Luckily, you can easily test your humidity with a humidity meter or try out the “ice cube test.” Simple put a few ice cubes in a glass of water and leave it out for a few minutes. If your air is too dry, moisture won’t have formed on the glass. Again, don’t forget that while you want to avoid dry air, you don’t want to go overboard on humidity either....
A moonlit medicine ceremony was the subject of our 2020 cover, conceptualized at least half a year before the world plunged into the darkness of the pandemic. In early 2021, we were “feeling aliens for next year,” not knowing that the Pentagon would soon release a UFO report and NASA announced the formation of a “UFO committee” research group. At the source of this cataclysm was an eerily familiar issue: climate change....
But according to an article in Psychology Today, knowing how to handle conflict increases self-awareness and confidence — which means that this is a critical skill to learn, and one of the best ways I know to create deeper intimacy and connection in your romantic relationship. So today, I’m going to equip you with some ideas for what to do and say during the three most common relationship conflicts you’re bound to experience …...
June Chin, D.O., is one doctor helping patients use cannabis in a measured and strategic way. “It’s come a long way,” Chin tells mbg of the market for non-psychoactive cannabis products, like full-spectrum hemp extract. “I’ve seen it work for many different things.” Researchers are currently researching the 100-plus lesser-known cannabinoids and how they interact with the illusive endocannabinoid system (ECS), which plays a role in many of the body’s processes from sleep to digestion to the stress response....
“We need to stop blaming ourselves,” Hari says. “If you can’t focus and pay attention, if your kids can’t focus and pay attention, it’s not your fault. There’s not something wrong with them; there’s something wrong with the environment in which we live.” Leading philosopher of attention in the world James Williams, Ph.D., worked as a Google strategist for over 10 years. During his tenure at Google, he saw firsthand what big tech companies are doing to monopolize people’s attention....
Second, topical steroids sometimes have mild to serious side effects, especially when used long term or in too strong of a dose. Steroid atrophy is a condition I see often in my practice. Someone who has suffered with long-term eczema, for example, will have areas on their body where the skin has become paper thin. Blood vessels can be seen in detail, as the skin has become almost transparent. Other side effects include easy bruising, changes in pigmentation, and striae (stretch marks) that are permanent and irreversible....
Setting the stage for inspired dinners like Cajun salmon with zucchini pasta and gut-healing cheese quesadillas, fry pans come in handy whenever you’re looking to give your dish a deep, crispy finish. Old fry pans that were made before 2013 could also contain PFOA, another nonstick chemical that has been banned from cookware due to potential health risks. (The American Cancer Society lists it as a potential carcinogen.) There’s some controversy about how damaging PTFE and PFOA compounds actually are to our health, and more research needs to be done on their impact....
Functional medicine nutritionist Dana James shares how she helps her clients shift their mindset to create healthier eating patterns. For more great tips from Dana, check out her video course, How to Ditch Sugar. As a functional medicine nutritionist and cognitive behavioral therapist, I’m privy to the inner workings of a client’s mind and behavior around food. What trips them up from consistently following a clean diet is not lack of willpower but rather a reflexive action to use food as a distraction, a reward, or to placate an emotion....
One of the best ways to support the optimal functioning of your gut is through a well-researched, targeted probiotic supplement, but how do you actually know if it’s working?* There are a few telltale signs to look out for—let’s dive in. Other microbial bugs are unfavorable and can negatively impact your health, making you feel sick and sluggish, amongst other things. How you feel comes down to the overall balance of these microscopic critters....
Psychopaths are, first and foremost, social predators. With no conscience to check their behavior, they use charm and manipulation liberally to get what they want from others. No one is exempt from this. They’ll prey with equal recklessness on family, friends, lovers, co-workers, or even turn their skills to cults or politics. They modify their personalities to become exactly the person they think you want them to be. And they’re good at it....
Understanding how they are formed, and how they manifest in our adult relationships, is vitally important if you want to grow as a person and in your relationships. We’re hardwired to idolize them for the first few years of life because we have to rely on them for every aspect of our survival. That’s why we may blame ourselves rather than them for some of our disappointments or for problems in the family that actually have little to do with us....
But for those of us in relationships, secret-keeping can have serious and damaging negative consequences. That said, even the smallest of secrets can affect relationships. Slepian, Halevy, and Galinsky’s study found carrying secrets is correlated with a negative sense of well-being, and that can affect the way partners interact with each other. The most significant secrets that affect couples are infidelity, financial problems, and substance abuse—and research suggests this type of secret-keeping is common and destructive....
Below, I’ve shared six of my favorite core stability exercises that I regularly recommend to clients (including mbg co-founder and co-CEO Colleen Wachob).You can easily do all of these beneficial moves at home—all you need is a yoga mat and a phthalate-free stability ball. To get a sneak peek at some of the movements you’ll experience through B The Method, try these core exercises individually, or together for a full sequence: Bartha realized exercising needed to be more than just how it made you look on the outside....
As many of us lip pickers know, the habit has downstream effects (the thin skin on your lips is especially delicate and prone to scarring, discoloration, and the like), but sometimes you just can’t resist tearing off those dry bits. And while lip picking knows no season, it tends to get worse in the colder months when your pout becomes drier and thus more prone to cracking—so, ahem, right about now....
Actually, the myth that your nails need to “breathe” is just that—a myth. “Nails don’t actually breathe, as they get their nutrients, oxygen, and blood supply from the bloodstream, not from the air,” notes Mary Lennon, president and co-founder of the clean nail care brand côte. That’s not to say you should keep piling on services (certain nail products can suffocate the nailbed and cause skin irritation). Rather, when you hear your nails need a “breather,” what they really need is a much-deserved break—from rounds upon rounds of harsh polishes, acetone removers, and faux tips, that is....
Let’s dive into what neuroscientists and psychologists focused on aging well have to say about the best brain exercises for keeping your mind sharp through the decades. “When we learn something new, then we get the direct benefit of that new learning but also global benefits in the brain in our executive functioning such as emotional regulation, complex problem solving, creative thinking, etc.,” Swart adds. Elaine O’Brien, Ph.D., human movement psychology expert and co-author of The Power of Play: Optimize Your Joy Potential, cites what’s known as the “theory of multiple intelligences” to further explain how brain games work....
If you have a diamond face shape (or think you might, but you aren’t 100% positive), you sure have come to the right place. Below, we’ll walk you through the best beauty tips for diamond faces—hairstyles, brows, makeup looks, you name it. Put it this way: If your cheekbones are the widest points of your face, with both your forehead and chin coming to a narrow point, you likely have a diamond-shaped face....
What can you do? Well, you can book an appointment with your go-to colorist or run to the store and grab your handy at-home dye, but if that’s just not an option in a pinch, you may consider having a root touch-up on hand. These little powders, sprays, and temporary dyes make it so easy to conceal unwanted strands or help blend a harsh line, ideal for when you need help between sessions....
Don’t get me wrong — calories are important. If you reduce your caloric intake drastically, you will indeed lose weight. But this type of weight loss isn’t always sustainable or healthy. To help gain freedom around your eating habits, I like to use the analogy of being on a budget. When you’re following a financial budget, you don’t spend exactly the same amount every day. Occasionally you’ll splurge on something....
Or, when you’re fighting with your significant other, you say something like, “How was I supposed to know? I’m not a mind-reader.” Nunchi is a Korean word that literally translated means “eye-measure.” It’s the art of gauging how people are thinking and feeling in order to create connection, trust, and harmony. It’s related to concepts like emotional intelligence and situation awareness, but with two major distinguishing factors: In Korea, nunchi is woven into daily life....
