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In this course you will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. As preparation for these tasks, Professor Laurie Santos reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change. You will ultimately be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity into your life. THE SCIENCE OF WELL BEING WAS PRODUCED IN PART DUE TO...

FREE ONLINE PUPPET SHOW on Empathy & Friendship https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7O4t5QeJTUeWRe-46OlfJA Pacific Puppetry & Banyan Global Learning Present "Bird That Wants to Fly" 3-4pm Pacific on Thursday, June 11th This is the story of a bird who was treated very poorly and so has decided to walk instead of fly. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that through empathy and friendship we can help each other achieve our fullest potential. It is an archetypal story of...

There are many theories about childhood trauma and how it affects the bodies and minds of children and how these experiences shape adults. One of the most interesting of all of them is what is called the polyvagal theory. First described in 1994 by Stephen W. Porges, a distinguished university scientist, the polyvagal theory has caught the attention of millions including therapists and theorists of all types.

I invite you to notice the feeling you have when I say vulnerability is strength! Does it feel like a pit in your stomach? A lump in your throat? Does the idea of being vulnerable scare you? I am asking you to think about what’s not working for you in your life. Have you been trying to handle everything yourself? Do you think that is what strong people should do? Are you keeping secrets so that others only know the person you think you’re supposed to be ? Are you trying to seem “perfect”?

Comments from Gail: My colleague Alison Cebulla shared the work of David Treleaven and his work with trauma-sensitive mindfulness, including his new book Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness . I love their mission: Making Mindfulness Safe and Effective for People Who've Experienced Trauma. I include an excerpt from a recent email from him and the group below: Our commitment inside of Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness (TSM) is to provide you with resources that equip you—and by extension anyone you’re...

From Center for Wellness and Nutrition, May 2020 COVID-19 has changed the way we live our day-to-day lives. With many experiencing uncertainties in jobs, healthcare, and support systems, navigating mental health during these times can also be stressful. As the nation struggles to adjust to a new normal in light of the COVID-19 crisis, mental health is perhaps more important than ever. During May, mental health’s value to overall wellness is highlighted as we observe Mental Health Awareness...

COLLAGE BY HUNTER FRENCH | IMAGES VIA GETTY by Rachel Miller , VICE, May 28 2020 , 7:25pm. Friends, I don’t need to tell you that it’s been an especially hard few weeks for Black people in the United States. Breonna Taylor . Ahmaud Arbery . Chris Cooper . George Floyd . Tear-gassing the protesters who had the gall to be upset about a racist murder . All of this, during a time when Black people are disproportionately dying from the COVID-19 pandemic . It’s exhausting. Amid all this suffering,...

The past week has been painful, overwhelming, and many other emotions, as the Twin Cities, Minnesota, National, and global communities grapple with the murder of George Floyd, ongoing police brutality, the protests, the uprising, and the institutional, systemic, and interpersonal racism that has been an ongoing trauma for many of our communities. Many of us are working to navigate the balance between engagement, the need for rest and renewal, and care for the community in these moments.

When I was ten, my mother remarried. Two weeks later, my new stepfather revealed himself to be an abusive alcoholic with a gun fetish. I’m guessing that the first time he went on a drunken rampage my mother chalked it up to a bad day. Maybe she shook her head and said to herself, “men.” Before long, though, the now well-known cycle of abuse established itself in our household and that was that. Before long, I stopped calling him “Daddy”. It would be three years before my mother could manage...

During this time of isolation, small moments of tenderness can help us feel more connected than ever. I believe that what is too often missing in people’s lives is the satisfaction of a fundamental need that they have not fully grasped or understood. The Dutch have a word huidhonger, meaning “skin hunger,” the feeling people develop when they are disconnected from one another. Let’s add to that another word that relates to emotional hunger: a Japanese everyday noun amae, loosely translated...

This week we explore and address the difficult feelings children and youths are having right now as they hear so much confusing information. They may now start being personally affected not only by quarantine, but people getting sick. We hope these resilience briefs help the children and youths in your practice and lives.

When I was an adolescent and young adult, I struggled with depression. As I reflect back on that time, so much of what I was experiencing was deeply tied to coming to terms with my sexuality. Growing up in the 1980’s in a relatively conservative town, I was closeted (even to myself) until I was a young adult. The pain and fear of being different, of not belonging, of being judged or rejected for who I was more than my adolescent brain could wrap its conscious head around.