell, Eisenberger, & Lieberman, 2010). These findings are consistent with the association of mindfulness with greater self-reported ability to let go of negative thoughts about the self (e.g., Frewen et al., 2008).

Relationship between Mindfulness Meditation and Psychological Health

Research also has examined the relationship between mindfulness meditation practices and psychological well-being. Lykins and Baer (2009) compared meditators and non-meditators on several indices of psychological well-being. Meditators reported significantly higher levels of mindfulness, self-compassion and overall sense of well-being, and significantly lower levels of psychological symptoms, rumination, thought suppression, fear of emotion, and difficulties with emotion regulation, compared to non-meditators, and changes in these variables were linearly associated with extent of meditation practice. In addition, the data were consistent with a model in which trait mindfulness mediates the relationship between extent of meditation practice and several outcome variables, including fear of emotion, rumination, and behavioral self-regulation. In two other studies, facets of trait mindfulness were found to mediate the relationship between meditation experience and psychological well-being in combined samples of meditators and non-meditators ( Baer et al., 2008; Josefsson, Larsman, Broberg, & Lundh, 2011). In addition to correlations with self-report measures, research has examined behavioral and neurobiological correlates of mindfulness meditation. Ortner, Kilner and Zelazo (2007) used an emotional interference task in which participants categorized tones presented 1 or 4 seconds following the onset of affective or neutral pictures. Levels of emotional interference were indexed by differences in reaction times to tones for affective pictures versus neutral pictures. A participant's mindfulness meditation experience was significantly associated with reduced interference both from unpleasant pictures (for 1 and 4 second delays) as well as pleasant pictures (for 4 second delay only), as well as higher levels of self-reported mindfulness and psychological well-being. These findings suggest that mindfulness meditation practice may enhance psychological well-being by increasing mindfulness and attenuating reactivity to emotional stimuli by facilitating disengagement of attention from stimuli. There is also emerging evidence from studies comparing meditators and non-meditators on a variety of performance-based measures that suggest that regular meditation practice is associated with enhanced cognitive flexibility and attentional functioning ( Hodgins & Adair, 2010; Moore & Malinowski, 2009), outcomes that may have important implications for psychological well-being. Research has also identified potential neurobiological correlates of mindfulness meditation by comparing brain structure and activity in adept mindfulness meditation practitioners to those of non-practitioners. These studies found that extensive mindfulness meditation experience is associated with increased thickness in brain regions implicated in attention, interoception, and sensory processing, including the prefrontal cortex and right anterior insula ( Lazar et al., 2005); increased activation in brain areas involved in processing of distracting events and emotions, which include the rostral anterior cingulate cortex and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, respectively ( Hölzel et al., 2007); and greater gray matter concentration in brain areas that have been found to be active during meditation, including the right anterior insula, left inferior temporal gyrus, and right hippocampus ( Hölzel et al., 2008). These findings are consistent with the premise that systematic training in mindfulness meditation induces changes in attention, awareness, and emotion, which can be assessed and identified at subjective, behavioral, and neurobiological levels (cf. Treadway & Lazar, 2009).

Overall, evidence from correlational research suggests that mindfulness is positively associated with a variety of indicators of psychological health, such as higher levels of positive affect, life satisfaction, vitality, and adaptive emotion regulation, and lower levels of negative affect and psychopathological symptoms. There is also burgeoning evidence from neurobiological and laboratory behavioral research that indicates the potential roles of trait mindfulness and mindfulness meditation practices in reducing reactivity to emotional stimuli and enhancing psychological well-being. Given the correlational nature of these data, experimental studies are needed to clarify the directional links between mindfulness and psychological well-being. Does training in mindfulness practices result in improvements in psychological well-being? Does psychological well-being facilitate greater mindfulness and/or inclination towards engagement in mindfulness practice? The next section reviews empirical evidence from studies of the effects of mindfulness-oriented interventions on psychological health.

Controlled Studies of Mindfulness-Oriented Interventions

Several mindfulness-oriented interventions have been developed and received much research attention within the past two decades, including MBSR, MBCT, DBT and ACT. Some research on these interventions has been uncontrolled and some has focused primarily on physical health outcomes. In this section, we limit our review to published, peer-reviewed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed psychological health outcomes in adult populations. Some other promising interventions have also incorporated mindfulness techniques, including mindfulness-based relapse prevention ( Witkiewitz, Marlatt, & Walker, 2005) and exposure-based cognitive therapy for depression ( Hayes, Beevers, Feldman, Laurenceau, & Perlman, 2005), but no RCTs of those interventions have yet been published.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): Description of Intervention and Review of Controlled Studies

MBSR is a group-based intervention program originally designed as an adjunct treatment for patients with chronic pain ( Kabat-Zinn, 1982; 1990). The program offers intensive training in mindfulness meditation to help individuals relate to their physical and psychological conditions in more accepting and nonjudgmental ways. The program consists of an eight-to-ten week course, in which a group of up to thirty participants meet for two to two and a half hours per week for mindfulness meditation instruction and training ( Kabat-Zinn, 1990). In addition to in-class mindfulness exercises, participants are encouraged to engage in home mindfulness practices and attend an all-day intensive mindfulness meditation retreat. The premise of MBSR is that with repeated training in mindfulness meditation, individuals will eventually learn to be less reactive and judgmental toward their experiences, and more able to recognize, and break free from, habitual and maladaptive patterns of thinking and behavior.

A number of RCTs of MBSR have been conducted among clinical and non-clinical populations, mostly using a waiting-list control design. Early studies were reviewed by Baer (2003) and Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, and Walach (2004), but several important studies have since been published. Table 1 summarizes RCTs that have examined the impact of MBSR on psychological functioning. Overall, these studies found that MBSR reduces self-reported levels of anxiety ( Shapiro, Schwartz, & Bonner, 1998; Anderson, Lau, Segal, & Bishop, 2007), depression ( Anderson et al., 2007; Grossman et al., 2010; Koszycki, Benger, Shlik, & Bradwejn, 2007; Sephton et al., 2007; Shapiro et al., 1998; Speca, Carlson, Goodey, & Angen, 2000), anger ( Anderson et al., 2007), rumination ( Anderson et al. 2007; Jain et al., 2007), general psychological distress, including perceived stress ( Astin, 1997; Bränström, Kvillemo, Brandberg, & Moskowitz, 2010; Nyklíček, & Kuipers, 2008; Oman, Shapiro, Thoresen, Plante, & Flinders, 2008; Shapiro, Astin, Bishop, & Cordova, 2005; Speca et al., 2000; Williams, Kolar, Reger, & Pearson, 2001), cognitive disorganization ( Speca et al., 2000), post-traumatic avoidance symptoms ( Bränström et al., 2010), and medical symptoms ( Williams et al., 2001). It has been found to improve positive affect ( Anderson et al., 2007; Bränström et al., 2010), Nyklíček, & Kuijpers, 2008), sense of spirituality ( Astin, 1997; Shapiro et al., 1998), empathy ( Shapiro et al., 1998), sense of cohesion ( Weissbecker et al., 2002), mindfulness ( Anderson et al., 2007; Shapiro, Oman, Thoresen, Plante, & Flinders, 2008; Nyklíček, & Kuijpers, 2008), forgiveness ( Oman et al., 2008), self compassion ( Shapiro et al., 2005), satisfaction with life, and quality of life ( Grossman et al., 2010; Koszycki et al., 2007; Nyklíček, & Kuijpers,2008; Shapiro et al., 2005) among both clinical and non-clinical populations.

Participation in MBSR has also been associated with brain changes reflective of positive emotional states and adaptive self representation and emotion regulatory processes, such as increases in left frontal activation, which is indicative of dispositional and state positive affect ( Davidson et al., 2003), increased activation in brain regions implicated in experiential, present-focused mode of self reference ( Farb et al., 2007), and reduced activation in brain regions implicated in conceptual processing, cognitive elaboration, and reappraisal ( Farb et al., 2010; Ochsner & Gross, 2008).

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT): Description of Intervention and Review of Controlled Studies

MBCT is an eight-week, manualized group intervention program adapted from the MBSR model ( Segal et al., 2002). Developed as an approach to prevent relapse in remitted depression, MBCT combines mindfulness training and elements of cognitive therapy (CT) with the goal of targeting vulnerability processes that have been implicated in the maintenance of depressive episodes. Like CT, MBCT aims to help participants view thoughts as mental events rather than as facts, recognize the role of negative automatic thoughts in maintaining depressive symptoms, and disengage the occurrence of negative thoughts from their negative psychological effects ( Barnhofer, Crane, & Didonna, 2009). However, unlike the traditional CT approach that places considerable emphasis on evaluating and changing the validity of the content of thoughts and developing alternative thoughts, MBCT aims primarily to change one's awareness of and relationship to thoughts and emotions ( Teasdale et al., 2000). The theoretical rationale on which MBCT is based ( Teasdale, Segal, & Williams, 1995) is that the negative thoughts that accompany depression become associated with the depressed state, and that, as the number of depressive episodes increases, negative automatic thoughts become more easily reactivated by feelings of dysphoria, even when these do not occur in the context of a full-blown depressive episode. The negative thoughts, in turn, increase depressed mood and other symptoms of depression, leading to an increased risk for relapse to a major depressive episode. MBCT specifically targets loosening the association between negative automatic thinking and dysphoria. Because these associations are theorized to be stronger among those with a greater number of previous episodes, they may be expected to show the greatest benefit of the intervention.

Several RCTs, summarized in Table 2 , have evaluated the effects of MBCT on relapse prevention and other depression-related outcomes (for recent reviews, see Chiesa & Serreti, 2010; Coelho, Canter, & Ernst, 2007). Consistent with the theoretical model, initial studies found that MBCT reduced relapse rates among patients with three or more episodes of depression, but not among those with two or fewer past episodes ( Ma & Teasdale, 2004; Teasdale et al., 2000). Subsequent studies of MBCT and depression relapse selected only patients with three or more episodes and have replicated the effect of MBCT on reduced relapse rates ( Goldfrin & Heeringen, 2010; Kuyken et al., 2008) or prolonged time to relapse ( Bondolfi et al., 2010). Furthermore, MBCT also has been found to improve a range of symptomatic and psychosocial outcomes among remitted depressed patients, such as residual depressive symptoms and quality of life ( Goldfrin & Heeringen, 2010; Kuyken et al., 2008). There is also preliminary evidence that MBCT is more effective than treatment as usual (TAU) in reducing depressive symptoms among currently depressed patients ( Barnhofer et al., 2009; Hepburn et al., 2009). Lastly, MBCT has been adapted for treatment of bipolar disorder ( Williams et al., 2008), social phobia ( Piet, Hougaard, Hecksher, & Rosenberg, 2010), and depressive symptoms among individuals with epilepsy ( Thompson et al., 2010). The results of these studies are promising and in need of further replication.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Description of Intervention and Review of Controlled Studies

DBT ( Linehan, 1993a) was first developed as a treatment for chronic suicidal and other self-injurious behaviors, which are often present in patients with severe borderline personality disorder (BPD). It conceptualizes the dysfunctional behaviors of individuals with BPD as a consequence of an underlying dysfunction of the emotion regulation system, which involves intense emotional reactivity and an inability to modulate emotions. DBT integrates elements of traditional CBT with Zen philosophy and practice, and has a simultaneous focus on acceptance and behavior change strategies to help patients improve their emotion regulation abilities ( Linehan, 1993a; Robins, 2002). There are four modes of treatment in DBT: individual therapy, group skills training, telephone consultation between therapist and patient, and consultation team meetings for therapists. Mindfulness skills are taught in the context of the skills-training group as a way of helping patients increase self acceptance, and as an exposure strategy aiming to reduce avoidance of difficult emotion and fear responses ( Linehan, 1993b). These skills consist of a set of mindfulness "what" skills (observe, describe, and participate) and a set of mindfulness "how" skills (nonjudgmentally, one-mindfully, and effectively). Specific exercises that are used to foster mindfulness include visualizing thoughts, feelings, and sensations as if they are clouds passing by in the sky, observing breath by counting or coordinating with footsteps, and bringing mindful awareness into daily activities. Mindfulness skills are also integrated within the other three skills modules, which focus on distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

To date, 11 randomized trials of DBT, or adaptations of it, have been conducted ( Lynch, Trost, Salsman, & Linehan, 2007; Robins & Chapman, 2004). These studies are summarized in Table 3 . Standard outpatient DBT has been found to be more effective than TAU or another active treatment in reducing frequency and severity of parasuicidal and self harm behavior among individuals with BPD, especially those with a history of parasuicidal behavior; reducing number of inpatient psychiatric days, emergency visits, and hospitalizations ( Koons et al., 2001; Linehan, Amstrong, Suarez, Allmon, & Heard, 1991; Linehan et al., 2006; Verheul et al., 2003); and in reducing substance use among individuals with co-morbid BDP and substance use disorders ( Linehan et al., 1999; Linehan et al., 2002). Among studies that included follow-up assessments, the effects of DBT were found to last for up to one year on the following outcome measures: number of parasuicidal behaviors, global functioning, social adjustment, and use of crisis services ( Linehan et al., 1991; Linehan et al., 2006; Linehan et al., 1999; Linehan, Heard, & Armstrong, 1993; Linehan, Tutek, Heard, & Armstrong, 1994). Finally, modifications of DBT have been found to be effective in binge eating disorder ( Telch, Agras, and Linehan, 2001), bulimia ( Safer, Telch, & Agras, 2001), and chronic depression in the elderly ( Lynch, Morse, Mendelson & Robins, 2003).

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Description of Intervention and Review of Controlled Studies

ACT ( Hayes et al., 1999) was developed based on the premise that psychological distress is often associated with attempts to control or avoid negative thoughts and emotions, which often paradoxically increase the frequency, intensity, or salience of these internal events, and result in further distress and inability to engage in behaviors that would lead to valued long-term goals. Thus, the central aim of ACT is to create greater psychological flexibility by teaching skills that increase an individual's willingness to come into fuller contact with their experiences, recognize their values, and commit to behaviors that are consistent with those values. There are six core treatment processes that are highlighted in ACT: acceptance, defusion, contact with the present moment, self as context, values, and committed action ( Hayes, Luoma, Bond, Masuda, & Lillis, 2006). Mindfulness is taught in the context of the first four processes, where a variety of exercises are used to enhance awareness of an observing self and foster the deliteralization of thoughts and beliefs. Although ACT does not incorporate mindfulness meditation exercises, its focus on helping patients cultivate present-centered awareness and acceptance is consistent with that of other mindfulness-based approaches ( Baer, 2003). ACT has been delivered in both individual and group settings, with durations varying from one day (e.g., Gregg, Callaghan, Hayes, & Glenn-Lawson, 2007) to 16 weeks (e.g., Hayes et al., 2004).

A number of studies, summarized in Table 4 , have been conducted to evaluate the efficacy of ACT in treating a range of mental health outcomes, including those associated with depression, anxiety, impulse control disorders, schizophrenia, substance abuse and addiction, and workplace stress ( Hayes et al., 2006; Powers, Zum Vorde Sive Vording, & Emmelkamp, 2009). Specifically, ACT has been found to be more effective than TAU in improving affective symptoms, social functioning, and symptom reporting, and lowering rehospitalization rates and symptom believability among psychiatric inpatients with psychotic symptoms ( Bach & Hayes, 2002; Gaudiano & Herbert, 2006). Among populations with depressive and anxiety symptoms, ACT was generally found to be superior to no intervention, and as effective as another established treatment in reducing levels of depression, anxiety, and poor mental health outcomes ( Bond & Bunce, 2000; Forman, Herbert, Moitra, Yeomans, & Geller, 2007; Lappalainen et al., 2007; Zettle, 2003; Zettle & Hayes, 1986; Zettle & Rains, 1989). In addition, ACT has been shown to be effective at reducing substance use and dependence among nicotine-dependent ( Gifford et al., 2004) and polysubstance-abusing individuals ( Hayes et al., 2004). Finally, there is preliminary evidence indicating the effectiveness of ACT in treating trichotillomania ( Woods, Wetterneck, & Flessner, 2006).

A growing research body supports the efficacy of all four major forms of mindfulness-oriented interventions, but several important research questions need to be addressed in future studies. Because these interventions all involve multiple components, future research should examine how individual treatment components, especially the mindfulness training component, contribute to overall treatment effects. Also, these interventions differ in how they teach mindful awareness, and future research could compare the efficacy of different mindfulness teaching approaches in fostering greater mindful awareness in daily life. For example, both MBSR and MBCT place considerable emphasis on engaging participants in formal meditative practices. DBT and ACT, on the other hand, incorporate a range of informal mindfulness exercises in their treatment approach. Research attention should also be devoted to possible moderators of treatment effects, such as pre-existing differences in coping style and types of cognitive processes maintaining a particular psychological problem. Finally, research needs to examine whether there is a dose-response relationship between amount of intervention exposure and amount of psychological benefits. Although MBSR in its standard form involves eight weekly 2-2.5 hour classes and an all-day retreat, it has been delivered in abbreviated forms to fit the needs of specific populations. Carmody and Baer (2009) examined class contact hours and effect sizes of psychological outcomes reported in published trials of MBSR, and did not find a systematic relationship between the two variables. Another review ( Vettese, Toneatto, Stea, Nguyen, & Wang, 2009) found no consistent relationship between amount of home mindfulness meditation practice and treatment outcomes. Taken together, these reviews do not support a dose-response relationship between level of treatment exposure and reported psychological benefits. Other factors, such as level of expertise of an instructor, may account for the psychological improvements observed following MBSR or other mindfulness-based interventions, and should be systematically measured in future studies.

Laboratory Research on Immediate Effects of Mindfulness Interventions

In addition to correlational and clinical intervention research on mindfulness, a third line of empirical research has examined the immediate effects of brief mindfulness interventions in controlled laboratory settings on a variety of emotion-related processes, including recovery from dysphoric mood, emotional reactivity to aversive or emotionally provocative stimuli, and willingness to return to or persist on an unpleasant task. Such laboratory studies have the advantage of more easily isolating mindfulness practice from other elements typically present in clinical intervention packages, thus allowing greater control over independent variables and stronger conclusions about causal effects.

Several studies have examined the immediate effects of mindfulness interventions on coping with dysphoric mood. Instructions to practice mindfulness of thoughts and feelings following negative mood induction were found to be more effective than rumination or no instruction in alleviating negative mood states in healthy university students ( Broderick, 2005), previously depressed individuals ( Singer & Dobson, 2007), and currently depressed individuals ( Huffziger & Kuehner, 2009), but not in one study of university students ( Kuehner, Huffziger, & Liebsch, 2009). As the latter authors noted, these differential findings may result in part from differences in methods used to induce mindfulness across studies (use of mindful self-focus statements on cards in Kuehner et al., 2009 versus audiotaped guided meditation instructions in Broderick, 2005), and/or differences in clinical status of study samples (e.g., beneficial effects of mindfulness may be more noticeable among clinical populations than among healthy subjects). It is unsurprising that mindfulness instructions would be more helpful in recovery from sad mood than rumination, which has been shown to be maladaptive ( Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991). Mindfulness also has been compared with other potentially adaptive mood-regulation strategies. Evidence is mixed with regard to the relative effects of mindfulness and distraction. Whereas two studies ( Huffziger & Kuehner, 2009; Singer & Dobson, 2007) found that mindfulness and distraction had equivalent effects on recovery from dysphoric mood, one study ( Broderick, 2005) found that mindfulness was more effective than distraction and another study ( Kuehner et al., 2009) found that distraction was more effective than mindfulness. Further studies are needed to clarify the relative effects of mindfulness and distraction on mood regulation, and whether those effects may be moderated by situational or personality factors. No published studies to date have compared the effects on recovery from dysphoric mood of mindfulness and cognitive reappraisal of distressing stimuli or situations.

Studies have also examined effects of mindfulness instructions on emotional responses to aversive or emotionally provocative stimuli. In a study by Arch and Craske (2006), university students viewed a series of affectively-valenced pictures and rated their emotional responses to them, both before and after one of three sets of recorded instructions to which they were randomly assigned: focused breathing, unfocused attention, or worry. Whereas the other two groups showed a decrease in positive emotional response to neutral slides from pre-induction to post-induction, those assigned to the focused breathing condition maintained consistently positive responses to neutral slides. They also reported lower negative affect than the worry group in response to post-induction negative-valence slides and greater willingness to view negative slides than those in the unfocused attention condition, as indicated by viewing a greater number of additional optional negative slides. Findings of this study were extended by a recent study by Erisman and Roemer (2010), which found that a brief mindfulness intervention, relative to a control condition, resulted in reduced emotion regulation difficulties and negative affect in response to an affectively-mixed film clip. Campbell-Sills, Barlow, Brown, and Hofmann (2006) randomly assigned patients with mood and anxiety disorders to instructions to either accept or suppress their emotions while viewing an emotionally provocative film. The two groups reported similar levels of subjective distress while watching the film but, relative to those in the suppression condition, the acceptance group displayed lower heart rate while viewing the film and reported less negative emotion during the post-film recovery period. The findings of these studies suggest that training in two key elements of mindfulness practice (focused awareness and acceptance) may reduce emotional reactivity to negative stimuli and increase willingness to remain in contact with them. There is preliminary work investigating the effects of brief mindfulness instructions on substance-related urges and substance use behavior. Bowen and Marlatt (2009) presented college smokers either brief mindfulness instructions or no instructions before and after exposure to a cue designed to elicit urges to smoke. Although there was no immediate effect on urge to smoke, mindfulness instructions resulted in significant decreases in smoking behavior during the next 7 days. As the authors noted, mindfulness training may alter responses to urges, rather than reducing urges. These findings were extended in another study that compared the effectiveness of using suppression versus a mindfulness-based strategy in coping with cigarette craving among a community sample of smokers ( Rogojanski, Vettese, & Antony, 2011). The study found that whereas both strategies reduced self-reported amount of smoking and increased self-efficacy associated with coping with cigarette craving, only those in the mindfulness condition reported significant decreases in negative affect and depressive symptoms and marginal decreases in nicotine dependence.

Research has also examined the efficacy of mindfulness as an emotion regulation strategy in response to a biological challenge, specifically to inhalations of carbon dioxide-enriched air (CO ₂ challenge), a procedure that has frequently been used to create a laboratory analog of panic attacks ( Sanderson, Rapee, & Barlow, 1988). In a study by Feldner, Zvolensky, Eifert, and Spira (2003), individuals who scored either high or low on a measure of emotional avoidance were instructed either to mindfully observe and accept or to try to suppress feelings during CO ₂ challenge. High emotional avoidance participants reported higher anxiety than low emotional avoidance participants in the suppression condition, but not in the observation condition. Levitt, Brown, Orsillo, and Barlow (2004) randomized patients with panic disorder to one of three experimental conditions: a 10-minute audiotape describing a rationale for either suppressing or accepting one's emotions, or a neutral narrative, and then exposed them to CO ₂ challenge. The acceptance group reported significantly lower levels of anxiety during the biological challenge than the other two groups and greater willingness to participate in a second challenge. One coping strategy commonly taught to patients with anxiety disorders, particularly panic disorder, is breathing retraining, in which patients are taught to take deeper, slower breaths. Eifert and Heffner (2003) compared the effects of brief acceptance training, breathing retraining, and no training on responses to CO ₂ challenge in undergraduates who scored high on a measure of anxiety sensitivity. Acceptance instructions led to less intense fear, fewer catastrophic thoughts, and lower behavioral avoidance (indicated both by latency between trials and reported willingness to return for another experimental session) than breathing retraining instructions or no instructions. Collectively, these studies suggest that mindful observation and acceptance of emotional responses may be an effective strategy for reducing subjective anxiety and behavioral avoidance in the face of physiological arousal, among highly anxiety sensitive or emotionally avoidant individuals and patients with panic disorder.

Laboratory studies of mindfulness have helped provide further insight into the functions of mindfulness and the potential processes through which mindfulness lead to positive psychological effects. The majority of the findings suggest that brief mindfulness training, whether in the form of a short, guided meditation practice or in the form of instructions to adopt an accepting attitude toward internal experiences, can have an immediate positive effect on recovery from dysphoric mood and level of emotional reactivity to aversive stimuli, consistent with the positive psychological effects reported in research on mindfulness-oriented intervention programs. The laboratory studies also suggest that it does not take extensive prior training in mindfulness to experience some immediate benefits of mindfulness training.

From a methodological standpoint, it is important that future studies more closely examine the extent to which a state of mindfulness is actually manipulated by the study instructions. Whereas most studies did include post-experimental manipulation checks on adherence to the training instructions, they did not explicitly assess the extent to which participants were able to be mindfully aware of their emotions or thoughts during or after exposure to a mood induction or a laboratory stressor. Research also could examine which training approaches or instructions (e.g. mindful breathing or mindfulness of emotions) are most effective at helping individuals regulate emotions in response to a stressor; whether there are key moderator variables such as pre-existing differences in dispositional mindfulness or coping styles; and whether effects differ by type of stressors or across different emotions. Research is also needed to compare the effects and mechanisms of mindfulness instructions with those of other documented emotion regulation strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal and distraction.

Mechanisms of Effects of Mindfulness Interventions

The studies reviewed so far indicate that measures of mindful awareness are related to various indices of psychological health and that mindfulness interventions have a positive impact on psychological health. The next natural question, then, is how this impact comes about. Several psychological processes, some of which may overlap, have been proposed as potential mediators of the beneficial effects of mindfulness interventions, including increases in mindful awareness, reperceiving (also known as decentering, metacognitive awareness, or defusion), exposure, acceptance, attentional control, memory, values clarification, and behavioral self-regulation.

Mindfulness training would be expected to increase scores on measures of mindfulness, and changes in mindfulness would be expected, in turn, to predict clinical outcomes. Research has found that mindfulness training leads to increases in self-reported trait mindfulness, assessed by the MAAS ( Anderson et al., 2007; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Carmody, Reed, Kristeller and Merriam, 2008; Michalak, Heidenreich, Meibert, & Schulte, 2008; Shapiro, Brown & Biegel, 2007), the CAMS-R ( Greeson et al., in press) and the FFMQ ( Carmody & Baer, 2008; Robins, Keng, Ekblad, & Brantley, 2010; Shapiro et al., 2008), as well as TMS-assessed state mindfulness ( Carmody et al., 2008; Lau et al., 2006). Intervention-associated increases in trait mindfulness, assessed by the MAAS, the KIMS, the CAMS-R, and/or the FFMQ, have been shown to predict increases in sense of spirituality ( Carmody et al., 2008; Greeson et al., in press), self-compassion ( Shapiro et al., 2007), and positive states of mind ( Bränström et al., 2010), and decreases in rumination ( Shapiro et al., 2007), trait anxiety ( Shapiro et al., 2007), risk of depressive relapse ( Michalak et al., 2008), posttraumatic avoidance symptoms ( Bränström et al., 2010), perceived stress ( Bränström et al., 2010; Shapiro et al., 2007), and overall psychological distress ( Carmody et al., 2008). A number of studies have also demonstrated that increases in trait mindfulness (again, assessed by the MAAS, the KIMS, and/or the FFMQ) statistically mediated the effects of mindfulness interventions on perceived stress (Nyklíček, & Kuipers, 2008; Shapiro et al., 2008), rumination ( Shapiro et al., 2008), cognitive reactivity ( Raes et al., 2009), quality of life (Nyklíček, & Kuipers, 2008), depressive symptoms ( Kuyken et al., 2010; Shahar, Britton, Sbarra, Figueredo, & Bootzin, 2010), and behavioral regulation ( Keng, Smoski, Robins, Ekblad, & Brantley, 2010). Lastly, one study ( Carmody & Baer, 2008) demonstrated that changes in FFMQ-assessed mindfulness at least partially mediated the relationships between amount of formal mindfulness practice and changes in psychological well being, perceived stress, and psychological symptoms.

Mindfulness training also is thought to increase metacognitive awareness, which is the ability to reperceive or decenter from one's thoughts and emotions, and view them as passing mental events rather than to identify with them or believe thoughts to be accurate representations of reality ( Hayes et al., 1999; Segal et al., 2002; Shapiro, Carlson, Astin, & Freeman, 2006). Increased metacognitive awareness has been hypothesized to lead to reductions in rumination ( Teasdale, 1999), a process of repetitive negative thinking that has been considered a risk factor for a number of psychological disorders ( Ehring & Watkins, 2008). Preliminary evidence suggests that mindfulness training leads to increases in metacognitive awareness ( Hargus et al., 2010; Teasdale et al., 2002) and reductions in rumination ( Jain et al., 2007; Ramel, Goldin, Carmona, & McQuaid, 2004), and that increased metacognitive awareness, or decentering, may in turn predict better clinical outcomes such as lower rates of depressive relapses ( Fresco, Segal, Buis, & Kennedy, 2007).

Exposure is another process that several authors have suggested may occur during mindfulness practice ( Baer, 2003; Kabat-Zinn, 1982; Linehan, 1993a). By intentionally attending to experiences in a nonjudgmental and open manner, an individual may undergo a process of desensitization through which distressing sensations, thoughts and emotions that otherwise would be avoided become less distressing. One study has shown that participation in MBSR is associated with significant pre- to post-intervention increases in exposure ( Carmody, Baer, Lykins, & Olendzki, 2009). A closely-related process of change that has been highlighted in the literature is acceptance ( Hayes, 1994). Several studies reported that increases in experiential acceptance mediated the effects of ACT on a range of psychological outcomes, including workplace stress ( Bond & Bunce, 2000), smoking cessation ( Gifford et al., 2004), and functioning difficulties ( Forman et al., 2007).

Because mindfulness practices involve sustaining attention on the present-moment experience, as well as switching attention back to the present-moment experience whenever it wanders ( Bishop et al., 2004), mindfulness training may improve the ability to control attention, which may, in turn, influence other beneficial psychological outcomes. Several aspects of attention, each related to different neurobiological substrates, may be distinguished ( Posner & Petersen, 1990): orienting (the ability to direct attention towards a set of stimuli and sustain attention on it), alerting (the ability to remain vigilant or receptive towards a wide range of potential stimuli), and conflict monitoring (the ability to prioritize attention among competing cognitive demands/tasks). Using a variety of neuropsychological tasks, experimental studies have shown that mindfulness training is associated with improvements in orienting ( Jha, Krompinger, & Baime, 2007) and conflict monitoring ( Tang et al., 2007). Among experienced meditators, participation in an intensive mindfulness retreat has also been associated with improved alerting ( Jha et al., 2007). In addition, mindfulness training has been associated with improvements in sustained attention among both novice meditators ( Chambers, Lo, & Allen, 2008) and experienced meditators ( Valentine & Sweet, 1999), with one study demonstrating an association between intervention-related improvements in sustained attention and reductions in depressive symptoms ( Chambers et al., 2008). Overall, evidence suggests that mindfulness training may affect various subcomponents of attention, and that the specific subsystems affected may depend on the extent of previous meditation experience.

Another mechanism through which mindfulness training may influence psychological well-being is change in memory functioning. Two studies ( Hargus et al., 2010; Williams et al., 2000) have shown that mindfulness training reduces overgeneral autobiographical memory, a construct that has been associated with increased severity of depression and suicidality ( Kuyken & Brewin, 1995). Participation in mindfulness training has also been shown to buffer against decreases in working memory capacity (WMC) during high stress periods, with changes in WMC mediating the relationship between amount of mindfulness practice and reductions in negative affect ( Jha, Stanley, Kiyonaga, Wong, & Gelfand, 2010). In addition, brief mindfulness training has been shown to reduce memory for negative stimuli ( Alberts & Thewissen, in press), a mechanism that may partly underlie the beneficial effects of mindfulness-based interventions on emotion functioning.

Finally, values clarification and improved behavioral self-regulation may be two additional avenues through which mindfulness training improves psychological well-being ( Gratz & Roemer, 2004; Shapiro et al., 2006). Staying present with thoughts and emotions in an objective, open and nonjudgmental manner may facilitate a greater sense of clarity with regard to one's values, and behaviors that are more consistent with those values. Higher levels of self-reported mindfulness are associated with self-reports of greater engagement in valued behaviors and interests ( Brown & Ryan, 2003) and of ability to engage in goal-directed behavior when emotionally upset ( Baer et al., 2006). In addition, mindfulness training has been found to lead to self-reported improved behavioral regulation in a nonclinical sample ( Robins et al., 2010) and reduced self-discrepancy, which is associated with adaptive self-regulation, among recovered depressed patients with a history of depression and suicidality ( Crane et al., 2008). In another study, values clarification was found to mediate partially the relationship between increased mindfulness/ reperceiving and decreased psychological distress in a sample of participants who underwent MBSR ( Carmody et al., 2009).

Areas in Need of Further Research

Understanding and Quantification of Mindfulness

Because mindfulness is a construct that originates in Buddhism, and has only a brief history in Western psychological science, it is unsurprising that there is considerable challenge in defining, operationalizing, and quantifying it ( Grossman, 2008). Although a number of self-report inventories have been developed to assess mindfulness, they vary greatly in content and factor structure, reflecting a lack of agreement on the meaning and nature of mindfulness ( Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007). Whereas some researchers consider mindfulness to be a one-dimensional construct referring specifically to paying attention to the present-moment experience (e.g., Brown & Ryan, 2003; Carmody, 2009), others argue that qualities such as curiosity, acceptance, and compassion are inherent to mindfulness ( Baer & Sauer, 2009; Feldman et al., 2007; Lau et al., 2006). Further collaborative inquiry is needed so that researchers can reach a general agreement on the nature and meaning of mindfulness, or at least clarify and specify which aspects of mindfulness are being addressed in a particular study.

Several issues pertaining to the assessment of mindfulness are also worth highlighting here. First, individual responses to questionnaire items may vary as a function of differential understanding of the questionnaire items ( Grossman, 2008), which may depend on the extent of an individual's exposure to the idea or practice of mindfulness. One study demonstrated that the factor structure of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory changed within the same group of respondents from just before to just after attending meditation retreats of 3 to 10 days ( Buchheld, Grossman, & Wallach, 2001). Further research is clearly needed to improve the construct validity of self-report mindfulness questionnaires, in part via reducing potential variability in item functioning across meditators and non-meditators. A second issue concerns limitations in the use of self-report measures of mindfulness, which rely on the assumption that mindfulness is assessable by declarative knowledge ( Brown et al., 2007). It is not known how well self-reports of mindfulness correspond with actual experiences in daily life. To make the matter more complicated, there is an inherent paradox in using frequency of attention lapses as an index of mindfulness because the ability to detect such lapses is contingent upon one's overall level of mindfulness ( Van Dam, Earlywine, & Borders, 2010; Van Dam, Earleywine, & Danoff-Burg, 2009). One way in which the validity of self-report questionnaires can be improved is by developing performance-based measures of mindfulness against which they can be calibrated, or which can be used in multi-method assessment of the construct ( Garland & Gaylord, 2009).

Specificity of Effects of Mindfulness Interventions

Little is yet known regarding for whom and under what conditions mindfulness training is most effective, but there is some preliminary evidence to suggest that its effectiveness may vary as a function of individual differences. Cordon, Brown, and Gibson (2009) found that participation in MBSR resulted in greater reduction in perceived stress for individuals with an insecure attachment style than for securely attached individuals. Another recent study ( Shapiro, Brown, Thoresen, & Plante, 2011) showed that trait mindfulness moderated the effects of MBSR. Specifically, compared to controls, participants with higher levels of baseline trait mindfulness demonstrated greater improvements in mindfulness, subjective well-being, empathy, and hope, and larger decreases in perceived stress up to one year post-intervention. MBCT is effective for reducing depressive relapses among remitted depressed patients with a history of three or more depressive episodes, but not among patients with two previous episodes (e.g., Teasdale et al., 2000; Ma & Teasdale, 2004). In light of these considerations, several researchers have cautioned against the indiscriminate application of mindfulness as a general-purpose, "cure-all" therapeutic technique, and instead advocated for a problem formulation approach in the use of mindfulness techniques for treating psychological conditions ( Kocovski, Segal, Battista, & Didonna, 2009; Teasdale, Segal, & Williams, 2003). In order to maximize the effectiveness and clinical utility of mindfulness interventions, sufficient attention needs to go into tailoring them to fit the needs of specific populations and psychological conditions. For example, treatment of disorders that primarily involve a deficit in attentional abilities, like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may require that greater focus be placed on the attentional aspect of mindfulness training. On the other hand, treatment of disorders that tend to involve excessive shame and guilt, such as eating disorders, may benefit from greater treatment emphasis on the acceptance and self compassion aspects of mindfulness. Finally, given that mindfulness training has been increasingly integrated with a variety of psychotherapeutic techniques (e.g., Linehan, 1993a), it is important that future research examine how mindfulness works alongside these psychotherapeutic techniques.

Other Potential Applications of Mindfulness Interventions

Mindfulness-oriented interventions have been shown to improve psychological health in nonclinical populations and effectively treat a range of psychological and psychosomatic conditions. There may be additional therapeutic applications of mindfulness training. Researchers have reported promising results in pilot trials of mindfulness interventions for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( Zylowska et al., 2008), bipolar disorder ( Miklowitz et al., 2009; Weber et al., 2010; Williams et al., 2008), panic disorder ( Kim et al., 2010), generalized anxiety disorder ( Evans et al., 2008; Craigie, Rees, Marsh, & Nathan, 2008; Roemer, Orsillo, & Salters-Pedneault, 2008), eating disorders ( Baer, Fischer, & Huss, 2005; Kristeller & Hallett, 1999), psychosis ( Chadwick, Taylor, & Abba, 2005), and alcohol and substance use problems ( Bowen et al., 2006; Witkiewitz et al., 2005). While the data is overall preliminary and requires further validation, the results are promising. Researchers have also begun to investigate the application of mindfulness techniques within specific populations and settings, such as children ( Bogels, Hoogstad, van Dun, de Schutter, & Restifo, 2008; Lee, Semple, Rosa, & Miller, 2008; Napoli, Krech, & Holley, 2005), adolescent psychiatric outpatients ( Biegel, Brown, Shapiro, & Schubert, 2009), parents ( Altmaier & Maloney, 2007; Bögels et al., 2008; Singh et al., 2006), school teachers ( Napoli, 2004), elderly and their caregivers ( Epstein-Lubow, McBee, Darling, Armey, & Miller, in press; McBee, 2008; Smith, 2004), prison inmates ( Bowen et al., 2006; Samuelson, Carmody, Kabat-Zinn, & Bratt, 2007), and socio-economically disadvantaged individuals ( Hick & Furlotte, 2010).

With regard to applications of mindfulness training that have received empirical support, research now needs to examine practical issues surrounding their implementation, delivery, and dissemination. Little is known about their cost effectiveness, nor about the amount and type(s) of training that is required for an individual to be a competent provider of mindfulness training ( Allen, Blashki, & Gullone, 2006). Future research should examine these issues as they are critical to the successful implementation and dissemination of mindfulness-oriented interventions.

Conclusion

Based on an examination of empirical literature across multiple methodologies, this review concludes that mindfulness and its cultivation facilitates adaptive psychological functioning. Despite existing methodological limitations within each body of literature, there is a clear convergence of findings from correlational studies, clinical intervention studies, and laboratory-based, experimental studies of mindfulness-all of which suggest that mindfulness is positively associated with psychological health, and that training in mindfulness may bring about positive psychological effects. These effects ranged from increased subjective well-being, reduced psychological symptoms and emotional reactivity, to improved regulation of behavior. There is also an increasingly substantial research body pointing to a number of psychological processes that may serve as key mechanisms of effects of mindfulness interventions. As research on mindfulness is in its early stages of development, further collaborative research is needed to develop a more solid understanding concerning the nature of mindfulness, how mindfulness can best be measured, fostered, and cultivated, and the mechanisms and specificity of effects of mindfulness-oriented interventions. Future research should also continue to explore other potential applications of mindfulness, and examine practical issues concerning the delivery, implementation, and dissemination of mindfulness-oriented interventions. Given the advances that have been made thus far, it is likely that new paradigms for the understanding and application of mindfulness will continue to appear, which would move us further toward the goals of alleviating human psychological suffering and helping others live a life that is happier and more fulfilling.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge M. Zachary Rosenthal, Mark Leary, Jeffrey Brantley, and Kathleen Sikkema for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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Effects of Mindfulness on Psychological Health: A Review of Empirical Studies

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Within the past few decades, there has been a surge of interest in the investigation of mindfulness as a psychological construct and as a form of clinical intervention. This article reviews the empirical literature on the effects of mindfulness on psychological ...

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Walking is a simple way to improve health and lengthen life. But it's not just the number of steps you take that helps, it's also how quickly you take them.

The big picture: In a pair of new studies, published in JAMA Internal Medicine and JAMA Neurology, researchers compared brisk walkers' risk of disease and premature death with that of slow or average walkers and found that walking fast made a difference.

Why it matters: This new research draws a clear line between intense walks and leisurely strolls.

Researchers compared the 30 most intense minutes of activity in study participants' days and found that, even when the overall step counts were similar, those whose peak speeds were brisk - about 90 steps per minute - had lower health risks than those whose paces were average.

Fast walkers had a 30% lower risk of developing dementia, a 25% lower risk of developing cancer or heart disease and a 35% overall lower risk of premature death.

Worth noting: The brisk walking doesn't have to be in one 30-minute chunk, study author Matthew Ahmadi, a research fellow at the University of Sydney, told the New York Times.

It can be in small bursts throughout your day. Picking up the pace from time to time makes the difference.

If you like to go for walks, try going at a faster clip for one or two minute intervals. Or even speed up your pacing around the office.

The bottom line: Walking is something most of us incorporate into our days to live longer, healthier lives.

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It's not just the number of steps you take, it's also how quickly you take them.

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Why working for a Mission Driven School matters! 

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Why working for a Mission Driven School matters! 

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According to a recent Gallup poll, fewer than 30 percent of Americans are engaged at work. The research asserts that it is not enough to be well-compensated at work. Instead, the happiest employees are the ones who feel a sense of purpose in what they do. These findings are an excellent reminder to consider more than just the starting salary and bonus the next time you are in the market for a new position. Whether it is a non-profit like The Art of Elysium, a Los Angeles-based organization which encourages working actors, artists and musicians to voluntarily dedicate their time and talent to children who are battling serious medical conditions, or a for-profit social enterprise, like Tom's Shoes, which donates one pair of shoes to the needy for every pair of shoes sold, there are many good work and life satisfaction-related reasons to work for an organization where you will have the chance to make a difference. Below are six of the best ones:

1. You will be a happier person. In a Deloitte survey of more than 1,300 working adults, employees at companies with a strong sense of purpose were more than four times as likely to (79% versus 19%) state that there was high employee satisfaction at their company. Many of us spend more time at work than we do with our partners, families, or friends. As a result, doing work with a good purpose can make a big difference not just to our satisfaction with our professional lives, but with our lives in general.

2. You will like your co-workers better. Not only will other like-minded individuals be driven to a company with a purpose you believe in, but also that company will seek out such individuals. Mission-driven companies tend to look beyond just how qualified a candidate is for a job, and assess for cultural fit. Furthermore, according to Alia McKee, co-author of The State of Friendship Report, companies such as Zappos or 1-800-Got Junk have "Staff with strong bonds - teams that know and care about each other beyond what's required of their tasks and roles," and that these friendships are a key driver of employee satisfaction.

Liking your co-workers doesn't have to mean bringing it in for a group hug like the gang from Community.

3. You may have access to some pretty great perks. In addition caring about the impact of the work they do, mission-driven companies also to tend to care about the well being of their employees and value work-life balance. Depending on the size and industry, socially-conscious companies can offer a wide variety of perks. For example, at BidKind, we offer employee benefits including a paid two week leave of absence each year to perform community service, group spin classes, and free healthy snacks. At the nearly 40-year-old Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the CAA Foundation is dedicated solely to giving back. The CAA Foundation harnesses the power and reach of pop culture to create positive, social change by forging strategic partnerships, encouraging volunteerism, stimulating public awareness, granting financial contributions, and providing in-kind donations. The CAA Foundation also empowers employees, companies, athletes, and artists to contribute their time, talent, and resources to make a difference, be of service, and improve conditions worldwide.

An employee enjoys going down the slide at the Googleplex.

4. You won't be so bored at work. Sixty eight percent of employees in the US today believe that businesses are not doing enough to create a sense of purpose and deliver meaningful impact. At a social enterprise, the issues you think about will likely appear in headline news, the companies and organizations that you partner with will be focused on changing the world. Beyond alleviating boredom, giving back can add meaning to your work. Supermodel Selita Ebanks learned about Shine on Sierra Leone, an organization that seeks to improve the impoverished nation's quality of life, during an ELLE Magazine fashion shoot in Sierra Leone's countryside. Now, she is the organization's spokesperson and she finds that the cause brings her a sense of purpose.

5. You will have more opportunities for growth. Many mission-driven companies engage more actively in employee development and retention. They attract managers and executives who are focused on people and are more likely to mentor and train employees for success. Company-wide policies are also more likely to include professional development. One social enterprise start up, Warby Parker, cites their mission as a key driver behind their programs for employees including quarterly 360-degree reviews, monthly informal feedback sessions, workshops, and outside speaker sessions.

6. You will have more exit opportunities. If you ever decide to leave your new mission-driven employer, your resume will now resonate more with other purpose-driven companies, regardless of sector. Similarly, working for a non-profit or social enterprise can actually help make your business school applications stand out from those of more traditional candidates.

There are many personal, professional, and of course, moral, reasons that working for a mission-driven company can improve your satisfaction with work and life. Having a sense of purpose is even enough motivation for Jay Z to give up the $2.3 million that he averages each night while on tour in order to perform for free in Central Park as part of the Global Citizen Festival, a concert encouraging individuals to make a difference. Hopefully you have found that level of satisfaction at work. If not, it may be worth considering a change. Happy job hunting!

Related

Business social enterprise career-search making a difference Social Entrepreneurship

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6 Reasons Why Everyone Should Work for a Mission-Driven Company

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There are many personal, professional, and of course, moral, reasons that working for a mission-driven company can improve your satisfaction with work and life.

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Gallup Poll results are interesting and informative!

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Almost a Quarter of the World Feels Lonely

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A Meta-Gallup survey of more than 140 countries shows 24% of people worldwide feel very or fairly lonely -- but about half do not feel lonely at all.

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Dehydration Impairs Cognitive Performance: A Meta-analysis : Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise

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with DEH ranging from 1% to 6% BML. Outcome variables (accuracy, reaction time), cognitive domains, and methods to induce DEH varied. Effect sizes were calculated using standardized mean differences and multivariate meta-analysis. Results Impairment of cognitive performance (all domains/outcomes…

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A population will only experience high levels of overall life satisfaction if its people are also pro-social, healthy, and prosperous. In other words, its people must have high levels of what Aristotle called ‘eudaimonia’.

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Editors

John Helliwell, Richard Layard, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Lara B. Aknin, Shun Wang; and Sharon Paculor, Production Editor

Citation

Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R., Sachs, J. D., Aknin, L. B., De Neve, J.-E., & Wang, S. (Eds.). (2023). World Happiness Report 2023 (11th ed.). Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

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The World Happiness Report is a publication of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, powered by the Gallup World Poll data.

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Use this pdf to discover your personal wellness journey!

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Susan David -Author of Emotional Agility 

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Susan David -Author of Emotional Agility 

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Great Emotional Wellness resource form March Brackett

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The mental well-being of children and adults is shockingly poor. Marc Brackett, author of Permission to Feel, knows why. And he knows what we can do.

"We have a crisis on our hands, and its victims are our children."

Marc Brackett is a professor in Yale University's Child Study Center and founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. In his 25 years as an emotion scientist, he has developed a remarkably effective plan to improve the lives of children and adults - a blueprint for understanding our emotions and using them wisely so that they help, rather than hinder, our success and well-being. The core of his approach is a legacy from his childhood, from an astute uncle who gave him permission to feel. He was the first adult who managed to see Marc, listen to him, and recognize the suffering, bullying, and abuse he'd endured. And that was the beginning of Marc's awareness that what he was going through was temporary. He wasn't alone, he wasn't stuck on a timeline, and he wasn't "wrong" to feel scared, isolated, and angry. Now, best of all, he could do something about it.

In the decades since, Marc has led large research teams and raised tens of millions of dollars to investigate the roots of emotional well-being. His prescription for healthy children (and their parents, teachers, and schools) is a system called RULER, a high-impact and fast-effect approach to understanding and mastering emotions that has already transformed the thousands of schools that have adopted it. RULER has been proven to reduce stress and burnout, improve school climate, and enhance academic achievement. This book is the culmination of Marc's development of RULER and his way to share the strategies and skills with readers around the world. It is tested, and it works.

This book combines rigor, science, passion and inspiration in equal parts. Too many children and adults are suffering; they are ashamed of their feelings and emotionally unskilled, but they don't have to be. Marc Brackett's life mission is to reverse this course, and this book can show you how.

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Permission to Feel [Brackett, Marc] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Permission to Feel

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From my Colleague Gina Rivera: Fill in the blank journals to help you start your journey!

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Journaling as a mindfulness habit stands to offer benefits that include improving your love life, prioritizing your mental health, and dealing with overwhelming feelings. That said, journaling writer's block is real-even for a professional writer and self-professed journaling connoisseur who has kept up a regular practice since middle school (ahem, that's me). But rest assured, this strain of writer's block is very treatable and journals with prompts built in can certainly help.

Instead of purchasing a plain journal, you can grab one that already has journal prompts inside to guide your thoughts. Since journals with prompts stand to make the writing part easier, you can focus on the harder work of self-reflection and introspection. Below, find seven journals with prompts that take all the guesswork out of the mindfulness habit.

Below find 7 journals with prompts to make self-reflection a little more seamless.

The Five Minute Journal is perfect for those who don't have much time for journaling. Filling out one page per day requires only five minutes, split between morning and night. In other words, no excuses. Start your day by writing down three things you're grateful for, three things that would make the day great, and an affirmation for the day. Then, check back in at the end of the day to reflect on three amazing things that happened that day and how you could have done better.

The Kind Friend Journal is an excellent tool for stepping up your self-care practice. Inside the journal, you'll find weekly spreads that help you set goals, track habits and mood, and prompt you to reflect on your week. You can note what worked, what didn't, and what you're grateful for that week. There are also empty pages for freestyle journaling if you feel inspired.

The Full Focus Journal features prompts that help to uncover the top lessons of the day, shift your mind to a more positive perspective, create clarity, and prompt you to slow down and celebrate daily small wins.

As its name suggests, the Stress Less Journal aims to help you keep your cool in stressful situations. Complete with a vegan leather cover, the journal features seven chapters filled with journaling exercises based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) that help you identify any thoughts that trigger you, cultivate more positive thoughts, and manage stress and anxiety. There are also daily habit and mood trackers included to help you kick stress to the curb.

If you have little ones at home, including them in your journaling practice can be a fun way to spend quality time together while nourishing their minds and improving their reading, writing, and communication skills. Designed for kids ages five and up, the Loom Parent Child Journal features research-backed gratitude practices, affirmations, and exercises that cultivate a growth mind-set.

The Daily Stoic Journal is the companion to The Daily Stoic book of meditations by best-selling author Ryan Holiday. Whether you've read the original book or not, this hardcover journal helps you put ancient philosophies into practice with daily thought-provoking journal prompts. It's designed to take you on a journaling journey for 366 days so you'll have more than enough journaling inspiration for the remainder of 2020 and beyond.

If you're serious about taking your journal practice to the next level, this guided journal set might be the thing for you. It includes six journals, each covering different themes, including self-love, relationships, mindfulness, resilience, anxiety, and healing. Each journal has 30 prompts that dig into each theme and help you identify blocks, set goals, and create actionable plans to improve that area of your life. You also have the option of purchasing each journal separately if one calls to you more. Bonus points for the pretty pastel shades the journals come in, which will look lovely on your desk or nightstand.
Oh hi! You look like someone who loves free workouts, discounts for cult-fave wellness brands, a nd exclusive Well+Good content. Sign up for Well+, our online community of wellness insiders, and unlock your rewards instantly.

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7 Journals With Built-In Prompts That Take the Guesswork Out of Self-Reflection

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Ever get journaling writer's block? Try one of these journals with prompts to make the writing part easier so you can focus on self-reflection.

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He recorded his TED talk, titled "What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness," in 2015, and it has been viewed 13,000,000 times.

The researchers also found that marital satisfaction has a protective effect on people's mental health. Part of a study found that people who had happy marriages in their 80s reported that their moods didn't suffer even on the days when they had more physical pain. Those who had unhappy marriages felt both more emotional and physical pain.

Those who kept warm relationships got to live longer and happier, said Waldinger, and the loners often died earlier. "Loneliness kills," he said. "It's as powerful as smoking or alcoholism."

According to the study, those who lived longer and enjoyed sound health avoided smoking and alcohol in excess. Researchers also found that those with strong social support experienced less mental deterioration as they aged.

In part of a recent study, researchers found that women who felt securely attached to their partners were less depressed and more happy in their relationships two-and-a-half years later, and also had better memory functions than those with frequent marital conflicts.

"Loneliness kills. It's as powerful as smoking or alcoholism."

"Good relationships don't just protect our bodies; they protect our brains," said Waldinger in his TED talk. "And those good relationships, they don't have to be smooth all the time. Some of our octogenarian couples could bicker with each other day in and day out, but as long as they felt that they could really count on the other when the going got tough, those arguments didn't take a toll on their memories."

Since aging starts at birth, people should start taking care of themselves at every stage of life, the researchers say.

"Aging is a continuous process," Waldinger said. "You can see how people can start to differ in their health trajectory in their 30s, so that by taking good care of yourself early in life you can set yourself on a better course for aging. The best advice I can give is 'Take care of your body as though you were going to need it for 100 years,' because you might."

The study, like its remaining original subjects, has had a long life, spanning four directors, whose tenures reflected their medical interests and views of the time.

Under the first director, Clark Heath, who stayed from 1938 until 1954, the study mirrored the era's dominant view of genetics and biological determinism. Early researchers believed that physical constitution, intellectual ability, and personality traits determined adult development. They made detailed anthropometric measurements of skulls, brow bridges, and moles, wrote in-depth notes on the functioning of major organs, examined brain activity through electroencephalograms, and even analyzed the men's handwriting.

Now, researchers draw men's blood for DNA testing and put them into MRI scanners to examine organs and tissues in their bodies, procedures that would have sounded like science fiction back in 1938. In that sense, the study itself represents a history of the changes that life brings.

Psychiatrist George Vaillant, who joined the team as a researcher in 1966, led the study from 1972 until 2004. Trained as a psychoanalyst, Vaillant emphasized the role of relationships, and came to recognize the crucial role they played in people living long and pleasant lives.

"When the study began, nobody cared about empathy or attachment. But the key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships."

In a book called "Aging Well," Vaillant wrote that six factors predicted healthy aging for the Harvard men: physical activity, absence of alcohol abuse and smoking, having mature mechanisms to cope with life's ups and downs, and enjoying both a healthy weight and a stable marriage. For the inner-city men, education was an additional factor. "The more education the inner city men obtained," wrote Vaillant, "the more likely they were to stop smoking, eat sensibly, and use alcohol in moderation."

Vaillant's research highlighted the role of these protective factors in healthy aging. The more factors the subjects had in place, the better the odds they had for longer, happier lives.

"When the study began, nobody cared about empathy or attachment," said Vaillant. "But the key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships."

The study showed that the role of genetics and long-lived ancestors proved less important to longevity than the level of satisfaction with relationships in midlife, now recognized as a good predictor of healthy aging. The research also debunked the idea that people's personalities "set like plaster" by age 30 and cannot be changed.

"Those who were clearly train wrecks when they were in their 20s or 25s turned out to be wonderful octogenarians," he said. "On the other hand, alcoholism and major depression could take people who started life as stars and leave them at the end of their lives as train wrecks."

The study's fourth director, Waldinger has expanded research to the wives and children of the original men. That is the second-generation study, and Waldinger hopes to expand it into the third and fourth generations. "It will probably never be replicated," he said of the lengthy research, adding that there is yet more to learn.

"We're trying to see how people manage stress, whether their bodies are in a sort of chronic 'fight or flight' mode," Waldinger said. "We want to find out how it is that a difficult childhood reaches across decades to break down the body in middle age and later."

Lara Tang '18, a human and evolutionary biology concentrator who recently joined the team as a research assistant, relishes the opportunity to help find some of those answers. She joined the effort after coming across Waldinger's TED talk in one of her classes.

"That motivated me to do more research on adult development," said Tang. "I want to see how childhood experiences affect developments of physical health, mental health, and happiness later in life."

Asked what lessons he has learned from the study, Waldinger, who is a Zen priest, said he practices meditation daily and invests time and energy in his relationships, more than before.

"It's easy to get isolated, to get caught up in work and not remembering, 'Oh, I haven't seen these friends in a long time,' " Waldinger said. "So I try to pay more attention to my relationships than I used to."

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Over nearly 80 years, Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life

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For nearly 80 years, the Harvard Study of Adult Development has been producing data and lessons on how to live longer, happier, and healthier lives.

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Use this tool with your Guiding Coalition!

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WHO's noise guidelines and the impact on our daily well-being and health! 

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WHO's noise guidelines and the impact on our daily well-being and health! 

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Overview

Noise is an important public health issue. It has negative impacts on human health and well-being and is a growing concern. The WHO Regional Office for Europe has developed these guidelines, based on the growing understanding of these health impacts of exposure to environmental noise. The main purpose of these guidelines is to provide recommendations for protecting human health from exposure to environmental noise originating from various sources: transportation (‎road traffic, railway and aircraft)‎ noise, wind turbine noise and leisure noise. They provide robust public health advice underpinned by evidence, which is essential to drive policy action that will protect communities from the adverse effects of noise. The guidelines are published by the WHO Regional Office for Europe. In terms of their health implications, the recommended exposure levels can be considered applicable in other regions and suitable for a global audience.

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Environmental noise guidelines for the European Region

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Noise is an important public health issue. It has negative impacts on human health and well-being and is a growing concern. The WHO Regional Office for Europe has developed these guidelines, based on the growing understanding of these health impacts of exposure to environmental noise.

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how the gut is an integral part of how we feel!

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Advertisement

As Olympians go for the gold in Vancouver, even the steeliest are likely to experience that familiar feeling of "butterflies" in the stomach. Underlying this sensation is an often-overlooked network of neurons lining our guts that is so extensive some scientists have nicknamed it our "second brain".

A deeper understanding of this mass of neural tissue, filled with important neurotransmitters, is revealing that it does much more than merely handle digestion or inflict the occasional nervous pang. The little brain in our innards, in connection with the big one in our skulls, partly determines our mental state and plays key roles in certain diseases throughout the body.

Although its influence is far-reaching, the second brain is not the seat of any conscious thoughts or decision-making.

"The second brain doesn't help with the great thought processes...religion, philosophy and poetry is left to the brain in the head," says Michael Gershon, chairman of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, an expert in the nascent field of neurogastroenterology and author of the 1998 book The Second Brain (HarperCollins).

Technically known as the enteric nervous system, the second brain consists of sheaths of neurons embedded in the walls of the long tube of our gut, or alimentary canal, which measures about nine meters end to end from the esophagus to the anus. The second brain contains some 100 million neurons, more than in either the spinal cord or the peripheral nervous system, Gershon says.

This multitude of neurons in the enteric nervous system enables us to "feel" the inner world of our gut and its contents. Much of this neural firepower comes to bear in the elaborate daily grind of digestion. Breaking down food, absorbing nutrients, and expelling of waste requires chemical processing, mechanical mixing and rhythmic muscle contractions that move everything on down the line.

Thus equipped with its own reflexes and senses, the second brain can control gut behavior independently of the brain, Gershon says. We likely evolved this intricate web of nerves to perform digestion and excretion "on site," rather than remotely from our brains through the middleman of the spinal cord. "The brain in the head doesn't need to get its hands dirty with the messy business of digestion, which is delegated to the brain in the gut," Gershon says. He and other researchers explain, however, that the second brain's complexity likely cannot be interpreted through this process alone.

"The system is way too complicated to have evolved only to make sure things move out of your colon," says Emeran Mayer, professor of physiology, psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (U.C.L.A.). For example, scientists were shocked to learn that about 90 percent of the fibers in the primary visceral nerve, the vagus, carry information from the gut to the brain and not the other way around. "Some of that info is decidedly unpleasant," Gershon says.

The second brain informs our state of mind in other more obscure ways, as well. "A big part of our emotions are probably influenced by the nerves in our gut," Mayer says. Butterflies in the stomach-signaling in the gut as part of our physiological stress response, Gershon says-is but one example. Although gastrointestinal (GI) turmoil can sour one's moods, everyday emotional well-being may rely on messages from the brain below to the brain above. For example, electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve-a useful treatment for depression-may mimic these signals, Gershon says.

Given the two brains' commonalities, other depression treatments that target the mind can unintentionally impact the gut. The enteric nervous system uses more than 30 neurotransmitters, just like the brain, and in fact 95 percent of the body's serotonin is found in the bowels. Because antidepressant medications called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) increase serotonin levels, it's little wonder that meds meant to cause chemical changes in the mind often provoke GI issues as a side effect. Irritable bowel syndrome-which afflicts more than two million Americans-also arises in part from too much serotonin in our entrails, and could perhaps be regarded as a "mental illness" of the second brain.

Scientists are learning that the serotonin made by the enteric nervous system might also play a role in more surprising diseases: In a new Nature Medicine study published online February 7, a drug that inhibited the release of serotonin from the gut counteracted the bone-deteriorating disease osteoporosis in postmenopausal rodents. ( Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.) "It was totally unexpected that the gut would regulate bone mass to the extent that one could use this regulation to cure-at least in rodents-osteoporosis," says Gerard Karsenty, lead author of the study and chair of the Department of Genetics and Development at Columbia University Medical Center.

Serotonin seeping from the second brain might even play some part in autism, the developmental disorder often first noticed in early childhood. Gershon has discovered that the same genes involved in synapse formation between neurons in the brain are involved in the alimentary synapse formation. "If these genes are affected in autism," he says, "it could explain why so many kids with autism have GI motor abnormalities" in addition to elevated levels of gut-produced serotonin in their blood.

Down the road, the blossoming field of neurogastroenterology will likely offer some new insight into the workings of the second brain-and its impact on the body and mind. "We have never systematically looked at [the enteric nervous system] in relating lesions in it to diseases like they have for the" central nervous system, Gershon says. One day, perhaps there will be well-known connections between diseases and lesions in the gut's nervous system as some in the brain and spinal cord today indicate multiple sclerosis.

Cutting-edge research is currently investigating how the second brain mediates the body's immune response; after all, at least 70 percent of our immune system is aimed at the gut to expel and kill foreign invaders.

U.C.L.A.'s Mayer is doing work on how the trillions of bacteria in the gut "communicate" with enteric nervous system cells (which they greatly outnumber). His work with the gut's nervous system has led him to think that in coming years psychiatry will need to expand to treat the second brain in addition to the one atop the shoulders.

So for those physically skilled and mentally strong enough to compete in the Olympic Games-as well as those watching at home-it may well behoove us all to pay more heed to our so-called " gut feelings" in the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Recent Articles by Adam Hadhazy

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Think Twice: How the Gut's "Second Brain" Influences Mood and Well-Being

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As Olympians go for the gold in Vancouver, even the steeliest are likely to experience that familiar feeling of "butterflies" in the stomach. Underlying this sensation is an often-overlooked network of neurons lining our guts that is so extensive some scientists have nicknamed it our "second brain".

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This is our newest book a July, 2023 release! 

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This is our newest book a July, 2023 release! 

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This is a companion month-by-month Plan Book and Wellness Journal for all educators

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The Educator Wellness Plan Book and Journal

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This goal-setting planner offers K–12 teachers and administrators a practical tool for integrating physical, mental, emotional, and social wellness tips and strategies daily to create a personal and professional life that maintains focus and balance.

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As we get down to work, our mind is flooded with thoughts - should I respond to that email I got last night or a message from my boss, how about a cup of coffee, why not start the project I have been avoiding this entire week or maybe just a quick catch up on the meeting I missed yesterday...

A series of these small decisions scattered throughout our day may seem harmless in the moment as they seem to demand only a small fraction of our mental energy, but as the day goes on and we continue to expend from this seemingly reserved pool of energy, our mental capacity to make decisions starts depleting.

Unlike physical fatigue which we can feel and instantly express, the mental fatigue that comes after making multiple decisions is not visible to us.

Decision fatigue as psychologists like to call it leads to poor quality of decision making - we show reluctance to make trade-offs, fall back to easy choices and may even find it difficult to exercise self-control after making a series of decisions.

"If your work requires you to make hard decisions all day long, at some point you're going to be depleted and start looking for ways to conserve energy. You'll look for excuses to avoid or postpone decisions. You'll look for the easiest and safest option, which often is to stick with the status quo", says Roy Baumeister in Willpower.

Ordering a pizza as opposed to a healthy meal in the evening after a long session of decision making at work is a sign that our self-control against impulses decreases in the face of decision fatigue. Social psychologist Roy Baumeister describes this inability to exercise self-control as ego depletion in his study on decision fatigue.

Decision fatigue also explains why we are more reluctant to approve new ideas, find it difficult to choose from a number of presented options and end up making poor choices in the evening as opposed to making these decisions in the morning when our reserved bank of mental energy is at its best.

Before we get down to reduce and maybe even avoid decision fatigue, it's important to recognise its symptoms. Knowing when we are running on a low mental battery will enable us to avoid making bad decisions and find creative ways to save the battery for important decisions.

How to identify when you are experiencing decision fatigue

Recognise if you are experiencing decision fatigue by watching out for these symptoms -

Become reckless

Decision fatigue will cause you to act impulsively instead of taking the time to think through the consequences of your decisions.

It shows up when you fall back to your instincts or choose an option just because its first order consequence is positive without analysing the second order effects of your decision.

Taking the time to think through the impact of your decision requires putting multiple options on your mental stage and comparing them. A tired mind isn't equipped to provide the resources for weighing in on different options, challenging your assumptions and navigating the potential obstacles required to make a thoughtful decision.

"Effort is required to maintain simultaneously in memory several ideas that require separate actions, or that need to be combined according to a rule. System 2 is the only one that can follow rules, compare objects on several attributes, and make deliberate choices between options. The automatic System 1 does not have these capabilities", says Daniel Kahneman in Thinking, Fast And Slow.

With your system2 deliberate thinking mode refusing to cooperate, your system1 automatic thinking springs to action and system1 is known to act on impulse or as Daniel Kahneman calls it "The law of least effort is operating here. He will think as least as possible"

Choose the status quo

It's easy to stick to what you know while exploring the unknown requires crossing the mental boundary from comfort to discomfort.

David Rock explains this in Your Brain At Work "Picturing something you have not yet seen is going to take a lot of energy and effort. This partly explains why people spend more time thinking about problems (things they have seen) than solutions (things they have never seen). It explains why setting goals feels so hard (it's hard to envision the future)"

After making multiple decisions throughout the day, decision fatigue can cause you to stay inside your comfort bubble and resist the idea of a change since it's uncomfortable and demands a lot of effort and energy.

Decisions made under the effect of decision fatigue with a mentally tired state can have a huge impact on your future. Sticking with the status quo can cause you to -

Invest in sunk costs while ignoring the multiple opportunities that lie ahead

Ignore technological advancements and shift in market trends that require you to reevaluate your strategies

Reject proposal for a new product that could be a game changer for the company

Fail to see value in making small changes that could yield significant rewards

Stuck with analysis paralysis

Making a good decision requires bringing knowledge from several domains, stitching distinct ideas together, maintaining the right balance of exploring breadth and depth across these ideas, making new connections and then zeroing in on a few candidates that look promising.

When your mental machinery is tired, you will find it hard to process information to separate noise from the goodness of an idea. This may lead to overthinking, the tendency to think too much and move back and forth on ideas without the ability to give them a specific direction.

Decision fatigue may cause you to obsess about the problems that don't even exist, draw biased conclusions and be stuck with analysis paralysis with the possibility that there might be something better. It can cause you to chase a perfect solution instead of making the best decision under the given circumstances.

Too many options

Decision fatigue is not necessarily caused by making too many decisions, it could also be a result of too many choices. We prefer having choices even when they don't necessarily add value to our decision.

At work, too many choices can cause designers to waste hours in finalising the right shade of blue, marketers may find it difficult to choose the channel that will give them the maximum return for their investment, hiring manager may be burdened with the task of finalising a recruiting agency amongst the many possibilities and engineers may argue over minor details in the strategic planning phase to lock down on the specific tactics to be employed.

Choices can be overwhelming and too many choices can tax your mind by consuming resources in a short frame of time leaving less energy for making further decisions.

Barry Schwartz advises in The Paradox of Choice "Learning to choose is hard. Learning to choose well is harder. And learning to choose well in a world of unlimited possibilities is harder still, perhaps too hard."

React aggressively

Under the effect of decision fatigue, your brain's regulatory power weakens causing you to lose control over your emotions. This makes everything around you feel more intense than normal.

Small mistakes can make you furious, disagreements may cause irritation and you may react aggressively to things that are not in line with your expectation.

Without your realisation, the switch in your brain may flip after many rounds of decision making causing you to react to people and things in your environment instead of taking the time to analyse and act appropriately.

How to overcome decision fatigue

Decision fatigue is a real thing, but it's also something completely under your control.

Only you can design a personal system that maximises your chances of making the best decision as opposed to trying to squeeze out every bit of your attention.

Employ these 5 practices to avoid decision fatigue -

1. Be an essentialist

We make a large number of decisions from the time we wake up - some consciously, others unconsciously, some trivial, others significant, some reversible, others irreversible.

Without controlling the number of decisions we make by choice and dedicating our peak mental energy to those significant decisions that impact our lives in a huge way, we may end up with poor judgment.

Inspired by Greg McKeown from Essentialism, we need to be essentialists when it comes to decision-making

The way of the Essentialist means living by design, not by default. Instead of making choices reactively, the Essentialist deliberately distinguishes the vital few from the trivial many, eliminates the nonessentials, and then removes obstacles so the essential things have clear, smooth passage. In other words, Essentialism is a disciplined, systematic approach for determining where our highest point of contribution lies, then making execution of those things almost effortless

The first step to combat decision fatigue is to organise your life in a way that you prioritise what needs prioritising and put all your energy into getting it right.

So let's jump to this step in the process, which is to make your commitments visible by planning upfront.

2. Get things out of your head

Identify activities that align with your goals and values and say no to all inconsequential activities. Then spend dedicated time daily to plan what you wish to achieve each day. Planning upfront has two major advantages -

1. You don't have to think about what demands your attention as you start your day

2. It serves as a commitment and point of reference when you find yourself distracted

By not spending mental cycles in deciding every instant on what to do next, you can avoid decision fatigue and free up more resources to do the real work. It will also help you attend to those urgent situations which are not under your control with the right state of mind.

Putting this practice into action requires what David Rock suggests "Creating visuals for complex ideas is one way to maximize limited energy resources. Another way involves reducing the load on the prefrontal cortex whenever possible. The idea is to get the concepts out of your mind and into the world and to save the stage for the most important functions. Minimize energy usage to maximize performance."

A good way to get the plan out of your head is to utilise Eisenhower's productivity matrix to divide your work in 4 quadrants based on their urgency and importance.

The next step is to order these priorities for optimal resource usage - eat that frog first.

3. Eat that frog

Tackle your most challenging task first, one that demands your mental capacity to process information at its best.

"The stage uses up power quickly, and as the lights dim, it gets harder to hold actors in the right place and stop others from getting on the stage. This tendency means scheduling the most attention-rich tasks when you have a fresh and alert mind. This could be early in the morning, or perhaps after a break or exercise. Making a tough decision might take thirty seconds when you are fresh and be impossible when you're not", says David Rock in Your Brain At Work.

By prioritising work that will have the greatest positive impact on your life and matching the mental demands of the work with your energy levels, you will be able to make the best decisions when you are not under the effect of decision fatigue.

What do you do when things don't pan out the way you wanted?

4. Believe you have more willpower

As much as we crave an organised world and like to be in control, things don't always go according to a plan.

You may be forced to make a decision when you are tired. What should you do then - say no to making a decision? Well, sometimes that may not be a possibility.

Stanford University Professor of Psychology Carol Dweck found "that while decision fatigue does occur, it primarily affects those who believe that willpower runs out quickly." She states that "people get fatigued or depleted after a taxing task only when they believe that willpower is a limited resource, but not when they believe it's not so limited". She notes that "in some cases, the people who believe that willpower is not so limited actually perform better after a taxing task

This does not mean that you will never feel decision fatigue if you keep making one decision after another. Rather, it guides you to believe in a growth mindset and exercise your willpower when put under tough situations, when you have to make a decision even though your mental resources have depleted.

By exercising your willpower in such moments, you may not make the best decision, but it will be much better than the one without it.

5. Know when it's time to stop

Roy Baumeister, a social psychologist, known for his work on willpower, self-control and self-esteem says "The best decision makers are the ones who know when not to trust themselves. Even the wisest people won't make good choices when they're not rested and their glucose is low. That's why the truly wise don't restructure the company at 4 p.m. They don't make major commitments during the cocktail hour. And if a decision must be made late in the day, they know not to do it on an empty stomach"

Know when it's time for you to stop - take feedback from your past decisions, identify patterns based on your best and worst decisions and incorporate it into your planning.

By knowing when you operate well and when you are physically present but mentally absent, you can make a choice to opt-out of the decision process and push those decisions to a later stage.

Be the master of your own life. Don't let it run on autopilot by learning to make a few decisions and make them well by being an essentialist, getting things out of your head, eating that frog, exercising your willpower and opting out when you aren't adding value.

How do you manage decision fatigue? Write to me or share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Decision Fatigue: Don't Squeeze Out Every Bit Of Your Attention - TechTello

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Do you control the number of decisions you make by choice and dedicate your peak mental energy to those significant decisions that impact your life in a huge way?

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Use this quick survey to get your Anger Response score!

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We all get angry. It's a normal emotion. However, some of us handle our anger better than others.

While one person might be a bit unhappy when someone cuts him off in traffic, another is so angry that he shouts and swears, and starts driving aggressively himself.

How can the same event cause such different reactions? And how can you make sure that your reaction is the calm one, instead of the wild one?

How Good Is Your Anger Management?

So how well do you manage your anger? Use the online test to find out how well you do.

Instructions

For each statement, click the button in the column that best describes you. Please answer questions as you actually are (rather than how you think you should be), and don't worry if some questions seem to score in the 'wrong direction'. When you are finished, please click the 'Calculate My Total' button at the bottom of the test.

Your last quiz results are shown.

You last completed this quiz on , at .

18-41

You seem to let your anger control you, which probably causes you all sorts of problems. In turn, this may make you more angry. Fortunately, you can learn how to break this cycle. Read the rest of the article for some great strategies for managing your anger. (Read below to start.)

42-66

You're able to manage your anger in some situations and not others. You have a few strategies that work for you, however, you'll benefit from a better understanding of what causes your anger, and what actions you can take to better manage your emotions. (Read below to start.)

67-90

Well done! You have a very good understanding of what makes you angry, and you know what to do when you start to feel signs of trouble. You've developed a wide range of anger management strategies, and you can be proud of these. (Read below for more.)

Manage Your Anger Constructively

The goal of anger management is not to eliminate anger completely: that isn't possible, since it's a natural human emotion. Rather, the objective is to control and direct your anger - so that it doesn't control you, or damage an important relationship or situation.

In Anger Management: Channelling Anger into Performance, we discuss Redford Williams' steps for controlling anger. There are three key elements to these:

1. Understanding what causes your anger.

2. Reducing your angry reactions.

3. Controlling your anger when you experience it.

(Questions 1, 8, 13)

Use a diary or "anger log" to write down the times, people, and situations that make you angry.

Look for trends, or things that make you angry often.

Ask yourself why these things make you angry. Do you connect certain memories to these sources of anger? Do you feel that goals are being frustrated, or that something important to you is being threatened?

(Questions 3, 5, 14)

(Questions 7, 12, 15, 18)

Build empathy - When you understand another person's perspective, it helps you analyze the situation objectively and understand your role in the conflict. Accept that you may not always know best!

Learn to trust others - Assume the best in people, and don't take their actions personally.

Listen - Use active listening to consider what the other person has to say, and then think before you speak. In many situations, the best way to deal with anger is to accept it, and then find ways to move forward. This can protect your relationships with people, and it allows you to acknowledge your feelings.

Be assertive, not aggressive - By improving your assertiveness skills, you can reduce the frustration that you feel when your needs aren't being met. When you know how to ask for what you want, you'll generally feel more in control, and less likely to say things that you'll later regret.

(Questions 2, 9, 11, 16)

Take 10 deep breaths. It really does work!

Do some physical activity - walk, run, swim, play golf, or do some other sport. This can be great for releasing the stress and frustration you've built up!

Use a punching bag or a pillow to physically express your anger (in a way that's not harmful).

Do yoga, or another relaxing form of exercise.

Participate in a fun activity or hobby.

Use a journal and/or art to express your feelings.

Forgive. At some point, it helps to let go and move on with a fresh attitude.

(Questions 4, 6, 10, 17)

Change Your Environment

Take a break and physically remove yourself from the conflict. Go to another room, go for a walk, or count to 10. This may give you time to gain perspective and simply calm down.

Learn to avoid situations that you know will cause your anger. If you don't like your teammate's messy desk, don't go into her office.

If you regularly do something that makes you angry, try to find something else to do in its place. For example, if the crowded elevator upsets you every morning, take the stairs.

Use Humor

Think of something funny to say (but don't be rude or sarcastic).

Try to see the funny side of the situation.

Imagine the other person in a silly situation.

Learn to laugh at yourself.

Smile. It's hard to be angry with a smile on your face.

Calm Yourself Physically

Use physical relaxation techniques. Take slow, deep breaths and concentrate on your breathing.

Tighten and release small muscle groups. Focus on your hands, legs, back, and toes.

Repeat a word or phrase that reminds you to stay in control and remain confident. For example, say, "You'll get through this. Relax! You're doing a great job!"

Practice imagery techniques. Use your imagination or memory to visualize a calming place or situation.

Key Points

It is natural to feel, express, and release anger. However, there are appropriate ways to do so - and that's what anger management is all about.

You can get a strong insight into your anger issues by understanding what makes you angry. From there, you can create a plan to minimize frustration and anger in your life.

When you do get angry, there are many approaches you can try to calm down - including changing your environment, using humor, and practicing relaxation techniques. It's also important to release your anger on a regular basis.

Don't let your anger control you. Instead, face it - and take back control of anger - and of your life!

Note:

This assessment has not been validated and is intended for illustrative purposes only. It is just one of many that help you evaluate your abilities in a wide range of important career skills. Click here for other self-tests.

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How Good Is Your Anger Management?: Controlling Your Anger Before it Controls You

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We all get angry. It's a normal emotion. However, some of us handle our anger better than others. While one person might be a bit unhappy when someone cuts him off in traffic, another is so angry that he shouts and swears, and starts driving aggressively himself.

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Become intentional and add movement to your daily life routine!

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It might feel like a walk in the park, but trainers say you *can* turn your stroll into a super-effective workout. Here's how.

If you think sprinting, spinning, strength training and other forms of high-intensity workouts are the only "real" forms of exercise, we have some news that might help you breathe easier.

"Walking is very effective at beginning to build a baseline cardiovascular fitness level, and is a great form of exercise-especially for those who have not previously been active or those who are interested in starting a running routine," says Austin Johnson, a San Antonio, Texas-based NCSF certified personal trainer and the national personal training manager for Gold's Gym. "For those two types of exercisers, it's important to start their routines at easier intensities to prevent injuries, and walking is the perfect way to do that!"

We're not talking about a slow, meandering stroll, though. (Although that can be a marvelous version of meditation if that's the goal!) Lace up those walking shoes, then read on to discover how to step right up and make your next walk a workout.

Why Walking Is Such a Great Form of Exercise

"Walking is a great form of exercise for preventing diseases that affect our mental health and some heart-related conditions," says Ben Walker, a certified personal trainer with Anywhere Fitness in Dublin, Ireland. "It stimulates blood flow to the brain and the rest of the body, boosting our metabolism, reducing feelings of anxiety and stress, and improving our overall mood. It also lowers blood pressure."

Regarding chronic disease risk, as long as you're expending the same amount of energy with either form of cardio-walking or running-you lower your risk for diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol at about the same rate, according to research published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.

Walking and Weight Loss

While walking is fantastic for your brain and body, and can certainly increase longevity and improve mood, walking is not the most efficient type of workout if you're aiming to lose weight, Walker says. (Still, it *is* possible to walk off 10 pounds -if you're willing to be patient enough to space them out across a few months.)

"To lose weight effectively in a day, we need to be at a caloric deficit. This means we need to burn more calories than we are consuming. Women and men are recommended to eat an average of 2,000 and 2,500 calories per day respectively, and walking simply can't be effective enough to create a deficit," Walker says.

Brisk walking at a rate of 4 to 5 miles per hour (a pace that's been scientifically proven to help you live longer, BTW) can burn just about as many calories per mile as running at a slow speed, Walker adds. And since it involves less pounding, your body is less prone to injuries so you may be able to stick to your healthy habit longer and stronger. But since runners cover more distance in the same amount of time, and running is more demanding on the cardiovascular system-meaning it spikes your heart rate more, you burn more calories if we're comparing minute by minute.

For example, a 160-pound person walking at 3½ miles per hour for 1 hour will burn about 302 calories. The same individual running at 6 miles per hour for 20 minutes will burn about 356 calories; half the time, about the same distance, but a few more calories.

How Much to Walk Each Day

The World Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the American College of Sports Medicine all recommend that adults aim for 150 minutes of moderate- intensity exercise per week for health, and 300 minutes per week for weight loss.

"Moderate-intensity walking would be a brisk pace, which for most individuals who have no underlying injuries or disease would probably fall between 3 to 4 miles per hour. This would equate to a 15- to 20-minute-per-mile walking pace," Johnson says.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that if you don't want to track your pace, simply try the talk test. Moderate-intensity exercise should have you breathing heavily enough that you can talk, but not sing.

If 150 minutes sounds like a lot, keep in mind that "you don't have to jump feet-first into the 150-minute goal. Start where you are and gradually increase your activity week by week," says Steve Stonehouse, NASM-CPT, a certified personal trainer and the director of education at Stride in Orange County, California. "The 150 minutes per week can be divided in many different ways. Some people aim for 30 minutes of walking 5 days a week. Others fit in 10 minutes of walking several times a day."

If you're new to walking, the most important thing to remember is that it's not all or nothing, Johnson advises. Ease into it.

"As easy as walking sounds, you can certainly overdo it [depending on how] sedentary you were before starting. Starting off with two or three days a week and building up to five days a week over a month-long period is great! Once you become a seasoned walker, if you are interested in moving into jogging, take the same approach of gradually increasing," Johnson says.

How to Step Up Your Walking Workout

So with that in mind, here's how to get started, how to step things up and how to eventually progress from walking to running (if that's your goal).

Step 1: Walk at a steady, comfortable pace for 10 minutes at a time, working up to being able to walk for 30 minutes straight per day at your desired pace.

Step 2: Walk for 30 minutes per day at a moderate to brisk pace that allows you to talk but not sing.

Step 3: Mix up the terrain. Walking on steep ground causes the heart rate to constantly increase-and, as a result, the metabolic rate and calorie burn increase as well. This also challenges the lower body muscles to act as a resistance-training workout of sorts, Walker adds. "When walking rocky or angled slopes, different muscle groups (mainly core and lower body) are activated to complete these movements. The supporting muscles assist each other, improving our strength and mobility, and make lower body movements easier to perform in everyday life," Walker says. So adjust the treadmill or find a hiking trail or some hills in your neighborhood.

Step 4: Take the stairs. Find a park, stadium or gym staircase that has several flights of stairs. Try to climb them every 10 minutes during your 30-minute walking workout, then progress to climbing them every 5 minutes for 6 total rounds. "This will increase the level of leg strength you build through walking," Johnson says, and also raise your heart rate to increase your calorie burn.

Step 5: Try intervals. Pick up the pace for 1 minute, then recover at a moderate walking pace for 4 minutes. Repeat this for 6 rounds to complete your walking workout for the day, Stonehouse suggests. Once that gets easy, try walking fast for 2 minutes, then recover at a moderate pace for 3 minutes; repeating 6 times. Scale up to 6 sets of 3 minutes fast, 2 minutes moderate, then to 6 sets of 4 minutes fast, 1 minute moderate, and finally, to a fast walk for all 30 minutes.

Step 6: Pick up the pace. If you'd like to try jogging, follow the same minute-by-minute breakdown in Step 5, just with jogging for the faster interval. Recover at a moderate to brisk walking pace.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, walking can be a legit workout and can spark a seriously healthy habit, whether you stick with walking or speed things up. If you want to challenge your upper body, too, consider nordic walking. Science proves that walking with poles activates 90% of your body's muscle groups. Before you start or step up your walking routine, study up on mistakes you're making when walking and how to fix them to stay safe and injury free so you can comfortably lace up again tomorrow.

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Is Walking a Good Enough Form of Exercise?

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It might feel like a walk in the park, but trainers say you *can* turn your stroll into a super-effective workout. Here's how. If you think sprinting, spinning, strength training and other forms of high-intensity workouts are the only "real" forms of exercise, we have some news that might help you breathe easier.

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Message: be a non-body shaper!

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Why You Shouldn't Exercise to Lose Weight

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If you're aiming to lose weight, exercise isn't really going to help you. But it's still the most important thing you can do for your health

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What Are Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency?

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Sleep deprivation and deficiency are conditions that occur when you don't get enough good quality sleep when your body needs it. This can lead to physical and mental health problems. Learn about the causes, risk factors, symptoms, and treatment for Sleep deprivation and deficiency.

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Research article on renewing our energy each day! 

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Research article on renewing our energy each day! 

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All of us know people who have more energy than we do, but the science of the phenomenon is just coming into view.

For months, during the main pandemic stretch, I'd get inexplicably tired in the afternoon, as though vital organs and muscles had turned to Styrofoam. Just sitting in front of a computer screen, in sweatpants and socks, left me drained. It seemed ridiculous to be grumbling about fatigue when so many people were suffering through so much more. But we feel how we feel.

Nuke a cup of cold coffee, take a walk around the block: the standard tactics usually did the trick. But one advantage, or disadvantage, of working from home is the proximity of a bed. Now and then, you surrender. These midafternoon doldrums weren't entirely unfamiliar. Even back in the office years, with editors on the prowl, I learned to sneak the occasional catnap under my desk, alert as a zebra to the telltale footfall of a consequential approach. At home, though, you could power all the way down.

Still, the ebb, lately, had become acute, and hard to account for. By the standards of my younger years, I was burning the candle at neither end. Could one attribute it to the wine the night before, the cookies, the fitful and abbreviated sleep, the boomerang effect of the morning's caffeine and carbs, a sedentary profession, middle age? That will be a yes. And yet the mind roamed: Covid? Lyme? Diabetes? Cancer? It's no HIPAA violation to reveal that, as various checkups determined, none of those pertained. So, embrace it. A recent headline in the Guardian: "Extravagant eye bags: How extreme exhaustion became this year's hottest look."

It was just a question of energy. The endurance athlete, running perilously low on fuel, is said to hit the wall, or bonk. Cyclists call this feeling "the man with the hammer." Applying the parlance to the Sitzfleisch life, I told myself that I was bonking. At hour five in the desk chair, the document onscreen looked like a winding road toward a mountain pass. The man in the sweatpants had met the man with the mattress.

All of us, except for the superheroes and the ultra-sloths, know people who have more energy than we do, and plenty who have less. We may admire or envy or even pity the tireless project jugglers, the ravenous multidisciplinarians, the serial circulators of rooms, the conference hoppers, the calendar maximizers, the predawn cross-trainers and kickboxers. How does she do it? On the flip side, there are the oversleepers, the homebodies, the spurners of invitations and opportunities, the dispensers of excuses. Come on, man! It's hard to measure success, if you want to avoid making it about money or power or credentials, but, as one stumbles through the landscape of careers and outputs and reputations, one sees, again and again, that the standouts tend to be the people who possess seemingly boundless reserves of mental and physical fuel. Entrepreneurs, athletes, artists, politicians: it can seem that energy, more than talent or luck, results in extraordinary outcomes. Why do some people have it and others not? What does one have to do to get more?

Energy is both biochemical and psychophysical, vaguely delineated, widely misunderstood, elusive as grace. You know it when you got it, and even more when you don't. This is the enthusiasm and vigor you feel inside yourself, the kind you might call chi, after the ancient Chinese life force or the pronouncements of the storefront acupuncturist. The kind you seek to instill by drinking Red Bull or Monster, plunging into an ice bath, or taking psychostimulants, like Ritalin or Adderall or Provigil. Nootropics. Smart pills. CDP-choline, L-theanine, creatine monohydrate, Bacopa monnieri, huperzine A, vinpocetine. Acetyl-CoA, lipoic acid, arginine, ashwagandha, B complex, carnitine, CoQ10, iodine, iron, magnesium, niacin, riboflavin, ribose, thiamin, Vitamins C, E, and K. Biohackers microdose psychedelics, stick ozone tubes up their butts, or pay fifteen hundred dollars for a seven-hundred-and-fifty-milligram dose of NAD IV. Energy is why we've made a virtual religion of 1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine, otherwise known as caffeine.

"Society has progressively increased its demands on us, and with that, therefore, our expectations of what we can or should do," Maurizio Fava, the chief of the department of psychiatry at Mass General, told me. "This has led to a quest for greater 'energy.' 'How can I do more? Doctor, what can you give me?' "

"Energy," though, is a misnomer, or at least an elision. What we commonly call energy is actually our perception of the body metabolizing carbohydrates or fat as energy. Energy isn't energy. It's our experience of burning energy, converting it to work. It's a metabolic mood. As Richard Maurer, a doctor in Maine who specializes in metabolic recovery, and who encountered me one day last summer as I mumbled about a shortage of it, told me, " 'Energy' is a useless term. It is not the perception of stimulation. It is just the capacity to generate work. I think of it as only relating to potential. If a patient says, 'I want more energy,' maybe the doctor should just write a scrip for methamphetamine. But that's false chi."

The precise workings of the metabolic system, its nuances and contingencies, are, in many respects, an enduring mystery. You'd think we'd have figured out by now how our cells go about their business, this being the most fundamental element of our existence, but they may as well be in deep space or the Mariana Trench.

One and a half billion years ago, the planet's only life-forms were single-celled. Fermentation ruled the earth. Then an anaerobic bacterium engulfed an aerobic bacterium. In time, the ingested bacterium's capacity for feeding on oxygen managed to increase, by an order of magnitude, the amount of energy available to its anaerobic host. This accidental collaboration made possible the proliferation of multicellular life-forms and, eventually, tool-wielding hominids who would come to complain that they feel tired all the time.

According to what is known as the endosymbiotic theory of biological complexity, this chocolate-meets-peanut-butter moment, this big mush, is the reason we exist. That aerobic bacterium evolved into what we call mitochondria, the organelles that fuel living creatures: the powerhouses of the cell, as every schoolkid learns. (It's about all I retain from high-school bio, anyway, save for Mr. Burns's relishing his coinage of the phrase "a smidgen of lipids.") Each of us has hundreds-if not thousands-of trillions of mitochondria. They convert glucose and oxygen into adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, the primary cellular fuel. They also help produce the essential hormones-among them estrogen, testosterone, and cortisol-and regulate cellular proliferation and death.

It's not inconceivable that the rest of the body (brain, hands, heart, lungs, digestive tract) is merely an elaborate and sometimes clumsy apparatus for the nourishment of the mitochondria-that it is the mitochondria, and not Homo sapiens, who rule and foul the earth. Our cardiovascular system, that fantastic and vulnerable machine, is essentially a delivery system for the oxygen they require. The mitochondrion is the creature and we are merely its husk, its fleshy chrysalis. A newborn's first breath? That's the mitochondria, calling the shots.

"That, anyway, is the mitocentric perspective," Martin Picard said, on a recent afternoon in his office, in Washington Heights. Picard, a partisan of that perspective, is a professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where he directs a lab of about a dozen researchers. His work straddles the departments of psychiatry and neurology. His specialty is mitochondrial psychobiology. "We try to understand the connection between the mind and mitochondria," he said. "We think about energy a lot."

A lean Montrealer, with a gentle yet poised intensity that one might classify as medium-energy, Picard came at the question of vim and vigor from a near-cosmic vantage. His office, high above the Heights, had a commanding view down the Hudson, a receding sun-blanched shorescape of skyscrapers and tidal swirl that lent his pronouncements an oracular air. In a mostly sincere attempt to convey how little we know about the workings of consciousness, he said, "We have yet to disprove that our brains aren't merely antennas, that all of our 'thoughts' and 'memories' don't just come from out there"-he pointed out the window-"and that we're not just 'streaming' everything." Glancing behind him at the river's eddying current, I half expected to catch a glitch in the matrix.

"The main distinguishing characteristic between a cadaver and a living, thinking, feeling individual is the flow of energy through the body," he said. "The cells are the same, but without the energy flow it's just an inert blob."

Mitochondria transform chemical energy into electrical energy, Picard explained. "Communication and energy go together," he said. "The organs and cells can't communicate without energy. Cells talk to each other. The mitochondria, which used to be bacteria, talk to the gut microbiome. They are like cousins. Cells choose to do one thing or another, based on the energy available. Energy for cells is like emotions for a human. It causes them to make decisions that may not seem rational."

Picard took me around the lab. He opened a cryo-storage tank-ice vapor wafting out-which contained cells of patients with mitochondrial disease, genetic defects that afflict at least one in five thousand humans. He pointed out other machines. Fluorometer, respirometer, real-time-PCR instrument, plate reader, Halo robot, a cellular-energy-consumption analyzer called a Seahorse. "This is our way to get to know the mitochondria, to challenge them and poke them," he said. "It's our way to ask them questions."

A handful of doctoral candidates were at work. A research assistant was trying to determine whether women and men have different mitochondria. Mitochondrial DNA seems to be passed down from generation to generation exclusively by the mother; sperm contributes nothing. As a result, genealogists have been able to trace a matrilineal line from all living humans back to a woman in East Africa, our so-called Mitochondrial Eve, born an estimated two hundred thousand years ago. (Picard did his postdoctoral work, at the University of Pennsylvania, with Douglas Wallace, the evolutionary biologist who discovered that mitochondria are matrilineal and that mutations in mitochondrial DNA are a significant cause of disease. "He put mitochondria on the map," Picard said.)

"The human body is a social network," Picard said. He compared it to an ant colony, in which every ant has the same genome but serves a different purpose, much in the way the organs do for a human being. "My working hypothesis is that mitochondria do a lot of the sensing and perceiving and integrating of signals. That they are the cellular antenna, or little brains that receive, process, and integrate information."

A student was filling plates with skin cells; each plate had ninety-six wells the size of apple seeds, and each of these contained twenty thousand cells. She was exposing healthy cells and compromised ones to stress, in the form of a synthetic version of cortisol. "A whole human life span, but in a dish," Picard said. "Cells age faster if you expose them to stress. They burn energy faster. It's as though cellular anxiety causes cells to breathe faster. They consume more oxygen. They're wasting energy, and we don't know why."

People with mitochondrial disorders struggle to transform energy into ATP. "What they experience subjectively is constant tiredness and fatigue," Picard said. "They don't have the mojo. Fatigue is the No. 1 symptom-they feel tired all the time. And it's a long diagnostic odyssey. So, yes, it seems people can sense when their intercellular energy state is low." Another bit of circumstantial evidence: Amytal, or amobarbital, an active ingredient in truth serums developed in the United States in the thirties, essentially inhibits mitochondrial respiration, supposedly rendering subjects too worn out to lie. Amytal is also what Picard's lab has used in some of its assays. "If you mess with the mitochondria, people feel shitty," Picard said.

It can work the other way, too. A few years ago, Picard's lab did a study in which ninety-one women reported their mood levels and submitted to mitochondrial tests for seven days. The study suggested that mood has a direct effect on mitochondrial health. Chin up!

By this point, I'd heard and read a lot about mitochondria-"the coolest independent contractors on the planet," as Maurer called them. In " The Energy Paradox: What to Do When Your Get-Up-and-Go Has Got Up and Gone," Steven Gundry, the well-known California cardiologist, describes "mitochondrial gridlock," the overwhelming of these organelles with too much to do-too much junk. Gundry enumerates seven "deadly" energy disrupters: antibiotics, glyphosate (the main active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup), other environmental chemicals, overused pharmaceuticals, fructose, bad light, and electromagnetic fields. Thinking about all the inputs, their ubiquity, and the myriad unmappable consequences of their interactions, one may just sigh and reach for the Red Bull. Fake chi until you make chi.

Picard's purview was perhaps more descriptive than prescriptive. "Energetic constraints, energetic flow, and the forces that drive energetic flow-these questions aren't taken into account as much as they should be," he said. "The way of the future is understanding personalized energy flows. The last ten years of personalized medicine has been taken over by genomics. The premise is that if you can sequence it you'll know whether you'll get sick or stay healthy. That's where all the money goes. It's a lucrative hypothesis, but it's doomed to yield incomplete answers. The genome is static. Health is so dynamic."

"People are somewhat gorgeous collections of chemical fires, aren't they?" Harold Brodkey wrote, in the story "Angel." "We are towers of kinds of fires, down to the tiniest constituencies of ourselves, whatever those are." Some years ago, without thinking, I introduced two friends of mine, B. and M., to each other, in a loose crew of people meeting up in a bar before a concert. B. and M. were both married. "I love your energy!" B. told M. Everyone laughed: such cheese. The next day, he called me and asked for her number. Such trouble. M. began referring to him, when discussing him with others, as "Energy"; she liked his, too. Their marriages didn't survive the radiative flux, and B. and M. now live together, in a gravitational field of their own, otherwise known as Essex County, New Jersey. (When I told M. recently that I was writing about energy, the kind you feel, she said, "Talk about how annoying it is that everyone says they are tired. Tired is universal. We are exhausted until we die.")

B. and M.'s energy is of a different, albeit related, category-the kind you project, or perceive in others. This one has something to do with vigor as well, but also charisma, aura, and temperament. It has a spiritual dimension, to those who perceive or credit such phenomena, and a social one. In some circumstances, good energy may just be a matter of radiance, of good skin, teeth, hair, posture, which are in many respects themselves functions of robust health. Or it may comprise kindness, attentiveness, optimism, humor-the ability to make other people feel good about themselves. There may be intangibles at play. Pheromones, assurance, electromagnetics, pixies.

To the extent that there is an overlap between the kind of energy you feel and the kind you project-a three-part Venn diagram of bio, mojo, and woo-woo-the concept has an array of ancient antecedents. In the Upanishads, prana, Sanskrit for "breath," is the vital breath that animates body and soul, and all of existence, much like chi. Posidonius, the Stoic, proposed the existence of a life force that emanates from the sun. (Picard, the mitocentric, also cites the sun: it initiates a life cycle-photosynthesis, glucose, oxygen, ATP-that happens to have mitochondria as its linchpin.)

Many of the variations on such ideas are pseudoscientific, the purview of quacks and crazies, or of spiritual adepts who may have been mistaken for them. Esotericism encompasses a variety of impossible-to-substantiate phenomena that persist best, in our quasi-scientific era, as metaphors or abstractions. In the eighteenth century, Franz Mesmer introduced his concept of mesmerism, or animal magnetism, involving a universal vital fluid that passes in and out through our pores. Baron Carl von Reichenbach, some decades later, described an electromagnetic substance he named the Odic force, after the Norse god Odin, which sensitive souls could perceive emanating from others' foreheads. Early in the twentieth century, the French philosopher Henry Bergson identified an "élan vital," which impels consciousness and evolution. Schopenhauer had his "will to live," and, of course, for Freud, the source of the oomph within was the libido. Freud got some of his ideas from the work of the American neurologist George Miller Beard, who, in the years after the Civil War, had identified a condition called neurasthenia, arising out of the exhaustion of the nervous system. Headaches, fatigue, and impotence were the symptoms of what Beard called "American nervousness." The cause, he proposed, was the stress of modern civilization, the most salient manifestations being "steam-power, the periodical press, the telegraph, the sciences, and the mental activity of women."

And then there was orgone, discovered, or imagined, by Wilhelm Reich, the Austrian psychoanalyst and fallen Freudian. Reich-who fled Germany in 1933 and pursued his experiments in Norway and New York before settling in rural Maine, where he could keep an eye out for U.F.O.s-sought to find physiological proof of the libido. In the lab, he hooked his subjects up to an oscillograph (one of them was a young Willy Brandt, the future West German Chancellor) and, with a microscope, discerned pulsating particles he called "bions," which he claimed were the source of a mysterious life force called orgone. Orgone, he said, was blue, and was responsible for the color of the sky. Later, he invented a device called the orgone accumulator, an insulated shed the size of an outhouse, lined with metal panels. Among other things, it was said to enhance orgasms; the subject, preferably naked, would sit inside and accumulate orgone. It accumulated adherents, anyway-including Norman Mailer, Saul Bellow, J. D. Salinger, and Sean Connery-despite there being no legitimate evidence of orgone's existence or benefits. Reich's machine inspired the Orgasmatron, in Woody Allen's "Sleeper," and Dr. Durand Durand's Excessive Machine, in "Barbarella." The federal government, suspicious of Reich's free-love evangelism and his associations with Communists, hounded him for years, and eventually jailed him for shipping orgone accumulators across state lines. He died of a heart attack in 1957, at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary.

A year ago, my wife gave me, as a gift, an Oura ring, my first so-called wearable. A hint, perhaps. I slipped it on next to the wedding ring, and it began feeding data about my exercise and sleep to an app on my phone. Yes, people have been using technology to track their steps and heart rates for a long time now- Fitbit, Apple Watch-but I'd considered such devices dorky, and vaguely sinister. Self-improvement can grate; data tracking can infringe. But maybe I needed a shove, and I was curious to see some numbers behind the brownout afternoons.

The Oura motivated me to get out and move-steps, miles, calories. I took long, aimless walks that I imagined would add weeks to my life, like injury time in a soccer match. (It would take a lot of injury time to make up for the hot dogs, if, as a recent study suggested, each one shortens the life span by thirty-six minutes.) Harder work, not surprisingly, yielded higher scores. Jog, or bike, or run stairs, then excitedly check the app. The lure of better numbers, more carrot than stick, was energizing in itself, even if the ring's criteria seemed kind of arbitrary, maybe overgenerous. The instrument is blunt, but it will cut.

The ring also conditioned me to begin each morning with a Christmas-stocking jolt of anticipation. Oh boy, new data. "How'd you sleep?" my wife would ask, as one does.

"Don't know yet."

Most days, the numbers weren't good: Santa leaves a lump of coal. My sleep patterns were lousy and seemed to augur an early demise. It turned out that what might feel like restorative slumber-after a keen night out, for example, or a bout of hard work-was instead my body struggling to process the poison I'd put into it. The time in bed was more work than rest.

The Oura emphasized the concept of "readiness"-a measure of recuperation. The relevant data point was heart-rate variability, or H.R.V. Your heart rate, like most of the body's involuntary functions, is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, which has two components: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic one. The former fires the fight-or-flight impulse; it activates when you experience stress, or excitement, or overindulgence. The latter is the restorative impulse: "rest and digest," "feed and breed." The sympathetic system stimulates adrenaline, which dilates your pupils, raises your pulse, opens your airways, and interferes with signals to your bladder. (This is why fear can cause people to piss themselves.) The parasympathetic does the opposite-it settles you down. Ideally, these two systems achieve balance. You rev up, you calm down. You push, you heal. H.R.V. supposedly measures this state of concord. Counterintuitively, higher variability is said to reflect greater balance, and better health. Low H.R.V. correlates to a range of diseases and to earlier mortality. My H.R.V., especially after I'd had a few, was very low.

"You can only manage what you measure," Will Ahmed, the founder of Whoop, another tracking device, told me last month. By now, I had on three wearables: the Oura ring, a Whoop band on my left wrist, and a Levels glucose monitor behind my left triceps. I'd heard about Whoop from a doctor and journalist named Bob Arnot, a standup-paddleboard masters world champion and competitive ski-mountaineering racer, and the author of the recent book "Flip the Youth Switch." Dr. Bob, who is seventy-three, is a high-energy guy-maybe a freak.

Clearly, despite our best efforts, energy is not evenly distributed, whether because of genetics or fate, nature or nurture. People blessed with it may ascribe it to their own virtue, perseverance, or self-discipline, and will sometimes wield the descriptor "low-energy" as a slight, as though Eeyores are contagious. The idea that you can train, will, or even medicate yourself into a permanent state of pep, charisma, and accomplishment lends an atmosphere of piety to the energy-assessment dance. It's all a matter of attitude, they say, as though attitude were not itself determined by energy. Think positive! It takes energy to change habits and alter circumstances. One can adjust certain knobs, but it can feel like a chore to deduce which knobs do what.

"I fundamentally believe this is something you have control over," Arnot said, when I called him. He credited his apparently prodigious mental energy to what he called "associative thinking." Lately, he'd been composing a trumpet concerto and studying Python, calculus, machine learning, Arabic, and Swahili. "I don't sleep much. I've always been a hopeless overachiever. Whatever I do is the opposite of what I call ruminating." Whoop, he said, had helped him maximize his workouts and his downtime. His H.R.V. readings got better each month (H.R.V. typically worsens as you get older), and he reckoned that his biological age was much lower than his chronological one.

Arnot connected me with Ahmed, a former Harvard squash captain, who told me that it was in deep sleep that you generate ninety-five per cent of your growth hormones: "That's when you're repairing the muscles you break down in the gym." The gym. Right. For cognitive repair, it was REM sleep, the dream state that cleanses the brain. "Chess players focus on REM," Ahmed said. According to both Oura and Whoop, my REM and deep-sleep numbers weren't great. I was killing it, though, on light sleep, and not sleeping. Search "Orgone accumulators near me."

"Energy is a real thing, and your perception of your energy can affect your levels," Ahmed said. Ahmed himself always eats early and avoids sugar and alcohol in the evening. He wears blue-light-blocking glasses when, as he must, he uses his phone late (the light wavelengths from our screens, as we are often warned, disrupt our circadian rhythms), takes a cold shower and does breathing exercises before bed (favorite prescriptions of Wim Hof, the Dutch extreme athlete and life-style guru known as the Iceman), and uses blackout shades and an eye mask, aiming for more than five hours of REM and deep sleep a night. "I have never met someone who gets that much who isn't leading a great life," he said.

"Totally," I said.

A Whoop representative had told me about Levels, which sent me a kit with a disk to stick in my arm for a couple of weeks. I began taking blood-sugar readings with my phone. Soon afterward, Casey Means, Levels's co-founder and chief medical officer, checked in on me. Means, who is thirty-four, is a graduate of Stanford's medical school and a self-proclaimed "recovering surgeon." She cited a University of North Carolina study that found that eighty-eight per cent of Americans suffer from some metabolic malfunction. "That means that roughly one in ten of us is able to process energy the way our bodies are designed to," she said. "It's an epidemic. Our fundamental pathways have been hijacked by the Western diet and life style. Disordered blood sugar is a big driver of most inflammation and chronic disease. It's not just diabetes."

The Levels app revealed that even a banana or a piece of toast raised my blood sugar by an alarming amount. The flat line of the morning's fast, once broken, would bend into the red. The app would post an exclamation point next to the spike on the graph and ask, "Did something happen?" Yeah, jerkface, I had breakfast. Then, two hours later, the numbers would begin to ebb. But it wasn't as though I was feeling jacked on the way up and then whacked by the crash. It felt like not much. Until around 3:23 P.M. -the attack of the yawns. Following the instructions of Levels, I experimented, and soon discovered that fat and fibre-a slab of bacon, chia, some fucking kale-modified the surge, and the bonk. Egg good, juice bad? O.K., then.

"Glucose variability can correlate with a variability in your subjective experience of mood," Means said, though not in the way you'd think. The traditional notion of the sugar high, sugar crash doesn't always bear out, to go by the overlay of verve and blood sugar. Once you have high levels of glucose in your system, the more you add, the less energy you feel; your cognitive-processing speed declines. The advantage of the glucose monitor, she said, is that it can reduce the misattribution of our subjective experiences-that habit we all have of telling ourselves, or especially other people, what might be causing certain symptoms or feelings. ("You're just dehydrated.") The wearables can help you tinker with the variables. It's not so much the rush and the crash. It's the roller coaster itself. Glucose excursions, or glycemic variability, which Means called "spikiness," lead to oxidative stress (an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants), which over time damages the mitochondria. (It's the opposite of H.R.V., where spikiness is the goal, in a way.) And that, more than the sensation of the caffeine or the fructose wearing off, seems to be the true culprit, a leading cause of what Mark Hyman, the doctor and wellness celebrity, calls F.L.C. Syndrome-Feel Like Crap. "What's happening in our cells is what's happening in our bodies," Means said.

By Means's reckoning-and, admittedly, her perspective is not a rare one, in our desperate, fallen world-we are suffering from our own, twenty-first-century incarnation of George Miller Beard's "American nervousness," with less misogyny. We expect too much of ourselves, and then handicap our attempts to meet our expectations. There's a contradiction: we need energy to do more, but to get it we need to do less, or at least less of the things we are doing. This particular energy crisis, to the extent that it is more metabolic than imagined, may be as apt an indicator of ill health, on a mass scale, as, say, addiction or disease.

"We like to think we have conscious control over our behavior, but the more we learn, the more we know that that's not entirely true," Kevin Hall, who runs a clinical-nutrition lab at the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, told me. "We're less in control than we'd like."

Hall has been trying to understand how different sources of energy in our diet affect metabolism-what happens, for example, when we restrict carbs or fat. "The body makes huge shifts to accommodate calories in different forms. You're on a low-carb diet? The fat in your blood-triglycerides-stimulates the uptake and blocks the release of fat. Low-fat, high-starch? Insulin plays that role. The human body is like a vehicle that burns different fuels. It's an incredible engineering challenge. The metabolism is a miraculous flex-fuel engine. Diesel, ethanol, doesn't matter in the short term. It will adapt."

A recent study published in the journal Current Biology determined that the body seems to adjust to higher burn rate by becoming more efficient, especially with exercise. This is called "energy compensation" and is not yet well understood. Generally, when your body burns through energy less efficiently, you are likely to die earlier and have a greater risk of disease. An inefficient metabolic system is like a car engine you rev too high: it wears out faster.

Richard Maurer comes from a family of long-distance runners. In college, he was obsessed with calories-what was and wasn't working when he ran. The simple equation of calories in and out, the default presumption, didn't actually seem to measure up. At the time, in the eighties, it was hard to find medical schools that taught nutrition ("Except the one in Loma Linda, and that was run by Seventh-day Adventists," he said), so he wound up at the National College for Naturopathic Medicine, in Portland, Oregon. What was then fringe is now tacking sharply to mainstream.

"Every day we learn one thing less," Maurer said. He cited a study of élite cyclists. They rode hard on a stationary bike and, when their muscles were spent, were given water on one occasion and a sweet drink like Gatorade on another, both of which they spit out without swallowing. The water spitters lagged behind, in terms of subsequent wattage produced. The taste of sugar had apparently tricked the brain into releasing energy that it had been hoarding for other functions. "In some ways, the bonk is a perception," Maurer said.

In September, Sai Krupa Das, a scientist at the Jean Mayer U.S.D.A. Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and a professor of nutrition at Tufts, sent me a Rand Corp. survey she and other clinicians use to get a sense of psychobiological energy. In one section, you are supposed to rate, on a scale of one to six, from "all of the time" to "none of the time," your experience of the past four weeks:

Did you feel full of pep?
Have you been a very nervous person?
Have you felt so down in the dumps that nothing could cheer you up?
Have you felt calm and peaceful?
Did you have a lot of energy?
Have you felt downhearted and blue?
Did you feel worn out?
Have you been a happy person?
Did you feel tired?

All of the above? Is variability of mood more like H.R.V. or like blood sugar? It was hard to imagine a more subjective exercise. Das also sent me a link to the Web site of something called the Human Performance Institute, at Johnson & Johnson, which offered a survey that was a kind of screening for the "corporate athlete." Who doesn't love a self-evaluation? I aimed to be honest. The J. & J. verdict was that I was "disengaged": "This suggests that significant obstacles stand in the way of fully igniting your talent and skill. To become an extraordinary performer, you must build significantly stronger energy management skills." The corporate Olympics would have to go on without me.

Das didn't have a test for the other kind of energy, the kind that one projects. "This kind of energy does exist, and people who have it generally do have that aura about them," she said. "But it is certainly hard to measure. This energy is in large part physiological, too. There's a genetic component, and a biological underpinning for cellular health that reflects in tissue health."

Each day, I fixated on the data from my wearables, even as my resistance to change rendered them moot. I was more interested in adding exercise than in giving up my morning toast or evening whiskey. I sought the Whoop's approval, if not that of its other evangelists. "I'll invite you to join our group and help coach you," Arnot wrote. "What's your Whoop name?" Not telling. The Whoop's version of what the Oura called "readiness" was "recovery," also H.R.V.-based. For exercise, it emphasized "strain," a more robust version of the Oura's "activity" category. It rewarded a high heartbeat and a hard workout, and basically turned up its nose at long walks. It preferred sweat to steps.

And yet. The other day, an old friend passed through town from the Bay Area. We'd grown up across the street from each other and, in our fifth-grade production of "Alice in Wonderland," had played Tweedledum and Tweedledee. We met up in Central Park, walked and talked for an hour-no secrets, at this age-and then said our fond farewells. I returned to the desk chair, energized.

That evening, I checked the data. The Oura ring, generous to a fault, gave me credit for burning two hundred and twenty-four calories. Ball don't lie. The Whoop, though, had captured something else entirely. The readout from our meander suggested that I'd undergone my most gruelling physical trial not only since I got the device but in many years, possibly decades. It had me at nearly fifty minutes with an average heart rate above a hundred and fifty, plus twelve minutes above one-sixty-seven, with a high of one-eighty-five. Basically, according to the Whoop, I'd won the Tour de France and was now dead. Or the Whoop, for once, was mistaken: a glitch not in the matrix but in the watch.

Then there was a third possibility. My friend and I had had an excellent rapport on our stroll-a surge of groovy vibes and hearty laughter. Could this energy, the kind that is projected, perceived, and exchanged, yet purportedly impossible to measure, have somehow spun the monitor's compass, like a poltergeist or a solar flare? Was my Whoop a spiritist? A line of Tweedledee's came to mind: "Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be: but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic." ♦

New Yorker Favorites

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All of us know people who have more energy than we do, but the science of the phenomenon is just coming into view. For months, during the main pandemic stretch, I'd get inexplicably tired in the afternoon, as though vital organs and muscles had turned to Styrofoam.

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2023 World Happiness Report Executive summary 

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2023 World Happiness Report Executive summary 

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It has been over ten years since the first World Happiness Report was published. And it is exactly ten years since the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/281, proclaiming 20 March to be observed annually as International Day of Happiness. Since then, more and more people have come to believe that our success as countries should be judged by the happiness of our people. There is also a growing consensus about how happiness should be measured. This consensus means that national happiness can now become an operational objective for governments.

So in this year's report, we ask the following questions:

1. What is the consensus view about measuring national happiness, and what kinds of behaviour does it require of individuals and institutions? (Chapter 1)

2. How have trust and benevolence saved lives and supported happiness over the past three years of COVID-19 and other crises? (Chapter 2)

3. What is state effectiveness and how does it affect human happiness? (Chapter 3)

4. How does altruistic behaviour by individuals affect their own happiness, that of the recipient, and the overall happiness of society? (Chapter 4)

5. How well does social media data enable us to measure the prevailing levels of happiness and distress? (Chapter 5)

In short, our answers are these.

Chapter 1. The happiness agenda. The next 10 years

The natural way to measure a nation's happiness is to ask a nationally-representative sample of people how satisfied they are with their lives these days.

A population will only experience high levels of overall life satisfaction if its people are also pro-social, healthy, and prosperous. In other words, its people must have high levels of what Aristotle called 'eudaimonia'. So at the level of society, life satisfaction and eudaimonia go hand-in-hand.

At the individual level, however, they can diverge. As the evidence shows, virtuous behaviour generally raises the happiness of the virtuous actor (as well as the beneficiary). But there are substantial numbers of virtuous people, including some carers, who are not that satisfied with their lives.

When we assess a society, a situation, or a policy, we should not look only at the average happiness it brings (including for future generations). We should look especially at the scale of misery (i.e., low life satisfaction) that results. To prevent misery, governments and international organisations should establish rights such as those in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). They should also broaden the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to consider well-being and environmental policy dimensions jointly in order to ensure the happiness of future generations. These rights and goals are essential tools for increasing human happiness and reducing misery now and into the future.

Once happiness is accepted as the goal of government, this has other profound effects on institutional practices. Health, especially mental health, assumes even more priority, as does the quality of work, family life, and community.

For researchers, too, there are major challenges. All government policies should be evaluated against the touchstone of well-being (per dollar spent). And how to promote virtue needs to become a major subject of study.

Chapter 2. World Happiness, Benevolence, and Trust during COVID-19 and Beyond

Life evaluations have continued to be remarkably resilient, with global averages in the COVID-19 years 2020-2022 just as high as those in the pre-pandemic years 2017-2019. Finland remains in the top position for the sixth year in a row. War-torn Afghanistan and Lebanon remain the two unhappiest countries in the survey, with average life evaluations more than five points lower (on a scale running from 0 to 10) than in the ten happiest countries.

To study the inequality of happiness, we first focus on the happiness gap between the top and the bottom halves of the population. This gap is small in countries where most people are happy but also in those countries where almost no one is happy. However, more generally, people are happier living in countries where the happiness gap is smaller. Happiness gaps globally have been fairly stable over time, although there are growing gaps in many African countries.

We also track two measures of misery - the share of the population having life evaluations of 4 and below and the share rating the lives at 3 and below. Globally, both of these measures of misery fell slightly during the three COVID-19 years.

To help to explain this continuing resilience, we document four cases that suggest how trust and social support can support happiness during crises.

COVID-19 deaths. In 2020 and 2021, countries attempting to suppress community transmission had lower death rates and better well-being overall. Not enough countries followed suit, thus enabling new variants to emerge, such that in 2022, Omicron made elimination infeasible. Although trust continues to be correlated with lower death rates in 2022, policy strategies, infections, and death rates are now very similar in all countries, but with total deaths over all three years being much lower in the eliminator countries.

Benevolence. There was a globe-spanning surge of benevolence in 2020 and especially in 2021. Data for 2022 show that prosocial acts remain about one-quarter more common than before the pandemic.

Ukraine and Russia. Both countries shared the global increases in benevolence during 2020 and 2021. During 2022, benevolence grew sharply in Ukraine but fell in Russia. Despite the magnitude of suffering and damage in Ukraine, life evaluations in September 2022 remained higher than in the aftermath of the 2014 annexation, supported now by a stronger sense of common purpose, benevolence, and trust in Ukrainian leadership. Confidence in their national governments grew in 2022 in both countries, but much more in Ukraine than in Russia. Ukrainian support for Russian leadership fell to zero in all parts of Ukraine in 2022.

Social support. New data show that positive social connections and support in 2022 were twice as prevalent as loneliness in seven key countries spanning six global regions. They were also strongly tied to overall ratings of how satisfied people are with their relationships with other people. The importance of these positive social relations helps further to explain the resilience of life evaluations during times of crisis.

Chapter 3. Well-being and State Effectiveness

The effectiveness of the government has a major influence on human happiness of the people.

The capacity of a state can be well-measured by

its fiscal capacity (ability to raise money)

its collective capacity (ability to deliver services)

its legal capacity (rule of law)

Also crucial are

the avoidance of civil war, and

the avoidance of repression.

Across countries, all these five measures are well correlated with the average life satisfaction of the people.

Using the five characteristics (and income), it is possible to classify states into 3 clusters: common-interest states, special-interest states and weak states. In common-interest states, average life satisfaction is 2 points (out of 10) higher than in weak states and in special-interest states it is 1 point higher than in weak states.

In those countries where average life satisfaction is highest, it is also more equally distributed - with fewer citizens having relatively low life satisfaction.

Chapter 4. Doing Good and Feeling Good: Relationships between Altruism and Well-being for Altruists, Beneficiaries, and Observers

A person is being altruistic when they help another person without expecting anything in return. Altruistic behaviours like helping strangers, donating money, giving blood, and volunteering are common, while others (like donating a kidney) are less so.

There is a positive relationship between happiness and all of these altruistic behaviours. This is true when we compare across countries, and when we compare across individuals. But why?

Normally, people who receive altruistic help will experience improved well-being, which helps explain the correlation across countries. But in addition, there is much evidence (experimental and others) that helping behaviour increases the well-being of the individual helper. This is especially true when the helping behaviour is voluntary and mainly motivated by concern for the person being helped.

The causal arrow also runs in the opposite direction. Experimental and other evidence shows that when people's well-being increases, they can become more altruistic. In particular, when people's well-being rises through experiencing altruistic help, they become more likely to help others, creating a virtuous spiral.

Assessments using social media can provide timely and spatially detailed well-being measurement to track changes, evaluate policy, and provide accountability.

Since 2010, the methods using social media data for assessing well-being have increased in sophistication. The two main sources of development have been data collection/aggregation strategies and better natural language processing (i.e., sentiment models).

Data collection/aggregation strategies have evolved from the analysis of random feeds ( Generation 1) to the analyses of demographically-characterized samples of users ( Generation 2) to an emerging new generation of digital cohort design studies in which users are followed over time ( Generation 3).

Natural Language Processing models have improved mapping language use to well-being estimates - progressing from counting dictionaries of keywords (Level 1) to relying on robust machine-learning estimates (Level 2) to using large language models that consider words within contexts (Level 3).

The improvement in methods addresses various biases that affect social media data, including selection, sampling, and presentation biases, as well as the impact of bots.

The current generation of digital cohort designs gives social media-based well-being assessment the potential for unparalleled measurement in space and time (e.g., monthly subregional estimation). Such estimates can be used to test scientific hypotheses about well-being, policy, and population health using quasi-experimental designs (e.g., by comparing trajectories across matched counties).

Acknowledgements

We have had a remarkable range of expert contributing authors and expert reviewers to whom we are deeply grateful for their willingness to share their knowledge with our readers. Although the editors and authors of the World Happiness Report are volunteers, there are administrative and research support costs covered by our partners: Fondazione Ernesto Illy; illycaffè; Davines Group; Unilever's largest ice cream brand Wall's; The Blue Chip Foundation; The William, Jeff, and Jennifer Gross Family Foundation; The Happier Way Foundation; and The Regeneration Society Foundation. We value our data partnership with Gallup, providing World Poll data. We appreciate the continued work by Ryan Swaney, Kyu Lee, and Stilow Design for their skills in design and web development, and media engagement. New this year, we thank Marwan Hazem Mostafa Badr Saleh for his assistance with reference preparation. Whether in terms of research, data, or grants, we are enormously grateful for all of these contributions.

John Helliwell, Richard Layard, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Lara B. Aknin, Shun Wang; and Sharon Paculor, Production Editor
Back to the 2023 report

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The World Happiness Report is a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR's Editorial Board. The report is produced under the editorial control of the WHR Editorial Board. From 2024, the World Happiness Report is a publication of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, UK.

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In the late 1990s, two psychology researchers at UCLA were talking about how the female scientists in their lab responded differently to stress than the men did. The men would disappear into their offices; the women would bring cookies to lab meetings and bond over coffee. Forget fight-or-flight, they joked. The women were tending and befriending.

The joke stuck in the mind of one of the women, postdoctoral researcher Laura Cousino Klein. Psychology research has suggested that stress leads to aggression, but that wasn't her experience. And it didn't fit with what she observed in other women either. They were more likely to want to talk with someone about their stress, spend time with their loved ones, or channel their stress into caring for others. She wondered if it was possible that science had gotten stress wrong.

Klein decided to dig deeper into the science, and she made the surprising discovery that 90 percent of the published research on stress was conducted on males. This was true of animal studies as well as human studies. When Klein shared this observation with Shelley Taylor, the director of the lab she worked in, something clicked for her, too. Taylor challenged her lab to study the social side of stress, especially in women. Looking at both animal and human research, they found evidence that stress can increase caring, cooperation, and compassion.

While the tend-and-befriend theory began as an investigation into the female response to stress, it quickly expanded to include men-in part because male scientists said, "Hey, we tend and befriend, too!"

Taylor's team, along with other research groups, began to demonstrate that stress doesn't only motivate self-defense, as scientists had long believed. It can also unleash the instinct to protect your tribe. This instinct sometimes expresses itself differently in men than it does in women, but the two sexes share it. In times of stress, both men and women have been shown to become more trusting, generous, and willing to risk their own well-being to protect others.

Why would stress lead to caring?

From an evolutionary point of view, we have the tend-and-befriend response in our repertoire first and foremost to make sure we protect our offspring. Think of a mama grizzly protecting her cubs, or a father pulling his son from the wreckage of a burning car. The most important thing they need is the willingness to act even when their own lives are at risk.

To make sure we have the courage to protect our loved ones, the tend-and-befriend response must counter our basic survival instinct to avoid harm. We need fearlessness in those moments, along with confidence that our actions can make a difference. If we think there's nothing we can do, we might give up. And if we are frozen in fear, our loved ones will perish.

At its core, the tend-and-befriend response is a biological state engineered to reduce fear and increase hope. The best way to understand how the tend-and-befriend response does this is to look at how it affects your brain:

The social caregiving system is regulated by oxytocin. When this system is activated, you feel more empathy, connection, and trust, as well as a stronger desire to bond or be close with others. This network also inhibits the fear centers of the brain, increasing your courage.

The reward system releases the neurotransmitter dopamine. Activation of the reward system increases motivation while dampening fear. When your stress response includes a rush of dopamine, you feel optimistic about your ability to do something meaningful. Dopamine also primes the brain for physical action, making sure you don't freeze under pressure.

The attunement system is driven by the neurotransmitter serotonin. When this system is activated, it enhances your perception, intuition, and self-control. This makes it easier to understand what is needed, and helps ensure that your actions have the biggest positive impact. In other words, a tend-and-befriend response makes you social, brave, and smart. It provides both the courage and hope we need to propel us into action and the awareness to act skillfully.

Here's where things get interesting. A tend-and-befriend response may have evolved to help us protect offspring, but when you are in that state, your bravery translates to any challenge you face. And-this is the most important part-anytime you choose to help others, you activate this state. Caring for others triggers the biology of courage and creates hope.

Whether you are overwhelmed by your own stress or the suffering of others, the way to find hope is to connect, not to escape. The benefits of taking a tend-and-befriend approach go beyond helping your loved ones, although this, of course, is an important function. In any situation where you feel powerless, doing something to support others can help you sustain your motivation and optimism.

The tend-and-befriend theory doesn't say that stress always leads to caring-stress can indeed make us angry and defensive. The theory simply says that stress can, and often does, make people more caring. And when we care for others, it changes our biochemistry, activating systems of the brain that produce feelings of hope and courage.

I wrote my book The Upside of Stress with that purpose in mind: to help you discover your own strength and compassion. Seeing the upside of stress is not about deciding whether stress is either all good or all bad. It's about how choosing to see the good in stress, and in yourself, can help you meet the challenges in your life. Tending and befriend is one of the best ways to do this, and to transform your own stress into a catalyst for courage and connection.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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How to Transform Stress into Courage and Connection

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In the late 1990s, two psychology researchers at UCLA were talking about how the female scientists in their lab responded differently to stress than the men did. The men would disappear into their offices; the women would bring cookies to lab meetings and bond over coffee. Forget fight-or-flight, they joked.

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Good advice for retaining teachers!

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Idea in Brief

The Problem

Resignations are at an all-time high, and companies desperate to fill vacancies are trying everything from pay raises to trendy perks. But these interventions are falling short-because the real problem is that jobs are often stressful, meaningless, and unlovable.

The Solution

Companies need to take advantage of each person's unique skills and passions. That means making employees the key stakeholders in the organization, minimizing standardization in performance management tools, and trusting people to accomplish their goals in the way they see fit.

The Benefit

Employees don't need to love everything about their jobs, but research shows that a little goes a long way toward reducing burnout and helping with engagement. Companies that have begun to embrace some of the tenets in this article have seen improvements in both retention and overall performance.

As record numbers of people have quit their jobs, all sectors of the economy are struggling to fill vacancies. To get people back to work, organizations are changing long-standing policies and offering unprecedented incentives. Transportation companies, for example, have upped their wages to lure long-haul drivers back into truck cabs. California public schools are allowing retired teachers to return to work without recertification. CEOs and CHROs are falling all over themselves to offer flex-time work arrangements more attractive than those of their competitors. But such attempts miss the fundamental problem.

Simply put, work isn't working for us. It wasn't before the pandemic, and it isn't now. According to surveys my colleagues and I have conducted at ADP Research Institute (ADPRI), before the pandemic only 18% of respondents were fully engaged at work, 17% felt highly resilient at work, and 14% trusted their senior leaders and team leader. The Centers for Disease Control reported in 2018 that 71% of adults had at least one symptom of workplace stress, such as headaches or feeling overwhelmed or anxious.

The pandemic has added even more pressure to our existing pain. Engagement and resilience are at all-time lows, having each dropped two percentage points during the course of the pandemic. (That may sound like a small change, but given how low those figures already were and the size of the samples, it is both statistically and practically significant.) Meanwhile, a quarter of U.S. workers quit their jobs in 2021-a historic high.

This points to a problem that increasing wages or simplifying professional on-ramps alone won't solve, although those efforts certainly help improve employees' quality of life. We know this because in ADPRI's most recent 50,000-person surveys of stratified random samples of working populations around the world, the most powerful predictors of retention, performance, engagement, resilience, and inclusion did not include pay or liking one's colleagues or work location or even a strong belief in the mission of the organization. All those provided some explanatory power, but none was as significant as these three items:

Was I excited to work every day last week?

Did I have a chance to use my strengths every day?

At work do I get a chance to do what I'm good at and something I love?

These results, neuroscience research, and my decades of experience working with individuals in organizations strongly suggest that only when a company intelligently links what people love to their actual activities will it achieve higher performance, higher engagement and resilience, and lower turnover.

To stem the tide and to attract and retain the best people, then, we must redesign jobs around a simple but powerful concept: love for the content of the work itself. That word may seem strong in this context, but people's affinity for their work can and should reach this level, and when it does, amazing things can happen.

Creating a place where all people can find love in their work means incorporating three principles in everything your business does: The people are the point. Employees, rather than customers or shareholders, are the most important stakeholders in your organization. One size fits one. Each of those employees is a unique person with distinct loves, interests, and skills. In trust we grow. For employees to discover and contribute their loves at work, leaders must explicitly make trust the foundation of all practices and policies.

We'll take a look at how the most forward-thinking companies are beginning to implement each of these in turn. But first let's examine why love is so important in the workplace and what companies have missed by ignoring it.

What's Love Got to Do with It?

When you're in love with another person, your brain chemistry changes. We don't yet know the exact biochemical cause of romantic love-it appears to be some combination of oxytocin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and vasopressin. But research does reveal that when you're engaged in an activity you love, that same chemical cocktail is present in your brain-along with anandamide, which brings you feelings of joy and wonder.

Primed by this cocktail, you interact with the world differently. Research by neurobiologists suggests that these "love chemicals" lessen the regulatory function of your neocortex, widening your perspective on yourself and liberating your mind to accept new thoughts and feelings. You register other people's emotions more intensely. You remember details more vividly. You perform cognitive tasks faster and better. You are more optimistic, more loyal, more forgiving, and more open to new information and experiences. One could say that doing what you love makes you more effective, but it's so much more than that: You're on fire without the burnout.

So if you're doing work you love, work need not be a stressor but can instead be a source of energy and resilience. Indeed, ADPRI data on engagement shows that people who find love, strength, joy, and excitement in what they do each day are far more likely to be productive, to stay at the company longer than others do, and to sustain themselves in the face of life's inevitable challenges. Finding love in work, therefore, is not self-indulgent or narcissistic; it is a precursor and an amplifier of performance.

To be clear, that's not quite the same as saying that work must consist exclusively of what you love. We have no data proving that the most productive and engaged people at work love all they do. What it points to, though, is that if leaders want their employees to be high performing, to stay with the organization, and to be engaged and resilient, they should be intentional in helping them find love in some of what they do, every day.

Data from the Mayo Clinic reinforces this finding and suggests that 20% is a useful threshold. Its research into burnout in doctors and nurses suggests that if less than 20% of your work consists of things you love to do, you are far more likely to experience physical and psychological burnout. Intriguingly, loving more than 20% doesn't seem to net much increase in resilience. A little love of what you do at work goes a long, long way.

For many of us, finding even that level of love in our work is challenging. Perhaps daunted by the sheer range of where employees can find love, or perhaps distrustful of their intentions, or perhaps presuming that "no one could love this job," many managers have designed loveless work, in which the job is defined by standardized steps or required competencies, and success is measured by how closely the employee conforms to them. Distribution-center work and delivery-driver roles usually fall into this category.

It's neither fair nor realistic to put the onus on employees who are faced with jobs like those-and with the need to put food on the table-to find the love in what they do, although it's clear from my decades of research into all manner of jobs that people can find love in surprising places. I've interviewed a manufacturing worker who loved to figure out the "personality" of each of the machines he operated and intervene right before one of them "chose" to break down. I've done focus groups with boron miners who revealed passions as diverse as a love of precision, the thrill of figuring out how to go a hundred days without even the most minor safety incident, and simply being part of a team. Slaughterhouse work, long-haul trucking, housekeeping-all these jobs include a range of activities specific enough to serve as the raw material for some love of the work. The fact that we haven't designed those jobs through the lens of people with specific preferences and passions doesn't mean there's no love to be found there.

So let's turn to organizations. It's time to start designing jobs with love in mind. If leaders were to take all this data to heart and deliberately try to create what I call a Love + Work organization, in which a greater percentage of employees find love in what they do-even if only 20% of the time-how would they proceed? They would make sure that engaged and resilient people were uplifted rather than depleted by their jobs, and as a result delivered better services and products to their customers and made more-sustainable commitments to their communities. Although I know of no one organization today that fully embodies the Love + Work ideal, plenty are beginning to implement pieces of the three core principles.

The People Are the Point

A true Love + Work organization is built on a recognition of and commitment to the fundamental importance of each person who comes to work. This stance represents an advance on both Milton Friedman's shareholder capitalism, which held that an organization's sole purpose is to maximize shareholder value, and Joseph Stiglitz's stakeholder capitalism, which introduced the idea that organizations should also maximize value to customers, employees, and the broader community.

A Love + Work organization sees employees as the integrating point for all other stakeholders rather than as merely one of many. They are, after all, where the work actually happens-where the value in products or for customers is created. That requires that every employee be seen as a full human being, not just a cog in the machine. Specifically, Love + Work organizations do the following:

Recruit human beings, not workers.

In a more human-centric approach to onboarding, these companies are rigorous and detailed in explaining why each candidate was selected and what specific strengths and loves they saw in the person, including but also going beyond how those can add value to the overall mission of the organization.

Lululemon is a leader in this. During the company's onboarding process, new employees are encouraged to set goals, both career and personal. Employees are equally celebrated whether their goal is to become the company's CEO or to start their own fashion brand sometime in the future. This focus on the person's unique ambitions during onboarding helps lululemon's 90-day retention and first-year employee-engagement levels rise twice as high as industry averages.

Commit to lifelong learning.

A Love + Work organization invests in the ongoing education of each employee. That might be in the form of direct payment for college degrees, as at Amazon, Walmart, and others; or forgiving and reimbursing student loans, as Geico, Starbucks, and UPS do; or giving employees a certain amount of discretionary time to pursue their own projects, as Google has periodically done over the years. All these efforts communicate explicitly that the employee's growth and development have intrinsic worth, even if it doesn't immediately accrue to the organization.

Support alumni.

A Love + Work organization has a formal and carefully considered offboarding program that reinforces the message that people's worth as human beings extends far beyond their time with the organization. Many companies, including Accenture and McKinsey, have found that staying close to a strong alumni community offers practical benefits in the form of existing client growth and referrals. But it's also a way for organizations to show their commitment to each employee as a person.

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Again, lululemon stands out here. The company's willingness to stay connected to, and support, former employees has created a nexus of entrepreneurial companies in Vancouver, spanning multiple industries including apparel, food services, and fitness. Many employees who depart to pursue dreams of opening a studio or a gym later become "ambassadors," their pictures proudly displayed in local lululemon stores to showcase their new ventures. This demonstrates to current employees how deeply invested the company is in the ongoing success of those who came before them-whether or not that success is within the confines of the company.

One Size Fits One

Brain science reveals that there are more synaptic connections in each human brain than there are stars in 5,000 Milky Ways, resulting in endless variations in how we all think and feel. It shouldn't be surprising, therefore, that people in the same job love and do their work very differently. An organization dedicated to love builds its people practices around that fact. To help people pinpoint their particular pattern of loves and loathings and channel them into contribution, an organization must empower teams and team leaders to make the most of each employee's uniqueness.

As part of its ongoing study of excellence at work, ADPRI does primary qualitative research involving top performers in a variety of roles. Here, for example, are the words of three excellent hotel general managers describing what they love about their job:

"It almost sounds strange, I know, but I actually love it when an angry guest marches up to the front desk. I find my brain works faster, my adrenaline pumping; it feels amazing, like I'm on edge, but loving it. Guess I have a superhero complex, right?"

"My best moments are trying to figure out how to get my team to jell. It's hard because you've got all these different personalities, different schedules, different roles, and somehow I've got to arrange it all so that you've got the right people doing the right things at the right time. Of course, I never get it quite right, but I'm so into it."

"People say I'm never satisfied, but I don't think of it like that. I love taking something that's working and then figuring out newer and better ways of doing things. I get bored so quickly. So if it's new, never been done before, first time, I'm right there. I can't tell you how many times we've redone our team awards or our guest appreciation programs. I'll never stop."

Avoid tools that standardize.

Competency models, feedback tools, and rigid career paths, which have become the norm at most large companies today, replace employees' personal loves with cookie-cutter actions or behaviors. At Love + Work organizations, in contrast, each role is defined by a very few measured outcomes rather than by a competency model. Thus hotel general managers are measured according to occupancy levels and guest satisfaction ratings. Nurses are held accountable for patient outcomes and patient satisfaction scores. Salespeople are measured by sales volume and client growth. And so on. When outcomes are carefully identified and calibrated, employees can pinpoint the activities they love and be helped to find their own path toward those outcomes. The explosive growth of coaching-as-a-service companies such as BetterUp is but one sign that companies are moving away from standardization and toward offering individual guidance to employees at all levels.

These organizations also avoid feedback tools, which by definition measure each person against a standardized list of skills or competencies. I've previously explained in this magazine why feedback is pernicious (" The Feedback Fallacy," March-April 2019). In short: People's feedback is inevitably colored by their own loves (and loathings) and offers precious little to help other employees discover and contribute theirs. Aside from input about facts or required steps, feedback generally consists of one person-however well-intentioned-smothering another.

Organizing around love of the work means that no career paths are defined by the skills or competencies required at each level-indeed, no research that I know of in any refereed journal proves that the best practitioners in a given role all have the same skills and competencies. Competency models are an abstraction that denies the real-world truth that people in the same role find love in very different activities and aspects of it-and, therefore, they thrive and excel in the role using quite different methods. Careers will increasingly be designed according to an employee's own interests and skills. AI-based software offerings such as Gloat, Fuel50, and Flux are the leaders in a growing pack of platforms that build career paths in this way.

Focus on teams.

To avoid standardization, companies must organize around teams.

In 2019, as my ADPRI colleagues and I were analyzing the data from our global study of the world's workers, we discovered just how important teams are to employees. Workers who reported that they felt part of a team were not only 2.7 times as likely as others to be fully engaged, but also three times as likely to be highly resilient and twice as likely to report a strong sense of belonging to their organization.

That's because teams make a home for idiosyncrasy. In a team, each person's unique loves and loathings can be combined with those of others to create something greater than any one person could achieve alone. Humans have long known this. In fact, the oldest human art ever discovered is a 45,000-year-old painting on a cave wall on the island of Sulawesi that depicts a small group of hunters, each drawn with a different animal characteristic thought to denote the particular contribution of each team member: the trunk of an elephant to show the strength of one, the tail of a crocodile to symbolize the cunning of another. "There is no 'I' in 'team'" misses the fundamental point of a team, which is precisely to capitalize on the contribution of each unique 'I.' If you're on a team and your manager and teammates see and know your loves, they can find ways to help you do work that you love better than a blind organization ever could.

But today most organizations are not built around teams. Although plenty of teamwork is happening, leaders can't see it or take advantage of it. Just look at most existing human-capital-management software. It displays individuals and who they report to, but not which teams they're on.

An organization with a focus on teams institutes formal team-joining programs in which people learn why they were picked for their assignments. This introduction includes detailed descriptions of the skills and talents they bring to their teams and what they can rely on or turn to each teammate for. Patagonia takes its team building out of headquarters with hiking trips to the nearby Santa Ynez mountains or campfires on the beach in Ventura to help team members see one another as whole, unique people. There they might learn that one member loves working under pressure, another is most creative from 6 AM to noon, and another must do a three-mile run around the neighborhood every morning or lose motivation. As more and more people work remotely, companies will have to be even more intentional about making joining a team a critical part of onboarding. I expect that we'll see lots of software applications emerging to fill this space.

But the most important part of being on a team is developing trust with the individuals who constitute it.

In Trust We Grow

The data supports a strong link between trust and all the good outcomes that love at work produces. When ADPRI asked its 50,000 global survey participants if they trusted their teammates, their team leader, and their senior leaders, those who strongly agreed that they trusted people in two of the three categories were three times as likely as others to be fully engaged and highly resilient. Those who strongly agreed that they trusted all three were 15 times as likely to be fully engaged and 42 times as likely to be highly resilient.

That's because trust drives the ability of employees to discover and do what they love. In a study of housekeepers at Disney World, I found that many loved their job specifically because they could be creative about how to do it. One rearranged children's stuffed animals into different scenes each day, for example. Another lay down on the bed to check the room from that angle because she knew that would be the first thing a guest did after a long day in the park. The trust given the housekeepers to exercise their autonomy-despite official rules to the contrary-was what made them love their jobs, and that love allowed them to excel in ways that no checklist of tasks could possibly do.

To deliberately engender trust in your organization, you'll need to end certain rituals and start others.

Discard rituals that erode trust.

Goals cascaded down from above, performance ratings, and 360-degree surveys-mechanisms that we tend to think of as increasing alignment and boosting performance-too often signal that the organization doesn't trust its people. Goals imposed from above are artificial and disconnect employees from thinking through what they love and how they can contribute it. In contrast, a Love + Work organization trusts people to set their own goals, which are discussed and adjusted as necessary during the course of the year.

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I've previously written in these pages (" Reinventing Performance Management," April 2015) about why performance ratings are unreliable. No one trusts them-even the people getting the highest ratings. With everyone reduced to a number, the organization can't see the whole person. Similarly, everyone suspects, rightly, that 360-degree surveys generate unreliable data that in no way reveals who a particular employee is. These mechanisms convey to employees that they are monitored but without any real trust that they know what it takes to do their jobs.

Instead, pay attention.

Love + Work organizations build trust by actually paying attention to employees through their team leaders. This requires empowering those leaders and reducing their span of responsibility so that frequent, individualized attention is possible.

Organizations that build trust view a once-a-week check-in between employees and team leaders as the core human ritual at work. During this chat the team leader will not be checking up on or appraising the person or giving feedback. Instead the leader will be talking about the short-term past and future, asking, "What did you love about last week?" "What did you loathe?" "What are your priorities this coming week?" "How can I best help?"

Asking those four questions every week for an entire year will ensure that employees build trust with their team leaders. It doesn't appear to matter whether the check-in happens in person, on the phone, by email, or in an app. What matters is simply that it happens. During a check-in both people can talk about the specifics of the work the employee is doing, the challenges that might be arising, and what the team leader can do to help. Each sharing of a challenge and each small action to provide support help build trust between them. But not only that: Naming the specific activities they loved the previous week keeps employees' loves front and center, tied tightly to the real work that needs to get done.

Many organizations have already instituted the check-in as a core ritual. Cisco alone averages more than 3 million check-ins a year. It is not a cure-all, of course: Some team leaders merely go through the motions, and some employees take a long time to feel that the organization genuinely cares about who they are and what they love. But the data from millions of check-ins is compelling. Team leaders who check in every week drive their team members' engagement scores up by 77% and their team members' voluntary turnover in the following six months down by 67%.

To make this ritual possible, Love + Work organizations eschew departments or functions so large that the span of control makes it impossible for a team leader to check in with each team member. A ratio of one leader to 70 members might make financial sense on a balance sheet, but it makes little sense for people trying to build trust.

. . .

Our leaders publicly announce that they want us to return to work, but for many of us, the current tensions regarding work all stem from our questioning whether we even want to go back to an earlier way of doing things. "Normal" led us into a workplace ecosystem that seemed designed to exploit us and stress us and reduce our agency. Normal made us unhealthy. If organizations dismiss employees' reticence or just hope that it will pass by, they will forever struggle to attract the best people and wonder why they have such trouble keeping the ones they do attract.

In contrast, the smartest organizations will recognize that if they can redesign work with love at its core, they will be able to make new and more-genuine commitments to their workers and over time will become magnets for talent. They will truly deserve the best people.

Editor's note: Marcus Buckingham is the author of Love + Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life (Harvard Business Review Press, 2022), from which this article is drawn.

A version of this article appeared in the May-June 2022 issue of Harvard Business Review.

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Resignations are at an all-time high, and companies desperate to fill vacancies are trying everything from pay raises to trendy perks. But those interventions are falling short, because the real problem, as the author explains, is that so many jobs are stressful, meaningless, and unlovable.

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Harvard Study: Happiness and Longevity Research 

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Harvard Study: Happiness and Longevity Research 

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The Harvard Study and Lifespan Research Foundation

The joint mission of the Harvard Study of Adult Development (HSAD) and the Lifespan Research Foundation (LRF) is to promote and use the findings of adult lifespan research to enable people to live healthier lives filled with meaning, connection, and purpose.

​

Returning to Generation 2

In the next wave of our research, the Study will take a deeper dive into Generation 2. We plan to address three core themes:

1. Purpose and meaning: How do motivation and a sense of purpose in life change as we age? How does a global crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic change our views of ourselves and what is important to us? How do experiences in the family, at work, and with peers promote passionate engagement in life in the context of rapid societal change?

2. Community engagement: In our society, powerful cultural influences glorify individual achievement and happiness. What attitudes and experiences (in the family, with peers, at work) promote investment in the well-being of the community and the nation? What conclusions can we draw to inform how institutions might promote community involvement in rising generations?

3. Attention, relationships, and the role of electronic media: How do electronic media (screens, social media) shape patterns of attention and information acquisition, and how does this influence engagement in real-time relationships and activities? What makes some adults more vulnerable to the negative effects of electronic media? What can the research tell us that would help families, media providers, and others to maximize the positive value of electronic media on relationships?

On the Horizon

In its 9th decade, the Harvard Study of Adult Development, a unique and precious resource for understanding adult psychological and physical development across generations, continues its voyage of discovery, adding new information to its treasure trove of data, and fueling the Lifespan Research Foundation with knowledge to enable people to live healthier lives filled with meaning, connection, and purpose. W.T. Grant's groundbreaking vision continues to inspire new research that benefits the world.

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The Harvard Study of Adult Development - Lifespan Research Foundation

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Our study's goal is to find answers to what makes a happy and meaningful life. The mission of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and the Lifespan Research Foundation is to promote and use the research findings to enable people to live healthier lives filled with meaning, connection and purpose.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Harvard Study and Lifespan Research Foundation

The joint mission of the Harvard Study of Adult Development (HSAD) and the Lifespan Research Foundation (LRF) is to promote and use the findings of adult lifespan research to enable people to live healthier lives filled with meaning, connection, and purpose.

​

Returning to Generation 2

In the next wave of our research, the Study will take a deeper dive into Generation 2. We plan to address three core themes:

1. Purpose and meaning: How do motivation and a sense of purpose in life change as we age? How does a global crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic change our views of ourselves and what is important to us? How do experiences in the family, at work, and with peers promote passionate engagement in life in the context of rapid societal change?

2. Community engagement: In our society, powerful cultural influences glorify individual achievement and happiness. What attitudes and experiences (in the family, with peers, at work) promote investment in the well-being of the community and the nation? What conclusions can we draw to inform how institutions might promote community involvement in rising generations?

3. Attention, relationships, and the role of electronic media: How do electronic media (screens, social media) shape patterns of attention and information acquisition, and how does this influence engagement in real-time relationships and activities? What makes some adults more vulnerable to the negative effects of electronic media? What can the research tell us that would help families, media providers, and others to maximize the positive value of electronic media on relationships?

On the Horizon

In its 9th decade, the Harvard Study of Adult Development, a unique and precious resource for understanding adult psychological and physical development across generations, continues its voyage of discovery, adding new information to its treasure trove of data, and fueling the Lifespan Research Foundation with knowledge to enable people to live healthier lives filled with meaning, connection, and purpose. W.T. Grant's groundbreaking vision continues to inspire new research that benefits the world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Harvard Study of Adult Development - Lifespan Research Foundation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our study's goal is to find answers to what makes a happy and meaningful life. The mission of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and the Lifespan Research Foundation is to promote and use the research findings to enable people to live healthier lives filled with meaning, connection and purpose.

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A sample from the journal book HEART!

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Test How Self-compassionate you are!

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Welcome to the Self-Compassion Test!
Please read each statement carefully before answering. To the left of each item, indicate how often you behave in the stated manner, using the following scale:

Self-Compassion Test Score interpretations:

Average overall self-compassion scores tend to be around 3.0 on the 1-5 scale, so you can interpret your overall score accordingly.
As a rough guide:1-2.5 for your overall self-compassion score indicates you are low in self-compassion.
2.5-3.5 indicates you are moderate.
3.5-5.0 means you are high.

Remember that higher scores for the Self-Judgment, Isolation, and Over-Identification subscales indicate less self-compassion, while lower scores on these dimensions are indicative of more self-compassion (these subscales are automatically reverse-coded when your overall self-compassion score is calculated.)
Here are some self-compassion practices you can try now.

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Welcome to the Self-Compassion Test! Please read each statement carefully before answering. To the left of each item, indicate how often you behave in the stated manner, using the following scale: ...

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I have a few books you just might be interested in! Ha!

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Timothy D. Kanold: books, biography, latest update

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Follow Timothy D. Kanold and explore their bibliography from Amazon.com’s Timothy D. Kanold Author Page.

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Educator Wellness: Self-Evaluation Protocol 

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Educator Wellness: Self-Evaluation Protocol 

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This is our tool to help you identify your wellness progress: strengths and areas for improvement!

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My latest book in the Heart & Soul Small Group Study Series 

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My latest book in the Heart & Soul Small Group Study Series 

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A professional wellness and self-reflection resource for educators at every grade level

A highly anticipated companion to the wildly popular HEART!, SOUL! empowers educators to take another giant leap toward fulfilling their professional promise. Refreshing and research affirmed, this resource leads readers on a deeply rewarding journey toward discovering their soul story—the pursuit of their moral good in order to create good in others. It also includes dozens of stories from real educators, as well as ample space for journaling and self-reflection.

Become more confident, joyful, whole, healthy, and balanced in your professional life.

Explore the four actions of SOUL—searching, overcoming, unifying, and living—that will help you sustain a fulfilling professional life.

Learn the concept of a soul story, diving into what it is and why it is so important to your well-being and emotional health.

Understand your own soul story, and reflect on how you can use it to create good in others.

Learn how to overcome challenges and obstacles that hinder you from fulfilling your soul story.

Discover how to create a positive, thriving school culture focused on meaningful relationships and collaboration.

Follow the discussion of SOUL! on Twitter by using the hashtag #heartandsoul4Ed

Related Topics

Leadership Professional Learning Communities at Work®Professional Learning Communities Teacher Efficacy

Additional Information

Product Code: BKF982, EKF545

ISBN: 9781951075651

Published By: Solution Tree

“Shout this from the mountaintop: If you touch the life of a child as a teacher, paraprofessional, coach, principal, or counselor, you must read this book! SOUL! Fulfilling the Promise of Your Professional Life as a Teacher and Leader will nurture, stretch, challenge, and grow the soul of every reader and everyone readers engage with in their personal and professional lives.”

“After thirty-two years of serving public school students, reading Timothy D. Kanold’s SOUL! triggered a healthy and much-needed sense of nostalgia. Many have shared their soul stories with me, including Rick DuFour, who felt confident I could be part of a team traveling around the world teaching educators how to best promote optimal learning for the students we serve. SOUL! reminds us all of the positive interactions that have impacted each of us and the responsibility we have to continue to positively impact others.”

“SOUL! by Timothy D. Kanold is one of those books that will truly make you think and reflect, not just as an educator but also as a person. Throughout the book, I paused and reflected on how I’ve grown over the years but more importantly how much I still need to grow. The personal stories embedded throughout this book will resonate with every reader because we have all had similar experiences, whether it’s losing a loved one or experiencing a failure. Dr. Kanold brings those personal stories back to the message of each chapter. This book is definitely worth reading and sharing with colleagues in order to help each of us grow as educators and as people.”

“SOUL! will resonate with every educator, as it deeply goes to the heart of why we entered this profession. It is quite simply a masterpiece of storytelling. Author Timothy D. Kanold challenges readers to write their own soul stories, which gives them a mirror to who they are and a window into the opportunities still out there. Tim’s focuses on grace, compassion, empathy, vulnerability, and equity are woven throughout the book as uniting and powerful themes, reminding educators to hold firm to these qualities and continue their beautiful but challenging journey through this profession. SOUL! is quite simply the best educational book of its kind that I have ever read!”

“In SOUL!, Dr. Timothy D. Kanold has created a compelling and timely companion to his best-selling book HEART! Dr. Kanold connects our journey as educators to our inherent desire for purpose and impact. His personal stories and reflections shine a light on the importance of investing in our purpose. While HEART! shows us how to have a positive impact on others and leave our ‘heartprint,’ SOUL! encourages us to turn inward and check our own healthy and sometimes unhealthy reactions and decisions that drive the why behind our impact. Dr. Kanold uses an effective balance of research and relatable personal experiences to help readers develop strategies to cope with obstacles that can block their ability to be effective at building personal and professional relationships. As a school leader, I will encourage my staff to use SOUL! as a tool to improve their professional collaboration with peers and improve their impact with students.”

“SOUL! asks readers to embark on a journey that guides them toward a more purpose-driven professional life. During this journey, readers are catapulted to the promise and reality of a life that results from embracing compassion, empathy, equity, and joy, leaving a lasting imprint that benefits students, parents, and colleagues. Through personal stories and opportunities for reflection, Timothy D. Kanold makes readers conscious of the things they do not see about themselves. This amazing book touches the core of our being and helps us fulfill the promise of our professional lives.”

“The work of successful educators and professionals is hard. It takes passion, dedication, and sacrifice. SOUL! is a must-read for school and district staff, but it also contributes to fields outside of education. It encourages readers to reach their full potential by engaging deeply in the best practices of their work and to create strong connections with colleagues, students, and families. SOUL! navigates readers through this overarching question: ‘What drives us to find complete fulfillment in our vocation?’ Like Dr. Kanold’s prequel, HEART!, this book serves as a guide along this important and impactful journey.”

“When Timothy D. Kanold’s HEART! was published in 2017, I remember how deeply it spoke to me, and how desperately I needed to focus on the very essence of the book as an educator. Four years later, my sense of urgency has escalated beyond belief. Who in education doesn’t need to develop his or her soul story by searching, overcoming, unifying, and living? In SOUL!, Dr. Kanold gives us yet another opportunity to learn, listen, reflect, and record our journey during a time of disruption, resilience, and challenge, not only in education but in society. We need to take this journey for ourselves, for our students, and for each other.”

“In SOUL!, Timothy D. Kanold takes us on a powerful journey that encourages us to reflect on both our personal stories and our impact on others. He recognizes that as educators, we dedicate incredible amounts of our time, energy, and talents in service to our school communities. As educators, we will undoubtedly connect to the real and relatable accounts of his soul story and feel empowered by his guidance as we seek to understand our own journeys. SOUL! is engaging, emotionally healing, and truly a gift for all educators.”

“In SOUL!, author Timothy D. Kanold asks us to reflect on the very soul of what it means to be an educator. He is one of those people who asks questions and then listens intently to the answers. He shows you that he is interested in and cares about you and your answers. You leave the conversation feeling heard and feeling confirmed. Dr. Kanold’s book SOUL! makes you feel the same way. He reminds us of why we chose education as our profession and digs deep into the source of what ignites us. SOUL! is a must-read for all educators!”

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A highly anticipated companion to the wildly popular HEART!, SOUL! empowers educators to take another giant leap toward fulfilling their professional promise. This self-reflection resource offers professional wellness tips and strategies that foster a collaborative, positive school culture, leading…

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This is a link about Parental burnout...

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This is a link about Parental burnout...

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Read for your use as a parent, and thinking about the parents of your students!

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Credit... Getty Images

Two-thirds of working parents surveyed met the criteria for parental burnout. Here's how to spot the signs - and get help.

For two years, working parents in America have been running on fumes, hammered by the stress of remote schooling, day care closures, economic instability and social isolation.

Now, a new report says that 66 percent of working parents meet the criteria for parental burnout - a nonclinical term that means they are so exhausted by the pressure of caring for their children, they feel they have nothing left to give.

The report, published Thursday by researchers with Ohio State University, is based on an online survey of 1,285 working parents that was conducted between January 2021 and April 2021. It gives a snapshot of a different time, when America was deep in pandemic lockdowns.

But its authors believe parental burnout is here to stay, because working parents don't have enough practical, structural supports to overcome the relentless stress, which isn't abating. Any parent can experience burnout, but the new report focuses on working parents, who, the researchers believe, are at particular risk for exhaustion.

"Parental burnout isn't just going to end magically when the pandemic finally ends," said Bernadette Melnyk, dean of the College of Nursing at Ohio State and an author of the report. "The chronicity of the pandemic has taken a toll and depleted many parents' coping reserves that will take time and patience to build up again."

Parental burnout isn't a clinical diagnosis that would end up in anyone's medical chart, but many psychologists recognize it as a subtype of burnout - a work-related phenomenon now recognized as a syndrome by the World Health Organization. (It is not included in the DSM-5, often called the "bible" of psychiatry in the United States.)

"As with burnout, parental burnout is defined as physical, emotional and mental exhaustion due to the ongoing demands of caring for one's children," said Dr. Jennifer Yen, a psychiatrist at UTHealth Houston.

Of course, raising children is demanding in all those ways, which makes it difficult to draw a clear line between normal periods of stress and burnout. Dr. Yen said parents should be on the lookout for signs like fatigue, irritability, changes in sleep, appetite and mood, or aches and pains. What sets parental burnout apart is how severe those symptoms are, as well as how much they affect daily functioning.

"It's a state where you have been giving, and giving, and giving and giving - until you're totally empty," said Kate Kripke, a clinical social worker and the founder of the Postpartum Wellness Center in Boulder, Colo.

Dr. Yen also noted other red flags that are specific to parental burnout, like feeling angry or resentful about having to care for your children, and starting to isolate from them physically or emotionally. Parents with burnout may also feel trapped or fantasize about leaving, she added.

Though the new report may be useful to clinicians, the researchers wrote it directly for working parents. It includes a new burnout scale they hope parents will use to gauge how they are doing, which includes 10 statements such as: "I wake up exhausted at the thought of another day with my children" or "I feel like I am in survival mode as a parent." Parents can agree or disagree with each on a scale from "not at all" to "very much so." They are then given a final score that can help indicate whether they have what the researchers would consider to be mild, moderate or severe burnout.

No matter where working parents fall on that spectrum, it may be helpful for them to first acknowledge that many of the challenges they're facing are beyond their control. It is impossible to be a dedicated employee and a dedicated caregiver simultaneously without adequate support. Self-compassion is important, Dr. Melnyk said.

But parents facing mild burnout may be able to make immediate changes that will prevent more severe exhaustion. Find small ways to ask for help, the researchers say. If you are able, ask a family member or neighbor to pitch in with child care, even if it's just to give you a short break. If you're responsible for getting your children to and from school, activities and play dates, find others to car pool with so you aren't running yourself ragged.

The report found that 68 percent of working moms say they're burned out compared with 42 percent of working dads, so it may be especially important for women to take breaks and ask for help - though that may not be simple or easy.

Stressed-out parents may also find it helpful to tap into a sense of quiet and calm by practicing mindfulness. Research shows that mindfulness can help reduce parental stress, which may in turn help improve children's psychological outcomes. It can be as simple as intentionally feeling the bottom of your foot on the floor and taking a deep breath, Ms. Kripke said.

But breathing alone won't solve this. Parents with more serious burnout should reach out to a primary care practitioner or mental health provider immediately. They can screen for issues like anxiety and depression. (If you are unsure how to find a mental health provider, it may be helpful to start by searching free online directories, like Alma, ZocDoc, Monarch or Headway.)

Keep in mind that some mental health providers feel conflicted about the notion of parental burnout.

"This is the first I'm hearing of the term," said Dr. Catherine Birndorf, the C.E.O. and medical director of the Motherhood Center in New York City. She said she likes the concept, and the idea of a parental burnout scale, if they help parents who wouldn't otherwise recognize they are struggling. But she worries that some parents may write off what they're experiencing as burnout, instead of getting treated for an underlying condition like anxiety or depression.

Dr. Birndorf also emphasized that the onus should not be solely on parents to recognize - and manage - their own burnout. They have been stuck in a situation she called "untenable," caused not just by the pandemic, but also by a longstanding gap in policies that would offer working parents the day-to-day support they need.

"The issues are systemic," Dr. Birndorf said. "Burnout is happening in the context of a national crisis, which is about paid parental leave and universal child care. Without those things, what are we supposed to do?"

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New Report Confirms Most Working Parents Are Burned Out

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Two-thirds of working parents surveyed met the criteria for parental burnout. Here's how to spot the signs - and get help. For two years, working parents in America have been running on fumes, hammered by the stress of remote schooling, day care closures, economic instability and social isolation.

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Educator Wellness Rubric based on the four Dimensions of Wellness! 

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Educator Wellness Rubric based on the four Dimensions of Wellness! 

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Crossing The Bridge From Teaching To Learning! 

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Crossing The Bridge From Teaching To Learning! 

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This is an online chapter that goes with my book HEART! Enjoy!

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Self-check to see if you are suffering from Working Parent Burnout! 

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Self-check to see if you are suffering from Working Parent Burnout! 

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This is a sample Chapter from the journal book SOUL! Enjoy!

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Read this at Graduation time! Enjoy!

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Are you suffering from chronic stress? Many of us are-whether we're stressed out by our jobs, complicated relationships, caregiving responsibilities, or the general state of the world.

That's where Elissa Epel's new book, The Stress Prescription, comes in. A health psychologist and director of the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center at the University of California, San Francisco, Epel explains how stress affects our bodies and minds-including our health, happiness, and longevity-and how to manage it in the best way possible.

Too many of us are in a constant state of alertness, she argues, which makes us ill-prepared to navigate the everyday stressors and bigger upsets that occur when living a full life. We may think we're relaxed, but we're actually maintaining a low-level vigilance that's hard on our bodies. Constant physiological strain can shorten our telomeres (the caps at the ends of our DNA that protect it from aging)-a process she wrote about in her bestselling book, The Telomere Effect.

Epel emphasizes that not all stress is inherently bad-and that we shouldn't aim for a stress-free life. We need our physiological stress response to survive, as it can come in handy when we're gearing up to perform or facing an actual life-or-death threat.

"Anything worth doing will have aspects of stress woven through: challenge, discomfort, risk. We can't change that. But what we can change is our response," she says.

If we can learn how to handle stress better and build up stress resilience, we're more likely to thrive, she argues. To do that, she recommends seven guidelines and offers specific practices to get us there.

Embrace uncertainty

Life is uncertain, and things will not always go according to plan. But, if we get better at tolerating uncertainty, it can lead to less stress, as well as other good things-like being able to trust others, collaborate, and cooperate more.

Tolerating uncertainty means not always having rigid expectations of the future. "Strong expectations can hurt us whether they're positive (something we're looking forward to) or negative (something we're dreading). Better to loosen our expectations as much as we can," says Epel.

One way to do that, she says, is to practice mindfulness meditation, which keeps you focused on the present and prevents ruminating too much on what unknowable thing might happen. While you'd be forgiven for thinking it's better to anticipate disasters so that you're prepared for them, she argues against that approach. Anticipating the worst leads to spikes of cortisol that are harmful to your health-and result in no better response to stress than not anticipating it.

Don't fret about what you can't control

Like the old adage goes, when things go wrong, it's good to recognize what's in your control and what isn't-and then focus your attention on changing what's under your control. For example, if your spouse suddenly becomes incapacitated, and you're called upon to become a caregiver-a huge stressor for most people-it's better to accept reality, manage what you can, and let go of the rest.

This may not sound easy. But with reflection, says Epel, you might find that many things you ruminate about-what others think of you, a potential illness or diagnosis, the outcome of an election-are not under your control, making worry needless and even problematic. Once you realize this, you can focus on accepting what's not controllable and making better choices about how to handle stressors actually under your control. That might mean letting go of superfluous activities, taking breaks in your busy life for some restful breathing, or practicing self-compassion.

Harness the body's stress response to meet challenges

Our bodies are well designed to enter into fight-or-flight mode when we are under threat or facing difficulties. But the physical effects of stress depend on our attitude-whether we see it as a bad thing or recognize the positive, energizing elements of that mode. When we see the benefits of stress, we actually show a healthier stress response in our bodies-which can help us overcome challenges.

"When we focus on the benefits of stress, we feel less stress about stress, pay attention to positive cues rather than threatening cues, and approach situations more confidently rather than avoid them," writes Epel.

This kind of reframe can be helpful for accepting our mistakes along the way when we try new things. Knowing that failure, challenge, and stress can be an important part of reaching our goals can help us to take them less to heart-and prevent us from giving up too soon.

How to do it? Reframed statements around stress-like saying, "This is exciting! I can appreciate this feeling" as opposed to "This is so stressful. I hate this feeling."-have been found over many studies to reduce our negative feelings about stress.

Train your cells to metabolize stress better

Chronic stress is never good for us. But getting an occasional shot of high stress that our bodies can tolerate and easily recover from-something Epel calls "hormetic stress"-is actually good for us. It builds resilience at the cellular level and makes us better prepared to handle future, unexpected stressors.

While all exercise is good for managing stress and improving our health, Epel recommends high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which gives you the most bang for your buck. HIIT involves short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by a recovery period, and it has become very popular for people who have less time to exercise.

For those who can't do HIIT, there are other ways to expose our cells to short bursts of stress, such as taking a cold shower or using a sauna. Though the research is relatively new, Epel provides some evidence that both of these can increase stress resilience and lead to better health, too (though you might want to check with a doctor before trying them out).

Use nature to recalibrate

There is ample evidence that spending time in nature reduces stress and improves well-being. Epel argues that "exposure to nature, in all forms and contexts, is one of the most powerful and immediate ways to reduce stress."

Being in green spaces allows us to experience "attention restoration"-a kind of recovery from the stress of cognitive overload and constant stimulation that many people experience in their everyday lives. Experiencing nature can also produce feelings of awe, which, in turn, reduce stress -along with a host of other benefits. If you don't have easy access to the woods or an urban park, take heart. Even looking out at the night sky or watching nature videos can be calming.

Practice deep rest

We all need to relax in order to reduce stress in our lives. But, says Epel, we also need to find moments of deep relaxation where we experience "protected, tech-free, rest-focused downtime for ourselves." This kind of deep rest is different from what we typically think of as "relaxing"- like lounging on a couch and watching TV or walking our dog at night. It's more about the kind of experience you might have on a meditation retreat, where you practice letting go of all responsibility and just being.

Of course, sleeping or napping are ways we can get that kind of rest-if we're good at them, which many of us aren't. But there are other things we can do, too. Epel suggests specific deep breathing exercises, which is something under our control that can quickly put us into a relaxed state-and has all kinds of benefits for our physiology.

Find moments of joy in your life

When we feel happy, we tend not to feel so stressed out. So, says Epel, it's important to cultivate more moments of joy in our lives-especially moments of purpose and meaning. "The science of happiness and joy is pretty clear: It's good for the mind, good for the body, good for stress resilience," she says.

While chasing happiness can actually hurt your well-being if you get too obsessive, you can simply turn your mind toward noticing the positive. One practice she suggests (which I took to heart, personally) is changing the way you wake up and go to bed at night. Rather than startling awake and immediately thinking about all you need to get done, she suggests taking a moment to imagine what you're looking forward to that day. Similarly, before going to sleep at night, you can recount the happiest parts of your day and what you're grateful for.

"Happiness and gratitude give us that reserve capacity, the charge to our battery," she writes. "They give us the resources to zoom out, take a healthy perspective, see the challenge, stay flexible, and be resilient."

While some of these tips for managing stress may be familiar to you, it's definitely helpful to have them all in one place. Thankfully, the book is short and easy to read, yet still chock full of research-as well as ideas on how to make the findings work for you, personally. By following Epel's prescription, you are bound to increase your resilience to stress-and be happier and healthier for it.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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Seven Ways to Have a Healthier Relationship With Stress

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Are you suffering from chronic stress? Many of us are-whether we're stressed out by our jobs, complicated relationships, caregiving responsibilities, or the general state of the world. That's where Elissa Epel's new book, The Stress Prescription , comes in.

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Work on improving your relationships with colleagues! 

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Work on improving your relationships with colleagues! 

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Want Better Relationships? Here’s What to Do Today

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A new study finds that even just one conversation with a friend could make you feel more connected and less stressed.

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The Power of Daily Gratitude On Our Wellness and purpose 

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The Power of Daily Gratitude On Our Wellness and purpose 

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Great piece of research on the benefits of a focus on gratitude each day!

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Research affirms we can reduce anxiety and lower our blood pressure with Music!!

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Aging Well Age-Related Depression, Mood and Stress Maintaining a Healthy Mind as You Age

If you want to firm up your body, head to the gym. If you want to exercise your brain, listen to music.

There are few things that stimulate the brain the way music does. If you want to keep your brain engaged throughout the aging process, listening to or playing music is a great tool. It provides a total brain workout.

Research has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory.

The Brain-Music Connection

Experts are trying to understand how our brains can hear and play music. A stereo system puts out vibrations that travel through the air and somehow get inside the ear canal. These vibrations tickle the eardrum and are transmitted into an electrical signal that travels through the auditory nerve to the brain stem, where it is reassembled into something we perceive as music.

Johns Hopkins researchers have had dozens of jazz performers and rappers improvise music while lying down inside an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) machine to watch and see which areas of their brains light up.

Music is structural, mathematical and architectural. It's based on relationships between one note and the next. You may not be aware of it, but your brain has to do a lot of computing to make sense of it.

Everyday Brain Boosts from Music

The power of music isn't limited to interesting research. Try these methods of bringing more music-and brain benefits-into your life.

Jump-start your creativity.

Listen to what your kids or grandkids listen to, experts suggest. Often we continue to listen to the same songs and genre of music that we did during our teens and 20s, and we generally avoid hearing anything that's not from that era.

New music challenges the brain in a way that old music doesn't. It might not feel pleasurable at first, but that unfamiliarity forces the brain to struggle to understand the new sound.

Recall a memory from long ago.

Reach for familiar music, especially if it stems from the same time period that you are trying to recall. Listening to the Beatles might bring you back to the first moment you laid eyes on your spouse, for instance.

Listen to your body.

Pay attention to how you react to different forms of music, and pick the kind that works for you. What helps one person concentrate might be distracting to someone else, and what helps one person unwind might make another person jumpy.

Definitions

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): A large machine that uses powerful magnets and radio waves to see inside your body. Unlike an X-ray, MRI testing does not use radiation. If you undergo this test, you'll lie on a narrow table that slides inside a tunnel-shaped scanner for about 30 to 60 minutes while health-care professionals watch from another room. If you feel anxious in small, enclosed spaces, ask your physician about an open MRI that is not as close to the body.

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Aging Well Age-Related Depression, Mood and Stress Maintaining a Healthy Mind as You Age If you want to firm up your body, head to the gym. If you want to exercise your brain, listen to music. There are few things that stimulate the brain the way music does.

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Advice from the Berkeley Center

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When it comes to workplace woes, Christina Maslach has heard it all.

The hard-working team that's celebrated less than the office slackers. The professionals who wind up in a soul-sucking job. The employees required to attend office BBQs but left out of workplace decision making.

It's been 40-plus years since Maslach, a psychology professor emerita at UC Berkeley, first wrote about workplace trauma and burnout. She's since pioneered a body of research that has influenced how we think about work-and what it means when work isn't working out.

The Burnout Challenge, her new book from Harvard University Press, distills decades of research on workplace culture into a slim volume that she and coauthor Michael P. Leiter hope serves as a solutions-focused template for employees and employers alike.

Their book is loaded with examples collected from decades of research that help build a spectrum of what they call six "mismatches" that plague employee-employer dynamics: mismatches with workload, control, rewards, community, fairness, and values.

They hope to help people either escape a potentially problematic situation-or quit altogether. Their book also comes at a time of transformation: Many workplaces are still figuring out the post-pandemic reality. Many have changed for the better. But Maslach and Leiter say many "perils" remain.

"A dysfunctional workplace is not something for people to endure," they write. "It is something to change."

Berkeley News spoke with Maslach about her new book, what the pandemic revealed about work, and when to walk away. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Berkeley News: The word burnout has been used a lot, especially lately. It almost feels like it's lost its meaning. Let's start broad: How do you describe and define burnout in today's world? What does it look like?
Christina Maslach: Burnout is being used by people to describe all kinds of other things. It's evocative. It has imagery. Job burnout, which is what I've been doing research on, and which the World Health Organization recognized officially in 2019, is basically a response to chronic job stressors in the workplace that have not been well-managed. It shares a lot with stress, but it goes beyond that. When people are talking about burnout, that's what we're really focusing on.

The experience has three interrelated components. One is exhaustion, which is the stress response. A second is not just feeling stressed and exhausted and tired, but really feeling negative, cynical, hostile. It's having a "Take this job and shove it" feeling about the workplace. They don't know what they're doing. They're not well managed. They don't like being there. They don't like the people. That leads to what I consider more of the hallmark of burnout than just the stress and exhaustion. It leads to this cynicism about the workplace.

And then the third component that we see is people begin to feel negative about themselves, instead of just about their workplace. "What's wrong with me?" "Why did I go into this job?" "I'm not proud of some of the stuff I've done." "Why can't I handle it?"

All of this, as the World Health Organization points out, can lead to all kinds of subsequent outcomes down the road, including physical health problems, mental health problems, poor performance, and quitting the job. It can have ripple effects.

You've given it your all, and there's nothing left to give. In some sense, that's the epitome of burnout in the workplace.
BN: A theme of the book seems to be that the workplace burnout problem isn't something individual workers should be forced to manage through self-care. You see it as much bigger than that-as a relationship issue. Why does that distinction matter?
CM: It matters because how you frame the questions leads you to a different kind of answer. If you frame the question as "What is wrong with the worker who's burned out?," then the solutions tend to be about how that person does self-care. How does that person take care of themselves and figure out what to do? Do they need time off? Do they need to see a doctor? Do they need to see a therapist? It's all saying that the problem is located within the individual and, therefore, solutions are aimed at that individual. That includes, "Why don't you leave?" If you ask it that way, you're answering it in terms of what happens to a person or what actions somebody could take to fix that person, heal that person.

I'm not objecting to coping and self-care. But we really need to understand why. What are the causes and not simply the effects? You can do all the self-care in the world, but at some level, if the stressors are the same, you're still going to have the problem.

If you think of it in terms of cause and effect, we need to look at both sides. What's going on in the workplace? What's going on with the individual? It's not pointing a finger at one or the other. It's both-and. We've got to look at all of this. The goal is, how do we get a better fit, a better match so that people thrive rather than get beaten down by the workplace?

If you think of the mantra that has been around forever- If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen -it's a recognition of a gap, a mismatch between the job and the person. But it's saying, "It's your problem. If you can't do it, then go away. Don't be here." Meanwhile, nothing is being raised about the space itself. Could the heat be turned down? Could we redesign the kitchen to be a better place?
BN: You identify a spectrum of six mismatches-workload, control, rewards, community, fairness, and values-that are most common between employees and workplaces. How does acknowledging those mismatches help employers and employees overcome this broader burnout issue?
CM: The notion of a match or a fit between people in the job is actually not a new one. For years, we've talked about ergonomics and the fit between the physical environment and the workers. When computer workstations first came out, people were blowing up their wrists and hands with carpal tunnel syndrome because the equipment wasn't designed to match the human body well. We learned to change the design of chairs so that we don't have so much musculoskeletal damage. That kind of notion has been there for a long time.

Of course, when we train people, we're teaching them to match the job. We've given them skills, education, and practical experiences. What's new about it for us is that we're saying it applies just as well to not only people's physical body, but to their psychological motivation, to what makes people tick.

It's hard to say one or more of these six mismatches are more common. There's certainly ones that are more commonly thought of and focused on, like workload. But that's not the whole story. That gets you stressed and exhausted, but it doesn't necessarily lead to the negative cynicism and the negative self-evaluation. So, when people say, "Gee, I'm burned out, we've got so much to do. I'm just really tired," I say, "How do you feel about it? Do you like the job at all?"

"Oh, this is a great place. I am so glad I'm in this particular place," they say.

"How do you feel about the quality of your work?"

"It's good. Good. I'm just so tired."

"You're overextended," I say. "You're not burned out. You're still functioning. It's just that it's hard. You've got too much to do with not enough resources to get it done."

Obviously, there are ways to try and say, "How can we fix this? Can we work on it? Can we change some of the tasks?" If we add something to somebody's plate, what do we take off? In general, we are really good at adding, but we are bad at subtracting. That's part of the problem.
BN: You write that the "post-pandemic transition presents possibilities and perils" when addressing burnout. What do you mean? And do you think we're living up to those possibilities as a society, at this point?
CM: I'm not sure we're enough down the road to really know. I mean, people keep saying things like quiet quitting, quiet hiring, hush vacations where people are working from anywhere and not letting the company know that they're not at home.

The pandemic had, in some sense, forced us to recognize that a job doesn't have to be the way it is. It could be different. We had to do it differently. In some cases, what we learned from doing it differently were great things. Not to give the pandemic a silver lining, but there is one. People discovered they don't have to commute all the time, they can spend more time with family.

There were also things that did not work well. Teachers got thrown into the deep end of the pool with little support to try and teach without preparation, without good equipment, without any really good support. And I think with health care, some things worked well, some things didn't.

We can learn from the mistakes that didn't work, and we can learn from the possibility that it could be different. We can think out of the box, not just for the pandemic, but going forward.
BN: And the perils? How should people use the book to address those?
CM: The perils are that things get put in place as a kind of reaction to the pandemic or reaction to work from home or reaction to hybrid without really thinking it through and critically, without getting a more collaborative process. The things that I was saying even before the pandemic were often done with the best of intentions. "What can we do for our workers?" companies would ask. "We will put a volleyball court on the roof so people can go up and exercise and play a team sport." But did they check with all the employees about, of all the things you could do and spend your money, would this be the thing that would really make a difference? No. Did the volleyball court get used? No. They're coming up with stuff under the impression it will be good for employees, but without actually talking to the people who are going to help carry it out or live with it.

So, start with the low-hanging fruit, with the pebbles in your shoe, and then maybe work up to other stuff. What's working well? Where are we not doing so well? What changes could we make? What kinds of things could we do and make sure that the people who are going to be the target of this are fully on board and on the same page?

But if they haven't been asked to contribute, it could be a disaster.
BN: Over all of your years of talking to people about job burnout, what's the one thing that people say would help them prevent it?
CM: In recent years, the theme that I've heard a lot is, people would say things like, "When I was in school, or when I was being trained, I had a mentor, I had somebody I could go to to talk with, to get advice from, to get feedback, to share things." You knew that this mentor had experience and was trying to help you move forward, and would treat it confidentially.

Then, they'd say things like, "I don't have anybody like that anymore."

People used to be there for each other. Now, I can be surrounded by tons of people, and I don't know one that I could turn to. People think it's a risk. That they'll be stigmatized. They'll be put down. They'll be out of the running for any promotion or a letter of recommendation. So, they believe they just have to keep quiet and struggle alone. "I wish I didn't have to come in and be there with all of these folks," they think. "I don't have that safe person." That has just struck me so much.

We always say, from a lot of research in the social sciences, that one of the best predictors of people's well-being is that they have social relationships, a social blanket. That you had people who were friends, who were colleagues, who were neighbors, who were family. People that you could argue with, that you could talk to, that you could trust, that you could hang out with, that you could get good advice and help and that you could do the same for others.
BN: What advice do you give to employees about when they should walk away?
CM: The first response is to ask, "Is there some way to improve things here and make it better? Am I the only one who is unhappy with this? Maybe there are others." Rather than saying, "I'm burned out," ask the team, "Could we rethink some of our processes?"

And from there, use these six areas we describe in the book. You don't need a special test or anything like that. But how are things going for me in those six areas? Are there some other opportunities that I could pursue that would be better than what I have now? Do you have somewhere to leap to that you think actually is going to not have the same problems that you're leaping away from?

For some people, some of those areas are more important than others. People will tolerate mismatches of various kinds as long as the ones that they really care about are OK.

When people hear about the six areas, they start going through a mental checklist.

BN: You have an example of this in the book where someone has followed up with you after hearing about your burnout research and this idea of mismatches. Tell me about that.

CM: Yes. Somebody who was studying for a Ph.D. in the sciences at UC Berkeley. She came up to me after I spoke about stress in labs and said, "I heard your talk four years ago, and I just want to let you know that I was about to quit my dream profession."

She said, "I was thinking, 'I'm not cut out for this. I'm not doing well in my lab, so maybe I have to quit because I'm not going to succeed.' And then I started going down the six areas of my life that you talked about."

She had negative thoughts about all six of them. And then she realized she needed to get into another lab. That's not easy to do and make a change. But she kept at it and finally got into a different lab. And she thrived in that second lab. She got research done. She was able to collaborate, she got her name on some publications. And she told me, "I now have some job offers, and I'm going out for interviews."

It was using that information to ask, "Where am I, and how am I doing in terms of those six areas of mismatch?" And in her case, it was realizing nothing was working well. Her insight was, "It's the wrong place, it's not me. Maybe if I'm in a better place, I could do better." And she did.

The hope is that other people can do that for themselves, as well.
A longer version of this article was originally published on Berkeley News. Read the original article.
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Where to Start If You Feel Burned Out at Work

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When it comes to workplace woes, Christina Maslach has heard it all. The hard-working team that's celebrated less than the office slackers. The professionals who wind up in a soul-sucking job. The employees required to attend office BBQs but left out of workplace decision making.

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How well do we communicate at our team meetings, in our emails and texts with our colleagues? Especially those we don't agree with?

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The Dignity Index is designed to prevent violence, ease divisions, and solve problems.