Habits & Rhythms

Science can change your life. The more we study what makes people develop, grow, learn, and flourish—the more we see how the practical application of scientific findings can help us transform our life and experience—into a life of value, meaning, purpose and true thriving. Yale psychologist Laurie Santos has spent her career investigating the human brain and how it thrives. From her popular Yale course to her podcast, The Happiness Lab, she’s communicating actionable and hopeful lessons for how to build lasting habits, cultivate self-compassion, manage complex emotions, and realign our lives toward meaningful happiness. In this conversation with Dr. Laurie Santos, we discuss: – How the mental health crisis affecting young people changed her, and how she teaches psychology – How our brains lie to us – The role of positive and negative emotions in a good life – How feeling good can lead to doing…

Joy is more than a feeling. It’s a virtue. And it’s something we can cultivate. We live into joy when we encounter who or what matters most to us. It’s associated with our life’s deepest yearnings and connection. This December, we’re celebrating Advent with you by offering four guided meditations by Dr. Pam King—considering how to cultivate the Advent virtues of hope, peace, joy, and love into our lives this year. We’d be grateful if you considered the Thrive Center in your year-end giving. To make a year-end tax-deductible gift, visit thethrivecenter.org/contribute. Don’t forget that Season 2 of With & For launches with all new episodes on January 6, 2025!…

Hope is powerful. It’s more than a feeling. It’s a foundation for getting us through even the darkest of times. The season of Advent provides the opportunity to attune to hope, become aware of our deepest hopes and desires, and then align our lives to hope. This December, we’re celebrating Advent with you by offering four guided meditations by Dr. Pam King—considering how to cultivate the Advent virtues of hope, peace, joy, and love into our lives this year. We’d be grateful if you considered the Thrive Center in your year-end giving. To make a year-end tax-deductible gift, visit thethrivecenter.org/contribute. Don’t forget that Season 2 of With & For launches with all new episodes on January 6, 2025!…

Peace can be elusive, but if set an intention to be instruments of peace—both in offering it and experiencing it—it has the power to transform us. Peace is often an indication that life is in balance and going well, either in the immediate or the eternal sense. This December, we’re celebrating Advent with you by offering four guided meditations by Dr. Pam King—considering how to cultivate the Advent virtues of hope, peace, joy, and love into our lives this year. We’d be grateful if you considered the Thrive Center in your year-end giving. To make a year-end tax-deductible gift, visit thethrivecenter.org/contribute. Don’t forget that Season 2 of With & For launches with all new episodes on January 6, 2025!…

How can we cultivate agility and adaptivity in our chaotic, shifting times? Dr. Pam King offers a research-backed cycle of practices to incorporate into the rhythms of your daily life—helping you navigate change and work through life’s obstacles. She calls them the 5 A’s of Spiritual Health: Attunement, Awareness, Alignment, Activation, and Assessment.

Christmas is about the love of God given to us in Christ. Love compels us forward through darkness and light—enabling us to grow and change, connect and relate, forgive and let go, and make a difference and seek justice. This December, we’re celebrating Advent with you by offering four guided meditations by Dr. Pam King—considering how to cultivate the Advent virtues of hope, peace, joy, and love into our lives this year. We’d be grateful if you considered the Thrive Center in your year-end giving. To make a year-end tax-deductible gift, visit thethrivecenter.org/contribute. Don’t forget that Season 2 of With & For launches with all new episodes on January 6, 2025!…

There are scientifically-supported practices that help us get happier, so learn more about what to do and what not to do.

Adding a dose of patience when setting goals to achieve change can make success more likely and even more enjoyable.  

Most people don't achieve their New Year's resolutions. Here's how to approach your goals in a new way to sustain your journey.

Our intuitions about happiness tend to be incorrect, but we can engage in scientifically backed practices to rewire into more happiness.

What is the advent season all about? We’ll tell you all about the history, when it starts, and how it’s celebrated.

The fourth Sunday of Advent represents love. Discover the history, relevant scripture, and how it fits into the Advent season.

The third Sunday of Advent represents joy. Discover the history, relevant scripture, and how it fits into the Advent season.

The second Sunday of Advent represents peace. Discover the history, relevant scripture, and how it fits into the Advent season.

The first Sunday of Advent represents hope. Discover the history, relevant scripture, and how it fits into the Advent season.

Changing a habit takes time and practice. Here's how to get started. Your moment by moment choices form the person you are becoming.

Joy is something you can habituate through practice. Pay attention to joy in your body and emotions, then activate into your purposes.

How do rituals around rest help us to regulate? What does it mean to co-regulate? Why might rest be necessary for our spirituality?

Why do we need spiritual practices like Sabbath? Is it enough to just rest? This 2-Part series answers these questions and more.

A practice of Introspection, assessing how the day went, can be a valuable tool for understanding where you want to go.

Americans spend a big part of their free time watching TV. You might need a different kind of play for wellbeing and spiritual health.

You might be surprised about the benefits of play for your wellbeing and your spiritual health. Here's how to get more in your life.

Can we increase our feelings of happiness simply by noticing when we are happy? Research tells us we can through the practice of savoring.

What are the real costs of our screen time? How can you become more mindful for yourself and your children? Writer, Amy Dunn, explores this question and more in this series.

Writer Amy Dunn tells us that taking screens away marked her. "I watched my kids immediately become completely lost in their own imaginations for not just minutes, but hours and hours."

Is it possible to create a more loving world? Practices that link us to our senses support our ability to love.

We can thrive by flexibly facing change, rather than avoiding it. This post is Part 2 of a two-part series.

We can thrive by flexibly facing change, rather than avoiding it. This post is Part 1 of a two-part series.

Here's how to shift your inner critic to the inner nurturer by teaching your body that you can also find strength in being tender with yourself.  

Identifying your values to figure out how you would like to show up in pursuit of what matters most to you

Change is inevitable, but can be challenging. A practice of psychological flexibility - becoming open, centered, and engaged - can help us grow our lives toward what matters most.

Guest blogger, Amy Dunn, reflects on being present in the day to day of our lives as we pursue goals and purpose. The journey is where we live, even as we keep our eye on a telos.

Patience is an important virtue to develop to achieve goals, including relationship goals. Here are some ideas to explore if you are feeling impatient.

What support systems buoy us on our journeys? Blogger, Amy Dunn, offers some ideas and practices to keep us steady during times of change and transition.

Lament is a constructive way to embrace suffering. It aligns our emotions and beliefs, and invites us to action. 

This practice helps build compassion for the struggles of others by shifting our perspective and imagining how we can offer love.

Research has identified four aspects of the mind that exhibit plasticity, and it turns out that we can practice to make our minds healthier.

Wellbeing is something we can actively cultivate through practice, or through a practice of "mental hygiene."

Reclaim joy through examining the rhythms of your life. A series of questions will help you explore.

How do we create regular rhythms between work and rest?

How do we address the problem of burnout in our modern society?

Download this worksheet and work through the practices. We recommend working with a friend and discussing your answers.

Healthy practices help us live into our values, reflect on our choices, and connect us with others and God.

Connect to your spiritual source with this practice.

If there are ways we would like to more fully live into certain virtues, one way to do so is by using the Rule of Life to help us establish new life rhythms.

Gratitude is one of the most powerful ways to attend to goodness. The goodness of gifts, the goodness of givers, and the goodness of ourselves as receivers.

Paying attention to the pattern of our breath is a spiritual practice with power to gain insight into meaning and change our lives.

Nurturing our spiritual health involves times of reflection and connection to our body, mind, and emotions.

Pivot from anxiety to meaning to discover yourself and your purposes. Find a trusted friend or small group and work through these questions.

A daily spiritual practice focusing on embodied emotions provides insight into what matters most and informs purpose.

Our emotions are linked to how we make meaning of our lives, and attending to our embodied emotional selves leads to spiritual health.

Thrive Fellow, Lauren Van Vranken, offers practices for reconnecting to our bodies and asks us to think about our relationship to our embodied selves.

Gratitude affect happiness and wellbeing primarily through positive relationships. We finding that beliefs matters toward experiences and practices of gratitude.

Practicing gratitude can change your life. Use the 5 As mindfulness practice to offer thanks and live into a practice of gratitude.

Accessing the transcendent can be pursued with tangible practices.

Dr. Cynthia Eriksson offers a 5-tier framework for recovery from trauma and offers practices for regulation and reflection.

Practice attention and emotion regulation using the following.

Finding joy requires practice. Learn how you can be agile and experience more joy in your daily life through our 5-step process.

How do we build resilience and stay connected to purpose in the midst of suffering? Lauren Van Vranken shares 3 practices.

Cynthia Eriksson's psychological and theological framework points to 5 self-care practices to developing resilience and recovery.

Our research-based framework highlights the 5 modes in which we can actively develop and strengthen your thriving "muscles."

As mental health awareness grows, Pamela King reflects on the tools we need to live coherent, purposeful lives.

Dr. Pamela King invites us to find daily spiritual practices that will draw us closer to ourselves, others and God.

Dr. Pamela King highlights the importance of pacing during the holidays, offering self-awareness practices to refocus on what matters most.

Summary The COVID-19 pandemic has caused extraordinary emotional turmoil and stress in the United States and globally. As first responders in crises, clergy and faith leaders have to contend with increasing grief and trauma reactions in their faith communities. Faith leaders must understand and recognize trauma, and its multidimensional impact in times such as these. This webinar provided practical and faith-based tips to reduce stress and promote resilience and trauma healing in the clergy and their faith communities. Psychologists, Lisseth Rojas-Flore and Joseph Currier and theologian, Tommy Givens also address critical theological insights in responses to trauma and recovery.   Additional Resources When Your Whole World Changes, COVID-19 Special Ed.—Downloadable devotions and resources by Biblica (also available in 30 languages). COVID-19, ICE, and the Betrayal of Latino Children—Article by Lisseth Rojas-Flores on FULLER Studio.

Summary Parenting can be challenging and stressful, especially during an ongoing pandemic. Mindfulness experts and clinical psychologists, Joey Fung and Patricia Broderick discuss how parents and caregivers can practice mindful parenting at home. In this webinar, you will learn: (1) how to manage stress and anxiety related to parenting, (2) ways to address emotional exhaustion and caregiver fatigue, (3) how to model and practice mindfulness in the family, and (4) how to practice self-compassion as a method for self-care.   Additional Resources Guide to Applying Mindful Parenting Based on webinar, Joey Fung outlines ways parents and caregivers can integrate mindful parenting practices to their daily lives, as well as how they can cultivate self-compassion and gratitude. How to Practice Mindful Breathing Patricia Broderick shares a step-by-step guide on how parents and caregivers can practice mindful breathing and self-compassion…

Practicing mindful breathing can help us pause, check in with our bodies, manage our emotions, and redirect our attention.

Move from surviving to thriving by using the six tips in this post. Explore the links for deeper understanding.

Research shows that humor can ease stress during hard times. Dr. Susan Mangan shares 3 evidence-based practices to help us get started.

Part of our journey towards thriving involves agility. Pamela King explains how we can be agile through a 5-step process.

Dr. Pam King shares 8 tips on how to simplify and thrive during challenging times.

Dr. Pamela King reviews the elements of a thriving mindset, providing tips on how to pursue purpose and agility.

Student researchers share 3 research-based techniques to increase relaxation, support positive behaviors, and create a structured routine for kids.

Student researchers recommend 3 evidence-based interventions that parents can use to help regulate kids' stress and emotions at home.

Written during the Summer of 2020, this post maintains wisdom for parents about the importance of unstructured time and play.

Dr. Joey Fung emphasizes the importance of mindful parenting and how parents can thrive during this pandemic.

Pamela King offers 6 tips on how to manage and reflect on our emotions as we face moments of loss, pain, and grief.

Dr. Joey Fung discusses the myths of grief, offering 3 ways mindfulness can help us manage our emotions during times of grief.

Dr. Pam King discusses how spirituality can help us stay grounded, connected, and directed throughout difficult challenges.

Dr. Joey Fung shares 5 mindfulness practices to help us check in with our bodies to manage anxiety during times of transition and difficulty.

Guest blogger, Stephanie Trudeau talks collective loss and how we can approach our feelings with compassion and grace.

Dr. Susan Mangan shares activities that help build resilience and beat the blues.

Guest blogger, Dr. Angela Gorrell emphasizes the importance of nurturing our spiritual health in order to thrive during difficult times.

We share 4 mindful parenting practices to help parents become more engaged and less stressed when interacting with teens.

Dr. Susan Mangan provides 3 at-home exercises that can increase our positive emotions during times of difficulty.

Dr. Pamela King reflects on the importance of contemplative practices as the key to thriving during difficulty.

Dr. Stephanie Trudeau breaks down the Mamba Mentality framework and offers tips for how to integrate it into our own lives.

What does research tell us about gratitude? Explore the key benefits of gratitude and how you can nurture it in kids.

When used properly, technology can help us thrive. Our research team shares the 9 apps that can boost relationships, beliefs, and purpose.

Summary Pamela Ebstyne King, executive of the Thrive Center, shares a variety of practices that have helped her spiritual life, including Ignatian spiritual exercises, silence, and carefully reflecting on achievable goals.   Author’s Note This interview was originally published on FULLER Studio.   About the Author Pamela Ebstyne King Pamela Ebstyne King is the executive director of the Thrive Center and serves as the Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller Theological Seminary. Her primary academic interests are applied research at the intersection of human thriving and spiritual development. Dr. King’s work combines theology, empirical research, and community engagement to further understand what contexts and settings enable all people to thrive.

A student researcher shares the integral role his parents played in fostering positive youth development through sports.

Learn about the 10 research-backed techniques coaches can adopt to positively influence a young athlete's development.