Introduction

135 college students a practice I created called self-compassionate touch: Eli S. Susman et al., “Daily Micropractice Can Augment Single-Session Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Self-Compassionate Touch and Examining Their Associations with Habit Formation in US College Students,” Behaviour Research and Therapy 175 (April 2024): 104498, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2024.104498.

rivaled interventions that demand hours each week—and far more resources: Susman et al., “Daily Micropractice Can Augment Single-Session Interventions.”

about: It’s not how long you practice, but how often: Andrew W. Manigault et al., “Examining Practice Effects in a Randomized Controlled Trial: Daily Life Mindfulness Practice Predicts Stress Buffering Effects of Mindfulness Meditation Training,” Mindfulness 12, no. 10 (2021): 2487–97, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01718-1; Kelly Birtwell et al., “An Exploration of Formal and Informal Mindfulness Practice and Associations with Wellbeing,” Mindfulness 10, no. 1 (2019): 89–99, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0951-y; Naomi Kakoschke et al., “The Importance of Formal Versus Informal Mindfulness Practice for Enhancing Psychological Wellbeing and Study Engagement in a Medical Student Cohort with a 5-Week Mindfulness-Based Lifestyle Program,” PLOS One 16, no. 10 (2021): e0258999, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258999; Dorthe Djernis et al., “A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Nature-Based Mindfulness: Effects of Moving Mindfulness Training into an Outdoor Natural Setting,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 17 (2019): 17, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16173202; Julia Petrovic et al., “The Effectiveness and Acceptability of Formal Versus Informal Mindfulness among University Students with and without Recent Self-Injury: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being 17, no. 1 (2025): e12613, https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12613; Xichun Wu et al., “The Psychological Benefits of Habitual Mindfulness Practice: A Randomized Controlled Trial of MBIs for Psychological Distress,” SSRN Scholarly Paper no. 5177397 (Social Science Research Network, March 14, 2025), https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5177397; Carrie E. Brintz et al., “Are Formal and Informal Home Mindfulness Practice Quantities Associated with Outcomes? Results from a Pilot Study of a Four-Week Mindfulness Intervention for Chronic Pain Management,” Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health 13 (2024): 27536130241236775, https://doi.org/10.1177/27536130241236775; Sarah Strohmaier, “The Relationship between Doses of Mindfulness-Based Programs and Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Mindfulness: A Dose-Response Meta-Regression of Randomized Controlled Trials,” Mindfulness 11, no. 6 (2020): 1315–35, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01319-4; Sarah Strohmaier et al., “Effects of Length of Mindfulness Practice on Mindfulness, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress: A Randomized Controlled Experiment,” Mindfulness 12, no. 1 (2021): 198–214, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01512-5; Christopher R. Berghoff et al., “Mindfulness Meditation Adherence in a College Sample: Comparison of a 10-Min Versus 20-Min 2-Week Daily Practice,” Mindfulness 8, no. 6 (2017): 1513–21, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0717-y; Guy W. Fincham et al., “Effects of Mindfulness Meditation Duration and Type on Well-Being: An Online Dose-Ranging Randomized Controlled Trial,” Mindfulness 14, no. 5 (2023): 1171–82, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02119-2; Robert Palmer et al., “The Effect of Ten Versus Twenty Minutes of Mindfulness Meditation on State Mindfulness and Affect,” Scientific Reports 13 (2023): 20646, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-46578-y; Micah Cearns and Scott R. Clark, “The Effects of Dose, Practice Habits, and Objects of Focus on Digital Meditation Effectiveness and Adherence: Longitudinal Study of 280,000 Digital Meditation Sessions Across 103 Countries,” Journal of Medical Internet Research 25, no. 1 (2023): e43358, https://doi.org/10.2196/43358; Christine Callahan et al., “The Real-World Impact of App-Based Mindfulness on Headspace Members with Moderate and Severe Perceived Stress: Observational Study,” JMIR mHealth and uHealth 12, no. 1 (2024): e52968, https://doi.org/10.2196/52968; Hang Ruan et al., “Mindfulness Practice Time and Quality in Veterans with Chronic Pain,” Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues, ahead of print, Springer (Germany), July 22, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-08182-3.

Chapter 1: Why Micropractice?

practicing meditation is not willpower, motivation, or discipline. It’s time: James Laurie and Ann Blandford, “Making Time for Mindfulness,” International Journal of Medical Informatics, Health Behavior Change Support Systems, vol. 96 (2016): 38–50, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2016.02.010; Aino Ahtinen et al., “Mobile Mental Wellness Training for Stress Management: Feasibility and Design Implications Based on a One-Month Field Study,” JMIR mHealth and uHealth 1, no. 2 (2013): e2596, https://doi.org/10.2196/mhealth.2596; Ariane Lisann Rung et al., “Feasibility and Acceptability of a Mobile Mindfulness Meditation Intervention among Women: Intervention Study,” JMIR mHealth and uHealth 8, no. 6 (2020): e15943, https://doi.org/10.2196/15943.

Many had never meditated, while others had dabbled years ago: Strohmaier et al., “Effects of Length of Mindfulness Practice on Mindfulness, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress.”

In the largest of these studies: Palmer et al., “The Effect of Ten Versus Twenty Minutes of Mindfulness Meditation on State Mindfulness and Affect.”

randomly assigned to meditate daily for ten or twenty minutes: Berghoff et al., “Mindfulness Meditation Adherence in a College Sample.”

to stick with it, especially when you’re just starting out: Jennifer M. Boggs et al., “Web-Based Intervention in Mindfulness Meditation for Reducing Residual Depressive Symptoms and Relapse Prophylaxis: A Qualitative Study,” Journal of Medical Internet Research 16, no. 3 (2014): e3129, https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.3129; Sin U. Lam et al., “Who Sticks with Meditation? Rates and Predictors of Persistence in a Population-Based Sample in the USA,” Mindfulness 14, no. 1 (2023): 66–78, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-02061-9; Eleanor Miles et al., “Making Mindfulness Meditation a Healthy Habit,” Mindfulness 14, no. 12 (2023): 2988–3005, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02258-6.

stretching practice brings mindful awareness into motion—less still, same presence: Fincham et al., “Effects of Mindfulness Meditation Duration and Type on Well-Being.”

while, but showing up, again and again, however you can: Strohmaier et al., “Effects of Length of Mindfulness Practice on Mindfulness, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress”; Berghoff et al., “Mindfulness Meditation Adherence in a College Sample”; Fincham et al., “Effects of Mindfulness Meditation Duration and Type on Well-Being”; Palmer et al., “The Effect of Ten Versus Twenty Minutes of Mindfulness Meditation on State Mindfulness and Affect.”

10,409 people from 103 countries did in a groundbreaking study: Cearns and Clark, “The Effects of Dose, Practice Habits, and Objects of Focus on Digital Meditation Effectiveness and Adherence.”

duration—was the strongest predictor of better mood, equanimity, and resilience: Cearns and Clark, “The Effects of Dose, Practice Habits, and Objects of Focus on Digital Meditation Effectiveness and Adherence.”

to ten minutes—outshone longer ones in improving mood over time: Cearns and Clark, “The Effects of Dose, Practice Habits, and Objects of Focus on Digital Meditation Effectiveness and Adherence.”

to thirty minutes—began to take the lead in mood improvement: Cearns and Clark, “The Effects of Dose, Practice Habits, and Objects of Focus on Digital Meditation Effectiveness and Adherence.”

found no association between meditation session length and better outcomes: Strohmaier, “The Relationship between Doses of Mindfulness-Based Programs and Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Mindfulness.”

was far from expected—and it shook her to the core: Willoughby B. Britton et al., “Polysomnographic and Subjective Profiles of Sleep Continuity before and after Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Partially Remitted Depression,” Psychosomatic Medicine 72, no. 6 (2010): 539–548, https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181dc1bad; mlipodcast, “Willoughby Britton—When Meditation Causes Harm,” Mind & Life Podcast, October 22, 2021, https://podcast.mindandlife.org/willoughby-britton.

arousal—brief bursts of activity that nudge the brain toward wakefulness: Britton et al., “Polysomnographic and Subjective Profiles of Sleep Continuity before and after Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Partially Remitted Depression.”

wrestled with the data, questioning its accuracy and delaying publication: mlipodcast, “Willoughby Britton—When Meditation Causes Harm.”

technique. Everyone knows if you meditate enough, you stop sleeping.”: mlipodcast, “Willoughby Britton—When Meditation Causes Harm.”

to my science. So what other assumptions are we making?”: mlipodcast, “Willoughby Britton—When Meditation Causes Harm.”

arousal—those sparks of brain activity that nudge you toward wakefulness: Willoughby B. Britton et al., “Awakening Is Not a Metaphor: The Effects of Buddhist Meditation Practices on Basic Wakefulness,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1307 (January 2014): 64–81, https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12279.

Some brainwave patterns during meditation mimic those seen in sleep: Daniela Dentico et al., “Acute Effects of Meditation Training on the Waking and Sleeping Brain: Is It All about Homeostasis?” European Journal of Neuroscience48, no. 6 (2018): 2310–21, https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14131.

is doing some of the same cleanup sleep usually handles: Elizaveta Solomonova et al., “Different Patterns of Sleep-Dependent Procedural Memory Consolidation in Vipassana Meditation Practitioners and Non-Meditating Controls,” Frontiers in Psychology 10 (2020): 3014, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03014.

we don’t know yet—those perks seem to come with experience: Britton et al., “Awakening Is Not a Metaphor.”

More often it’s fatigue, and a general feeling of . . . “off.”: Britton et al., “Awakening Is Not a Metaphor.”

feel it at first, your mood, memory, and immunity could: Eli S. Susman et al., “Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention in Youth: Long-Term Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial,” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 0, no. 0 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2024.05.001.

Britton’s research was making waves: M. Farias et al., “Adverse Events in Meditation Practices and Meditation-Based Therapies: A Systematic Review,” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 142, no. 5 (2020): 374–93, https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13225.

to the challenging experiences some people were reporting with meditation: mlipodcast, “Willoughby Britton—When Meditation Causes Harm.”

excitement, replied, “Oh, I have so much to tell you.”: mlipodcast, “Willoughby Britton—When Meditation Causes Harm.”

a study of 434 meditators to explore meditation’s shadow side: Simon B. Goldberg et al., “Prevalence of Meditation-Related Adverse Effects in a Population-Based Sample in the United States,” Psychotherapy Research: Journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research 32, no. 3 (2022): 291–305, https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2021.1933646.

rare—just 8.3 percent—about the same rate seen in talk therapy: Farias et al., “Adverse Events in Meditation Practices and Meditation-Based Therapies.”

talk therapy. The bigger risk? Trying to go it alone: Ausiàs Cebolla et al., “Unwanted Effects: Is There a Negative Side of Meditation? A Multicentre Survey,” PLOS One 12, no. 9 (2017): e0183137, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0183137.

to meditation through an app are more likely to struggle: Goldberg et al., “Prevalence of Meditation-Related Adverse Effects in a Population-Based Sample in the United States.”

of a retreat—can raise the risk of distressing meditation-related experiences: Malcolm J. Wright et al., “Risk Factors for Emergence of Sudden Unusual Mental or Somatic Experiences and Subsequent Suffering,” Clinical Psychological Science 13, no. 5 (2025): 978–91, 21677026251330250, https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026251330250.

being cut off from yourself or the world around you: Cebolla et al., “Unwanted Effects.”

right teacher, those challenges can become part of the growth: Goldberg et al., “Prevalence of Meditation-Related Adverse Effects in a Population-Based Sample in the United States.”

make sense: Meditation was originally designed for monks, not multitaskers: Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr., “The Biggest Misconception about Buddhism,” Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, November 2, 2017, https://tricycle.org/article/biggest-misconception-about-buddhism.

PTSD-like symptoms are at greater risk of meditation-related adverse experiences: oldberg et al., “Prevalence of Meditation-Related Adverse Effects in a Population-Based Sample in the United States”; Nicholas K. Canby et al., “Childhood Trauma and Subclinical PTSD Symptoms Predict Adverse Effects and Worse Outcomes across Two Mindfulness-Based Programs for Active Depression,” PLOS One 20, no. 1 (2025): Ge0318499, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318499; Jenney Zhu et al., “Trauma- and Stressor-Related History and Symptoms Predict Distress Experienced during a Brief Mindfulness Meditation Sitting: Moving toward Trauma-Informed Care in Mindfulness-Based Therapy,” Mindfulness 10, no. 10 (2019): 1985–96, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01173-z.

emotional discomfort, more trouble focusing, more risk of reexperiencing trauma: Goldberg et al., “Prevalence of Meditation-Related Adverse Effects in a Population-Based Sample in the United States”; Canby et al., “Childhood Trauma and Subclinical PTSD Symptoms Predict Adverse Effects and Worse Outcomes across Two Mindfulness-Based Programs for Active Depression”; Zhu et al., “Trauma- and Stressor-Related History and Symptoms Predict Distress Experienced during a Brief Mindfulness Meditation Sitting.”

But this risk is considerably reduced with shorter sessions: Goldberg et al., “Prevalence of Meditation-Related Adverse Effects in a Population-Based Sample in the United States”; Canby et al., “Childhood Trauma and Subclinical PTSD Symptoms Predict Adverse Effects and Worse Outcomes across Two Mindfulness-Based Programs for Active Depression”; Zhu et al., “Trauma- and Stressor-Related History and Symptoms Predict Distress Experienced during a Brief Mindfulness Meditation Sitting.”

was associated with more distress during even a five-minute meditation: Zhu et al., “Trauma- and Stressor-Related History and Symptoms Predict Distress Experienced during a Brief Mindfulness Meditation Sitting.”

for a movement that would revolutionize how we approach well-being: mlipodcast, “Richie Davidson—The Science of Meditation,” Mind & Life Podcast, July 22, 2020, https://podcast.mindandlife.org/richie-davidson.

Richie and his team assembled a diverse mix of participants: Tammi R. A. Kral et al., “Impact of Short- and Long-Term Mindfulness Meditation Training on Amygdala Reactivity to Emotional Stimuli.,” NeuroImage 181 (2018): 301–13, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.07.013.

with less effort, as if balance had become second nature: Kral et al., “Impact of Short- and Long-Term Mindfulness Meditation Training on Amygdala Reactivity to Emotional Stimuli.”

to a meta-analysis by Simon Goldberg, Richie Davidson, and others: Simon B. Goldberg et al., “The Empirical Status of Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Systematic Review of 44 Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials,” Perspectives on Psychological Science 17, no. 1 (2022): 108–30, https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620968771.

The effects are something else entirely—almost in a different league: Kral et al., “Impact of Short- and Long-Term Mindfulness Meditation Training on Amygdala Reactivity to Emotional Stimuli.”; Antoine Lutz et al., “Long-Term Meditators Self-Induce High-Amplitude Gamma Synchrony during Mental Practice,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101, no. 46 (2004): 16369–73, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0407401101.

kind of transformation in the mindfulness programs from the meta-analysis: Goldberg et al., “The Empirical Status of Mindfulness-Based Interventions.”

In my first micropractice study: Susman et al., “Daily Micropractice Can Augment Single-Session Interventions.”

Chapter 2: Move

blood pressure, fueling stress, and increasing risk of heart disease: Paddy C. Dempsey et al., “Interrupting Prolonged Sitting with Brief Bouts of Light Walking or Simple Resistance Activities Reduces Resting Blood Pressure and Plasma Noradrenaline in Type 2 Diabetes,” Journal of Hypertension 34, no. 12 (2016): 2376–82, https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000001101.

half to three times higher odds of depression or anxiety: Mats Hallgren et al., “Associations of Interruptions to Leisure-Time Sedentary Behaviour with Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety,” Translational Psychiatry 10, no. 1 (2020): 128, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-0810-1.

lower heart disease and cancer risk—and even extend your life: Matthew D. Jones et al., “Exercise Snacks and Other Forms of Intermittent Physical Activity for Improving Health in Adults and Older Adults: A Scoping Review of Epidemiological, Experimental and Qualitative Studies,” Sports Medicine 54, no. 4 (2024): 813–35, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-023-01983-1.

cancer risk—and even extend your life. Brief movement spikes endorphins: Tiina Saanijoki et al., “Opioid Release after High-Intensity Interval Training in Healthy Human Subjects,” Neuropsychopharmacology 43, no. 2 (2018): 246–54, https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2017.148.

dials down noradrenaline, a stress hormone that surges with inactivity: Dempsey et al., “Interrupting Prolonged Sitting with Brief Bouts of Light Walking or Simple Resistance Activities Reduces Resting Blood Pressure and Plasma Noradrenaline in Type 2 Diabetes.”

and curb cravings—even more than doing it all at once: Audrey Bergouignan et al., “Effect of Frequent Interruptions of Prolonged Sitting on Self-Perceived Levels of Energy, Mood, Food Cravings and Cognitive Function,” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 13, no. 1 (2016): 113, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-016-0437-z.

shift someone from borderline high blood pressure to completely normal: Dempsey et al., “Interrupting Prolonged Sitting with Brief Bouts of Light Walking or Simple Resistance Activities Reduces Resting Blood Pressure and Plasma Noradrenaline in Type 2 Diabetes.”

slashed depression and anxiety risk by up to 47 percent: Hallgren et al., “Associations of Interruptions to Leisure-Time Sedentary Behaviour with Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety.”

to 54 percent lower risk of dying from any cause: Nicholas A. Koemel et al., “Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity (VILPA) and Mortality Risk among US Adults: A Wearables-Based National Cohort Study,” preprint, medRxiv, September 11, 2025, 2025.08.05.25333017, https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.05.25333017.

or stash your snacks and essentials a few steps away: Pam ten Broeke et al., “Why Do People Sit? A Framework for Targeted Behavior Change,” Health Psychology Review 17, no. 4 (2023): 641–54, https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2022.2143851.

episode you’re watching—to stand, stretch, or take a few steps: ten Broeke et al., “Why Do People Sit?”

didn’t just feel better; they were fifteen percent more productive: Robert A. Henning et al., “Frequent Short Rest Breaks from Computer Work: Effects on Productivity and Well-Being at Two Field Sites,” Ergonomics 40, no. 1 (1997): 78–91, https://doi.org/10.1080/001401397188396.

surgeons across four major medical centers explored this exact issue: Adrian E. Park et al., “Intraoperative ‘Micro Breaks’ with Targeted Stretching Enhance Surgeon Physical Function and Mental Focus: A Multicenter Cohort Study,” Annals of Surgery 265, no. 2 (2017): 340–46, https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000001665.

well-designed study of 138 participants put this to the test: Jojo Y. Y. Kwok et al., “Effects of Mindfulness Yoga vs Stretching and Resistance Training Exercises on Anxiety and Depression for People with Parkinson Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” JAMA Neurology 76, no. 7 (2019): 755–63, https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2019.0534.

result? A deeper, more natural release, all in just seconds: Scientific Keys Volume I, 3rd edition, with Chris Macivor (BookBaby, 2014); Allyson M. Carter et al., “Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Decreases Muscle Activity during the Stretch Reflex in Selected Posterior Thigh Muscles,” Journal of Sport Rehabilitation 9, no. 4 (2000): 269–78, https://doi.org/10.1123/jsr.9.4.269.

seconds. That’s the sweet spot where flexibility tends to unfold: Dong Ho Kwak and Young Uk Ryu, “Applying Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stretching: Optimal Contraction Intensity to Attain the Maximum Increase in Range of Motion in Young Males,” Journal of Physical Therapy Science 27, no. 7 (2015): 2129–32, https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.27.2129; Kayla B. Hindle et al., “Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF): Its Mechanisms and Effects on Range of Motion and Muscular Function,” Journal of Human Kinetics 31 (2012): 105–13, https://doi.org/10.2478/v10078-012-0011-y.

the opposing muscles—the hamstrings (back of thighs)—allowing a deeper stretch: Hindle et al., “Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF)”; Muhammad Osama, “Effects of Autogenic and Reciprocal Inhibition Muscle Energy Techniques on Isometric Muscle Strength in Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation 34, no. 4 (2021): 555–64, https://doi.org/10.3233/BMR-200002.

via reciprocal inhibition, allowing for a deeper, more effortless stretch: Hindle et al., “Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF).”

Harmonizes breath and movement, dissolving stress while encouraging spinal fluidity: Zahra Rakhshaee, “Effect of Three Yoga Poses (Cobra, Cat and Fish Poses) in Women with Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology 24, no. 4 (2011): 192–96, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2011.01.059.

and promotes spinal health by creating space between your vertebrae: Syung Hyun Cho et al., “Clinical Impact of Thermotherapy and Spinal Twisting Massage on Chronic Non-Specific Spinal Pain,” Medicina 60, no. 6 (2024): 976, https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina60060976.

it easier to breathe fully and feel lighter all day: Rakhshaee, “Effect of Three Yoga Poses (Cobra, Cat and Fish Poses) in Women with Primary Dysmenorrhea.”

that “on edge” feeling and soothe your body’s stress response: Varun Malhotra et al., “Effect of Head Down Tilt on Heart Rate Variability,” Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 10, no. 1 (2021): 439–42, https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1642_20.

More motivation. Stronger social bonds. Sharper memory. Greater emotional well-being: Alycia Fong Yan et al., “The Effectiveness of Dance Interventions on Psychological and Cognitive Health Outcomes Compared with Other Forms of Physical Activity: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis,” Sports Medicine 54, no. 5 (2024): 1179–205, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-023-01990-2.

The meta-analysis focused on structured dance: Fong Yan et al., “The Effectiveness of Dance Interventions on Psychological and Cognitive Health Outcomes Compared with Other Forms of Physical Activity.”

you—improvised dance can be just as powerful, if not more: Sawsen Ayari et al., “Comparison of Dance and Aerobic Exercise on Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Sedentary Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment,” European Geriatric Medicine 14, no. 6 (2023): 1289–99, https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-023-00849-z.

improvise, your brain lights up in ways choreography can’t match: Andreas Fink et al., “Brain Correlates Underlying Creative Thinking: EEG Alpha Activity in Professional vs. Novice Dancers,” NeuroImage 46, no. 3 (2009): 854–62, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.02.036.

significantly higher alpha wave activity in the brain’s posterior region: Fink et al., “Brain Correlates Underlying Creative Thinking.”

the brain’s posterior region—linked to creativity, divergent thinking, and problem-solving: Norbert Jausovec, “Differences in EEG Activity during the Solution of Closed and Open Problems,” Creativity Research Journal 10, no. 4 (1997): 317–24, https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1004_3; Andreas Fink and Mathias Benedek, “EEG Alpha Power and Creative Ideation,” Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 44, no. 100 (2014): 111–23, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.12.002; Christian Rominger et al., “More Creative Ideas Are Associated with Increased Right Posterior Power and Frontal-Parietal/Occipital Coupling in the Upper Alpha Band: A within-Subjects Study,” International Journal of Psychophysiology 181 (2022): 95–103, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.08.012.

ability to adapt in the moment—far more than with choreography: Veronique Richard et al., “Effects of Movement Improvisation and Aerobic Dancing on Motor Creativity and Divergent Thinking,” The Journal of Creative Behavior 55, no. 1 (2021): 255–67, https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.450; Fink et al., “Brain Correlates Underlying Creative Thinking.”

cognition—the idea that how we move shapes how we think: José Marmeleira and Graça Duarte Santos, “Do Not Neglect the Body and Action: The Emergence of Embodiment Approaches to Understanding Human Development,” Perceptual and Motor Skills 126, no. 3 (2019): 410–45, https://doi.org/10.1177/0031512519834389; Richard et al., “Effects of Movement Improvisation and Aerobic Dancing on Motor Creativity and Divergent Thinking.”

opposite—reinforcing the tendency to grip tighter instead of letting go: Thomas R. Lynch et al., “Radically Open-Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Disorders of Over-Control: Signaling Matters,” The American Journal of Psychotherapy69, no. 2 (2015): 141–62, https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2015.69.2.141.

and mental health can spiral as emotional isolation takes hold: Lynch et al., “Radically Open-Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Disorders of Over-Control.”

it helps, try an image—not to give directions, but permission: Barbora Kucerova and Roman Hytych, “The Non-Attached Dancing Body: A Qualitative Study in Gaga People,” Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices 17, no. 1 (2025): 81–95, https://doi.org/10.1386/jdsp_00134_1.

energy surge, making it perfect for quick, uplifting mood resets: Fong Yan et al., “The Effectiveness of Dance Interventions on Psychological and Cognitive Health Outcomes Compared with Other Forms of Physical Activity.”

analysis, play over performance, and shifts self-consciousness into embodied curiosity: Kucerova and Hytych, “The Non-Attached Dancing Body.”

creative self-expression—empowering you to tune in and trust your instincts: Fink et al., “Brain Correlates Underlying Creative Thinking”; Richard et al., “Effects of Movement Improvisation and Aerobic Dancing on Motor Creativity and Divergent Thinking”; Jausovec, “Differences in EEG Activity during the Solution of Closed and Open Problems”; Fink and Benedek, “EEG Alpha Power and Creative Ideation”; Rominger et al., “More Creative Ideas Are Associated with Increased Right Posterior Power and Frontal-Parietal/Occipital Coupling in the Upper Alpha Band.”

power poses reliably boost feelings of power and confidence-related states: R. Matthew Montoya et al., “The Inconsistency of P-Curve: Testing Its Reliability Using the Power Pose and HPA Debates,” PLOS One 19, no. 7 (2024): e0305193, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0305193; Robert Körner et al., “Dominance and Prestige: Meta-Analytic Review of Experimentally Induced Body Position Effects on Behavioral, Self-Report, and Physiological Dependent Variables,” Psychological Bulletin 148, nos. 1–2 (2022): 67–85, https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000356.

for situations where commanding attention matters more than building rapport: Körner et al., “Dominance and Prestige.”

authenticity and gravitas when connection matters more than raw dominance: Körner et al., “Dominance and Prestige.”

Chapter 3: Touch

thirteen nanometers—about the size of a single grain of pollen: Lisa Skedung et al., “Feeling Small: Exploring the Tactile Perception Limits,” Scientific Reports 3, no. 1 (2013): 2617, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep02617.

average of four to nine seconds, on a stranger’s forearm: Matthew J. Hertenstein et al., “Touch Communicates Distinct Emotions,” Emotion 6, no. 3 (2006): 528–33, https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.6.3.528; Matthew J. Hertenstein et al., “The Communication of Emotion via Touch,” Emotion 9, no. 4 (2009): 566–73, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016108.

with how reliably people read faces and voices across cultures: Hertenstein et al., “Touch Communicates Distinct Emotions”; Hertenstein et al., “The Communication of Emotion via Touch”; Hillary Anger Elfenbein and Nalini Ambady, “On the Universality and Cultural Specificity of Emotion Recognition: A Meta-Analysis,” Psychological Bulletin 128, no. 2 (2002): 203–35, https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.128.2.203; Klaus R. Scherer et al., “Vocal Expression of Emotion,” in Handbook of Affective Sciences, ed. Richard J. Davidson et al. (Oxford University Press, 2002): 433–456, https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195126013.003.0023

Hospital in New York City, that truth was painfully unrecognized: Frank C. P. van der Horst and René van der Veer, “Loneliness in Infancy: Harry Harlow, John Bowlby and Issues of Separation,” Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science 42, no. 4 (2008): 325–35, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-008-9071-x.

closely—their eyes once bright and curious now dull and empty: Harry Bakwin, “Loneliness in Infants,” American Journal of Diseases of Children 63, no. 1 (1942): 30–40.

children weren’t starving for food; they were starving for connection: Bakwin, “Loneliness in Infants.”

mortality rate plunged from 35 percent to under 10 percent: Bakwin, “Loneliness in Infants.”

Bakwin’s experiment didn’t just save lives; it revolutionized pediatric care: van der Horst and van der Veer, “Loneliness in Infancy.”

care. What was once considered radical is now standard practice: Nawal Abdulghani et al., “Worldwide Prevalence of Mother-Infant Skin-to-Skin Contact after Vaginal Birth: A Systematic Review,” PLOS One 13, no. 10 (2018): e0205696, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205696; Elizabeth R. Moore et al., “Early Skin‐to‐skin Contact for Mothers and Their Healthy Newborn Infants,” Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 11 (2016): CD003519, https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD003519.pub4.

for newborns, especially when premature, is now seen as essential: Ruth Feldman et al., “Maternal-Preterm Skin-to-Skin Contact Enhances Child Physiologic Organization and Cognitive Control Across the First 10 Years of Life,” Biological Psychiatry 75, no. 1 (2014): 56–64, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.08.012; Marsha L Campbell-Yeo et al., “Understanding Kangaroo Care and Its Benefits to Preterm Infants,” Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics 6 (2015): 15–32, https://doi.org/10.2147/PHMT.S51869.

a wall of the womb or its own tiny flinch: iola Marx and Emese Nagy, “Fetal Behavioural Responses to Maternal Voice and Touch,” PLOS One 10, no. 6 (2015): Ve0129118, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0129118.

utero are often seen touching each other’s faces and fingers: Umberto Castiello et al., “Wired to Be Social: The Ontogeny of Human Interaction,” PLOS One 5, no. 10 (2010): e13199, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013199.

held this way see lasting developmental benefits ten years later: Feldman et al., “Maternal-Preterm Skin-to-Skin Contact Enhances Child Physiologic Organization and Cognitive Control Across the First 10 Years of Life”; Campbell-Yeo et al., “Understanding Kangaroo Care and Its Benefits to Preterm Infants.”

affirm touch promotes physical, emotional, and social growth in babies: Britney Benoit et al., “The Power of Human Touch for Babies,” Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres. 26 (2018). https://www.blossomandberry.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/The_Power_of_Human_Touch_for_Babies.pdf

depression, reduces anxiety, and even lowers stress hormones like cortisol: Julian Packheiser et al., “A Systematic Review and Multivariate Meta-Analysis of the Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Touch Interventions,” Nature Human Behaviour 8, no. 6 (2024): 1088–107, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01841-8.

could be one of our most powerful tools for thriving: Ugurlu, Ozge, and Dacher Keltner. 2025. “Touch as Emotion Regulation.” Frontiers in Psychology 16 (2025). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1418374.

In fact, we’re not the only primates with this instinct: Alfonso Troisi, “Displacement Activities as a Behavioral Measure of Stress in Nonhuman Primates and Human Subjects,” Stress 5, no. 1 (2002): 47–54, https://doi.org/10.1080/102538902900012378.

anxiety in primates, from baboons to bonobos to, yes, humans: Valentina Sclafani et al., “Scratching around Mating: Factors Affecting Anxiety in Wild Lemur Catta,” Primates 53, no. 3 (2012): 247–54, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-012-0294-6; Troisi, “Displacement Activities as a Behavioral Measure of Stress in Nonhuman Primates and Human Subjects.”

studies show that when primates take anti-anxiety medications, self-scratching drops: Troisi, “Displacement Activities as a Behavioral Measure of Stress in Nonhuman Primates and Human Subjects.”

similar results, underscoring the pivotal of touch role in well-being: Sclafani et al., “Scratching around Mating.”

if touch held the key to elevating a team’s game: Michael W. Kraus et al., “Tactile Communication, Cooperation, and Performance: An Ethological Study of the NBA,” Emotion (Washington, DC) 10, no. 5 (2010): 745–49, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019382.

benefits of touch, even if physical closeness isn’t your thing: Anik Debrot et al., “Is Touch in Romantic Relationships Universally Beneficial for Psychological Well-Being? The Role of Attachment Avoidance,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 47, no. 10 (2021): 1495–509, https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220977709.

with touch, the relationship with physical contact can be complex: The Hands-on Practitioner’s Guide to Creating a Professional, Safe, and Enduring Practice, First Edition (Sohnen-Moe Associates, Inc., 2003).

explored with the guidance of a trusted mental health professional: Kirk Reeve et al., “Examining the Impact of a Healing Touch Intervention to Reduce Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Combat Veterans,” Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 12, no. 8 (2020): 897–903, https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000591.

choose how they’re touched, they feel more joy and anticipation: Lenka Gorman et al., “Choice Enhances Touch Pleasantness,” Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, ahead of print, June 10, 2024, https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-024-02887-6.

anticipation. Even small choices, like which arm is touched, matter: Gorman et al., “Choice Enhances Touch Pleasantness.”

to initiate, women to accept—even when it doesn’t feel right: Francesco Bruno et al., “Touch Avoidance with Close People and Strangers: Effects of Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Relationship Status,” European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education 13, no. 9 (2023): 1850–58, https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe13090134; Matthew J. Hertenstein and Dacher Keltner, “Gender and the Communication of Emotion Via Touch,” Sex Roles 64, no. 1 (2011): 70–80, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9842-y; Matthew J. Hertenstein et al., “The Communicative Functions of Touch in Humans, Nonhuman Primates, and Rats: A Review and Synthesis of the Empirical Research,” Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs 132, no. 1 (2006): 5–94, https://doi.org/10.3200/mono.132.1.5-94.

same-sex touch feels off-limits, boxed in by ideas of masculinity: Bruno et al., “Touch Avoidance with Close People and Strangers.”

a man might find the same from a woman welcoming: Hertenstein et al., “The Communicative Functions of Touch in Humans, Nonhuman Primates, and Rats.”

giver, too. Even petting an animal can lower cortisol levels: Patricia Pendry and Jaymie L. Vandagriff, “Animal Visitation Program (AVP) Reduces Cortisol Levels of University Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” AERA Open5, no. 2 (2019), https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419852592.

animal—a soft bunny for some, a hard-shelled turtle for others: Shoshana Shiloh et al., “Reduction of State-Anxiety by Petting Animals in a Controlled Laboratory Experiment,” Anxiety, Stress and Coping: An International Journal 16, no. 4 (2003): 387–95, https://doi.org/10.1080/1061580031000091582.

brain’s orbitofrontal cortex (a region associated with reward and compassion: Yoni K. Ashar et al., “Effects of Compassion Training on Brain Responses to Suffering Others,” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 16, no. 10 (2021): 1036–47, https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsab052; Edmund T. Rolls et al., “Representations of Pleasant and Painful Touch in the Human Orbitofrontal and Cingulate Cortices,” Cerebral Cortex 13, no. 3 (2003): 308–17, https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/13.3.308.

associated with reward and compassion), releasing oxytocin (the “love hormone”: Ekaterina Schneider et al., “Affectionate Touch and Diurnal Oxytocin Levels: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study,” eLife 12 (2023): e81241, https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81241.

(the “love hormone”), boosting endorphins (our body’s natural pleasure chemicals: Laura K. Case et al., “Touch Perception Altered by Chronic Pain and by Opioid Blockade,” eNeuro 3, no. 1 (2016): ENEURO.0138-15.2016, https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0138-15.2016; Yu Fu et al., “Touch-Induced Face Conditioning Is Mediated by Genetic Variation in Opioid but Not Oxytocin Receptors,” Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 9004, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-27199-2.

body’s natural pleasure chemicals), reducing cortisol (our primary stress hormone: Packheiser et al., “A Systematic Review and Multivariate Meta-Analysis of the Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Touch Interventions.”

(a neurotransmitter that can play a role in easing depression: Benoit et al., “The Power of Human Touch for Babies”; Tiffany Field, “Touch for Socioemotional and Physical Well-Being: A Review,” Developmental Review 30, no. 4 (2010): 367–83, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2011.01.001; Paula Diane Trotter et al., “Effects of Acute Tryptophan Depletion on Central Processing of CT‐Targeted and Discriminatory Touch in Humans,” European Journal of Neuroscience 44, no. 4 (2016): 2072–83, https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.13298; Paula D. Trotter et al., “Acute Tryptophan Depletion Alters Affective Touch Perception,” Psychopharmacology 239, no. 9 (2022): 2771–85, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-022-06151-3; Tiffany Field et al., “Cortisol Decreases and Serotonin and Dopamine Increase Following Massage Therapy,” International Journal of Neuroscience 115, no. 10 (2005): 1397–413, https://doi.org/10.1080/00207450590956459.

don’t need to be an expert to harness the benefits: Packheiser et al., “A Systematic Review and Multivariate Meta-Analysis of the Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Touch Interventions.”

intention: Remember, even a single touch can communicate your intention: Hertenstein et al., “Touch Communicates Distinct Emotions”; Hertenstein et al., “The Communication of Emotion via Touch.”

just an act from the hand, but from the heart: Hertenstein et al., “Touch Communicates Distinct Emotions”; Hertenstein et al., “The Communication of Emotion via Touch.”

Calms anxiety, lowers cortisol, and works across species: Shiloh et al., “Reduction of State-Anxiety by Petting Animals in a Controlled Laboratory Experiment”; Pendry and Vandagriff, “Animal Visitation Program (AVP) Reduces Cortisol Levels of University Students.”

one or a stranger—longer touches don’t necessarily offer extra perks: Packheiser et al., “A Systematic Review and Multivariate Meta-Analysis of the Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Touch Interventions.”

effective at lowering stress markers like cortisol and blood pressure: Packheiser et al., “A Systematic Review and Multivariate Meta-Analysis of the Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Touch Interventions.”

song starts to lose its magic when played on repeat: Isabella Mutschler et al., “Time Scales of Auditory Habituation in the Amygdala and Cerebral Cortex,” Cerebral Cortex 20, no. 11 (2010): 2531–39, https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhq001; Camille Ferdenzi et al., “Repeated Exposure to Odors Induces Affective Habituation of Perception and Sniffing,” Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 8 (2014), https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00119; Johanna Bendas et al., “Dynamics of Affective Habituation to Touch Differ on the Group and Individual Level,” Neuroscience 464 (2021): 44–52, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.12.024.

Every body is different. This research shows us the average: Packheiser et al., “A Systematic Review and Multivariate Meta-Analysis of the Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Touch Interventions.”

Some find comfort in briefer contact; others prefer lingering embraces: Bendas et al., “Dynamics of Affective Habituation to Touch Differ on the Group and Individual Level.”

public speech, outperforming the placebo activity of folding paper airplanes: Aljoscha Dreisoerner et al., “Self-Soothing Touch and Being Hugged Reduce Cortisol Responses to Stress: A Randomized Controlled Trial on Stress, Physical Touch, and Social Identity,” Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology 8 (2021): 100091, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100091.

boost your mental health. Research shows that hugs reduce cortisol: Dreisoerner et al., “Self-Soothing Touch and Being Hugged Reduce Cortisol Responses to Stress.”

over time, symptoms of anxiety and depression tend to ease: Ewelina Dziurkowska and Marek Wesolowski, “Cortisol as a Biomarker of Mental Disorder Severity,” Journal of Clinical Medicine 10, no. 21 (2021): 5204, https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10215204.

their cortisol-reducing powers, could be your hidden ally for well-being: Dreisoerner et al., “Self-Soothing Touch and Being Hugged Reduce Cortisol Responses to Stress”; Dziurkowska and Wesolowski, “Cortisol as a Biomarker of Mental Disorder Severity.”

deep breathing to your hug can lower your heart rate: Hiroki Uratani and Mieko Ohsuga, “Relaxation Effect of a Respiration-Leading Stuffed Toy,” Advanced Biomedical Engineering 7 (2018): 100–6, https://doi.org/10.14326/abe.7.100.

Calms the nervous system: Uratani and Ohsuga, “Relaxation Effect of a Respiration-Leading Stuffed Toy”; Alice C. Haynes et al., “A Calming Hug: Design and Validation of a Tactile Aid to Ease Anxiety,” PLOS One 17, no. 3 (2022): e0259838, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259838; Yuki Ban et al., “Development of a Cushion-Shaped Device to Induce Respiratory Rhythm and Depth for Enhanced Relaxation and Improved Cognition,” Frontiers in Computer Science 4 (2022), https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2022.770701.

support system holds steady, no matter life’s ups and downs: Kristin D. Neff, “Self‐Compassion, Self‐Esteem, and Well‐Being,” Social and Personality Psychology Compass 5, no. 1 (2011): 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00330.x.

how do we cultivate self-compassion? It starts with five elements: Clara Strauss et al., “What Is Compassion and How Can We Measure It? A Review of Definitions and Measures,” Clinical Psychology Review 47 (2016): 15–27, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2016.05.004; Jenny Gu et al., “Development and Psychometric Properties of the Sussex-Oxford Compassion Scales (SOCS),” Assessment 27, no. 1 (2020): 3–20, https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191119860911.

of belonging—and a powerful reminder that we’re in this together: Elizabeth T. Slivjak et al., “Evaluating the Efficacy of Common Humanity-Enhanced Exposure for Socially Anxious Young Adults,” Journal of Anxiety Disorders87 (2022): 102542, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2022.102542.

the feeling may be safer or more supportive with help: Goldberg et al., “Prevalence of Meditation-Related Adverse Effects in a Population-Based Sample in the United States”; Canby et al., “Childhood Trauma and Subclinical PTSD Symptoms Predict Adverse Effects and Worse Outcomes across Two Mindfulness-Based Programs for Active Depression”; Zhu et al., “Trauma- and Stressor-Related History and Symptoms Predict Distress Experienced during a Brief Mindfulness Meditation Sitting.”

levels just as much, if not more, than a hug: Dreisoerner et al., “Self-Soothing Touch and Being Hugged Reduce Cortisol Responses to Stress.”

a finger-tapping placebo. Just twenty seconds a day—for a month: Eli S. Susman et al., “Daily Micropractice Can Augment Single-Session Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Self-Compassionate Touch and Examining Their Associations with Habit Formation in US College Students,” Behaviour Research and Therapy 175 (2024): 104498, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2024.104498.

randomized controlled trial with 497 adults, all learning self-compassionate touch: Eli S. Susman et al., “Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes? A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Self-Guided Online Single-Session Habit Formation Intervention for Self-Compassionate Touch” (PhD Dissertation, UC Berkeley, 2025), https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9rg6p80p.

the kind of self-compassion that I was so lacking before: Susman et al., “Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes?”

the benefits of skin-to-skin contact compared to touch over clothes: Feldman et al., “Maternal-Preterm Skin-to-Skin Contact Enhances Child Physiologic Organization and Cognitive Control Across the First 10 Years of Life”; Campbell-Yeo et al., “Understanding Kangaroo Care and Its Benefits to Preterm Infants.”

that has about as many neurons as a dog’s brain: Sabine Schneider et al., “Unexpected Roles for the Second Brain: Enteric Nervous System as Master Regulator of Bowel Function,” Annual Review of Physiology 81, no. 1 (2019): 235–59, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-physiol-021317-121515; Débora Jardim-Messeder et al., “Dogs Have the Most Neurons, Though Not the Largest Brain: Trade-Off between Body Mass and Number of Neurons in the Cerebral Cortex of Large Carnivoran Species,” Frontiers in Neuroanatomy 11 (2017), https://doi.org/10.3389/fnana.2017.00118.

gather in your solar plexus, just below your rib cage: Christopher R. Chase, “The Geometry of Emotions: Using Chakra Acupuncture and 5-Phase Theory to Describe Personality Archetypes for Clinical Use,” Medical Acupuncture 30, no. 4 (2018): 167–78, https://doi.org/10.1089/acu.2018.1288.

your gut brain—helping you process feelings and find your center: Corneliu Toader et al., “Mind, Mood and Microbiota—Gut–Brain Axis in Psychiatric Disorders,” International Journal of Molecular Sciences 25, no. 6 (2024): 3340, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25063340.

(TCM) suggests these emotions often land in the low back: Ye-Seul Lee et al., “Understanding Mind-Body Interaction from the Perspective of East Asian Medicine,” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2017, no. 1 (2017): 7618419, https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/7618419; Chase, “The Geometry of Emotions.”

settling in the back of the neck, according to TCM: Lynn H. Gerber et al., “Dry Needling Alters Trigger Points in the Upper Trapezius Muscle and Reduces Pain in Subjects with Chronic Myofascial Pain,” PM&R: The Journal of Injury, Function and Rehabilitation 7, no. 7 (2015): 711–18, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmrj.2015.01.020; Lee et al., “Understanding Mind-Body Interaction from the Perspective of East Asian Medicine”; Chase, “The Geometry of Emotions.”

the trapezius as a hot spot for sadness and anxiety: Gerber et al., “Dry Needling Alters Trigger Points in the Upper Trapezius Muscle and Reduces Pain in Subjects with Chronic Myofascial Pain”; Lee et al., “Understanding Mind-Body Interaction from the Perspective of East Asian Medicine”; Chase, “The Geometry of Emotions.”

thought to be linked to processing emotions, shyness, and insecurity: Chase, “The Geometry of Emotions.”

line along your arm—ideally 0.4 to 4 inches per second: Bendas et al., “Dynamics of Affective Habituation to Touch Differ on the Group and Individual Level”; Rochelle Ackerley et al., “Touch Perceptions across Skin Sites: Differences between Sensitivity, Direction Discrimination and Pleasantness,” Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 8 (2014): 54, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00054; Martine Van Puyvelde et al., “Does Touch Matter? The Impact of Stroking Versus Non-Stroking Maternal Touch on Cardio-Respiratory Processes in Mothers and Infants,” Physiology and Behavior207 (2019): 55–63, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.04.024; Å. B. Vallbo et al., “Unmyelinated Afferents Constitute a Second System Coding Tactile Stimuli of the Human Hairy Skin,” Journal of Neurophysiology 81, no. 6 (1999): 2753–63, https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.1999.81.6.2753; Jaquette Liljencrantz and Håkan Olausson, “Tactile C Fibers and Their Contributions to Pleasant Sensations and to Tactile Allodynia,” Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 8 (2014), https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00037.

of rice or a cooked pea (30 to 255 milligrams: Liljencrantz and Olausson, “Tactile C Fibers and Their Contributions to Pleasant Sensations and to Tactile Allodynia”; Vallbo et al., “Unmyelinated Afferents Constitute a Second System Coding Tactile Stimuli of the Human Hairy Skin.”

vagus nerve, a key player in your body’s relaxation response: Ackerley et al., “Touch Perceptions across Skin Sites”; Bendas et al., “Dynamics of Affective Habituation to Touch Differ on the Group and Individual Level”; Van Puyvelde et al., “Does Touch Matter?”

drops can nourish roots more effectively than one long gush: Mutschler et al., “Time Scales of Auditory Habituation in the Amygdala and Cerebral Cortex”; Ferdenzi et al., “Repeated Exposure to Odors Induces Affective Habituation of Perception and Sniffing”; Bendas et al., “Dynamics of Affective Habituation to Touch Differ on the Group and Individual Level.”

nerve—reducing stress, enhancing sleep, and fostering a sense of safety: P. Doneshka and E. Levi, “Structural Model of Vestibular Effects on the Blood Pressure,” Acta Physiologica et Pharmacologica Bulgarica 2, no. 1 (1976): 88–93; Sai Sailesh Kumar et al., “Vestibular Stimulation for Stress Management in Students,” Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research 10, no. 2 (2016): CC27–31, https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2016/17607.7299; Lotta Winter et al., “Vestibular Stimulation on a Motion-Simulator Impacts on Mood States,” Frontiers in Psychology 3 (2012): 499, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00499; Rachel M. van Sluijs et al., “Effect of Rocking Movements on Afternoon Sleep,” Frontiers in Neuroscience 13 (2020): 1446, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2019.01446.

Chapter 4: Breathe

blossoms with spring and dims as the days grow cold: Maciej S. Buchowski et al., “Seasonal Changes in Amount and Patterns of Physical Activity in Women,” Journal of Physical Activity and Health 6, no. 2 (2009): 252–61, https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.6.2.252; James M. Pivarnik et al., “Seasonal Variation in Adult Leisure-Time Physical Activity,” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 35, no. 6 (2003): 1004–8, https://doi.org/10.1249/01.MSS.0000069747.55950.B1; Melanie Eckelt et al., “Accelerometer-Based and Self-Reported Physical Activity of Children and Adolescents from a Seasonal Perspective,” Frontiers in Sports and Active Living 5 (2024): 1294927, https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1294927.

sleep and, in some, swaying mood to its biweekly beat: Thomas A. Wehr, “Bipolar Mood Cycles and Lunar Tidal Cycles,” Molecular Psychiatry 23, no. 4 (2018): 923–31, https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2016.263; Leandro Casiraghi et al., “Moonstruck Sleep: Synchronization of Human Sleep with the Moon Cycle under Field Conditions,” Science Advances 7, no. 5 (2021): eabe0465, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe0465; Christian Cajochen et al., “Evidence That the Lunar Cycle Influences Human Sleep,” Current Biology 23, no. 15 (2013): 1485–88, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.029.

honored as life force, spirit, and connection to the land: Rebecca Oxley and Andrew Russell, “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Breath, Body and World,” Body and Society 26, no. 2 (2020): 3–29, https://doi.org/10.1177/1357034X20913103.

They carry messages from your body back to your brain: Roderik J. S. Gerritsen and Guido P. H. Band, “Breath of Life: The Respiratory Vagal Stimulation Model of Contemplative Activity,” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 12 (2018): 397, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00397.

brain: It’s okay. You’re safe. You can let go now: Julian F. Thayer et al., “A Meta-Analysis of Heart Rate Variability and Neuroimaging Studies: Implications for Heart Rate Variability as a Marker of Stress and Health,” Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 36, no. 2 (2012): 747–56, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.11.009.

natural braking system—guiding your exhale into a long, steady release: Gerritsen and Band, “Breath of Life.”

lowering blood pressure, and easing your entire system into calm: Piyush Garg et al., “Effect of Breathing Exercises on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” International Journal of Cardiology Cardiovascular Risk and Prevention 20 (2024): 200232, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcrp.2023.200232.

exercises saw blood pressure drops on par with taking medication: M. Law et al., “Lowering Blood Pressure to Prevent Myocardial Infarction and Stroke: A New Preventive Strategy,” Health Technology Assessment 7, no. 31 (2003): 1–94, https://doi.org/10.3310/hta7310; Kazem Rahimi et al., “Pharmacological Blood Pressure Lowering for Primary and Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease across Different Levels of Blood Pressure: An Individual Participant-Level Data Meta-Analysis,” The Lancet 397, no. 10285 (2021): 1625–36, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00590-0; Garg et al., “Effect of Breathing Exercises on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate.”

mm Hg, and resting heart rates by three beats per minute: Garg et al., “Effect of Breathing Exercises on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate.”

34 percent, and death from any cause by 13 percent: Law et al., “Lowering Blood Pressure to Prevent Myocardial Infarction and Stroke”; Dena Ettehad et al., “Blood Pressure Lowering for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and Death: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” The Lancet 387, no. 10022 (2016): 957–67, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01225-8.

you steady under pressure, regulates inflammation, and even supports digestion: Gerritsen and Band, “Breath of Life”; Thayer et al., “A Meta-Analysis of Heart Rate Variability and Neuroimaging Studies”; Theodore P. Beauchaine, “Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia: A Transdiagnostic Biomarker of Emotion Dysregulation and Psychopathology,” Current Opinion in Psychology 3 (2015): 43–47, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.01.017.

against mental health challenges, especially for those who’ve faced trauma: li S. Susman et al., “High Vagal Tone and Rapid Extinction Learning as Potential Transdiagnostic Protective Factors Following Childhood Violence Exposure,” Developmental Psychobiology 63, no. 6 (2021): Ee22176, https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22176; Beauchaine, “Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia”; Daniel W. Grupe et al., “A Common Neural Substrate for Elevated PTSD Symptoms and Reduced Pulse Rate Variability in Combat-Exposed Veterans,” Psychophysiology 57, no. 1 (2020): e13352, https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13352.

less likely to develop mental health issues after experiencing adversity: Susman et al., “High Vagal Tone and Rapid Extinction Learning as Potential Transdiagnostic Protective Factors Following Childhood Violence Exposure.”

In one study: Andy Schumann et al., “The Influence of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback on Cardiac Regulation and Functional Brain Connectivity,” Frontiers in Neuroscience 15 (2021), https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2021.691988.

And that’s not the only study pointing in that direction: Michiko Sakaki et al., “Heart Rate Variability Is Associated with Amygdala Functional Connectivity with MPFC across Younger and Older Adults,” NeuroImage 139 (2016): 44–52, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.05.076; Thayer et al., “A Meta-Analysis of Heart Rate Variability and Neuroimaging Studies”; Emma Tupitsa et al., “Heart Rate Variability Covaries with Amygdala Functional Connectivity during Voluntary Emotion Regulation,” NeuroImage 274 (July 2023): 120136, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120136.

in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and less in the amygdala: Thayer et al., “A Meta-Analysis of Heart Rate Variability and Neuroimaging Studies.”

And that eight-week trial: Schumann et al., “The Influence of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback on Cardiac Regulation and Functional Brain Connectivity.”

nerve, as shown by consistent increases in heart rate variability: Sylvain Jean Pascal Laborde et al., “Effects of Voluntary Slow Breathing on Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability: A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis,” Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 138 (2022): 104711, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104711.

Most research, including this meta-analysis: Laborde et al., “Effects of Voluntary Slow Breathing on Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability.”

behavioral therapy (CBT), had lasting effects on heart rate variability: Eli S. Susman et al., “Is Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia a Modifiable Index of Symptom Change in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Youth? A Pooled-Data Analysis of a Randomized Trial,” Psychotherapy Research: Journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, 35, no. 2 (2025): 337–51, https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2024.2308149.

more restorative), fewer awakenings, and less time awake after disruptions: H. J. Tsai et al., “Efficacy of Paced Breathing for Insomnia: Enhances Vagal Activity and Improves Sleep Quality,” Psychophysiology 52, no. 3 (2015): 388–96, https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12333; Sylvain Laborde et al., “Influence of a 30-Day Slow-Paced Breathing Intervention Compared to Social Media Use on Subjective Sleep Quality and Cardiac Vagal Activity,” Journal of Clinical Medicine 8, no. 2 (2019): 193, https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8020193; Ravinder Jerath et al., “Self-Regulation of Breathing as an Adjunctive Treatment of Insomnia,” Frontiers in Psychiatry 9 (2019): 780, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00780; Uirassu Borges et al., “Using Slow-Paced Breathing to Foster Endurance, Well-Being, and Sleep Quality in Athletes During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Frontiers in Psychology 12 (2021): 624655, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.624655; Liisa Kuula et al., “The Effects of Presleep Slow Breathing and Music Listening on Polysomnographic Sleep Measures—a Pilot Trial,” Scientific Reports 10, no. 1 (2020): 7427, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64218-7.

which could support falling asleep faster and improve sleep quality: Kasiganesan Harinath et al., “Effects of Hatha Yoga and Omkar Meditation on Cardiorespiratory Performance, Psychologic Profile, and Melatonin Secretion,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 10, no. 2 (2004): 261–68, https://doi.org/10.1089/107555304323062257; Daniele Martarelli et al., “Diaphragmatic Breathing Reduces Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress,” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2011, no. 1 (2011): 932430, https://doi.org/10.1093/ecam/nep169; Eduardo Ferracioli-Oda et al., “Meta-Analysis: Melatonin for the Treatment of Primary Sleep Disorders,” PLOS One 8, no. 5 (2013): e63773, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0063773.

when you’re not sleeping, and resist the pull to oversleep: A Transdiagnostic Approach (Guilford Publications, 2017); Susman et al., “Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention in Youth.”

more than nine hours can take a toll on health: Susman et al., “Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention in Youth”; Max Hirshkowitz et al., “National Sleep Foundation’s Updated Sleep Duration Recommendations: Final Report,” Sleep Health: Journal of the National Sleep Foundation 1, no. 4 (2015): 233–43, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2015.10.004.

sixty-five and older do best with seven to eight hours: Hirshkowitz et al., “National Sleep Foundation’s Updated Sleep Duration Recommendations.”

the effects didn’t change based on how long participants practiced: Guy William Fincham et al., “Effect of Breathwork on Stress and Mental Health: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised-Controlled Trials,” Scientific Reports 13, no. 1 (2023): 432, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27247-y.

the same boost to vagus nerve function as twenty minutes: Min You et al., “Single Slow-Paced Breathing Session at Six Cycles per Minute: Investigation of Dose-Response Relationship on Cardiac Vagal Activity,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 23 (2021): 12478, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312478.

variability and sped up how quickly people learned and adapted: Celine Cammarata et al., “Taking Twelve Slow Breaths Enhances Cardiovascular and Cognitive Plasticity in Young and Older Adults,” preprint, 2024, https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/3hu6g.

on cognitive tasks as well as people forty years younger: Cammarata et al., “Taking Twelve Slow Breaths Enhances Cardiovascular and Cognitive Plasticity in Young and Older Adults.”

scientifically, let’s explore a study that shrinks the timeline further: Amit Kumar and Deepak Joshi, “Effects of Mini-Meditation-Based Breathing Exercise as Intervention on Induced Mental Stress: An EEG Power Spectrum Evidence-Based Study,” Asian Journal of Psychiatry 103 (2025): 104341, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2024.104341.

Compared to normal breathing, the microbreathwork boosted both alpha waves: Kumar and Joshi, “Effects of Mini-Meditation-Based Breathing Exercise as Intervention on Induced Mental Stress.”

the microbreathwork boosted both alpha waves—associated with calm, focused attention: Jonas Misselhorn et al., “Frontal and Parietal Alpha Oscillations Reflect Attentional Modulation of Cross-Modal Matching,” Scientific Reports 9, no. 1 (2019): 5030, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41636-w; Tetsuya Takahashi et al., “Changes in EEG and Autonomic Nervous Activity during Meditation and Their Association with Personality Traits,” International Journal of Psychophysiology 55, no. 2 (2005): 199–207, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2004.07.004.

boosted both alpha waves—associated with calm, focused attention—and theta waves: Kumar and Joshi, “Effects of Mini-Meditation-Based Breathing Exercise as Intervention on Induced Mental Stress.”

focused attention—and theta waves—associated with deep relaxation and emotional processing: Anita B. Frohlich et al., “Neuronal Oscillations and Functional Connectivity of Paced Nostril Breathing: A High-Density EEG Study,” PLOS One 20, no. 2 (2025): e0316125, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316125; Takahashi et al., “Changes in EEG and Autonomic Nervous Activity during Meditation and Their Association with Personality Traits.”

slow breathing practice, participants breathed only through their left nostril: Kumar and Joshi, “Effects of Mini-Meditation-Based Breathing Exercise as Intervention on Induced Mental Stress.”

vagal activity and shifts toward a more relaxed physiological state: Frohlich et al., “Neuronal Oscillations and Functional Connectivity of Paced Nostril Breathing”; Imran Khan Niazi et al., “EEG Signatures Change during Unilateral Yogi Nasal Breathing,” Scientific Reports 12, no. 1 (2022): 520, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04461-8; Gopal Krushna Pal et al., “Slow Yogic Breathing through Right and Left Nostril Influences Sympathovagal Balance, Heart Rate Variability, and Cardiovascular Risks in Young Adults,” North American Journal of Medical Sciences 6, no. 3 (2014): 145–51, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3978938/.

breathing can be energizing—even uplifting—making it potentially helpful for depression: Maria Elide Vanutelli et al., “Breathing Right . . . or Left! The Effects of Unilateral Nostril Breathing on Psychological and Cognitive Wellbeing: A Pilot Study,” Brain Sciences 14, no. 4 (2024): 302, https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14040302; Niazi et al., “EEG Signatures Change during Unilateral Yogi Nasal Breathing.”

pressure and may place added stress on the cardiovascular system: Pal et al., “Slow Yogic Breathing through Right and Left Nostril Influences Sympathovagal Balance, Heart Rate Variability, and Cardiovascular Risks in Young Adults.”

switch sides. In fact, it’s doing it all day long: oni Kahana-Zweig et al., “Measuring and Characterizing the Human Nasal Cycle,” PLOS One 11, no. 10 (2016): Re0162918, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162918.

every couple hours, and it isn’t perfectly regular or reciprocal: Kahana-Zweig et al., “Measuring and Characterizing the Human Nasal Cycle.”

a time is not only safe, but also remarkably effective: Frohlich et al., “Neuronal Oscillations and Functional Connectivity of Paced Nostril Breathing”; Niazi et al., “EEG Signatures Change during Unilateral Yogi Nasal Breathing”; Pal et al., “Slow Yogic Breathing through Right and Left Nostril Influences Sympathovagal Balance, Heart Rate Variability, and Cardiovascular Risks in Young Adults”; Kumar and Joshi, “Effects of Mini-Meditation-Based Breathing Exercise as Intervention on Induced Mental Stress.”

comparing three different breathwork techniques to good old mindfulness meditation: Melis Yilmaz Balban et al., “Brief Structured Respiration Practices Enhance Mood and Reduce Physiological Arousal,” Cell Reports Medicine 4, no. 1 (2023), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100895.

quick inhale before it? That’s part of the magic, too: Elke Vlemincx et al., “The Psychophysiology of the Sigh: II: The Sigh from the Psychological Perspective,” Biological Psychology 173 (2022): 108386, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108386.

slows your heart, softens your body, and steadies your mind: Vlemincx et al., “The Psychophysiology of the Sigh.”

(hypocapnia), which may cause dizziness, lightheadedness, or even increased anxiety: Vlemincx et al., “The Psychophysiology of the Sigh.”

nostril—the one more often tied to calming your nervous system: Kahana-Zweig et al., “Measuring and Characterizing the Human Nasal Cycle.”

and a self-soothing gesture shown to help dial down cortisol: Dreisoerner et al., “Self-Soothing Touch and Being Hugged Reduce Cortisol Responses to Stress.”

Enhances spatial skills: Susan A. Jella and David S. and Shannahoff-khalsa, “The Effects of Unilateral Forced Nostril Breathing on Cognitive Performance,” International Journal of Neuroscience 73, nos. 1–2 (1993): 61–68, https://doi.org/10.3109/00207459308987211.

with relaxation, focus, emotional processing, and reduced stress and mind-wandering: Niazi et al., “EEG Signatures Change during Unilateral Yogi Nasal Breathing”; Vanutelli et al., “Breathing Right . . . or Left! The Effects of Unilateral Nostril Breathing on Psychological and Cognitive Wellbeing”; Gopal Krushna Pal et al., “Effect of Short-Term Practice of Breathing Exercises on Autonomic Functions in Normal Human Volunteers,” The Indian Journal of Medical Research120, no. 2 (2004): 115–21; Kumar and Joshi, “Effects of Mini-Meditation-Based Breathing Exercise as Intervention on Induced Mental Stress”; Misselhorn et al., “Frontal and Parietal Alpha Oscillations Reflect Attentional Modulation of Cross-Modal Matching”; Takahashi et al., “Changes in EEG and Autonomic Nervous Activity during Meditation and Their Association with Personality Traits”; Frohlich et al., “Neuronal Oscillations and Functional Connectivity of Paced Nostril Breathing.”

can sometimes be the case for those with trauma histories: Sungjin Im et al., “Frontal Alpha Asymmetry in Children with Trauma Exposure,” Clinical EEG and Neuroscience 53, no. 5 (2022): 418–25, https://doi.org/10.1177/15500594221076346.

to notice the sensations of your breath and your body: Kelly Webster and Tony Ro, “Visual Modulation of Resting State α Oscillations,” eNeuro 7, no. 1 (2020): ENEURO.0268-19.2019, https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0268-19.2019.

Encourages fuller breaths that naturally support longer exhales: Gerritsen and Band, “Breath of Life.”

Melts stress, eases anxiety, and brightens your mood: Balban et al., “Brief Structured Respiration Practices Enhance Mood and Reduce Physiological Arousal.”

the foundation for a longer exhale that promotes vagal activation: Garg et al., “Effect of Breathing Exercises on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate”; Gerritsen and Band, “Breath of Life.”

releasing tension with a longer, effortless exhale, calming the body: Vlemincx et al., “The Psychophysiology of the Sigh.”

to prime longer exhales and deeper vagal stimulation, fostering calm: Garg et al., “Effect of Breathing Exercises on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate”; Gerritsen and Band, “Breath of Life.”

nerve, slowing the heart, and easing the body into calm: Garg et al., “Effect of Breathing Exercises on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate”; Gerritsen and Band, “Breath of Life.”

more it can amplify relaxation by stimulating the vagus nerve: Peter Payne et al., “Somatic Experiencing: Using Interoception and Proprioception as Core Elements of Trauma Therapy,” Frontiers in Psychology 6 (2015), https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00093; Shriya S. Srinivasan et al., “A Vibrating Ingestible Bioelectronic Stimulator Modulates Gastric Stretch Receptors for Illusory Satiety,” Science Advances 9, no. 51 (2023): eadj3003, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj3003; Jiří Kantor et al., “Effect of Low Frequency Sound Vibration on Acute Stress Response in University Students—Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial,” Frontiers in Psychology 13 (2022): 980756, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.980756.

Vocalization slows your exhale, deeply engaging the vagus nerve: Eric Harbour et al., “Breath Tools: A Synthesis of Evidence-Based Breathing Strategies to Enhance Human Running,” Frontiers in Physiology 13 (2022): 813243, https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.813243.

gut, calming your heart, easing digestion, and settling your nerves: Payne et al., “Somatic Experiencing”; Srinivasan et al., “A Vibrating Ingestible Bioelectronic Stimulator Modulates Gastric Stretch Receptors for Illusory Satiety”; Kantor et al., “Effect of Low Frequency Sound Vibration on Acute Stress Response in University Students—Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.”

through your ears to deepen parasympathetic activation and foster relaxation: Kantor et al., “Effect of Low Frequency Sound Vibration on Acute Stress Response in University Students—Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.”

Levine, trauma therapist and creator of the Somatic Experiencing® method: Payne et al., “Somatic Experiencing”; Marie Kuhfuß et al., “Somatic Experiencing—Effectiveness and Key Factors of a Body-Oriented Trauma Therapy: A Scoping Literature Review,” European Journal of Psychotraumatology 12, no. 1 (2021): 1929023, https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2021.1929023; Danny Brom et al., “Somatic Experiencing for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Outcome Study,” Journal of Traumatic Stress 30, no. 3 (2017): 304–12, https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22189.

tone, the stronger the calming effect—your vagus nerve is listening: Kantor et al., “Effect of Low Frequency Sound Vibration on Acute Stress Response in University Students—Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.”

mouth breathing by boosting your parasympathetic “rest and digest” system: Joseph C. Watso et al., “Acute Nasal Breathing Lowers Diastolic Blood Pressure and Increases Parasympathetic Contributions to Heart Rate Variability in Young Adults,” American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 325, no. 6 (2023): R797–808, https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00148.2023.

parasympathetic “rest and digest” system and increasing nitric oxide production: D. C. F. Törnberg et al., “Nasal and Oral Contribution to Inhaled and Exhaled Nitric Oxide: A Study in Tracheotomized Patients,” Original Articles: Asthma/Hyperreactivity, European Respiratory Journal 19, no. 5 (2002): 859–64, https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.02.00273502; J. O. N. Lundberg et al., “Inhalation of Nasally Derived Nitric Oxide Modulates Pulmonary Function in Humans,” Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 158, no. 4 (1996): 343–47, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-201X.1996.557321000.x.

lowers blood pressure, and enhances oxygen delivery to your tissues: Watso et al., “Acute Nasal Breathing Lowers Diastolic Blood Pressure and Increases Parasympathetic Contributions to Heart Rate Variability in Young Adults”; Lundberg et al., “Inhalation of Nasally Derived Nitric Oxide Modulates Pulmonary Function in Humans.”

your tissues. Bass-like vibrations further engage the vagus, amplifying calm: Kantor et al., “Effect of Low Frequency Sound Vibration on Acute Stress Response in University Students—Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.”

magic before it naturally steps back as you inhale again: Matthew E. B. Russell et al., “Inclusion of a Rest Period in Diaphragmatic Breathing Increases High Frequency Heart Rate Variability: Implications for Behavioral Therapy,” Psychophysiology 54, no. 3 (2017): 358–65, https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12791.

moment more to settle you before the next breath begins: Russell et al., “Inclusion of a Rest Period in Diaphragmatic Breathing Increases High Frequency Heart Rate Variability.”

and oxytocin, and even kicks your immune system into gear: Daisy Fancourt et al., “Low-Stress and High-Stress Singing Have Contrasting Effects on Glucocorticoid Response,” Frontiers in Psychology 6 (2015), https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01242; Robert J. Beck et al., “Supporting the Health of College Solo Singers: The Relationship of Positive Emotions and Stress to Changes in Salivary IgA and Cortisol during Singing,” Journal for Learning through the Arts 2, no. 1 (2006), https://doi.org/10.21977/D92110079; Jing Kang et al., “A Review of the Physiological Effects and Mechanisms of Singing,” Journal of Voice 32, no. 4 (2018): 390–95, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2017.07.008; T. Moritz Schladt et al., “Choir Versus Solo Singing: Effects on Mood, and Salivary Oxytocin and Cortisol Concentrations,” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 11 (2017), https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00430.

joy-inducing magic happens when you drop the judgment—especially your own: Fancourt et al., “Low-Stress and High-Stress Singing Have Contrasting Effects on Glucocorticoid Response”; Christina Grape et al., “Does Singing Promote Well-Being?: An Empirical Study of Professional and Amateur Singers during a Singing Lesson,” Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science 38, no. 1 (2002): 65–74, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02734261.

positive memories and help you process your feelings—joyful or tender: Teresa Lesiuk et al., “Fractional Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuations during Music-Evoked Autobiographical Memories in Neurotypical Older Adults,” Frontiers in Neuroscience 18 (2025): 1479150, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2024.1479150; Maria Cruz Martínez-Saez et al., “Effect of Popular Songs from the Reminiscence Bump as Autobiographical Memory Cues in Aging: A Preliminary Study Using EEG,” Frontiers in Neuroscience 17 (2024): 1300751, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1300751; Kelly Jakubowski et al., “Individual Differences in Music-Evoked Autobiographical Memories,” Musicae Scientiae, 29, no. 2 (2024): 195–216, https://doi.org/10.1177/10298649241288173.

nervous system, improves mood, and fosters a sense of ease: Fancourt et al., “Low-Stress and High-Stress Singing Have Contrasting Effects on Glucocorticoid Response”; Beck et al., “Supporting the Health of College Solo Singers”; Kang et al., “A Review of the Physiological Effects and Mechanisms of Singing”; Schladt et al., “Choir Versus Solo Singing”; Grape et al., “Does Singing Promote Well-Being?”; Yaming Wei et al., “Singing Interventions in Depression: A Scoping Review,” Psychology of Music, (2024), https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356241305921; Felicity A. Baker et al., “Clinical Effectiveness of Music Interventions for Dementia and Depression in Elderly Care (MIDDEL): Australian Cohort of an International Pragmatic Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial,” The Lancet Healthy Longevity 3, no. 3 (2022): e153–65, https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-7568(22)00027-7.

you in the present through the joy of spontaneous sound: Melissa Forbes, “Giving Voice to Jazz Singers’ Experiences of Flow in Improvisation,” Psychology of Music 49, no. 4 (2021): 789–803, https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735619899137; N. F. Bernardi et al., “Cardiorespiratory Optimization during Improvised Singing and Toning,” Scientific Reports 7 (2017): 8113, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07171-2; Christabel Heasman-Cossins et al., “Using Vocal Improvisation within the Vocal Coaching Studio to Mitigate Music Performance Anxiety: An Exploratory Study of Three Cases,” Music and Science 8 (2025): 20592043251327047, https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043251327047; Joel A. Lopata et al., “Creativity as a Distinct Trainable Mental State: An EEG Study of Musical Improvisation,” Neuropsychologia 99 (2017): 246–58, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.03.020; Marcelo Rabello Dos Santos et al., “Effects of Musical Improvisation as a Cognitive and Motor Intervention for the Elderly,” Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas) 38 (2021): e190132, https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-0275202138e190132; Yawen Zhang, “An Exploratory Study of Multimodal Physiological Data in Jazz Improvisation Using Basic Machine Learning Techniques,” arXiv:2401.12266, preprint, arXiv, January 22, 2024, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2401.12266.

with lighthearted play, releasing tension and inviting joy through spontaneity: Fancourt et al., “Low-Stress and High-Stress Singing Have Contrasting Effects on Glucocorticoid Response”; Grape et al., “Does Singing Promote Well-Being?”; Gemma Perry et al., “Exploring the Physiological and Psychological Effects of Group Chanting in Australia: Reduced Stress, Cortisol and Enhanced Social Connection,” Journal of Religion and Health 63, no. 6 (2024): 4793–815, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-023-01967-5; Bernardi et al., “Cardiorespiratory Optimization during Improvised Singing and Toning”; Daniel A. Assaz et al., “Cognitive Defusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: What Are the Basic Processes of Change?” The Psychological Record 68, no. 4 (2018): 405–18, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-017-0254-z; René T. Proyer et al., “Can Playfulness Be Stimulated? A Randomised Placebo-Controlled Online Playfulness Intervention Study on Effects on Trait Playfulness, Well-Being, and Depression,” Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being 13, no. 1 (2021): 129–51, https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12220.

one disarming question: “Would you like to laugh with me?”: Raffi Khatchadourian, “The Laughing Guru,” Letter from India, The New Yorker, August 23, 2010, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/30/the-laughing-guru.

as effective as humor-driven laughter at easing depression and anxiety: C. Natalie van der Wal and Robin N. Kok, “Laughter-Inducing Therapies: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” Social Science and Medicine 232 (2019): 473–88, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.02.018.

from a whimsical pastime to a powerful approach for well-being: Mahvash Shahidi et al., “Laughter Yoga Versus Group Exercise Program in Elderly Depressed Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 26, no. 3 (2011): 322–27, https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.2545.

participants revealed that non-humorous laughter reduces anxiety, pain, and stress: Katharina Stiwi and Jenny Rosendahl, “Efficacy of Laughter-Inducing Interventions in Patients with Somatic or Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized-Controlled Trials,” Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice47 (2022): 101552, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2022.101552.

it improves sleep quality, turning restless nights into restful slumber: Jinping Zhao et al., “A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials of Laughter and Humour Interventions on Depression, Anxiety and Sleep Quality in Adults,” Journal of Advanced Nursing 75, no. 11 (2019): 2435–48, https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14000.

show it even helps ease loneliness and improve exercise capacity: Nilgün Kuru Alici and Ayse Arikan Dönmez, “A Systematic Review of the Effect of Laughter Yoga on Physical Function and Psychosocial Outcomes in Older Adults,” Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 41 (2020): 101252, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2020.101252; Shuangrong Han et al., “The Effects of Laughter Yoga on Perceived Stress, Positive Psychological Capital, and Exercise Capacity in Lung Cancer Chemotherapy Patients: A Pilot Randomized Trial,” Integrative Cancer Therapies 22 (2023): 15347354231218271, https://doi.org/10.1177/15347354231218271.

physiological shifts, lowering cortisol by as much as 37 percent: Maria Meier et al., “Laughter Yoga Reduces the Cortisol Response to Acute Stress in Healthy Individuals,” Stress 24, no. 1 (2021): 44–52, https://doi.org/10.1080/10253890.2020.1766018.

just the start. Research shows it can lower blood pressure: Kuru Alici and Arikan Dönmez, “A Systematic Review of the Effect of Laughter Yoga on Physical Function and Psychosocial Outcomes in Older Adults”; Stiwi and Rosendahl, “Efficacy of Laughter-Inducing Interventions in Patients with Somatic or Mental Health Problems”; Raquel Oliveira and Patrícia Arriaga, “A Systematic Review of the Effects of Laughter on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Variability,” HUMOR 35, no. 2 (2022): 135–67, https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2021-0111.

shows it can lower blood pressure, boost heart rate variability: Oliveira and Arriaga, “A Systematic Review of the Effects of Laughter on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Variability”; Rima Dolgoff-Kaspar et al., “Effect of Laughter Yoga on Mood and Heart Rate Variability in Patients Awaiting Organ Transplantation: A Pilot Study,” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine 18, no. 5 (2012): 61–66.

natural killer cells—immune warriors that fight infection, illness, even cancer: Kiyotake Takahashi et al., “The Elevation of Natural Killer Cell Activity Induced by Laughter in a Crossover Designed Study,” International Journal of Molecular Medicine 8, no. 6 (2001): 645–50, https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.8.6.645.

tiny circuits wired to echo what we see in others: De Weck et al., “Hearing Someone Laugh and Seeing Someone Yawn.”

you, creating a feedback loop of joy, connection, and release: De Weck et al., “Hearing Someone Laugh and Seeing Someone Yawn.”

can also strengthen social bonds and increase feelings of belonging: R. I. M. Dunbar et al., “Laughter Influences Social Bonding but Not Prosocial Generosity to Friends and Strangers,” PLOS One 16, no. 8 (2021): e0256229, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256229.

melt, and your joy to awaken—especially in moments of stress: Paul Ekman and Richard J. Davidson, “Voluntary Smiling Changes Regional Brain Activity,” Psychological Science 4, no. 5 (1993): 342–45, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1993.tb00576.x; Tara L. Kraft and Sarah D. Pressman, “Grin and Bear It: The Influence of Manipulated Facial Expression on the Stress Response,” Psychological Science 23, no. 11 (2012): 1372–78, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612445312.

and encourages deeper breathing, lowering stress and improving emotional well-being: Oliveira and Arriaga, “A Systematic Review of the Effects of Laughter on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Variability”; Dolgoff-Kaspar et al., “Effect of Laughter Yoga on Mood and Heart Rate Variability in Patients Awaiting Organ Transplantation”; Garg et al., “Effect of Breathing Exercises on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate”; Gerritsen and Band, “Breath of Life”; Meier et al., “Laughter Yoga Reduces the Cortisol Response to Acute Stress in Healthy Individuals”; Kuru Alici and Arikan Dönmez, “A Systematic Review of the Effect of Laughter Yoga on Physical Function and Psychosocial Outcomes in Older Adults”; Stiwi and Rosendahl, “Efficacy of Laughter-Inducing Interventions in Patients with Somatic or Mental Health Problems.”

to reducing stress, boosting immunity, and even improving sleep quality: van der Wal and Kok, “Laughter-Inducing Therapies”; Meier et al., “Laughter Yoga Reduces the Cortisol Response to Acute Stress in Healthy Individuals”; Kuru Alici and Arikan Dönmez, “A Systematic Review of the Effect of Laughter Yoga on Physical Function and Psychosocial Outcomes in Older Adults”; Han et al., “The Effects of Laughter Yoga on Perceived Stress, Positive Psychological Capital, and Exercise Capacity in Lung Cancer Chemotherapy Patients”; Stiwi and Rosendahl, “Efficacy of Laughter-Inducing Interventions in Patients with Somatic or Mental Health Problems”; Zhao et al., “A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials of Laughter and Humour Interventions on Depression, Anxiety and Sleep Quality in Adults”; Oliveira and Arriaga, “A Systematic Review of the Effects of Laughter on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Variability”; Takahashi et al., “The Elevation of Natural Killer Cell Activity Induced by Laughter in a Crossover Designed Study”; Dolgoff-Kaspar et al., “Effect of Laughter Yoga on Mood and Heart Rate Variability in Patients Awaiting Organ Transplantation”; Shahidi et al., “Laughter Yoga Versus Group Exercise Program in Elderly Depressed Women.”

out your exhales, activating your vagus nerve and softening stress: Bae et al., “Increased Exhalation to Inhalation Ratio during Breathing Enhances High-Frequency Heart Rate Variability in Healthy Adults.”

Reduces stress, improves mood, and invites laughter through lighthearted movement: Proyer and Ruch, “The Virtuousness of Adult Playfulness”; Cale D. Magnuson and Lynn A. Barnett, “The Playful Advantage: How Playfulness Enhances Coping with Stress,” Leisure Sciences 35, no. 2 (2013): 129–44, https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2013.761905; Lubbers et al., “Adult Play and Playfulness”; Proyer et al., “Can Playfulness Be Stimulated?”

greater happiness, friendliness, and an improved ability to release anger: Jorge Torres-Marín et al., “Is the Use of Humor Associated with Anger Management? The Assessment of Individual Differences in Humor Styles in Spain,” Personality and Individual Differences 120 (2018): 193–201, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.08.040; Beermann and Ruch, “Can People Really ‘Laugh at Themselves?”

perspective, reducing self-consciousness and transforming awkwardness into humor and connection: Torres-Marín et al., “Is the Use of Humor Associated with Anger Management?”; Beermann and Ruch, “Can People Really ‘Laugh at Themselves?’”; Blackledge, “Disrupting Verbal Processes”; Assaz et al., “Cognitive Defusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.”

benefits of laughter—relaxation, reduced stress, and a joyful sense completion: Garg et al., “Effect of Breathing Exercises on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate”; Gerritsen and Band, “Breath of Life.”

Chapter 5: Flow

with college students, they randomly split participants into two groups: Adam W. Hanley et al., “Washing Dishes to Wash the Dishes: Brief Instruction in an Informal Mindfulness Practice,” Mindfulness 6, no. 5 (2015): 1095–103, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-014-0360-9.

realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation, First Edition, trans. Mobi Ho, with Vo-Dihn Mai (Beacon Press, 1999).

hit, it landed more gently and felt easier to manage: Manigault et al., “Examining Practice Effects in a Randomized Controlled Trial.”

decreased sleep disturbance, more flexible thinking, and heightened mindful awareness: Manigault et al., “Examining Practice Effects in a Randomized Controlled Trial”; Birtwell et al., “An Exploration of Formal and Informal Mindfulness Practice and Associations with Wellbeing”; Kakoschke et al., “The Importance of Formal Versus Informal Mindfulness Practice for Enhancing Psychological Wellbeing and Study Engagement in a Medical Student Cohort with a 5-Week Mindfulness-Based Lifestyle Program”; Djernis et al., “A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Nature-Based Mindfulness”; Petrovic et al., “The Effectiveness and Acceptability of Formal Versus Informal Mindfulness among University Students with and without Recent Self-Injury”; Wu et al., “The Psychological Benefits of Habitual Mindfulness Practice”; Brintz et al., “Are Formal and Informal Home Mindfulness Practice Quantities Associated with Outcomes?”

holds the potential for mindfulness—getting dressed, driving, even doom scrolling: Ishan N. Vengurlekar et al., “Mindful Scrolling: Exploring Whether Mindfulness Modifies the Association between Social Media Engagement and Internalizing Concerns,” Current Psychology, ahead of print, February 12, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-07490-y; Sabina Baltruschat et al., “Repeat Traffic Offenders Improve Their Performance in Risky Driving Situations and Have Fewer Accidents Following a Mindfulness-Based Intervention,” Frontiers in Psychology 11 (2021), https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.567278; Weina Qu et al., “Mindfulness Decreases Driving Anger Expression: The Mediating Effect of Driving Anger and Anger Rumination,” Accident Analysis and Prevention 203 (2024): 107642, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2024.107642; Zihan Yang et al., “Why Do ‘So’ Much behind the Wheel? How Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms, Mindfulness, and Anxiety Influence Distracted Driving Behaviours,” Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour 111 (2025): 354–72, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2025.03.019.

back to the present, boosting positive emotions and easing stress: Rinske A. Gotink et al., “Mindfulness and Mood Stimulate Each Other in an Upward Spiral: A Mindful Walking Intervention Using Experience Sampling,” Mindfulness 7, no. 5 (2016): 1114–22, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0550-8; Anjali Mangesh Joshi et al., “Effect of Walking Meditation on Perceived Stress and Mental Well-Being in Oncology Health-Care Professionals: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Yoga-Mīmāmsā 56, no. 2 (2024): 64, https://doi.org/10.4103/ym.ym_19_24; Dustin W. Davis et al., “The Effects of Meditative and Mindful Walking on Mental and Cardiovascular Health,” International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings 14, no. 1 (2021), https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol14/iss1/8.

mood and self-compassion while fostering healthier, more intentional eating habits: M. Eaton et al., “Food for the Mind: A Systematic Review of Mindful and Intuitive Eating Approaches for Mental Health and Wellbeing,” European Psychiatry 67, no. S1 (2024): S158, https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2024.352; Ziya Erokay Metin et al., “The Relationship between Emotional Eating, Mindful Eating, and Depression in Young Adults,” Food Science and Nutrition13, no. 1 (2025): e4028, https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.4028; Katy Tapper, “Mindful Eating: What We Know So Far,” Nutrition Bulletin 47, no. 2 (2022): 168–85, https://doi.org/10.1111/nbu.12559; Mona Jassemi Zergani et al., “Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training Versus Itself Plus Implementation Intention Model: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” Eating and Weight Disorders—Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity 29, no. 1 (2024): 53, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-024-01677-1; Lieneke K. Janssen et al., “Greater Mindful Eating Practice Is Associated with Better Reversal Learning,” Scientific Reports 8, no. 1 (2018): 5702, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24001-1; Nur Raudhatul Jannah Zainol Hisham and Yulita, “The Relationships between Daily Mindful Eating Behavior and Physical and Psychological Outcomes among University Students: The Moderating Role of Eating Attitudes,” Mindfulness, 16 (2025): 2270–81, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-025-02623-7.

we rush, kindness is often the first thing to go: awid Zuk and Olga Bialobrzeska, “People Are Less Nice When in a Hurry (but Mindfulness Might Help),” Research Article, Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology 35, no. 4 (2025): De70120, https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.70120.

of the clock. Studies suggest mindfulness can soften the edge: Zuk and Bialobrzeska, “People Are Less Nice When in a Hurry (but Mindfulness Might Help).”

pictured, but also to strangers they hadn’t imagined at all: Cendri A. Hutcherson et al., “Loving-Kindness Meditation Increases Social Connectedness,” Emotion 8, no. 5 (2008): 720–24, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013237.

on the Implicit Association Test, even without explicitly targeting race: Yoona Kang et al., “The Nondiscriminating Heart: Lovingkindness Meditation Training Decreases Implicit Intergroup Bias.,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 143, no. 3 (2014): 1306–13, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034150.

the results showed reduced racial bias after just one session: Alexander J. Stell and Tom Farsides, “Brief Loving-Kindness Meditation Reduces Racial Bias, Mediated by Positive Other-Regarding Emotions,” Motivation and Emotion40, no. 1 (2016): 140–47, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-015-9514-x.

Fredrickson and her colleagues at the University of North Carolina: Barbara L. Fredrickson et al., “Do Contemplative Moments Matter? Effects of Informal Meditation on Emotions and Perceived Social Integration,” Mindfulness 10, no. 9 (2019): 1915–25, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01154-2.

Simon Goldberg and their team at the University of Wisconsin–Madison: Qiang Xie et al., “Is Informal Practice Associated with Outcomes in Loving-Kindness and Compassion Training? Evidence from Pre-Post and Daily Diary Assessments,” Behaviour Research and Therapy 177 (2024): 104537, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2024.104537.

Many people, including scientists, mistake lovingkindness for compassion: Ulyana Sirotina and Sergei Shchebetenko, “Loving-Kindness Meditation and Compassion Meditation: Do They Affect Emotions in a Different Way?” Mindfulness11, no. 11 (2020): 2519–30, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01465-9.

and reward, like the striatum, more reliably than mindfulness alone: Jennifer S. Mascaro et al., “The Neural Mediators of Kindness-Based Meditation: A Theoretical Model,” Frontiers in Psychology 6 (2015): 109, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00109; Tatia M. C. Lee et al., “Distinct Neural Activity Associated with Focused-Attention Meditation and Loving-Kindness Meditation,” PLOS One 7, no. 8 (2012): e40054, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040054; Barbara L. Fredrickson et al., “Positive Emotion Correlates of Meditation Practice: A Comparison of Mindfulness Meditation and Loving-Kindness Meditation,” Mindfulness 8, no. 6 (2017): 1623–33, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0735-9; Michelle G. Craske et al., “Positive Affect Treatment Targets Reward Sensitivity: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 91, no. 6 (2023): 350–66, https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000805.

it comes to boosting positive emotions—think warmth, joy, and connection: Hutcherson et al., “Loving-Kindness Meditation Increases Social Connectedness”; Michelle G. Craske et al., “Positive Affect Treatment for Depression and Anxiety: A Randomized Clinical Trial for a Core Feature of Anhedonia,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology87, no. 5 (2019): 457–71, https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000396.

best when it comes to soothing negative emotions—anger, sadness, pain: Sirotina and Shchebetenko, “Loving-Kindness Meditation and Compassion Meditation”; Xianglong Zeng et al., “The Effect of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Positive Emotions: A Meta-Analytic Review,” Frontiers in Psychology 6 (2015): 1693, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01693; Julia Petrovic et al., “The Effects of Loving-Kindness Interventions on Positive and Negative Mental Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” Clinical Psychology Review 110 (2024): 102433, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2024.102433; James N. Kirby et al., “A Meta-Analysis of Compassion-Based Interventions: Current State of Knowledge and Future Directions,” Behavior Therapy 48, no. 6 (2017): 778–92, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2017.06.003.

explore, research suggests something equally powerful: It helps reduce envy: Xiaodan Gu et al., “Appreciative Joy: A Critical Review of Empirical Research,” Journal of Happiness Studies 24, no. 3 (2023): 1303–18, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-023-00620-y; Xianglong Zeng et al., “Appreciative Joy in Buddhism and Positive Empathy in Psychology: How Do They Differ?” Mindfulness 8, no. 5 (2017): 1184–94, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0690-5; Xianglong Zeng et al., “Development of the Appreciative Joy Scale,” Mindfulness 8, no. 2 (2017): 286–99, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0599-4; Rong Wang et al., “Positive Psychology Interventions Reduce Anti-Rich Mentality: An Exploration of the Contribution of Appreciative Joy,” Journal of Happiness Studies 25, no. 4 (2024): 38, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-024-00745-8; Gary Ting Tat Ng et al., “Appreciative Joy Meditation Enhances Acceptance of Unfair Offer in Ultimatum Game,” Mindfulness 10, no. 8 (2019): 1673–83, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01139-1; Xianglong Zeng et al., “Heart of Joy: A Randomized Controlled Trail Evaluating the Effect of an Appreciative Joy Meditation Training on Subjective Well-Being and Attitudes,” Mindfulness 10, no. 3 (2019): 506–15, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0992-2.

contentment, less envy, and higher life satisfaction one month later: Zeng et al., “Heart of Joy.”

shows it reshapes how you relate—awakening altruism and fostering cooperation: Gu et al., “Appreciative Joy”; Zeng et al., “Appreciative Joy in Buddhism and Positive Empathy in Psychology”; Zeng et al., “Development of the Appreciative Joy Scale”; Wang et al., “Positive Psychology Interventions Reduce Anti-Rich Mentality”; Ng et al., “Appreciative Joy Meditation Enhances Acceptance of Unfair Offer in Ultimatum Game.”

envy; it even softened contempt toward those with greater wealth: Wang et al., “Positive Psychology Interventions Reduce Anti-Rich Mentality.”

were asked to scroll for ten minutes—but with different instructions: Gregory John Depow et al., “A Positive Empathy Intervention to Improve Well-Being on Instagram,” Emotion 25, no. 5 (2025): 1207–24, https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001489.

compared to a control group doing a neutral mental task: Ng et al., “Appreciative Joy Meditation Enhances Acceptance of Unfair Offer in Ultimatum Game.”

external gifts, this exercise centers on you—your choices, your agency: Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, UCHealth, “Try Identifying ‘Three Good Things’ Each Evening to Boost Happiness,” UCHealth Today, October 27, 2025, https://www.uchealth.org/today/identify-three-good-things-daily-to-boost-happiness.

it doesn’t just brighten your day, it rewires your outlook: Martin E. P. Seligman et al., “Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions,” American Psychologist 60, no. 5 (2005): 410–21, https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.60.5.410; Katherine J. Gold et al., “‘Three Good Things’ Digital Intervention among Health Care Workers: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Annals of Family Medicine 21, no. 3 (2023): 220–26, https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2963.

later compared to a placebo group writing about early memories: Seligman et al., “Positive Psychology Progress.”

And it doesn’t stop there. Studies show it eases burnout: Yu-Fang Guo et al., “Impact of WeChat-Based ‘Three Good Things’ on Turnover Intention and Coping Style in Burnout Nurses,” Journal of Nursing Management 28, no. 7 (2020): 1570–77, https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13111.

doesn’t stop there. Studies show it eases burnout, improves sleep: Daisuke Sato et al., “Effectiveness of Unguided Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and the Three Good Things Exercise for Insomnia: 3-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial,” Journal of Medical Internet Research 24, no. 2 (2022): e28747, https://doi.org/10.2196/28747.

Studies show it eases burnout, improves sleep, enhances work-life balance: J. Bryan Sexton and Kathryn C. Adair, “Forty-Five Good Things: A Prospective Pilot Study of the Three Good Things Well-Being Intervention in the USA for Healthcare Worker Emotional Exhaustion, Depression, Work-Life Balance and Happiness,” BMJ Open 9, no. 3 (2019): e022695, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022695.

improves sleep, enhances work-life balance, and even reduces job turnover: Guo et al., “Impact of WeChat-Based ‘Three Good Things’ on Turnover Intention and Coping Style in Burnout Nurses.”

small the action, it reminds you: I made a difference: Seligman et al., “Positive Psychology Progress”; Kerwin McCrimmon, “Try Identifying ‘Three Good Things’ Each Evening to Boost Happiness.”

impactful, doesn’t always deliver the pure positivity we hope for: ristin Layous et al., “The Proximal Experience of Gratitude,” PLOS One 12, no. 7 (2017): Ke0179123, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179123; Matthew J. Hirshberg et al., “Divergent Effects of Brief Contemplative Practices in Response to an Acute Stressor: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Brief Breath Awareness, Loving-Kindness, Gratitude or an Attention Control Practice,” PLOS One 13, no. 12 (2018): e0207765, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207765.

joy—but also guilt, inadequacy, or a subtle sense of debt: Layous et al., “The Proximal Experience of Gratitude.”

them? Studies show this tension is common—appreciation laced with obligation: Layous et al., “The Proximal Experience of Gratitude.”

can make us less likely to pay the kindness forward: Hirshberg et al., “Divergent Effects of Brief Contemplative Practices in Response to an Acute Stressor.”

can leave you alone with the weight of your reflections: Layous et al., “The Proximal Experience of Gratitude.”

It shifts the experience from private reckoning to shared connection: Lisa C. Walsh et al., “What Is the Optimal Way to Give Thanks? Comparing the Effects of Gratitude Expressed Privately, One-to-One via Text, or Publicly on Social Media,” Affective Science 4, no. 1 (2023): 82–91, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-022-00150-5; Layous et al., “The Proximal Experience of Gratitude.”

When your responsibilities aren’t already pulling you in competing directions: Lusi Wu et al., “A Balanced View of Supervisory Family Support: Effects on Gratitude, Indebtedness, and Job Crafting Behaviors,” Human Relations, SAGE Publications Ltd., April 22, 2025, 00187267251332465, https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267251332465.

pulling you in competing directions. When expressed in thank-you notes: Walsh et al., “What Is the Optimal Way to Give Thanks?”; Kennon M. Sheldon and Sen-chi and Yu, “Methods of Gratitude Expression and Their Effects upon Well-Being: Texting May Be Just as Rewarding as and Less Risky Than Face-to-Face,” The Journal of Positive Psychology 17, no. 5 (2022): 690–700, https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.1913639.

forgetting their name mid-sentence. And when it’s paired with self-compassion: Pan Zeng et al., “Self-Compassion and Subjective Well-Being: A Moderated Mediation Model of Online Prosocial Behavior and Gratitude,” Psychology in the Schools 60, no. 6 (2023): 2041–57, https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22849; Mogeda El Sayed El Keshky and Enas ObaidAllah Sarour, “The Relationships between Work-Family Conflict and Life Satisfaction and Happiness among Nurses: A Moderated Mediation Model of Gratitude and Self-Compassion,” Frontiers in Public Health 12 (2024): 1340074, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1340074.

your role, you sidestep the emotional pitfalls of traditional gratitude: Sexton and Adair, “Forty-Five Good Things.”

helped create, something shifts. You start spotting more of them: Kerwin McCrimmon, “Try Identifying ‘Three Good Things’ Each Evening to Boost Happiness.”

inner alignment, nurturing calm, joy, and self-respect through meaningful action: Christopher T. Barry et al., “JOMO: Joy of Missing Out and Its Association with Social Media Use, Self-Perception, and Mental Health,” Telematics and Informatics Reports 10 (2023): 100054, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teler.2023.100054; Stephanie A. Hooker et al., “Engaging in Personally Meaningful Activities Is Associated with Meaning Salience and Psychological Well-Being,” The Journal of Positive Psychology 15, no. 6 (2020): 821–31, https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1651895; J. David Creswell et al., “Affirmation of Personal Values Buffers Neuroendocrine and Psychological Stress Responses,” Psychological Science 16, no. 11 (2005): 846–51, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01624.x; N. T. Feather, “Human Values, Global Self-Esteem, and Belief in a Just World,” Journal of Personality 59, no. 1 (1991): 83–107, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1991.tb00769.x.

those moments, amplifying appreciation and the positive feelings it stirs: Patty Van Cappellen et al., “A New Micro-Intervention to Increase the Enjoyment and Continued Practice of Meditation,” Emotion 20, no. 8 (2020): 1332–43, https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000684.

growth over time. Plus, journaling your experiences boosts emotional well-being: Jared B. Torre and Matthew D. Lieberman, “Putting Feelings into Words: Affect Labeling as Implicit Emotion Regulation,” Emotion Review 10, no. 2 (2018): 116–24, https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073917742706; Hui Ren et al., “Effects of Expressive Writing of Positive Emotions on Mental Health among Patients with Ovarian Cancer Undergoing Postoperative Chemotherapy,” European Journal of Oncology Nursing 74 (2025): 102756, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2024.102756; Raquel Oliveira et al., “The Impact of Writing about Gratitude on the Intention to Engage in Prosocial Behaviors during the COVID-19 Outbreak,” Frontiers in Psychology 12 (2021), https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.588691.

but also boosts emotional well-being and eases symptoms of depression: Proyer et al., “Can Playfulness Be Stimulated?”

Chapter 6: The Science of Habit Formation

chronic health issues are preventable by consistently practicing healthy behaviors: Ted W. Grace, “Health Problems of College Students,” Journal of American College Health 45, no. 6 (1997): 243–51, https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.1997.9936894; Steven A. Schroeder, “We Can Do Better—Improving the Health of the American People,” New England Journal of Medicine 357, no. 12 (2007): 1221–28, https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa073350.

change our behavior still fail more often than they stick: Ari P. Kirshenbaum et al., “A Quantitative Review of the Ubiquitous Relapse Curve,” Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 36, no. 1 (2009): 8–17, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2008.04.001; Lisbeth Nielsen et al., “The NIH Science of Behavior Change Program: Transforming the Science through a Focus on Mechanisms of Change,” Behaviour Research and Therapy 101 (2018): 3–11, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2017.07.002.

who learn meditation, fewer than one in four practice daily: Lam et al., “Who Sticks with Meditation?”

practice daily. Fewer than half at least once a week: Lam et al., “Who Sticks with Meditation?”

with one goal front and center: improving their mental health: Lam et al., “Who Sticks with Meditation?”

behaviors become habits is often treated like an optional chapter: Allison G. Harvey et al., “Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments for Mental Illness,” Perspectives on Psychological Science17, no. 2 (2022): 572–89, https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691621995752; Marlen Diaz et al., “Integrating Habit Science and Learning Theory to Promote Maintenance of Behavior Change: Does Adding Text Messages to a Habit-Based Sleep Health Intervention (HABITs) Improve Outcomes for Eveningness Chronotype Young Adults? Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial,” Trials 25, no. 1 (2024): 782, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-024-08599-4.

72 percent jump over the national average for daily meditation: Susman et al., “Daily Micropractice Can Augment Single-Session Interventions”; Lam et al., “Who Sticks with Meditation?”

habits, too—the kind they began to reach for without thinking: Susman et al., “Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes?”

reading about how habits form can help them take root: R. J. Beeken et al., “A Brief Intervention for Weight Control Based on Habit-Formation Theory Delivered through Primary Care: Results from a Randomised Controlled Trial,” International Journal of Obesity 41, no. 2 (2017): 246–54, https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2016.206; L. Alison Phillips et al., “Experimental Test of a Planning Intervention for Forming a ‘Higher Order’ Health-Habit,” Psychology and Health 34, no. 11 (2019): 1328–46, https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2019.1604956; Vera Storm et al., “Effectiveness of a Web-Based Computer-Tailored Multiple-Lifestyle Intervention for People Interested in Reducing Their Cardiovascular Risk: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Journal of Medical Internet Research 18, no. 4 (2016): e5147, https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.5147; Isabelle White et al., “On Your Feet to Earn Your Seat: Pilot RCT of a Theory-Based Sedentary Behaviour Reduction Intervention for Older Adults,” Pilot and Feasibility Studies 3, no. 1 (2017): 23, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-017-0139-6; Susman et al., “Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes?”

and time, you strengthen the link between intention and action: Paschal Sheeran et al., “The When and How of Planning: Meta-Analysis of the Scope and Components of Implementation Intentions in 642 Tests,” European Review of Social Psychology 36, no. 1 (2025): 162–94, https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2024.2334563.

is like a dependable friend—always there when you need it: Phillippa Lally et al., “Experiences of Habit Formation: A Qualitative Study,” Psychology, Health and Medicine 16, no. 4 (2011): 484–89, https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2011.555774.

ability to notice it—so make your cue impossible to miss: Sheeran et al., “The When and How of Planning.”

snapping shut. These are hard stops, clear transitions, reliable anchors: Sheeran et al., “The When and How of Planning.”

participant in one of my micropractice studies did this beautifully: Susman et al., “Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes?”

before the habit—like turning the key to start the car: Sheeran et al., “The When and How of Planning”; Gaby Judah et al., “Forming a Flossing Habit: An Exploratory Study of the Psychological Determinants of Habit Formation,” British Journal of Health Psychology 18, no. 2 (2013): 338–53, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8287.2012.02086.x.

that again. Over time, this loop—cue, behavior, reward—becomes second nature: Navin Kaushal and Ryan E. Rhodes, “Exercise Habit Formation in New Gym Members: A Longitudinal Study,” Journal of Behavioral Medicine 38, no. 4 (2015): 652–63, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-015-9640-7.

stick, don’t just breeze past the good moments—let them land: Susman et al., “Daily Micropractice Can Augment Single-Session Interventions.”

brain learns to delight in rewards, healthy habits get stickier: Van Cappellen et al., “A New Micro-Intervention to Increase the Enjoyment and Continued Practice of Meditation.”

you might be wiring in cravings you never meant to: an M. Bauer et al., “Rewarding Behavior with a Sweet Food Strengthens Its Valuation,” PLOS One 16, no. 4 (2021): Je0242461, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242461.

it was, the more likely I was to use it.”: Susman et al., “Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes?”

time were far more likely to form a lasting habit: Chad Stecher et al., “Identifying App-Based Meditation Habits and the Associated Mental Health Benefits: Longitudinal Observational Study,” Journal of Medical Internet Research 23, no. 11 (2021): e27282, https://doi.org/10.2196/27282.

more likely to stick with the practice two months later: Chad Stecher et al., “Using Personalized Anchors to Establish Routine Meditation Practice with a Mobile App: Randomized Controlled Trial,” JMIR mHealth and uHealth 9, no. 12 (2021): e32794, https://doi.org/10.2196/32794.

as likely to stick with their practice as evening meditators: Cearns and Clark, “The Effects of Dose, Practice Habits, and Objects of Focus on Digital Meditation Effectiveness and Adherence.”

larger study analyzed 899,071 Calm app sessions from 14,879 users: Vincent Berardi et al., “Time of Day Preferences and Daily Temporal Consistency for Predicting the Sustained Use of a Commercial Meditation App: Longitudinal Observational Study,” Journal of Medical Internet Research 25, no. 1 (2023): e42482, https://doi.org/10.2196/42482.

Still skeptical? Researchers doubled down with a randomized study: Stecher et al., “Using Personalized Anchors to Establish Routine Meditation Practice with a Mobile App.”

else, even after the daily plan was no longer required: Stecher et al., “Using Personalized Anchors to Establish Routine Meditation Practice with a Mobile App.”

the habit to a morning routine, not a specific hour: Stecher et al., “Using Personalized Anchors to Establish Routine Meditation Practice with a Mobile App.”

science—and life—keeps teaching us, it’s this: What’s easy gets done: Rinat Avraham et al., “Determinants of Physical Activity Habit Formation: A Theory-Based Qualitative Study among Young Adults,” International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being 19, no. 1 (2024): 2341984, https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2024.2341984; Heather Fritz et al., “Feasibility of a Habit Formation Intervention to Delay Frailty Progression among Older African Americans: A Pilot Study,” The Gerontologist 60, no. 7 (2020): 1353–63, https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnz143; Heather Fritz and Yi-Ling Hu, “Habit Formation Intervention to Reduce Frailty Risk Factors: A Feasibility Study,” The American Journal of Occupational Therapy 76, no. 3 (2022): 7603205090, https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2022.045948; Kailas Jenkins et al., “Physical Movement Habit Formation in Sedentary Office Workers: Protocol Paper,” Methods and Protocols 5, no. 6 (2022): 94, https://doi.org/10.3390/mps5060094; Phillippa Lally et al., “How Are Habits Formed: Modelling Habit Formation in the Real World,” European Journal of Social Psychology 40, no. 6 (2010): 998–1009, https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.674; Kiran McCloskey and Blair T. Johnson, “Habits, Quick and Easy: Perceived Complexity Moderates the Associations of Contextual Stability and Rewards with Behavioral Automaticity,” Frontiers in Psychology 10 (2019), https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01556; Benjamin Gardner, “Habit and Behavioural Complexity: Habitual Instigation and Execution as Predictors of Simple and Complex Behaviours,” Current Research in Behavioral Sciences 3 (2022): 100081, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbeha.2022.100081; ten Broeke et al., “Why Do People Sit?”

disciplined, but because we don’t have to try so hard: Avraham et al., “Determinants of Physical Activity Habit Formation”; Fritz et al., “Feasibility of a Habit Formation Intervention to Delay Frailty Progression among Older African Americans”; Fritz and Hu, “Habit Formation Intervention to Reduce Frailty Risk Factors”; Jenkins et al., “Physical Movement Habit Formation in Sedentary Office Workers”; Lally et al., “How Are Habits Formed”; McCloskey and Johnson, “Habits, Quick and Easy”; Gardner, “Habit and Behavioural Complexity”; ten Broeke et al., “Why Do People Sit?”

to entry, so change stops feeling like such a lift: ten Broeke et al., “Why Do People Sit?”

that reduce resistance, so the habit becomes easier to repeat: ten Broeke et al., “Why Do People Sit?”

When your space supports you, it becomes an ally: ten Broeke et al., “Why Do People Sit?”

to smartphone alerts as a tool for helping micropractices stick: Susman et al., “Daily Micropractice Can Augment Single-Session Interventions.”

evidence suggests that smartphone reminders can help with forming habits: M. Fournier et al., “Testing the Effect of Text Messaging Cues to Promote Physical Activity Habits: A Worksite‐Based Exploratory Intervention,” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports 27, no. 10 (2017): 1157–65, https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12730; Kwok Chi Leong et al., “The Use of Text Messaging to Improve Attendance in Primary Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial,”Family Practice 23, no. 6 (2006): 699–705, https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cml044.

front of your mind and follow-through feels almost like autopilot: Leong et al., “The Use of Text Messaging to Improve Attendance in Primary Care”; Idit Shalev and John A. Bargh, “Use of Priming-Based Interventions to Facilitate Psychological Health: Commentary on Kazdin and Blase (2011),” Perspectives on Psychological Science 6, no. 5 (2011): 488–92, https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691611416993.

vanish the moment your reminder does—or when your battery dies: Ian Renfree et al., “Don’t Kick the Habit: The Role of Dependency in Habit Formation Apps,” Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA ’16, Association for Computing Machinery, May 7, 2016, 2932–39, https://doi.org/10.1145/2851581.2892495.

distraction [or] annoyance [because] I was routinely doing the activity.”: Susman et al., “Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes?”

follows: Time your reminder to hit just before your cue: Benjamin Gardner et al., “Habitual Instigation and Habitual Execution: Definition, Measurement, and Effects on Behaviour Frequency,” British Journal of Health Psychology 21, no. 3 (2016): 613–30, https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12189.

us up, we’re far more likely to stay on track: Andrea S. Mendoza-Vasconez et al., “Forming Habits, Overcoming Obstacles, and Setting Realistic Goals: A Qualitative Study of Physical Activity Maintenance among Latinas,” International Journal of Behavioral Medicine 29, no. 3 (2022): 334–45, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-021-10011-3; Gabriele Oettingen, “Future Thought and Behaviour Change,” European Review of Social Psychology 23, no. 1 (2012): 1–63, https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2011.643698; K. B. Johannessen et al., “Mental Contrasting of a Dieting Wish Improves Self-Reported Health Behaviour,” Psychology and Health 27, no. sup2 (2012): 43–58, https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2011.626038; Andreas Kappes and Gabriele Oettingen, “The Emergence of Goal Pursuit: Mental Contrasting Connects Future and Reality,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 54 (2014): 25–39, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2014.03.014; Marieke A. Adriaanse et al., “When Planning Is Not Enough: Fighting Unhealthy Snacking Habits by Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII),” European Journal of Social Psychology 40, no. 7 (2010): 1277–93, https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.730; Guoxia Wang et al., “A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions on Goal Attainment,” Frontiers in Psychology 12 (2021), https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.565202.

how you’ll follow through—can boost habit success by 66 percent: Janine Chapman et al., “Comparing Implementation Intention Interventions in Relation to Young Adults’ Intake of Fruit and Vegetables,” Psychology and Health 24, no. 3 (2009): 317–32, https://doi.org/10.1080/08870440701864538; Peter M. Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran, “Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta‐Analysis of Effects and Processes,” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 38 (2006): 69–119, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1; Alison Divine and Sarah Astill, “Reinforcing Implementation Intentions with Imagery Increases Physical Activity Habit Strength and Behaviour,” British Journal of Health Psychology 30, no. 2 (2025): e12795, https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12795.

Even better, research shows naming your experiences boosts emotional well-being: Torre and Lieberman, “Putting Feelings into Words.”

debate the accuracy of wearable devices, especially for sleep tracking: Erik Korem, et al., “Accuracy of Wearable Technology and Smart Watches,” AIM7, October 21, 2024, https://www.aim7.com/blog/smartwatch-wearable-technology-accuracy.

numbers can create more stress, sometimes even making sleep worse: Elina Kuosmanen et al., “How Does Sleep Tracking Influence Your Life? Experiences from a Longitudinal Field Study with a Wearable Ring,” Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 6, no. MHCI (2022): 185:1–185:19, https://doi.org/10.1145/3546720; Haitham Jahrami et al., “Prevalence of Orthosomnia in a General Population Sample: A Cross-Sectional Study,” Brain Sciences 14, no. 11 (2024): 1123, https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14111123.

self-monitoring—the simple act of logging that you did the thing: Susan Michie et al., “Effective Techniques in Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Interventions: A Meta-Regression,” Health Psychology: Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association 28, no. 6 (2009): 690–701, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016136.

workouts, or micropractices, self-monitoring turns vague intentions into visible progress: Benjamin Harkin et al., “Does Monitoring Goal Progress Promote Goal Attainment? A Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence.,” Psychological Bulletin 142, no. 2 (2016): 198–229, https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000025.

it’s even more powerful when paired with these habit-strengthening strategies: Michie et al., “Effective Techniques in Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Interventions”; Harkin et al., “Does Monitoring Goal Progress Promote Goal Attainment?”

checkmark or goal met can spark a little dopamine hit: Catarina Owesson-White et al., “Cue-Evoked Dopamine Release Rapidly Modulates D2 Neurons in the Nucleus Accumbens during Motivated Behavior,” Journal of Neuroscience36, no. 22 (2016): 6011–21, https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0393-16.2016; Markus Ullsperger and D. Yves von Cramon, “Error Monitoring Using External Feedback: Specific Roles of the Habenular Complex, the Reward System, and the Cingulate Motor Area Revealed by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging,” Journal of Neuroscience 23, no. 10 (2003): 4308–14, https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-10-04308.2003; Finnegan J. Calabro et al., “Striatal Dopamine Supports Reward Expectation and Learning: A Simultaneous PET/fMRI Study,” NeuroImage 267 (2023): 119831, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119831; Maxine E. Whelan et al., “Brain Activation in Response to Personalized Behavioral and Physiological Feedback from Self-Monitoring Technology: Pilot Study,” Journal of Medical Internet Research 19, no. 11 (2017): e8890, https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.8890; Myrthe Jansen et al., “L-DOPA and Oxytocin Influence the Neural Correlates of Performance Monitoring for Self and Others,” Psychopharmacology 241, no. 5 (2024): 1079–92, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-024-06541-9; Morten Joensson et al., “Making Sense: Dopamine Activates Conscious Self‐Monitoring through Medial Prefrontal Cortex,” Human Brain Mapping 36, no. 5 (2015): 1866–77, https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.22742.

more by tying their practice to a fantasy football league: Samuel Myron Degenhard and Denise Hatter-Fisher, “Integrated Online Fantasy Football Platform Promotes Meditation Activity among Male-Identifying Undergraduate Students,” Discover Psychology, ahead of print, (2025), https://doi.org/10.1007/s44202-025-00535-0.

daily steps to test how different goal-setting strategies impact success: Marissa A. Sharif and Suzanne B. Shu, “Nudging Persistence after Failure through Emergency Reserves,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 163 (2021): 17–29, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.01.004.

days per week in the group with no skip days: Susman et al., “Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes?”

your progress (even once a week)—boosts your chances of success: Karen L. Fortuna et al., “Peer Support: A Human Factor to Enhance Engagement in Digital Health Behavior Change Interventions,” Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science 4, no. 2 (2019): 152–61, https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-019-00105-x; Hitkul Jangra et al., “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Dataset and Analysis of Real World Habit Building Attempts,” Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media 18 (2024): 1967–78, https://doi.org/10.1609/icwsm.v18i1.31440.

presence, and it starts to feel possible for them, too: Kathryn Miller and Allison Kelly, “Is Self-Compassion Contagious? An Examination of Whether Hearing a Display of Self-Compassion Impacts Self-Compassion in the Listener,” Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue Canadienne des Sciences du Comportement 52, no. 2 (2020): 159–70, https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000150.

financial stakes boosted follow-through—and the anti-charity condition led the pack: Jangra et al., “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.”

of self-improvement, for the endless guilt of not doing enough: Calming the Mind. Lothian Books, 2003.

Chapter 7: The Busy Mindset and How to Break Free

they were “too busy” to spare twenty seconds a day: Susman et al., “Daily Micropractice Can Augment Single-Session Interventions,” April 2024.

This isn’t just a college problem: Susman et al., “Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes?”

We don’t just admire busyness; we equate it with success: Silvia Bellezza et al., “Conspicuous Consumption of Time: When Busyness and Lack of Leisure Time Become a Status Symbol,” Journal of Consumer Research 44, no. 1 (2017): 118–38, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucw076.

always-on professional: coffee in one hand, phone in the other: Bellezza et al., “Conspicuous Consumption of Time.”

schedules have become humblebrags—a not-so-subtle flex of competence and worth: Bellezza et al., “Conspicuous Consumption of Time.”

Why? Because we’ve tied busyness with value: Bellezza et al., “Conspicuous Consumption of Time.”

shift, and we reach for empty calories over real nourishment: Sara B. Festini, “Busyness, Mental Engagement, and Stress: Relationships to Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior,” Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 14 (2022): 980599, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2022.980599; Yijie Ai and Min Jiang, “Effects of Busy Mindset on Preference for High-Calorie Foods,” Scientific Reports 14, no. 1 (2024): 16838, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-68075-6.

day; it was also about how those hours were spent: Mengxi Dong and Xiaomin Sun, “Why Do We Feel So Time Poor? A Daily Diary Study of Time Poverty and Well-Being,” Journal of Happiness Studies 26, no. 6 (2025): 110, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00944-x.

than the actual number of free hours in their day: Dong and Sun, “Why Do We Feel So Time Poor?”

time is linked to lower well-being—and to feeling time poor: Dong and Sun, “Why Do We Feel So Time Poor?”

In one study, students ran mock companies making road signs: Melody J. (Je) McCracken and Hale Kaynak, “An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship between Quality and Productivity,” Quality Management Journal 3, no. 2 (1996): 36–51, https://doi.org/10.1080/10686967.1996.11918726.

reduced tension, sharpened focus, and increased productivity by 5 percent: Henning et al., “Frequent Short Rest Breaks from Computer Work.”

15 percent—the equivalent of gaining seven weeks off a year: Henning et al., “Frequent Short Rest Breaks from Computer Work.”

briefest breaks can boost motivation, reduce fatigue, and unlock creativity: atricia Albulescu et al., “‘Give Me a Break!’ A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Efficacy of Micro-Breaks for Increasing Well-Being and Performance,” PLOS One 17, no. 8 (2022): Pe0272460, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272460.

many hours you have; it’s about how scattered they feel: Dong and Sun, “Why Do We Feel So Time Poor?”

Hạnh is often understood as “only one thing to do.”: Hạnh, Thích Nhất. 2013. “Ask Thay: Answers from Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh,” plumvillage.app/ask-thay-answers-from-zen-master-thich-nhat-hanh/.

Welcome to JOMO—the joy of missing out: Tal Eitan and Tali Gazit, “No Social Media for Six Hours? The Emotional Experience of Meta’s Global Outage According to FoMO, JoMO and Internet Intensity,” Computers in Human Behavior138 (2023): 107474, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107474.

shows JOMO is associated with greater life satisfaction and well-being: Tal Eitan and Tali Gazit, “The ‘Here and Now’ Effect: JoMO, FoMO and the Well-Being of Social Media Users,” Online Information Review ahead-of-print, no. ahead-of-print (2024), https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-03-2023-0111; Barry et al., “JOMO.”

our values, we feel happier, more purposeful, and more alive: Hooker et al., “Engaging in Personally Meaningful Activities Is Associated with Meaning Salience and Psychological Well-Being.”

break the cycle of FOMO, making space for what matters: Steven S. Chan et al., “Social Media and Mindfulness: From the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) to the Joy of Missing Out (JOMO),” The Journal of Consumer Affairs 56, no. 3 (2022): 1312–31, https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12476.

donating to charity—compared to those who wrote about time management: Jessica L. Engle and Victoria M. Follette, “An Experimental Comparison of Two Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Values Exercises to Increase Values-Oriented Behavior,” Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science 10 (2018): 31–40, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2018.08.001.

task lowered both the stress hormone cortisol and self-reported stress: Creswell et al., “Affirmation of Personal Values Buffers Neuroendocrine and Psychological Stress Responses.”

powerful study of first-generation college students shows this in action: Judith M. Harackiewicz et al., “Harnessing Values to Promote Motivation in Education,” Advances in Motivation and Achievement: A Research Annual 18 (2014): 71–105, https://doi.org/10.1108/S0749-742320140000018002.

on the days when time felt like the rarest resource: Susman et al., “Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes?”

rhythm—just another way of getting something that truly mattered done: Susman et al., “Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes?”

Chapter 8: The Echoes of Small Moments

deep within us: a gentle pull toward our better selves: Sara B. Algoe et al., “A New Perspective on the Social Functions of Emotions: Gratitude and the Witnessing Effect,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 119, no. 1 (2020): 40–74, https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000202; Joanna G. Fagan et al., “Can Exposure to Specific Acts of Compassion and Courage Elicit Moral Elevation and Related Motives?” Journal of Moral Education 54, no. 3 (2025): 425–37, https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2023.2284098; Haesung Jung et al., “Prosocial Modeling: A Meta-Analytic Review and Synthesis,” Psychological Bulletin 146, no. 8 (2020): 635–63, https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000235; Miller and Kelly, “Is Self-Compassion Contagious?”

chain of goodness that reaches farther than we’ll ever see: Algoe et al., “A New Perspective on the Social Functions of Emotions”; Fagan et al., “Can Exposure to Specific Acts of Compassion and Courage Elicit Moral Elevation and Related Motives?”; Jung et al., “Prosocial Modeling”; Miller and Kelly, “Is Self-Compassion Contagious?”

to help not just the expresser, but the recipient, too: Algoe et al., “A New Perspective on the Social Functions of Emotions.”

watched acts of kindness didn’t just feel uplifted—they helped more: Schnall, Simone, Jean Roper, and Daniel M.T. Fessler. 2010. “Elevation Leads to Altruistic Behavior.” Psychological Science 21 (3): 315–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797609359882.

they lay the groundwork for kindness and connection to grow: Jieni Zhou et al., “The Goods in Everyday Love: Positivity Resonance Builds Prosociality,” Emotion 22, no. 1 (2022): 30–45, https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001035.

struggles with self-compassion, we’re more likely to do the same: Miller and Kelly, “Is Self-Compassion Contagious?”

time, your vagus nerve softens you toward warmth and connection: Walter T. Piper et al., “Autonomic and Prefrontal Events during Moral Elevation,” Biological Psychology 108 (2015): 51–55, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2015.03.004.

to protect not just one another, but the planet itself: Rhett Diessner et al., “Natural and Moral Beauty Have Indirect Effects on Proenvironmental Behavior,” Ecopsychology 14, no. 2 (2022): 71–82, https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2021.0038; Rhett Diessner and Ryan M. Niemiec, “Can Beauty Save the World? Appreciation of Beauty Predicts Proenvironmental Behavior and Moral Elevation Better Than 23 Other Character Strengths,” Ecopsychology 15, no. 2 (2023): 93–109, https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2022.0047.

and nervous system—the muscles of focus, flexibility, steadiness, and resilience: Cearns and Clark, “The Effects of Dose, Practice Habits, and Objects of Focus on Digital Meditation Effectiveness and Adherence.”

you) are more likely to stick with them long term: Cearns and Clark, “The Effects of Dose, Practice Habits, and Objects of Focus on Digital Meditation Effectiveness and Adherence.”

nervous system by bringing your awareness back into your body: Cearns and Clark, “The Effects of Dose, Practice Habits, and Objects of Focus on Digital Meditation Effectiveness and Adherence.”

they can help shift attention outward and interrupt thought spirals: Cearns and Clark, “The Effects of Dose, Practice Habits, and Objects of Focus on Digital Meditation Effectiveness and Adherence.”