Regardless of any resolutions you may have for 2026, one thing is for sure: Everyone wants to have a happy new year.<\/p>\n
While losing weight or saving money may be great goals, the most straightforward path to happiness is caring for your mental and emotional health. A robust body of\u00a0research<\/a> shows that simple cognitive and behavioral strategies can reliably boost happiness and reduce stress \u2013 and they\u2019re generally free and accessible to all.<\/p>\n These strategies don\u2019t have to be super time-consuming, but they do require intention: They only work if you do them.<\/p>\n Here, psychologist Valentina Ogaryan, PhD<\/a>, clinical director of the\u00a0Simms\/Mann UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology<\/a>, shares her top tips for cultivating more calm, centeredness and happiness in the new year (or anytime):<\/p>\n Make time for play<\/p>\n Play isn\u2019t just for kids, and it\u2019s far from frivolous. The\u00a0National Institute for Play<\/a> says engaging in silliness, fun and just-for-pleasure activities reduces stress and increases optimism and resilience. A recent\u00a0review<\/a> also found that play improves mental health.<\/p>\n \u201cAdults can benefit from play as much as children,\u201d Dr. Ogaryan says, \u201cnot just as a reward, but something that helps regulate.\u201d<\/p>\n So go ahead and dance with your dog, build something with Legos, tell a joke, sing karaoke or do anything else that feels like fun. Don\u2019t worry about being productive, just enjoy yourself. And, if you can, opt for more analog play, Dr. Ogaryan suggests, as a respite from our ever-more-digital world.\u00a0<\/p>\n Move your body<\/p>\n Whether you dance, ski, do yoga, play pickleball, ride a bike, roller-skate, hike or lift weights, physical movement benefits overall happiness and well-being. A 2018\u00a0review study<\/a> of more than 1.2 million adults in the U.S. found that doing any kind of exercise was \u201csignificantly and meaningfully associated\u201d with better self-reported mental health.<\/p>\n The sweet spot was 45 minutes of movement three to five times a week, but even short bursts of physical activity can boost brain health, according to the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMovement helps support mood and regulate the nervous system,\u201d Dr. Ogaryan says.<\/p>\n Plus: exercise can improve\u00a0sleep quality<\/a>, and sleep is essential for mental health.<\/p>\n Prioritize sleep<\/p>\n \u201cSleep plays a major role in managing stress,\u201d Dr. Ogaryan says. Research shows that lack of sufficient sleep increases the risk of various diseases, including\u00a0depression<\/a>.<\/p>\n While stress can interfere with sleep, practicing good sleep hygiene can make logging ZZ\u2019s easier. That means maintaining a consistent bedtime; keeping the bedroom cool, dark and quiet; and avoiding social media, news and stimulating shows before bed.<\/p>\n Consume less<\/p>\n We live in a consumer culture, inundated by endless streams of content and advertising everywhere we go, which makes it easy to get overstimulated.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething really helpful for stress reduction is to simply consume less,\u201d Dr. Ogaryan says \u2013 less news, less social media, less information, less noise, less screen time.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about reducing the input,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Consider setting a maximum number of news articles per day, for example, or a time limit on scrolling. Maybe even go device free for an afternoon or a whole day.<\/p>\n Practice present-moment awareness<\/p>\n With so much coming at us all the time, focusing on the here and now can make life feel more manageable, Dr. Ogaryan says: \u201cWhen everything feels super overwhelming, when everything feels larger than life, let\u2019s make our world a little bit smaller for that moment in time.\u201d<\/p>\n She suggests taking things one day, or even one hour, at a time. Ask yourself: What\u2019s my next right action? Release the need to know how everything turns out and liberate yourself from having to handle everything right now. Let the future take care of itself and just focus on the current moment. Then the next one.\u00a0<\/p>\n Have a daily anchor<\/p>\n From work to the daily commute to family and life responsibilities, our days can feel jam-packed. Dr. Ogaryan recommends creating a centering daily anchor that can fit into even the busiest day.<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s a 10-minute walk during your lunch break or mindfully enjoying your coffee in the morning. Let your anchor adapt to your needs each day, she says, but be intentional about using that time to ground yourself and calm your nervous system. You might even say to yourself, \u201cI choose this walk to help me become centered,\u201d or \u201cMy day already feels stressful, so I\u2019m going to take the next 10 minutes to enjoy this cup of coffee, feel the warm mug in my hand and just be present.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Having an anchor won\u2019t erase the busy-ness from your day, but it will allow you to approach it more calmly.<\/p>\n Be kind to yourself<\/p>\n Most of us have a harsh inner critic in our heads who works overtime. But that critical voice only increases our stress, triggering the same fight-or-flight response as caustic words from another person.<\/p>\n To feel happier, we need to replace that inner critic with a kinder, more compassionate voice, Dr. Ogaryan says.\u00a0Studies<\/a> show that self-compassion is a source of eudaimonic happiness \u2013 the kind of happiness associated with purpose and meaning in life.<\/p>\n While our knee-jerk reaction may be to self-criticize \u2013 \u201cHow could you let it get to this point? You didn\u2019t manage your time well and now the project is going to be late. You\u2019re so inept.\u201d \u2013 we fare better mentally by treating ourselves with kindness, like we would a friend. That might sound like, \u201cYou\u2019ve got a lot on your plate, but you are capable and you\u2019ll get it done. I believe in you.\u201d<\/p>\n We may think that speaking kindly to ourselves means letting ourselves off the hook, so we end up becoming lazy do-nothings. But\u00a0research<\/a> shows the opposite: People who are self-compassionate are more likely to try harder in the face of failure and ultimately reach their goals.<\/p>\n You can thank your inner critic for its good intentions, but resolve to talk to yourself in a kind, compassionate voice.<\/p>\n Connect with others<\/p>\n Humans are social animals built for connection. Stress can be isolating and cause us to withdraw, but connecting with others is a salve for the psyche, Dr. Ogaryan says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that not all relationships are always easy, but if we can think about intentional, nourishing connection \u2013 even in really small doses \u2013 it could really help center us,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Take a moment to laugh with your colleagues, hug your pet, have a conversation with a friend or smile at the barista making your coffee. A\u00a0study<\/a> found that even tiny interactions with casual acquaintances and strangers decreases loneliness and improves happiness and well-being.<\/p>\n Seek support<\/p>\n If you try these practices and happiness remains elusive, or if you can\u2019t access the wherewithal to follow these tips, seek support from your physician or a therapist.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mental health conditions are among the most common health issues in the U.S. and around the world \u2013 more prevalent than diabetes or heart disease. One in five people in the U.S. experiences a mental illness each year, with depression and anxiety the most common, according to the\u00a0National Institute of Mental Health.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe can all think about these tips,\u201d Dr. Ogaryan says. \u201cBut it\u2019s important to recognize if you\u2019ve done everything you can and you\u2019re still really struggling, it\u2019s really important to seek help.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Regardless of any resolutions you may have for 2026, one thing is for sure: Everyone wants to have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":{"0":"post-368319","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}