Most people know that exercise is good for them. Very few feel good about their relationship with it. This post examines what drives that gap — from avoidance and compulsion to exercise as punishment — and offers six evidence-based principles for building a relationship with movement that is intrinsically motivated, self-compassionate, and genuinely sustainable.

The psychological skills that have transformed athletic performance — goal setting, self-talk, visualization, routine, and arousal regulation — are not sport-specific. They are human performance tools. And patients managing chronic illness are among the most demanding in high-performance contexts. This post expands on a workshop presented at The Family Institute at Northwestern University's Day of Learning.

Parental stress is not a personal failing or a scheduling problem — it is a public health concern with documented downstream effects on children and families. This workshop examines the evidence on physical activity and stress, identifies gaps in the research, and proposes an inclusive framework built around integration, dose flexibility, social embeddedness, and self-compassion.

At The Family Institute at Northwestern University's second annual Gratitude Gala, Daniel Wilsea moderated a fireside chat with 2016 World Series MVP Ben Zobrist on performance, identity, relationships, and mental health — and why honest public conversations about mental health matter most in the spaces where it has been least visible.

The one-hour virtual event for The Family Institute at Northwestern University featured a discussion on how parents can support their children's mental health needs.