Breaking News: Prescott’s Yavapai College First Community College in United States Offering Three-Year Bachelor’s Degree
Happiness isn’t just a fleeting emotion—it’s a state of well-being deeply connected to physical and mental health. Research shows that small, consistent lifestyle changes can have a profound impact on mood, stress levels, and overall mental resilience. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting over 280 million people (WHO, 2023). Yet, studies indicate that even minor lifestyle adjustments – such as practicing gratitude, regular movement, and fostering social connections- can significantly enhance mental health and overall happiness. Whether seeking to reduce stress, improve emotional well-being, or boost energy levels, incorporating simple, science-backed strategies into daily routines can make a substantial difference.

1. Prioritize Daily Movement

Exercise isn’t just for physical fitness—it’s a powerful mood booster. Engaging in regular physical activity releases endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine, which help reduce stress and promote feelings of happiness. A 2023 study in JAMA Psychiatry found that individuals who engaged in moderate physical activity for just 30 minutes a day experienced a 26% lower risk of depression (Schuch et al., 2023). Whether walking along the Peavine Trail, attending a yoga session at a local studio, or strength training at the gym, incorporating movement into daily routines can significantly improve mental well-being.

2. Practice Gratitude and Positive Thinking

Shifting focus toward gratitude and positivity rewires the brain to enhance happiness. Research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that individuals who practiced daily gratitude journaling for 21 days experienced a 10% increase in overall happiness and a 35% reduction in depressive symptoms (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). Reflecting on three positive things each day or keeping a gratitude journal has been shown to lower stress levels, strengthen relationships, and improve emotional resilience.

3. Nourish Your Body with Mood-Boosting Foods

What you eat directly affects how you feel. A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, whole grains, lean proteins, and antioxidant-packed fruits and vegetables helps regulate mood and cognitive function. In a 2020 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, individuals who consumed a Mediterranean-style diet experienced a 33% reduction in symptoms of depression compared to those on a standard diet (Jacka et al., 2020). Foods like salmon, walnuts, leafy greens, and berries support brain health by reducing inflammation linked to anxiety and depression. Learn more about the Mediterranean diet and its benefits.

4. Build Meaningful Social Connections

Strong social relationships are one of the most significant contributors to long-term happiness. A Harvard study on adult development spanning over 80 years found that individuals with strong social bonds were not only happier but also physically healthier and lived longer (Waldinger & Schulz, 2015). Regularly engaging in conversations with loved ones, joining community groups, or participating in local events fosters a sense of belonging and emotional support.

5. Create a Relaxing Routine and Prioritize Sleep

Sleep plays a critical role in regulating mood, stress hormones, and mental clarity. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults who sleep fewer than six hours per night are 2.5 times more likely to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety compared to those who get sufficient rest (National Sleep Foundation, 2020). Establishing a consistent bedtime routine, limiting screen time before bed, and practicing relaxation techniques like meditation or deep breathing can enhance sleep quality.
Happiness isn’t about making drastic life changes—it’s about adopting small, intentional habits that promote well-being over time. Prioritizing movement, gratitude, nutrition, relationships, and rest can significantly enhance mental and emotional health. With a clear link between lifestyle choice and mental wellness, it’s evident that simple changes can create a lasting impact. For those in Prescott Valley seeking personalized mental wellness strategies, consulting with a medical expert can help develop a tailored plan for achieving long-term happiness and improved mental health.
References:

• World Health Organization (WHO). (2023). Depression: Key Facts. Retrieved from who.int
• Schuch, F. B., et al. (2023). “Exercise and incident depression: A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.” JAMA Psychiatry, 80(1), 32-40.
• Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). “Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377-389.
• Jacka, F. N., et al. (2020). “A randomised controlled trial of dietary improvement for adults with major depression (the ‘SMILES’ trial).” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 111(2), 529-537.
• Waldinger, R. J., & Schulz, M. S. (2015). “The Harvard Study of Adult Development: Lessons from an 80-year study of happiness.” Harvard Medical School, 1-8.
• National Sleep Foundation. (2020). Sleep deprivation and depression. Retrieved from sleepfoundation.org

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Steps to reduce disparities in UK health equity  World Health Expo
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Against a backdrop of shifting geopolitical dynamics, economic uncertainty and ongoing humanitarian emergencies, global public health is undergoing upheaval. As delegates gathered in Geneva this week for the 2025 World Health Assembly (WHA), the urgency of sustaining momentum in disease eradication efforts was clear. Among the many pressing issues discussed, polio eradication remained a top priority.
Member State remarks and Rotary International’s call to action
During the Assembly, Member States reaffirmed their full support for achieving and sustaining a polio-free world, acknowledging WHO and its partners’ efforts to see the job done. Voicing concern about ongoing variant outbreaks and the need for interruption of wild poliovirus transmission in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Member States called for continued resourcing to the effort, and smart integration of polio functions within broader public health services. Other key themes were strengthened routine immunization – including with inactivated polio vaccine – through coordination with GAVI, and the needs for strong oral polio vaccine cessation planning and the safe and secure containment of polioviruses in research and vaccine manufacturing facilities.
As discussions unfolded, Rotary International – a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – highlighted the urgent need for sustained political and financial support to ensure the final push toward eradication. Judith Diment MBE, Chair of Rotary International’s Polio Eradication Advocacy Committee, confirmed Rotary’s ongoing commitment and urged WHO Member States to remain “resourceful, resilient, and resolved” to see eradication achieved, stressing the dangers of faltering at this stage of the game.
WHO African Region: Progress and ongoing challenges in the Lake Chad Basin
Encouragingly, circulating variant polioviruses – which predominantly affect the African continent – continue to show a downward trend. In 2024, 312 cases were recorded globally, compared to 529 in 2023. This year, 52 cases have been reported to date.
In the WHO African Region, efforts to stop the spread of variant polioviruses have intensified. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, ten African countries have conducted vaccination rounds, protecting nearly 54 million children with at least one dose of polio vaccine.
The welcome appointment of Professor Mohamed Yakub Janabi as the new WHO Regional Director for Africa promises renewed leadership to the region’s fight against polio.
A major milestone was celebrated during the Assembly: the successful closure of the variant poliovirus type 1 outbreak in Madagascar. This achievement reflects the unwavering commitment of African governments, health workers, communities, and GPEI partners in stopping the virus and protecting children across the region.
However, significant challenges remain in the Lake Chad Basin, one of the sub-regions most affected by the circulation of variant poliovirus type 2. A combination of operational challenges, insecurity, inaccessibility, and climate-related disruptions allows the virus to thrive among under-immunized populations. Cross-border population movements through porous borders further complicate eradication efforts, necessitating a robust, urgent, and coordinated response among affected countries to ensure every child is reached with polio vaccine.
WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region: The endemic frontline, Gaza, and Horn of Africa
Meanwhile, in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the last strongholds of wild poliovirus. Data for 2024 shows an increase in wild poliovirus cases in both countries, with Pakistan reporting 74 cases, and Afghanistan 25, compared to 6 cases per country in 2023.
While renewed and strengthened operational approaches to urgently reverse this trend are already having an impact, the situation remains fragile. This year presents a critical opportunity to capitalize on progress and finally end transmission.
Gaza, occupied Palestinian territory, was a key focus at the Assembly as Member States underscored the imperative to ensure aid, including vaccinations, be allowed to enter. No further cases have been reported since 2024, but the risk of resurgence remains high. WHO, alongside its partners, was commended on efforts to negotiate a humanitarian pause for a vaccination campaign that reached more than 560,000 children – a critical public health intervention delivered under extraordinarily difficult conditions. WHO reinforced the call for an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid at scale to protect children’s health and ensure every eligible child is reached. With its partners, WHO remains on standby to support additional rounds as soon as access can be secured.
Momentum to end the ongoing variant poliovirus transmission in the Horn of Africa reached an all-time high with health ministers from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen meeting with GPEI partners to renew their promise to end the protracted polio outbreaks in the region.
Polio transition planning and post-certification strategy
At the Assembly, Member States discussed ensuring the long-term sustainability of public health infrastructure and assets, including integrating critical polio eradication functions into national health systems as part of the transition process. In the context of reduced funding for global health, transition planning is more vital than ever to ensure that valuable polio knowledge, assets, and infrastructure are retained and repurposed in polio-free countries to build strong, resilient, and equitable health systems. In this context, countries also discussed updating the vision for sustaining a post-polio world.
Polio eradication highlighted at WHA side events
Polio eradication was also featured in a WHA side event on outbreaks, where global health leaders discussed the broader challenges of disease resurgence, including measles and cholera. The event emphasized the need for investments, innovations and integration to strengthen surveillance, improve vaccine coverage, and prevent outbreaks. Speakers highlighted the role of routine immunization, cross-sector partnerships, and innovative techniques – including wastewater monitoring and digital disease modeling for surveillance and the use of electronic registries for immunization in low-resource settings – as critical tools in controlling preventable diseases.
Other side events also highlighted the importance of integration and sustained political commitment. A high-level session on defeating malaria, meningitis and polio through integrated solutions showcased how joint campaigns are reaching children in fragile settings. Meanwhile, the first in-person meeting of the Polio Legacy Challenge, sponsored by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, demonstrated strong regional solidarity and a shared vision to support health systems and polio eradication in Afghanistan.
Recognizing leadership in public health
A highlight of this year’s Assembly was the awarding of WHO’s Dr. Lee Jong-wook Memorial Public Health Prize to Professor Helen Rees of South Africa, for her outstanding contributions to public health. Professor Rees, a globally recognized expert in infectious diseases and vaccine policy, and chair of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee, was honored for her decades of leadership in immunization and disease prevention.
Looking forward: Ensuring resilient funding to achieve eradication
As the WHA concludes, the world stands at a crossroads – sustained commitment and strategic investments are essential to ensure polio eradication becomes a reality. At the Assembly, stakeholders were urged to consider innovative financing approaches, through debt swaps, catalytic investments, or integrating polio into broader health financing instruments. This will allow for a more diverse, resilient funding base, critical to sustaining operations in the final mile, while improving children’s overall immunity and ensuring health systems in developing countries remain strong.
As this decisive moment in public health unfolds, one truth remains unwavering: polio eradication can and must be achieved. The GPEI and its partners reaffirmed their dedication to delivering a world free of polio – a global public good from which all nations will benefit equally. But this final stretch requires resilience, vigilance, and the collective will to see the mission through. Now is the time to stay the course, ensuring that no child, anywhere, is left vulnerable to this preventable disease.
Global Polio Eradication Initiative
World Health Organization
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1211 Geneva 27
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Total Senior Care to host expanded Senior Health & Fitness Fair Wednesday  Olean Times Herald
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ClassPass has fundamentally changed the boutique fitness industry since its inception in 2013, giving wellness enthusiasts around the world the ability to try new studios at the touch of a button, all without being tied down to a long-term membership. 
But not everyone is a fan of the popular platform that lets people book fitness classes and wellness appointments at discount rates. Some studio owners complain that the service cannibalizes their business since they earn less revenue from ClassPass bookings than traditional ones. Rival booking services have even cropped up claiming to offer a better deal for small business owners. 
Proponents of ClassPass point to its ability to serve as a powerful marketing tool at scale, connecting studios with a vast amount of potential new clients who can become long-term members, a service the platform effectively provides for free. 
While the truth may be somewhere in the middle, ClassPass CEO Fritz Lanman believes the platform does a lot more good than harm for boutique fitness studios, especially if it’s used properly – and he’s got the data to back that assertion up. 
Athletech News spoke with Lanman and several fitness owners and executives who’ve seen positive results from ClassPass to get their takes on why the platform is beneficial for the industry.
Much of the debate around whether ClassPass cannibalizes business stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of how the platform works, Lanman argues. 
ClassPass isn’t meant to function as the primary way a fitness studio fills its class spots; it’s designed to help studios fill otherwise empty seats with paying customers they likely wouldn’t have reached on their own.
“ClassPass’ goal is to help businesses monetize unfilled class and appointment spots with clients they would not have attracted themselves, at prices that maximize their revenue on that excess capacity,” Lanman tells ATN.

This type of service is especially important in an industry like fitness, Lanman argues, since class spots are perishable – if someone doesn’t show up for Jane’s 7:00pm yoga class, that revenue is lost forever. There also tends to be a lot of excess capacity (unfilled seats) in the fitness industry, so a service like ClassPass solves a problem many studio owners face. 
In essence, ClassPass’ entire reason for existing is to help fitness and wellness brands drive “incremental revenue,” or money they wouldn’t have earned without the platform. 
It does this quite well, according to the numbers. The average Mindbody business sees a 29% increase in incremental revenue after six months on ClassPass, the platform says. While ClassPass only has access to this type of data for businesses that use Mindbody software (the two brands are affiliated), there’s reason to believe the same holds true for businesses that use other providers.
In all, ClassPass estimates that 99.5% of its partners gain incremental revenue from being on the platform. What’s more, the company says it’s injected $1.6 billion of revenue into the global wellness economy since the COVID shutdowns of 2020.
Solidcore, one of the fastest-growing brands in boutique fitness, uses the platform primarily to “sell excess inventory,” and fill up “off-peak classes,” according to the brand’s vice president of strategy and insights Gillian Almeida
“ClassPass has been an invaluable partner in helping us optimize revenue while ensuring our direct business remains the priority,” Almeida says. “We’re data-driven at Solidcore, and in every way we’ve analyzed it, our ClassPass revenue has been truly incremental.”

A common fear among fitness business owners is that their loyal members will flee to ClassPass for cheaper prices. Why spend $200/month on a single membership when you join a platform that lets you sample many different studios, often for less money than you were originally paying? 
This seems like a perfectly reasonable concern, in theory. But there are a couple of key reasons why it doesn’t play out that way in reality, Lanman says. 
For one, ClassPass users tend to occupy a distinct demographic: younger, more price-sensitive consumers who crave variety. They aren’t usually the types of clients seeking an unlimited membership plan at a single studio (at least not in the beginning). 
Data shows that 94% of ClassPass users are new to the studios they visit, and 56% are new to group fitness entirely. 
The other main reason why a studio’s loyal members typically don’t jump ship and become full-time ClassPass users: they don’t get the same in-class experience. 
“Availability for ClassPass users is unpredictable, prices are unpredictable and they don’t get to choose their machine/bike/mat, or benefit from policies specific to direct bookers,” Lanman admits. 
The platform does this to incentivize people to pay for full-time memberships if there’s a studio they really like. That strategy appears to be working. 
ClassPass reports that after an initial three-month “shopping” period, 91% of its users’ subsequent visits were to the same two to three studios in 2024. For businesses able to deliver a strong experience, there’s an opportunity to win new members.
“You’re creating that first starting point with ClassPass, that first step through the door…and then they hopefully fall in love with all the different services we have,” says Karen Abouzeid, the founder of MIYU Beauty and Wellbeing, a yoga and Pilates studio in Virginia. 
As a result, ClassPass converts more users to direct studio members than it takes from studios, Lanman reports.

ClassPass’ other chief selling point: free exposure. It doesn’t cost any money to list on ClassPass, and brands that appear on the platform gain access to over two million users – a mom-and-pop Pilates studio can find itself listed next to group fitness giant Barry’s on someone’s app. 
This can be very helpful for new brands looking to make it in the crowded, competitive world of boutique fitness. 
“It’s amazing exposure, especially for a new business,” says Steph Rountree, the founder of Bolt Fitness in Chicago. “Every client that comes in ClassPass is an opportunity for that gym. You never know down the line if maybe they’re going to join your gym. Maybe they’re going to buy a pack from you; maybe they’re going to buy your merchandise, and that’s one (more) person walking around with your branding.”
And while it’s true that studios earn less from a ClassPass booking than they would from a normal purchase (anywhere from 40 to 90% of the standard retail price depending on demand level) it’s possible for brands to recoup those costs by not having to run as many ads or offer discounted rates to get people inside their doors. 
“When businesses account for the discounts they offer and the marketing costs they incur when selling directly, they can often earn more per spot through ClassPass,” Lanman says.
 

It’s clear that ClassPass presents some compelling benefits for boutique fitness brands. While none of these data points and customer testimonials should serve to minimize the real-life concerns some business owners have expressed when using ClassPass, Lanman is confident the platform is driving the boutique fitness industry forward.
As evidence, he points to the platform’s impressive retention rate: last year, 95% of businesses that made over $50/month on ClassPass chose to stay. 
“If a partner finds that ClassPass is not serving them for whatever reason, they are free to leave the platform whenever they want,” he says. “The fact that very, very few do is strong validation that the model we have built works as designed.”
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