Hi, and thanks for stopping by.
Welcome to The Big Yard. For years I worked in a place most people never see, a maximum-security prison. What I witnessed there challenged many of my assumptions. Inside concrete walls with constant stress and tension, some inmates found ways to build emotional strength, create moments of calm, and even experience joy, often through very small daily rituals.
If you subscribe, you’ll receive a weekly post with:
Practical psychology tools you can use in everyday life
Short reflections on resilience, perspective, and emotional strength
Stories from inside the prison that reveal surprising lessons about being human
The goal is to help you build more steadiness, perspective, and agency in your own life.
Those lessons stayed with me and eventually led to the Happier Hour Method, a workshop I teach, and my upcoming book (working title), Tiny Daily Rituals: What Inmates Taught Me About Living a Happier and Self-Led Life.
I write here as a psychologist and as a person practicing these ideas in my own life. Each post shares stories, the science behind what helps, and simple tools anyone can try. If you scroll down, you’ll find the stories.
My hope is that these small rituals help you create more calm, more joy, and more control over your well-being.
Thanks for being here.
Smiles,
Robin