December 27, 2018 at 11:21AM Driving around in the car while belting out Kelly Clarkson with your friends sure does wonders for your mood. But did you know it’s also sneakily working to boost your brain health? It’s true. In fact, the connection between social singing and cognitive health is so strong that there are at least 67 choirs across the country—each composed of people with dementia and their caregiver—meant to strengthen mental fitness. On Thursday, The Washington Post highlighted the Giving Voice Initiative, an organization that helps to form choruses for those living with Alzheimer’s disease. There’s research to back up this feel-good endeavor: When people with dementia sing with loved ones, they experience improved quality of life as well as reinforced communication skills. Other fringe benefits include higher self-esteem and social support. Music is so strongly tied to emotion that it works to activate a response in the brain directly connected to memory formation. Coupled with continued learning, this type of therapeutic activity proves to be exceptionally powerful. If you’re hesitant to sing in the shower let alone a group, rest assured that an organized sing-along is by no means the only way to improve cognitive function. Here are three more ways to stay sharp: 1. Fill up on fiber and healthy fats. Genius Foods author and brain health expert Max Lugavere has made it his mission to educate people about filling their plates in a way that feeds their brain as well as their body. The Cliff Notes version of his advice: Sugar
Year: 2018
The best piece of style advice each of these 5 fashion writers is taking into 2019
December 27, 2018 at 10:14AM As 2018 slowly winds to an end, let’s all collectively undo the top button on our mom jeans, loosen the laces on our dad sneakers, and let out one big sartorial sigh of relief. Phew! We made it, folks. Fashion was all over the place this past year. Depending on where you looked, the last 365 days felt a lot like 1984, 1994, or 2004, to be honest. Retro trends like bodysuits, slip dresses, chunky sneakers, bike shorts, and going-out-tops all came back in big ways. As did western wear, utilitarian dressing, and faux fur. Oh, and let’s not forget about leopard print, either. But for all the throwback style moments, 2018 was also a year for fashion firsts. Sustainable fashion shed its granola reputation, a luxury designer made a pair of sneakers you can actually work out in, and the influence of wellness on how we dress became undeniable. (Hello, gorpcore.) Trends aside, though, the biggest takeaway from 2018 for me personally was how much individuality and self-expression reigned supreme. I mean, if Michelle Obama walking out on stage wearing those thigh-high glitter boots didn’t leave you empowered to wear WTFYW in 2019, I don’t know what will. So, in the spirit of the “you-do-you” ethos that permeates everything we do editorially at Well+Good, I asked our fashion writers to share the best fashion advice they embraced in 2018. Unsurprisingly, no two answers were exactly alike—but each was stellar in its own way. Keep
I turned to yoga to heal after a breakup—this is what happened
December 27, 2018 at 10:00AM About ten minutes into a vinyasa flow, I’m standing with my hands at “heart center” (over my newly-broken organ), and the yoga instructor tells the class to set an intention for our practice. “This could be something you need in your life today,” he says. “Dedicate your practice to this now and channel it throughout the class.” My intention, as of late? To find self-love. I’ve recently gotten out of a four-and-a-half-year-long relationship, I’ve just completed with my Saturn Return chaos (you know, that major and trying life-change that happens around the age of 29), and I’m in need of a serious reboot of my sense of self-worth. While many newly exed may turn to boxing (the bag’s a great target) or hygge with a truly inspiring Netflix programming, yoga seemed to be the perfect outlet for my heartbreak. It’s not new to me, but there’s just something so relaxing about the sense of clarity that comes post-vinyasa. It’s something I wanted to explore further, and more consistently, once my life’s foundation seemingly shattered. “If you take a moment to pause and clear your mind by focusing on your breath, you’ll have a better chance of looking at things through a clear lens after class.” —Beth Cooke “Yoga gives you a chance to quiet the mind so you can sort out not only the physical body but the emotional body,” says Beth Cooke, a New York City-based yoga instructor. “When you’re emotionally charged, your thoughts can
Pump up your workout with this 30-minute playlist from Spotify’s most popular songs of 2018
December 27, 2018 at 09:01AM Lived experience tells us that a playlist can make or break a workout. A great set of tracks has the power to propel you through your morning run while the wrong beats might have you plotting your escape from spin class. It can be especially difficult to muster the motivation to work out in the period between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. As 2018 draws to a close, embrace the knowledge of workout experts and get moving to songs that make you want to sing out loud. Spotify has compiled a list of its most popular tracks from the past year, 10 of which we’ve selected to create the perfect 30-minute workout playlist for your next sweat session. While Spotify’s 2018 list is populated by some rather predictable artists—there’s a ton of Drake, Cardi B, Dua Lipa, and Post Malone—we’re not mad about it at all. We’ve highlighted the best of the best, with each and every track chosen to get your heart pumping and your feet moving. https://open.spotify.com/embed/user/wellandgood/playlist/5BoOPUTM4XaWp7Hk2vj1ksFor more, you should definitely check out Nina Dobrev’s workout playlist or the tracks you should listen to when Mercury is in retrograde. Continue Reading… Author Tamim Alnuweiri | Well and Good Selected by iversue
The best way to use your serums? Turn ’em into a skin-care cocktail
December 27, 2018 at 08:10AM I have borrowed many, many things from Korean skin care over the years: My 10-step routine, for one, my love of snail mucin and essences, for another. But recently, I was introduced to a K-beauty technique that has completely changed the way I apply my products: serum cocktailing. The idea is that, instead of putting your serums on one at a time and letting them dry in between, you can mix them together or layer them immediately on top of one another to boost their effects. According to the Glow Recipe founders Sarah Lee and Christina Chang, who recently launched a new, drugstore-priced skin-care line called Sweet Chef, you should think of it like bundling up in the winter. “The reason why K-beauty is all about layering is that each layer is very thin and lightweight, therefore when you apply another layer on top of it, it actually helps the other layer penetrate and absorb more easily.” To help others get on board with this layer-friendly way of life, Sweet Chef is chock-full of these sorts of mix-and-match serums. The line offers three vitamin-packed “skin-care shots” that can be used on their own or combined with other products to treat a variety of skin-care woes. “The textures are really lightweight but at the same time, you can actually layer them to get multiple benefits at the same time,” says Chang. There’s a ginger and vitamin C shot for brightening, a kale and vitamin B shot for hydration,
Suffering from style SAD? Take a cue from us Cali girls and add these mood-boosting pieces into rotation
December 27, 2018 at 06:15AM I grew up in a small town in Oregon that’s more known for its hiking than its sartorially-inclined residents. Come winter, everyone donned practical clothing to brave the chill—and I always hated having to sacrifice my fashionable inclinations for something as silly as “not getting frostbite.” But when I moved to Los Angeles, I was able to essentially toss the phrase “practical clothing” out of my vocabulary. That’s the fun thing about southern California winters—even though one might be inclined to put the word winter in quotation marks—the weather never gets inclement, so we have the freedom to play around with cold-weather clothing because we don’t have to be practical. It’s also a little like buying new clothes before you go on vacation; we get daring because we get to break out items we don’t get to wear a ton. Because of this, LA winter dressing skews more toward standout items with a bit of whimsy, tempered by the laid-back basics California is known for. The combination is like an instant mood-booster, so if you could use a cureall for cold-weather dressing, infuse your winter wardrobe with a bit of this energy by adding a few of these pieces into rotation. Funky sweaters If the weather is in the 60s or below that means it’s officially sweater weather. An arsenal of staples in camel, black, and gray is basically a given to wear day-to-day. But since we really don’t have to worry about snow/sleet/rain, a
Living near Times Square means I prep for every NYE like Y2K is coming
December 27, 2018 at 06:00AM I know that this is going to make me sound like Ebenezer Scrooge, but there is really not a single holiday I look forward to. The grouchy state of mind is something I largely blame on my apartment’s geographic location in the armpit of Manhattan. My New York City neighborhood is quite literally surrounded on all sides by chaos and tourists. To the west I have Times Square, southwest is Penn station, south is Herald Square (AKA the mammoth-size Macy’s), north is Bryant Park, and east is Grand Central. Plus I live on a block where parade floats prep—and not just the Thanksgiving Day one, either, mind you—which means I’m clued in to a nonstop schedule of celebrations that I couldn’t care less about joining. There’s one holiday, however, that escalates my perpetual vibe of “Grinch” into a full-on doomsday prepper. And that, my friends, is New Year’s Eve. I learned the hard way that there is no such thing as being too prepared for the onslaught of revelers essentially on my doorstep come the holiday. Because of my proximity to the Ball Drop in Times Square, my neighborhood (if you can even call it that) goes into lockdown. In addition to the annoyance of human gridlock, some entire streets and avenues get completely closed down and others are only traversable via bizarre, maze-like maneuvers, which I’ve yet to figure out in the nearly 10 years this so-called happiest time of year has plagued my livelihood. As long as
The One Ingredient That Helps mbg Editors Reach Their Nutrition Goals
December 26, 2018 at 11:00PM Read on to learn about the benefits of eggs and how they can help you reach your nutrition goals Continue Reading… Author | Life by Daily Burn Selected by iversue
I never knew what “glowy” skin actually was until I got a chemical peel
December 27, 2018 at 04:39AM I’m just like the rest of the world in that I’ve always thought that getting an in-office chemical peel resulted in an alarmingly irritated face à la Samantha Jones in Sex and the City. So, rather than sign up for a dermatologist appointment in order to try out the formerly daunting exfoliating treatment, I’ve opted for at-home peels pads (hello daily use of Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Extra Strength Daily Peel Pads ($88) and uber gentle resurfacing fruit enzyme masks to slough off dead skin. And that was all fine and dandy, because I saw them chip away at my post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation or PIH (AKA the ghosts of breakouts past) day-by-day, but all of the sudden I started craving instantaneous results. And so, I booked my first in-office chemical peel with just a dash of trepidation. “A peel is an anti-aging treatment with a host of benefits that include exfoliation, but it also builds collagen, reduces fine lines and wrinkles, boosts radiance, shrinks pore size, diminishes dark spots, clears the complexion, and can even help with rosacea,” says Dennis Gross, MD, a New York City-based dermatologist with an eponymous skin-care line. Essentially, it’s like a bulked-up exfoliation treatment: “Chemical peels accelerate your skin’s exfoliation through the use of acids, resulting in a more uniform complexion,” says Jordana Mattiolo, CompleteSkinMD aesthetician in NYC. This all goes to say that I needed one—immediately. What it’s *really* like to get a chemical peel I arrive at Mattiolo’s office bright and early one
How to stop procrastinating once and for all (we know, you’d get to it eventually)
December 27, 2018 at 05:00AM Virtually everyone has a mental list of those things they’ll get to “eventually.” It might be annoying chores, like vacuuming or organizing your leggings drawer. Or it might be bigger goals you have in the back of your mind but haven’t gotten to yet, like writing a book or signing up for improv classes. There just always seems to be something else to do first (ahem, that tempting quiz that will help you find out when you’ll get engaged based on your Chipotle order). Procrastination means you’re delaying something, or putting it off. Why we do it is a lot more complicated than “just not feeling like it right now.” Life coach and What If It Does Work Out? author Susie Moore is the queen of getting sh*t done. Not only does she run her own business (from home, where there are a million ways to procrastinate), she helps others tackle all those things they’re putting off and she even helps them figure out how to find time to build a successful side hustle. Here, Moore gives her best tips for how to overcome procrastination. Get ready to destroy your to-do list. Keep reading for tips on how to overcome procrastination. Photo: Getty Images/vgajic 1. Get to the root of self-doubt If there’s something you actually do really want to do—like pursing a side hustle—but you never seem to make time, Moore says you could be subconsciously stopping yourself because deep down, you don’t think you