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Author: CityWomen

2019 Health Fashion Relaxation Vegetarians

Veggie-crunching and lip-smacking videos are the ASMR obsession that has got to stop

4 min read

November 14, 2018 at 01:00AM When ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response, first started to gain traction a few years back, I’ll admit I was skeptical. ASMR describes the feeling you get when certain sounds produce a relaxation effect—some folks even explain it as a tingling sensation, or a brain orgasm. I was more likely to describe it as giving me the heebie-jeebies. There was something unnerving to me about hearing someone whisper into a microphone while rubbing their hands across a balloon or untangling earphones or applying makeup. But the more I explored, the more the videos broke me down, and I started to understand. I’ll even admit to feeling kind of relaxed when listening to a woman whisper while running her fingers over the bristle of a brush. This was all good and fine (but, like, honestly still pretty weird) when noises were limited to innocuous tappings and crinkles—but then things went haywire. Unceremoniously, feathers on a microphone and fingernails drumming against food-storage containers gave way to far less ear-pleasing sounds when I came upon…wait a sec, I have close my eyes and focus on not gagging. Okay, …when I came upon food-noise videos. Yep, YouTubers are combining mukbangs, the South Korea-born trend of eating a large quantity of food and livestreaming it to millions (millions!), with ASMR. Suddenly, instead of soft, comforting noises, I was visually and sonically assaulted with gulps from a straw or the wet chewing of a cheeseburger. There are no shortage of extreme crunch

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2019 Health Relaxation

Yes, You Can Save to Buy a House and Still Live Your Best Life

5 min read

November 13, 2018 at 06:30PM Whether you’re currently scouring the market for your dream home or it’s still a few years down the road, saving up for your first real house can seem like an incredibly daunting task. Michelle A. Alvarado, a Home Lending Officer at Citi, understands the fear that oftentimes accompanies this important life moment, but points out that preparing to buy your first home doesn’t have to compete with your wellness habits—actually, it’s helpful to think of the process as something that will benefit them. “Home ownership can provide a rewarding experience and boost your overall wellness meter,” Alvarado says. “What better way to relax than to meditate in your own garden, or have a cold drink on your balcony on a warm day? These are the sweet rewards of saving for home ownership.” It’s official: Your wellness routine and home owning aren’t mutually exclusive. To find out how all that works, Alvarado is sharing four things to keep in mind if you want to save up for a home (and still aim to have the freedom to live your best life). Keep reading for Alvarado’s 4 key tips for saving for your first home—without sacrificing Sunday brunch. 1. Make a list of priorities Are you looking to buy a home tomorrow? Do you want to live closer to family? Do you mind driving or prefer a shorter commute? These are some questions Alvarado suggests mulling over prior to executing a savings plan. The same thing goes

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2019 Health

If your brain is better at imploding than computation, you might suffer from math trauma

2 min read

November 13, 2018 at 01:10PM In high school, I was far more likely to be geeking out about the Orwellian significance 2+2=5 than any equation actually presented in the pages of a real algebra textbook. Sure, my interests skewed more bookish than binomial, but that was largely because math made me feel bad about myself—it straight-up stressed me out. And as it turns out, there’s an actual term for the “I just suck at math” mentality that makes your heartbeat quicken at the mere thought of a fraction: math trauma. “Math trauma stems from an event, a series of events, or a set of circumstances experienced by an individual as harmful or threatened such that there are lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and well-being in the perceived presence of mathematics,” Kasi Allen, PhD, a math activist (yes, math activist), tells Creative Maths. This is why the dreaded timed division tests of your youth have literally scarred you into never straying from your smartphone calculator when it comes time to split the bill. That timed division test of your youth may have literally scarred you into never straying from your smartphone calculator when it comes time to split the bill. Research has shown that those affected by this trauma are dominantly female, low-income, and nonwhite. And while scientists don’t yet know the exact cause of the trauma, it’s believed that both gender and racial stereotypes play a role. As a remedy, Dr. Allen recommends first acknowledging that you suffer from the trauma. Then, Jennifer Ruef,

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