Once we stop wishing it were summer, winter can be a glorious season in which the world takes on a sparse beauty and even the pavements sparkle. It’s a time for reflection and recuperation, for slow replenishment, for putting your house in order.

Below is a sample of my observations, as well as those of other researchers, of the thinking and behavior patterns of the happiest participants in our studies. They devote a great amount of time to their family and friends, nurturing and enjoying those relationships. They are comfortable expressing gratitude for all they have. They are often the

Doing a breathwork practice (see here) can help—calming yourself in the middle of a cold immersion can provide good training for calming yourself in other moments of acute stress. I also like to count in chunks of ten—I feel like I can always do another ten seconds (it’s only ten seconds!), and soon enough I’ve done it twelve times and it’s over. I