Real Simple Find Your Balance

Some days, the mere idea of mindfulness seems like a cruel joke. How can daily life—with its stress-inducing news, pop-up ads, and social-media jabs—ever feel calm? And who can focus when we’re driven to distraction by alerts and texts and chat messages (or was it an email?!)? As Seinfeld’s Frank Costanza, George’s dad, famously pleaded: Serenity, now! While perfect immersion in the moment may be the exclusive domain of 2-year-olds and Buddhist monks, being a little more zen is within reach for all of us. And it may be the best thing we can do for ourselves. Learning how to quiet a busy brain brings major health and happiness benefits, according to mounting research. A study review of 18,000 people published in JAMA: Internal Medicine revealed that meditation helps alleviate…

You just closed on the house of your dreams, your Facebook post is blowing up with likes—and you scored reservations at the hottest restaurant in town to celebrate. You’re ecstatic, right? Of course you are! Your brain is so lit up with dopamine, a key pleasure chemical, that it looks like a fireworks finale. But will all this make you happier? Sure, but only temporarily (sigh). According to a growing number of experts, those exhilarating, Instagrammable moments don’t permanently raise the setting on your day-to-day blissometer—and by chasing fleeting highs, you may be missing the opportunity for true joy, with a small j. “We live in a culture that tells us we’re supposed to be euphoric all the time, but that feeling isn’t sustainable,” says life coach and sociologist Martha…

You just swore at a guy who cut you off on the way to work. You start daydreaming about cocktail hour shortly after lunch. And your mind always seems to be in a whirl. What’s your problem? In a word: stress. You’re not alone. The majority of Americans feel stressed, with 74 percent saying they have experienced at least one symptom of stress in the past month, according to the American Psychological Association’s 2018 Stress in America Survey. Chalk it up to not only the heated political climate (56 percent of us feel this is the lowest point in our nation’s history we can remember) but also “our overscheduled, harried 21st-century lifestyle, which can negatively affect our relationships and our work,” said Bruce S. McEwen, PhD, a co-author of The…

A lot of people these days—and no, they aren’t all your grandmother—are bemoaning the death of civility. We witness shoving in a crowded elevator, snarky comments online, or yelling in traffic, and it does seem like the world is going to h-e-double hockey sticks in a handbasket (how’s that for manners?). But whether or not the perception is true—after all, nitwits in your grandparents’ generation cut in line too; it just wasn’t broadcast via Instagram Stories—we are feeling the strain. A January 2017 poll by the communications firm Weber Shandwick found that 69 percent of respondents said they thought the U.S. had a major civility problem. “We are in an age of rudeness,” says Lisa Mirza Grotts, an etiquette expert in San Francisco. “And it seems to be getting worse.”…

We know, we know. You’re too wound up to meditate. You don’t have time. It’s not your thing. But before you roll your eyes and get on with addressing those 500 holiday cards, consider this: A study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience reported that the practice can reduce anxiety levels by up to 22 percent. Research has also suggested that meditating can actually form new and permanent neural connections in the brain. “Meditation trains your mind to focus on the moment instead of worrying about what occurred in the past or what could happen in the future,” says Janet Nima Taylor, an American Buddhist nun in Kansas City, Missouri, and the author of Meditation for Non-Meditators. The amazing thing? All you need is five minutes a day. “Anyone…

If you’re bent on improving your health, you’re likely exercising and watching what you eat. But are you paying attention to how you breathe? Mindful breathing can do wonders to increase your well-being. Considering that you take in air about 20,000 times a day, there’s plenty of opportunity to reap the rewards. THE BENEFITS No doubt, proper breathing is good for your health: Deeper and slower inhaling and exhaling may help your body heal faster from illness, lower blood pressure, and even improve your immunity, according to research. Studies have also shown that the deep breathing associated with meditation can stimulate growth of the brain’s frontal cortex, which regulates emotion. What Happens When You Inhale As you draw air in through your nose or mouth, your pulmonary cavity (the space…