Our optimal psychology is one where we're fully engaged in life -- effortless, joyful, and as a result extremely productive. And as our neuroscience advances, we can build tools to help all of us move into this optimal state more and more.

As we drove back to the camp, I thought how easy it is to get lost in our own private storms, forgetting about the part of us that can come out and play when the rain stops.

Initiating a ritual is often difficult, but maintaining it is relatively easy. What rituals would make you happier? What would you like to introduce to your life?

Whether the issue is working out at the gym or continuing a business practice, we're creatures of habit. And there's nothing wrong with habits -- they can keep us on track. The problem is when habits become "dead zones," void of mindfulness and awareness.

I touch my toes, I do some straddle stretches, I twist left and right, etc. I do this not for any scientifically-based reason, but because it helps me feel awake and energetic. This easy, simple habit makes me feel much more alert and comfortable in my body.

If you can't make fitness a true habit, maybe a better question is, at what point do you start craving exercise? When does it become something you look forward to enough to do regularly without putting up an internal fight?

We all know what it's like when our bodies fall out of synch with our normal routine. We can feel "off" and overly alert.

As children we are introduced to new experiences and possibilities in life, and there is a freshness to life's experiences. Why is it that in adulthood, we find ourselves desperately making up ways to feel alive?

Our media commentary is rarely about what is happening now - mostly it's about what happened in the past or what someone thinks is going to happen in the future.

Like humans, fruit flies that get intoxicated on alcohol can become addicted and keep drinking regardless of the consequences. indicate this phenomenon will allow us to better understand how alcoholism works.

The interesting twist here is that a mental pattern we currently experience as undesirable may have at one time served us and even supported our survival in some way.

Why don't most of us ask, even though we know we should? We don't ask, because we are afraid of the answers.

Learning to remain relaxed and go with life's flow is a high achievement indeed. Mind-body practice helps, meditation helps, but in the end it is self-awareness that is required.