According to the background information provided, Live Happy is a positive psychology iPhone app based on the happiness research of psychology professor and author of The How of Happiness, Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky. The app includes personalization based on short quizzes and research-based activities that can increase happiness. These activities include:

Goal Setting/Evaluating/Tracking
Expressing Gratitude Directly
Keeping a Gratitude Journal
Replaying Happy Days
Keeping a Savoring Album
Envisioning Your Best Possible Self
Nurturing Relationships
and Remembering Acts of Kindness

How many times have we said this to ourselves: “If only I could lose 10 pounds, then I would be happy,” or “I can never be truly happy as long as my back continues to hurt.”

What it takes to be happy may not be a consequent of losing weight or having a pain-free lumbar spine, but rather, making the choice to be a happy person irrespective of weight or pain may determine just how healthy we can be.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Rick Foster, one of the co-authors of Happiness & Health. Rick and fellow author Greg Hicks discuss their breakthrough research and findings on what it takes to find the two things we covet most in life: Happiness and Health. Rick and Greg are also the authors of the bestselling and international sensation How We Choose to Be Happy.

Continue reading to see the interview.

I could never imagine a world without music. And there’s good reason why…

A Swedish study has come to the conclusion that music makes us happy. Shocker, right? I’ve always said that a workout without music is just work (outdoor activities excluded).

Researchers in Sweden followed 32 college students and monitored their behavior with and without music. While music made the participants happy, when not listening to tunes, emotions such as anger, irritation, anxiety, and boredom prevailed.

“The study shows that emotional responses to music depend on complex interactions between the listener, the music, and the situation,” the authors write in their conclusion.

The study was published in Emotion, a journal of the American Psychological Association. Here are more details on how the Swedes came to their conclusions.