Tag: Better Living

4 Ways Your Home Can Affect Your Health

The amount of time people spend indoors has increased tremendously, especially due to businesses’ transition to remote work. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency has found the average American spends 90% of their time inside, surrounded by pollutants that can be 2 to 5 times more concentrated than those found outdoors. If you’re concerned about how…


Why Your Kitchen Sponge Is so Gross

Your kitchen sponge is a better incubator for diverse bacterial communities than a laboratory Petri dish, researchers report. It’s not just the trapped leftovers that make the cornucopia of microbes swarming around so happy and productive, it’s the structure of the sponge itself. In a series of experiments, researchers show how various microbial species can affect one…


How Feelings Shift Our Physiology

Have you ever been embarrassed and your cheeks turn red? When you went on your first date, did your hands get sweaty? Or maybe you gave a presentation at work and were so nervous that your stomach hurt, your heart was racing, or your mouth became dry. These are familiar examples of how your thoughts—and…


Our Feelings Can Help Us Heal or Make Us Ill

Have you ever been embarrassed and your cheeks turn red? When you went on your first date, did your hands get sweaty? Or maybe you gave a presentation at work and were so nervous that your stomach hurt, your heart was racing, or your mouth became dry. These are familiar examples of how your thoughts—and…


How to Start Garden Seeds Indoors A Basic Technique

I can’t tell you how excited I am to start garden seeds indoors while there’s still a blanket of snow on the ground. Watching seeds germinate and seedlings grow, and looking forward to summer crops and beautiful blooms while the weather is dreary, brings life to an otherwise gloomy winter. Aside from helping me to…


Midlife Brings Challenges with Stress, Sleep, and Happiness

Fewer than one-fifth of Americans say they actually experienced a midlife crisis. And yet there are still some common misunderstandings people have about midlife. I study midlife, and especially how people in this stage of life experience sleep and stress. In my research, I have also found that midlife brings both opportunities and challenges. Are We There Yet?…


The Complete Guide to Composting

When you start composting, it’s remarkable to see how much less trash you generate every week. For instance, in my house, with 2 adults full time and 2 kid on weekends, we went from 4 bags a week to 2, and sometimes 1 (we’re prodigious recyclers, too). Multiply that by the number of households in…


Motivating Boys to Become Better Young Men

Parents, being adults, try desperately to talk with their sons about deep feelings. They fear their sons are hiding their emotions and that’s causing all sorts of problems behaviorally. Pushing most boys and young men to “open up” and express emotions can backfire. They often shut down. While it’s important to not bottle all emotions…


Why Digital Wellness Is Becoming a Top Health Trend in 2022

Picture this: Your alarm goes off in the morning, and you wake up to start your day. Before getting out of bed, you check all of the notifications on your phone. Maybe you do some morning yoga or go on a walk. While you’re making breakfast or waiting for your morning coffee, you scroll through all…


Practicing Your Humanity

What does it mean to be human? There are many features that differentiate our species. We build skyscrapers, pray, make art, read books, and drive cars, just to name a few. Then there are the more complex features of the human experience, such as our exceptionally high level of self-awareness, our ability to imagine our…