October 10, 2019 at 04:22PM by CWC My friend Amber recently became my 10th-ever roommate, and as someone who’s racked up many years of experience in the art of living with other people, I know how the dance typically goes when you move in with someone new: You set intentions to not leave dishes unwashed, you establish boundaries about not using each other’s shampoo, and you cleanse the whole place immediately, despite knowing it’s only a matter of (short) time before things skew dirty forever. But, this time—this time—was destined to be different…thanks to witchcraft and learning how to cast a spell. Meet Erica Feldmann, who identifies as a witch and initially moved to Salem, Massachusetts, to study witches and the sacred feminine at Simmons College, stayed, and eventually opened HausWitch, a metaphysical (or New Age) shop that sells handmade goods intended to “bring magic and healing into everyday spaces.” Earlier this year, she published HausMagick: Transform Your Home with Witchcraft, which pairs intel from her witchy background with her interior-design focus to provide home-cleansing intel from which all can benefit. Just in time for Amber’s move in, we decided to use the guiding spells to give our new collective home a positive energy makeover. The teachings of the book operate similar to feng shui, in that they call upon cleaning and redecorating as a means for changing and improving the energy of a space. Divided into six fundamental elements, the focuses are on decluttering, cleansing, and creating a harmonious environment.
Month: October 2019
A dermatologist uses this $3 multi-tasking beauty product every night
October 10, 2019 at 12:00PM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUcLNzPWVEA] Welcome to ‘Dear Derm,’ our new beauty series in which dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD shares serious skin-care realness. In each episode, she’ll answer your most burning beauty questions and give you all the tools you need to take your glow game to the next level. Dermatologists have access to the best skin-care products and ingredients on the market (it is, quite literally, their job to help mend skin from whatever aggro situations confront it), which means their routines tend to be stocked with the types of high-end, medical-grade products you’d expect to find in their offices. But as Mona Gohara, MD, recently revealed, it’s not just the luxury stuff that makes it into the haul they take home: Her favorite multi-purpose product makeup remover a $3 pick from the drugstore. We already know that Vaseline is considered the “Swiss Army Knife” of beauty products for its skin-soothing properties. But as Dr. Gohara spills in the latest episode of Dear Derm, it also works as a makeup remover, which is why it’s a permanent staple in her evening regimen. “One of the really cool things I do is use Vaseline under my eyes,” she says of the first step she does after cleansing her face. “I think it’s a great eye cream actually, but it also gets rid of any residual concealer that I’ve had on my face, too.” Because of the oil base in Vaseline, it’s able to whisk away old eye makeup,
Egg freezing rates are on the rise—but experts warn it’s not a fertility ‘insurance policy’
October 10, 2019 at 03:00AM by CWC Hoping to freeze your eggs now so you can get pregnant after you’re well settled into your career 10 years from now? It’s tempting to think of egg freezing as exactly that kind of security deposit on your future—and certainly the plethora of splashy startups and celebrities trying it for themselves make it sound like the smart thing to do. But in reality, spending tens of thousands of dollars doesn’t necessarily guarantee a healthy baby. “Egg freezing is frequently sold to the general public as an insurance. It’s anything but,” says Norbert Gleicher, MD, the medical director and chief scientist at the Center for Human Reproduction. “When you buy car insurance, you know what to expect if you get into a car accident. But no one can tell a 25-year-old exactly how many eggs she needs to freeze, or her pregnancy chances should she use those eggs.” The history of egg freezing Technologies have advanced a lot since the first baby was born from a frozen egg in 1986. Today, vitrification (aka snap freezing) helps prevent ice crystals from forming in frozen eggs, which ensures many more survive the thawing process. “Eggs are the largest cell in the human body, so they have the most cytoplasm, or water. And ice crystals can damage the DNA in an egg,” says Mindy Christianson, M.D., the medical director of the Johns Hopkins Fertility Center, who works mostly with cancer patients who are trying to preserve their fertility.
Ankle mobility exercises will soothe your aching feet
October 10, 2019 at 02:00AM by CWC There’s a lot going on in your feet. I’m talkin’ 26 different bones and 33 joints, all of which support you and connect with the rest of your body, allowing you to spin it out, achieve your dreams of running a marathon, and book it to work so you get there on time. For everything you put your feet through on a day-to-day basis, you have to make sure they get the TLC they deserve. And one way to do that is to grab a lacrosse ball for an exercise to improve ankle mobility and range of motion, which is directly related to foot discomfort. While tennis balls are great at working out knots and tightness in your neck, they’re too squishy to allow you to really dig into the soles of your feet. But a rubber lacrosse ball—which stays nice and firm—is one of the greatest tools you can use in an exercise to banish pain and improve your foot and ankle mobility, says chiropractor Lance von Stade, DC. “It puts mechanical input and sheer force into each one of those joints individually,” he says in a YouTube video, which can help relax tight muscles and mobilize your feet. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqL_anvKajI] To get a quality massage with a lacrosse ball, Dr. von Stade suggests working into different parts of your foot step-by-step—almost like a yoga flow, but for your feet. Whether you’re putting pressure into your feet in a lunge position or
This Tiny Home In The Mountains Is Where We Go When We Meditate
October 10, 2019 at 01:04AM Filled with dried wildflowers and reclaimed woods, it’s beyond dreamy. Continue Reading… Author Emma Loewe | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC
What’s the real difference between day and night creams—and do I need both?
October 10, 2019 at 01:00AM by CWC Your skincare routine can either be really simple with a few different products you use on the regular or super-intense with a #shelfie chock-full of creams, scrubs, and serums. But to get back to basics, experts typically agree that night cream and day cream can both play an important part in your regimen for sure. But it’s a little more complicated than that. As someone whose skincare routine only consists of a face wash, moisturizer, and sunscreen, I’ve always figured companies that sell both day cream and night cream were just trying to get you to buy essentially the same product in different packaging in order to make an extra buck. According to Boston-based dermatologist Gretchen Frieling, MD, that’s not the case at all. Each serves a unique purpose and contains different ingredients that work best during certain times of the day. A day cream frequently contains SPF and is lighter than a night cream, making it easy to apply before makeup, says Dr. Frieling. “Day cream also typically excludes active ingredients like retinol, glycolic acid, or alpha hydroxy acids that could cause photosensitivity during the day,” she says. Night cream on the other hand includes ingredients that do their best work while you’re fast asleep away from the sun’s harmful rays. “Sleep is when the skin does the heavy lifting, so nighttime products help maintain healthy skin and reduce signs of aging overnight. It’s when your skin works to restore and repair,
The only piece of fitness equipment you need right now is a heart rate monitor
October 10, 2019 at 12:02AM by CWC First there were FitBits, then came the Apple Watch, and nowadays, you’d be hard-pressed to walk into a New York City fitness studio without some acknowledgement that you can track just about every part of your workout. That’s especially true for tracking your heart rate in conjunction to how hard you’re pushing yourself in your workout, which is why heart rate monitors are the single best buy you can make to up your fitness game. It’s also why you’re about to see them as a central part of every. single. workout. “Your heart rate is an amazing tool to showcase how your body’s reacting to the individual workout, and it’s a significant upgrade versus just going by ‘feel,’ which levels up the knowledge base around overtraining, lack of sleep, and other effects that aren’t recognized by the average fitness consumer,” says Joanna Stahl, trainer and founder of Go2Practice, who’s definitely noticed heart rate tracking dominate the wearables market. “Heart rate training is now incorporated into every personal tech platform from products like Suunto, Garmin, Polar, and has spread into mainstream products like Fitbit and Apple Watches—it’s on the rise from a health tech perspective, and there’s no doubt it’s making the average health-minded consumer smarter and more aware of their bodies and heart-related issues.” “There’s no doubt it’s making the average health-minded consumer smarter and more aware of their bodies and heart-related issues.” —Joanna Stahl Of course it’s always been beneficial to measure your
Looking for an afternoon energy boost? Try this delicious chia seed pudding
October 10, 2019 at 12:00AM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GWATOYi-bU] A chia seed pudding that isn’t a mushy mess? Tell me more, please. When I need a boost of energy—which is basically all the time thanks to the 24-hour news cycle/being an adult/the impending demise of our planet—my first instinct is to drink my fourth cup of coffee and scroll through cute dog videos on Instagram. But apparently I’ve been doing it all wrong, because TIL that chia seeds (yes, really) are also excellent for raising your energy levels. In the latest episode of Well+Good’s YouTube series Plant Based, herbalist and holistic health coach Rachelle Robinett breaks down what makes chia seeds such a super, well, superfood. “It’s kind of notorious for energy,” Robinett says. “It isn’t that [chia is] directly stimulating, it’s that it’s so nutrient-dense that we get a ton of available energy and calories and nutrients in a very small amount.” You can thank chia’s high amounts of fiber, protein, and calcium for that. “That efficiency can be helpful for guiding our [weight management], for when you need a quick little snack, something that can energize you but not be an entire meal.” Seems like we all should be paying the humble chia seed a bit more respect. Of course, you’re hardly about to pop a handful of chia and call it a snack. Instead, Robinett shares her secret to making a truly delicious chia seed pudding (hint: caramelized pineapple is involved!) that will take your afternoon pick-me-up
Emotional Intelligence Will Soon Be The Most Desirable Job Skill, Study Says
October 09, 2019 at 11:37PM We’re officially in a “feeling economy,” research shows. Continue Reading… Author Jenni Gritters, M.S. | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC
Research says the upcoming full moon is likely to mess with your sleep
October 09, 2019 at 10:24PM by CWC This Sunday brings the next full moon, and given the time of year, there’s always the chance on that night, your dreams will include some spooky, Halloween-leaning frights. If not, though, you’re still likely to spend part of the night tossing and turning, because according to recent research, full moon effects on sleep are real and disruptive. Sleep-tech company Dreem recently conducted a study for which it analyzed a million nights of sleep from thousands of participants, CNBC reports. Some findings skewed obvious (like, it’s not wildly shocking that solo sleepers get 20 percent more deep sleep, ostensibly because they don’t have to worry about being elbowed mid-snooze, #amirite?) while others were far more illuminating. For instance, take the finding that full moons are grade-A troublemakers when it comes to your REM game. On nights with a full moon, people required 9 percent more time to fall asleep, and clocked 7 percent less deep sleep once they were successfully snoozing. And if you’re thinking the full moon effects on sleep are simple to explain—that it’s the increased brightness tampering with your circadian rhythm—your line of thinking makes sense. After all, experts do recommend total darkness (or at the very least, some middle-ground red lighting) for optimizing sleep health. But the study found that even when the full moon took to the skies on particularly cloudy nights, sleep suffered for the participants. The full moon is historically associated with lunacy, disorder, danger, and bad