The mind-body connection is well-documented in research from neuroscience, psychiatry, and medicine. Findings have consistently shown that our emotional experience (stress, anxiety, anger, sadness, etc.) can have a negative impact on our health. The good news is that, when harnessed correctly, we can use our mind to help heal the ailments of the body. The reverse is also true. When we are in emotional distress, we can use the body to shift our feelings.

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"You've been through it more times than you'd care to count: As you're trying to manage your growing stress throughout the chaos of a busy work day, there's (always!) at least one person who is keeping their cool. Don't they notice the crises you've been rushing between?

And have you ever wondered how those de-stressed, ever-calm people keep it all together on a daily basis? The truth is, they're neither superhuman nor oblivious -- they just practice daily habits that keep their stress levels under control. And the good news is that you can learn from them. According to Michelle Carlstrom, the senior director of the Office of Work, Life and Engagement at Johns Hopkins University, it's all about tailoring tricks to fit your needs.

"My number one recommendation is you have to find the strategies that work for you and work to make those strategies a habit," Carlstrom told The Huffington Post. "I think people feel less stressed -- even when they're really busy -- if they're able to live out personal values that matter to their life. Whatever your values are, if you don't get to practice them its hard to feel calm."

By adopting your own personal stress-busters, the chaos of life can become a lot more manageable. But how to start? Carlstrom says relaxed people take an inventory of how they deal with stress and then figure out healthy strategies to balance out coping mechanisms that aren't beneficial. Below find seven simple strategies calm people make an effort to integrate into their lives on a daily basis"

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"The Eastern practice of yoga has become a modern-day symbol of peace, serenity and well-being in the West. More than 20 million Americans practice yoga, according to the 2012 Yoga in America study, with practitioners spending more than $10 billion a year on yoga-related products and classes.

The mind-body practice is frequently touted for its ability to reduce stress and boost well-being, but it also offers wide-ranging physical health benefits that rival other forms of exercise. While the scientific research on yoga's health benefits is still young, here's what we know so far about its potential effects on the body."

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"We hear it all the time: Meditation can improve our creative thinking, our energy, stress levels and even our success. Prominent artists, businessmen and politicians cop to the practice. Would it work for you?

"It did to my mind what going to the gym did to my body -- it made it both stronger and more flexible," said Dr. Hedy Kober, a neuroscientist who who studies the effects of mindfulness meditation, which she has practiced for 10 years, at her lab at Yale University. She admitted during a TED Talk that she started meditating to deal with a break up, but found that it helped her handle stress and unpleasant feelings in all areas of her life.

Studies show that meditation is associated with improvement in a variety of psychological areas, including stress, anxiety, addiction, depression, eating disorders and cognitive function, among others. There's also research to suggest that meditation can reduce blood pressure, pain response, stress hormone levels and even cellular health. But what does it actually do to the body?"

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"It's a piece of advice yogis have given for thousands of years: take a deep breath and relax. Watch the tension melt from your muscles and all your niggling worries vanish. Somehow we all know that relaxation is good for us.

Now the hard science has caught up: a comprehensive scientific study showing that deep relaxation changes our bodies on a genetic level has just been published. What researchers at Harvard Medical School discovered is that, in long-term practitioners of relaxation methods such as yoga and meditation, far more ''disease-fighting genes'' were active, compared to those who practised no form of relaxation.

In particular, they found genes that protect from disorders such as pain, infertility, high blood pressure and even rheumatoid arthritis were switched on. The changes, say the researchers, were induced by what they call ''the relaxation effect'', a phenomenon that could be just as powerful as any medical drug but without the side effects. ''We found a range of disease-fighting genes were active in the relaxation practitioners that were not active in the control group,'' Dr Herbert Benson, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, who led the research, says. The good news for the control group with the less-healthy genes is that the research didn't stop there."

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"The alarm sounds and you're off: Onto checking emails, finding car keys and, if you're lucky, brushing your hair.

The madness, the rush of it all -- it's got to stop. Adding intention into your morning routine is in your best interest: It sets the tone for the rest of your day, and may ultimately reflect how productive, happy and calm you'll be for your following waking hours.

You have the power to wake up on the right side of the bed every single morning for the rest of your life.

"If the first thing you do in the morning isn’t 100 percent for you, selfishly, then the rest of your day will be spent not doing anything for you," writes Micah Baldwin, founder and CEO of Graphicly. "Find something that is yours, and yours alone," Baldwin advises. He personally sets two alarms separated by 30 minutes and gets out of bed at the sound of the second. The ritual has him appreciating sleep.

Take a cue from Baldwin. There are several things you can do, without leaving your bed, that'll ensure a fantastic day ahead. So before you roll out of the comfort of your warm, cozy nest, consider these eight rituals below."

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Happiness is so interesting, because we all have different ideas about what it is and how to get it. It’s also no surprise that it’s the Nr.1 value for Buffer’s culture, if you see our slidedeck about it. So naturally we are obsessed with it.

I would love to be happier, as I’m sure most people would, so I thought it would be interesting to find some ways to become a happier person that are actually backed up by science. Here are ten of the best ones I found.

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Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, theorizes that while 60 percent of happiness is determined by our genetics and environment, the remaining 40 percent is up to us.

In his 2004 Ted Talk, Seligman describes three different kinds of happy lives: The pleasant life, in which you fill your life with as many pleasures as you can, the life of engagement, where you find a life in your work, parenting, love and leisure and the meaningful life, which "consists of knowing what your highest strengths are, and using them to belong to and in the service of something larger than you are."

After exploring what accounts for ultimate satisfaction, Seligman says he was surprised. The pursuit of pleasure, research determined, has hardly any contribution to a lasting fulfillment. Instead, pleasure is "the whipped cream and the cherry" that adds a certain sweetness to satisfactory lives founded by the simultaneous pursuit of meaning and engagement.

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A few things—like chocolate, chick flicks, and clean sheets—are almost guaranteed to boost your mood. But when it comes to achieving true happiness, there are a ton of misconceptions.
 
Shawn Achor, author of the upcoming book Before Happiness: The 5 Hidden Keys to Achieving Success, Spreading Happiness, and Sustaining Positive Change, clears up some of the most common myths about finding bliss.

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