Boy, do we still have a long way to go to achieve gender equality
“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist, nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.”- Gloria Steinem
“I think it takes men being vulnerable to be part of the solution,” “It cannot be just women fighting for their own rights. I think men have to step up and fight for women’s rights, too. … I think we have to unlearn the patriarchy.”
Allyship, Advocacy, Agency. Allez Allez!
International Women’s Day (IWD) has a long and powerful history of collective action going back over 100 years!
Here is some history going back to Abigail Smith Adams, first lady to President John Adams in 1776, all the way to today with each generation building on the courage of those before them.
Celebrating San Diego’s pioneering women on International Women’s Day International Women’s Day has been celebrated for over a century, and this year marks 115 years of the movement, honoring San Diego’s own noteworthy women.
But 115 years later, we still have a long way to go…
“I think it takes men being vulnerable to be part of the solution,” “It cannot be just women fighting for their own rights. I think men have to step up and fight for women’s rights, too. … I think we have to unlearn the patriarchy.”
And here’s exactly what to do when someone is disrespectful to you: Communication expert and CEO Michael Chad Hoeppner shares his best advice for how to handle disrespect with grace and composure
Do you know that 40% of San Diego households volunteer and understand the importance of this essential form of philanthropy (love of humanity)?
This week’s post speaks to the importance of volunteering both for our community and for ourselves!
As President of the NCPC I’m delighted to spread the word about NCPC’s Volunteer Awards Celebration (VAC) coming up on April 10th from 2 to 5:30pm. Please spread the word and nominate your volunteer for 2026!
If you are not familiar with it, VAC is our annual event now in its 39th year, dedicated to recognizing the outstanding volunteers who support nonprofit organizations across our region. We encourage every organization to nominate one volunteer for recognition. Submitting a nomination is free, though we do ask nominating organizations to cover their nominee’s ticket ($125 per seat; tables of 10 are $1,200) to attend the event. All nominated volunteers are recognized on stage by name and organization and will receive a trophy and a certificate from the County Board of Supervisors in appreciation of their service.
As you might recall, at the end of last year NCPC was honored with a Proclamation from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for Exemplifying the Highest Ideals of Public Service.
You can see a short vid of Supervisor Jim Desmond awarding us the proclamation for Outstanding Service, Leadership and Commitment to the Citizens of San Diego County here:
As we prep for Global Volunteer Month, we welcome all of San Diego’s 13,000 nonprofits to take a moment to celebrate their incredible volunteers, without whom so much critical work simply would not get done. And in current challenging times we need them more than ever!
This year’s VAC celebration will take place April 10 at the Rancho Bernardo Inn and promises to be a joy filled experience. Guests will enjoy tray-passed appetizers, a cash bar, and live entertainment from our band Strange Crew. We are also honored to welcome Grant Oliphant, CEO of the Prebys Foundation, as our keynote speaker, Carlo Cecchetto of CBS8 will serve as our MC, and local media will be there to love up our amazing volunteers and the causes they care about.
We are actively seeking sponsors, nominees, and attendees with a March 20th deadline. Nominations can be submitted HERE, and tickets can be purchased HERE.
Why Volunteer and Celebrate Volunteerism: As with all nonprofits, a great deal of focus is placed on the “Treasurer’s Report”, but as we all know it takes talent as well as time to achieve sustainable success in any mission driven enterprise. We can tackle ties and testimony separately… Perhaps social purpose organizations should include a Talent Report– tracking and affirming those that share their talents back with its stakeholders, as well as a Time Report– tracking and affirming volunteerism in every flavor.
What you Measure Gets Done, what you Reward STAYS done
Ideally, this will increase strategic volunteerism and talent engagement which in turn will INCREASE monetary contributions as it is empirically proven that those that commit time and talent get MORE anchored to the cause and are more likely to engage others in its collective success.
(First friend-raising then fund-raising)
Interestingly, consumer sentiment supports this notion as we are increasingly values driven! Volunteerism is in vogue and good for you!
Over the years, several brand attributes have had large up ticks including high quality up 124%, friendly up 79%, socially responsible up 63%, and leader up 40%.
But the brand attribute with the highest lift at 341% is Kindness!
Practicing Conscious Acts of Kindness dignifies the very essence of our humanity and uplifts society.
Most organizations keep score with important metrics.
However, another key metric- from a social purpose standpoint- is our investment of discretionary energy-as expressed in our time
Isn’t it amazing that in our overscheduled, over-achieving, time starved lives we find the discretionary energy to volunteer for those things that really matter?
In the conceptual age, the currency of influence is attention.
Paying bills is one thing
Paying attention is quite another!
Time is more important than money
We can re-earn money, but we never get this time back.
The Japanese have an expression for this:
Ichi e Ichi go (this moment is unprecedented, this moment is unrepeatable)
Attention is the currency of time well spent, where you really get to keep the change
When we give our time with purpose, we give our most precious asset- our energy, applying the law of concentrated attention, “That which we focus on manifests!”
It is true when they say, we are judged by the company we keep!
Hanging out with volunteers is a predictive variable in the quality of YOUR life and those around you
Intrinsically motivated people like you are compelled by different things than basic reward and punishment, or the proverbial carrot and stick
We are powered by autonomy, mastery, and purpose
Volunteers see things differently and experience time differently. In other words, we have a different relationship to time.
Most people consume or spend time; volunteers produce or invest time.
I will prove that we see things differently. Look at the web address below and tell me what you see…
Every encounter only happens once and cannot be replicated: Savor every interaction and experience you have as it can never be recreated or relived. Nothing will happen in the same way again.
Every single person you meet can change you: Be open to new people as every other stranger could be a kindred spirit that you were meant to meet. Often the person we least expect can make us feel the most alive.
Be fully yourself with loved ones and friends: Being present is a lifelong challenge and often the hardest to do with the ones closest to us. Put your phone away, be fully with loved ones and friends, and don’t miss out on all the good things in front of you.
All experience stand-alone and will never be repeated in the same way: Trust that every encounter is in fact, once in a lifetime. Say yes to random opportunities and spontaneous invitations that come your way.
Are you ready to meet this moment now, without fear or regret, knowing this is each of our ultimate experience?
This week:
I have been reminiscing about how different cultures practice present moment mindfulness in the context of being present in the here and now, as well as, addressing and experiencing the imminence of death.
Nothing morbid or macabre here, just a reminder that everyone one of our lives are undoubtedly finite, none of us get out of here alive, so simply a reflective opportunity to be fully present, as well as make the most of each and every day, and each and every moment.
This is not a new idea…
In the East, the Japanese concept of Ichigo, Ichie (一期一会) reminds us that each moment is unprecedented and unrepeatable.
As I shared at an NCPC Meet the Funders event this week, you can over time, get your money back, but you can never get your time back.
This concept is nicely contextualized in the Zen cup of tea experience,
The Japanese have a way of doing things – it is slow and measured, with everyday gestures being undertaken with reverence and intimacy.
The phrase ‘ichigo ichie’ was coined by Ii Naosuke, the Japanese tea master who lived from 1815-1860.
The story goes that he was constantly threatened with assassination and so he made his tea each day as if it were his last. Every time he made it, he said the tea was unique and more beautiful than the time before. He knew that he would never have the chance to drink another tea exactly like the one he had just made, and so ichigo ichie is a way to understand and embrace the impermanence of life.
In the words of the beloved Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh who I had the privilege to meditate with many moons ago:
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.”
Rest assured, this is not some Eastern woo woo. In the Western traditions there is a similar counterpart:
Memento Mori-You Could Leave Life Right Now!
A motif of a skull, reminiscence of death, an hourglass reminding us of the inevitable passing of time, and wilting flowers, reminding us of the impermanence of life.
This is neither morbid or negative, just a rejoinder to be present and meet the moment to the best of our ability.
A Biologist Reveals What Elephants Do When a Herd Member Dies:
Elephant societies respond to death in ways that look uncannily similar to our own reactions. Here’s why it has researchers describing them as “compassionate.”
Are you ready to meet this moment now, without fear or regret, knowing this is each of our ultimate experience?
Serendipitously, In the same vein if you are local-
See if you can get tickets to Beetlejuice the Musical playing at the San Diego Civic Center over the weekend:
In the West we clearly don’t “do death well” and this comedic revisit of this evocative piece of art, delivered with wit and courage (and some irrelevance) is worth the price of admission and then some!
Thanks, this week go to Craig Mc for the Memento Mori coin to keep me grounded in being fully in the present and to Aysha S-B for taking us to Beetlejuice the Musical.
With the year of the Fire Horse, here’s to major changes that break old patterns and inspire new growth!
This week:
Happy Lunar New Year, the Year of the Fire Horse! 11 things to know…
A Poem for People in Pain from Robin Sharma
Frontier Leadership: Maintaining Our Humanity, One Decision at a Time with Dr. Rick Morales
You Can Double Your Deep Sleep in 4 Minutes thanks to Dr. Tim Patel
Happy Lunar New Year, year of the fire horse! 11 things to know:
Cultural Significance: In East Asia, Fire Horse years are seen as both auspicious and challenging — bringing transformative opportunities but also requiring careful guidance and wise leadership.
Symbol of Transformation: The Fire Horse is believed to bring about major changes that break old patterns and inspire new growth.
We all have hard seasons. Stages where the ground on which we stand seems to crumble, nothing seems to be in our favor and the winter seems endless. To know pain, to endure suffering and to feel as though the trial will never end is to be fully human. And to become most intimate with life itself.
“A bad day for the ego is a great day for the soul”, though.
From what I can tell—and who truly knows the way the world works—that which appears to unmake us is the very season that rebuilds us. Our pain, in truth, becomes a purifier. Difficulty softens us, unmasks us and opens us—allowing the gifts of wisdom, humility and patience to become our new way of being.
As I listen to a precious song called “For My Little Man” by Cody Ray, on a stormy day on the farm, I write you this poem. So that you remember your winter will pass. Your luminous Spring is coming.
The Dark Woods Season: There are times in a human life. Of hurt, hardship and hollowness. To meet them is not to fall. These times are times of our rising. Dissolving for rebuilding. From a young age we are trained to run. To escape from seasons in the wilderness. To betray our growth. To neglect the needs of the soul. So, we prosper in the world.
Yet the dark woods are the gateway into light. The light of your wisdom, art, and magic. You have magic in you, you know. You do.
So, while the many stay busy. Trust your season of pain has fortune. It is here to wash away that which limits you. From the brilliance, awe and wonder. That in your own true way. Is all you truly are.
Love + respect, Robin
Frontier Leadership: Maintaining Our Humanity, One Decision at a Time with Dr. Rick Morales
With the world moving at the speed of light I’ve wondered how best to describe our moment in time. Like many of you, I’ve too often been at a loss for words.
My mantra – what drives my work and life – is to help people find their power, their voice. This has led me to reconsider what leadership is; or what we assume it to be.
With this exploration I’ve developed a framework, available for anyone to practice, create community and generate momentum. I call it Frontier Leadership.
The basic tenet of this practice is that dignity is non-negotiable.
You can double your deep sleep in 𝟰𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 thanks to Dr. Tim Patel:
Not with supplements. Not with gadgets. Not by going to bed earlier.
By telling your nervous system the day is over.
Most people don’t have a sleep problem. They have a 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.
They go from: Slack → phone → bed And wonder why they’re “tired but wired”.
That state kills deep sleep.
Here’s what actually fixes it.
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦.𝗟.𝗘.𝗘.𝗣 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 (𝟰 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗟)
This is a 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 from stress to recovery.
𝗦 — 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘, 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗟𝗬 ↳ Start the ritual at the same time every evening ↳ Consistency trains your nervous system faster than duration
𝗟 — 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗗𝗜𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 ↳ Lower lights. Warm tones only ↳ No light control = no melatonin. Full stop
𝗘 — 𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 (𝟮 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗦) ↳ 4-7-8 breathing. Inhale 4. Hold 7. Exhale 8 ↳ This flips your nervous system into rest mode
𝗘 — 𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 ↳ No work. No news. No scrolling ↳ Boring is a feature, not a bug
𝗣 — 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗫𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 (𝟵𝟬 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗦) ↳ Tense and release muscles from feet to head ↳ Your body can’t stay alert if it’s physically letting go
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗦 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗟𝗬 ↳ Cortisol drops instead of lingering ↳ Core body temperature falls (required for deep sleep) ↳ Melatonin rises naturally ↳ Deep sleep expands instead of getting compressed
Sleep labs see this pattern consistently when pre-bed routines are applied.
Same bed. Same hours. Different signal.
Deep sleep isn’t luck. It’s what happens when your nervous system gets a clear off-ramp.
Four minutes is enough. If you make it non-negotiable.
♻️ Most people try to sleep harder. The ones who recover best shut down earlier
💾 Save this for the next night you’re lying awake, wired, and exhausted.
Happy Lunar New Year and please pay it forward with purpose.
“The champion wins first, then walks into the arena. Everybody else walks into the arena and then tries to figure out what to do.”— Jim Fannin
Our roles are not our identity.
The role I love, as much as being a student of life, is growing others.
With the Superbowl behind us and the Winter Olympics underway, we all inevitably focus on the athletes, often failing to recognize that behind every great athlete there is a great coach.
Those that launched us in the early innings of a practice, sport or passion are often forgotten, but this program (below) makes that important intellectual and emotional connection.
This will warm the heart of anyone that has pushed the limits of their potential and been in turn pushed by a committed and caring coach!
Launching Legends:
Olympians stand alone on the podium, but there are many others who helped them make the climb.
Athletes competing at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics were asked to name someone from their childhood outside their family who first believed in them before the world knew their name. The Olympians and the heroes they named then had a surprise reunion in the NBC Local series “Launching Legends.”
“It definitely takes a village for anyone to make the Olympic team,” said Renee Hildebrand, a speed skating coach.
The Superbowl Game was not that great, but the Half Time Show was an opportunity for National Self-Reflection:
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show was many things: a time-traveling journey through the history of Puerto Rico, a statement of Pan-American unity, and a masterpiece of cultural expression. Co-hosts Felix Contreras and Anamaria Sayre are joined by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento — who brings on-the-ground reporting from San Juan — to unpack the symbolism embedded in Bad Bunny’s performance.
As some of you know I am a student and practitioner of the wisdom traditions, (martial arts, yoga and meditation) inspired by being born in India to an Indian Dad and British Mum, and living there until I was 14 years old, when we transplanted to California with one suitcase apiece, inspired by the values and opportunities for a better life here in the United States.
At that time, America was the exemplary for meritocracy, opportunity, inclusiveness, and modeling values the whole world wanted to emulate.
Not sure that is the case today, but that is a separate matter…
I have been teaching traditional karate at UC San Diego for 43 years, rounding out an academic curriculum for bright minds with a whole-person embodied practice that fosters competence, confidence, and character.
We might think values like respect, honor, humility, benevolence, etc. are ethereal.
This video might invite you to revisit that belief in the context of a mind/body/emotions/energy system:
Scientists Finally Understand How Animals Experience Joy Scientists have known for a while now that animals feel pain. When it comes to other emotions, like joy and happiness, they weren’t so sure. Pain makes sense. Everything feels like it would wince when you pinch it. But to say an animal is experiencing joy felt a bit too close to anthropomorphism, as if we were projecting human qualities onto an inhuman creature. So, the scientific community largely ignored animal joy.
In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist; And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist; And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew; And then… they came for me. ..And by that time there was no one left to speak up. –Rev Martin Niemoller, January 1946
In current divisive times, I pray we all appreciate the importance of a free and independent press and the criticality of hearing diverse voices and different perspectives, if we are going to counter man’s inhumanity to man (I use male pronouns deliberately here).
With a degree in Mass Communications from UC San Diego from many moons ago, and a high degree of angst from current conditions from as recently as a few hours ago, I prompt engineered AI about the benefits of a free and independent press, given my frustration with how media voices are being silenced or kept out of the broader community conversation, at our own peril.
This was the unfiltered response:
A free and independent press serves as the “Fourth Estate,” acting as a crucial check on power and a cornerstone of a healthy society. Its benefits reach beyond just delivering news—it fosters accountability, protects human rights, and empowers citizens to participate in self-governance.
1. Holding Power to Account
Watchdog Function: An independent press monitors the actions of government, corporations, and other institutions to expose corruption, fraud, and waste.
Investigating Injustice: Journalists conduct deep research to uncover facts that powerful entities might prefer to keep hidden, such as human rights violations or environmental damage.
Encouraging Transparency: By utilizing public records laws and FOIA requests, the press ensures that official actions are open to public scrutiny.
2. Strengthening Democracy and Civic Engagement
Informed Electorate: A free press provides reliable information that helps citizens make informed decisions at the ballot box, from local school board elections to national leadership.
Platform for Dialogue: It creates a “marketplace of ideas,” fostering public debate and allowing diverse perspectives—especially from marginalized groups—to be heard.
Connecting Communities: Local journalism helps communities “know themselves” by telling their unique stories, which strengthens social bonds and local dialogue.
3. Promoting Public Health and Wellbeing
Addressing Crises: During emergencies like COVID-19, independent reporters provide life-saving information, explain complex risks, and counter disinformation.
Stigma Reduction: A free press can bring awareness to sensitive health issues (such as HIV/AIDS or mental health), driving policy changes and reducing social taboos.
4. Protecting Individual Liberties
Safeguarding Freedom of Expression: Press freedom is inextricably linked to individual rights; it ensures that the government cannot control the mindset of the country by manipulating information.
Empowering the Voiceless: By documenting the stories of those without power, the press acts as an advocate for human rights and personal liberty.
Global Impact
The World Press Freedom Index regularly tracks how these benefits correlate with national stability. Countries with a free press often enjoy higher levels of prosperity and more resilient social structures compared to those under strict state censorship.
What can I do about it? For decades, both personally and professionally, I have been a fan, supporter and endorser of many media channels including local public media -KPBS San Diego and NPR.
Here is a recent endorsement I was able to provide, as KPBS celebrates its 65th birthday that is airing now:
What Can the Wisdom Traditions Teach Us About Winning and Losing?
A revisit from 2022. History May Not Repeat Itself, but It Sure Does Rhyme:
If we look at what have become an all-too-common cultural norm, be it in politics, business, or personal life, it seems that winning at all costs has replaced the more humane and wise notion of winning- but doing so following the rules of the game and a moral imperative. When we look the other way, ignoring fouls and other ethical violations, are we tacitly endorsing these behaviors at best, or enabling at worst, behaviors that are antithetical to our own betterment and survival not just as individuals but as a species?
In the wisdom traditions, using traditional martial arts as a proxy, we are trained to strive for personal excellence and the contest whether in the ring of competition on in the ring of life provides a “proving ground” to test ourselves not just versus another player or contestant but against our own best potential. Here there are 4 levels of winning and losing, not just the binary winning and losing we have become all too familiar with today.
The highest level of achievement is an honorable win. Your win is supported by right conduct and if you know you did not win cleanly you self-report the foul or incident rather than hide it under the rug or play to the chorus of if it wasn’t seen, or can’t be proved, then it didn’t happen.
One level down from this is an honorable loss. If you lost but did your best and were beaten fair and square you honor both your opponent and yourself, and learn from the experience by being a gracious “loser”. Here winning still occurs through character development, investing in loss, and remaining focused on long term growth not just short-term outcomes. Honorable losses build resiliency and forge a character of perseverance and grit.
Next comes a dishonorable win, and obviously in last place comes the dishonorable loss where despite trying every dirty trick in the book you still get your clock cleaned! Whether it is in Olympic competition against the best in the world, or a personal competition to better oneself, it would be useful to foster a climate/culture that underscores the importance of honor and humility in the “success calculus” or we find the win meaningless, transitory, and ultimately not supportive of our individual or collective growth, not to mention our humanity.
Daily Practice: This can also play out in our day-to-day choices; doing the right thing for the right reason, the wrong thing for the right reason, the right thing for the wrong reason and the wrong thing for the wrong reason. I will leave it to you to discern the hierarchy and Faustian bargain this path takes us to when left to its conclusion. Much is made of Alpha animals dominating their tribe and being willing to prevail over all contenders both inside and out. (Not a fan) Not as much is understood or appreciated about Alpha leaders, even in primates, modeling empathy and seeing their primary role as caring for and supporting their group not just terrorizing their peers and den members. (Survive of not the fittest but the most adaptable) A real Alpha leader has the capacity to win at all costs but subordinates themselves. I have heard altruism defined as “self-handicapping” for the greater good… What kind of leader do you want to model, follow, or create? Let’s start now!
Letters from an American by Heather Cox Richardson for MLK Day 2026:
On April 3, 1968, the night before the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by a white supremacist, he gave a speech in support of sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Since 1966, King had tried to broaden the civil rights movement for racial equality into a larger movement for economic justice. He joined the sanitation workers in Memphis, who were on strike after years of bad pay and such dangerous conditions that two men had been crushed to death in garbage compactors.
After his friend Ralph Abernathy introduced him to the crowd, King had something to say about heroes: “As I listened to Ralph Abernathy and his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about.”
Dr. King told the audience that if God had let him choose any era in which to live, he would have chosen the one in which he had landed. “Now, that’s a strange statement to make,” King went on, “because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around…. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.” Dr. King said that he felt blessed to live in an era when people had finally woken up and were working together for freedom and economic justice.
He knew he was in danger as he worked for a racially and economically just America. “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter…because I’ve been to the mountaintop…. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life…. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”
People are wrong to say that we have no heroes left.
Just as they have always been, they are all around us, choosing to do the right thing, no matter what.
Wishing us all a day of peace for Martin Luther King Jr. Day/Week/Year 2026.
How small changes to the way you breathe can transform your health: Breathing is something we do unconsciously. But knowing when and how to take conscious deep breaths could unlock a host of benefits. Right now, it feels like breathing is having a moment. Everyone’s at it, but some people are really putting in the elbow grease. Rather than ‘just’ breathing automatically, a growing number of devotees now practice deliberate exercises.
Exercise is as effective as medication in treating depression, study finds New research shows exercise is as effective as medication at reducing symptoms of depression. And you don’t need to run a marathon to see benefits. So how much is enough?
Why pleasure is the key to self-improvement: Forget puritanical self-discipline – the way to really make a new habit stick is to lace it with instant gratification
How to finally silence your inner critic, according to psychologists: The criticism coming from your inner voice isn’t always the most constructive. But psychologists are working on ways to help your negative self-talk. January 10, 2026 I am lazy. I’m a slob. I’m [something that can’t be printed]. These are the thoughts that pop into my head when I’m scrolling senselessly on the sofa, or after finding another bag of withered salad in my fridge, forgotten thanks to the takeaways I chose to have instead of preparing my own healthier options.
Art could save your life! Five creative ways to make 2026 happier, healthier, and more hopeful: Engaging in creativity can reduce depression, improve immunity and delay ageing – all while you’re having fun
The 3 things you should do this New Year to foster a positive mindset: Olivia Remes, a mental health researcher at the University of Cambridge, says these are the three things everyone should do this New Year to cultivate a more positive mindset
Do more, stress less: three secrets for everyday productivity at work: From writing lists to taking a walk, it can be possible to gain clarity and perspective, even when faced with the most daunting tasks
The perfect way to switch off from work: the secret to a daily de-stress routine: The boundaries between work and leisure are being blurred, but it’s vital for your health to learn how to turn off. Whether you do your job from home or not, here’s how to reset and reclaim your private time
Happy Soul Food Friday! 