For many years, my soul was trying to guide me, but I wasn’t paying attention. Even when my soul tried to communicate with big glaring WARNING signs or GO HERE billboards, I disregarded them. Thinking back to the year 2000, I have to laugh when I think about how my former husband and I stood in line for three hours at the courthouse to get our marriage certificate. And finally, when we were at the very front of the line, belly up to the courthouse clerk, there was a bomb threat....

The diet emphasizes healthy, whole foods that bring nutritional value without imposing too many serious rules for what you can (or can’t) eat. Another key component of the lifestyle? Spending time with family and friends. Studies have shown the health benefits of this habit, and it’s common practice in the Blue Zones, where people live longest. There are two of these zones along the Mediterranean (Sardinia, Italy; and Icaria, Greece), but spending time with the people who matter is a common thread among more than just those communities....

If you suspect that the guy you’re hanging out with or crushing on isn’t interested in a serious relationship with you, and that’s something that you do want and have been hoping for, it’s best to just ask him about it directly. That’s truly the only way you’re going to get a definitive answer. If the idea of him liking those things feels at odds with what you know about him and his personality, that’s probably a sign that you know on a gut level that he’s not a “relationship guy....

I’m an evangelical Christian dating an atheist physicist. Despite my attempts to evade it, I fell in love with someone whose worldview appeared opposite to my own. Our relationship has taught me more about unconditional love than any sermon ever did. Here are three lessons that have guided me in my interfaith relationship. Usually, we aren’t even aware of our resistance until it falls away. My partner and I have moments of experimenting with belief systems to better relate to each other....

Below, find three daily habits that can strengthen your relationship over time. Sometimes the tiniest tweaks can make the biggest difference. Namely, they found couples who wound up divorcing seven years after their wedding had only turned toward their partner’s bids for connection 33% of the time. “Whereas the couples who were still married (prior, six years ago) had turned toward those bids 86% of the time. So these small moments are very, very, powerful,” John adds....

Here’s what doctors want you to know about the link between stress and cortisol, when it’s time to bring your cortisol levels down, and the best supplements, foods, and practices to help keep the hormone in check.* “Cortisol is essential for living. It peaks at the beginning of the day to support getting out of bed and decreases throughout the day to allow ‘sleep pressure’ to build. Without cortisol, we would lack the motivation to get up and do things,” says Shera Raisen, M....

I’m not sure if some people are born with a deeper well of kindness than others, but I do know that as we mature we encounter struggles that can harden us to the world around us—or serve to further our softening. Sometimes, though, I have to consciously choose to treat someone lovingly—especially if I’m not being treated that way in return. So in honor of the good, kind souls out there who do go out of their ways every day to just be nice; here are five reasons to ignore the haters....