November 04, 2018 at 05:00AM Long gone are the days when crystals were reserved for just yogis and spiritual gurus. Now, even celebrities like Bella Hadid and Miranda Kerr are harnessing the power of the shimmering stones. And it’s very easy to see why everyone is currently crushing on crystals. Beyond being pretty to look at, they’re also said to help with better sleep, channeling chill vibes, and attracting abundance, among just a few healing properties (despite their efficacy still being up for debate). So, how exactly do these sacred stones heal us? “To heal is to feel,” says Energy Muse co-founder and Crystal Muse author, Heather Askinosie. “Crystals are not these magical stones that are going to change your life. Crystals are tools to help you go to those deeper layers within yourself, but you still have to do the work.” “Crystals are not these magical stones that are going to change your life. Crystals are tools to help you go to those deeper layers within yourself, but you still have to do the work.” —Heather Askinosie, Energy Muse co-founder Below, the expert shares five healing stones and eight different ways to use them in your life to usher in healing vibrations. 5 healing stones to add to your starter pack In essence, all crystals are healing stones—and choosing the right one for you is actually a very intuitive process. “We know what’s good for us,” Askinosie says. “Go to what you’re attracted to, and trust that whatever you picked is exactly where
Category: 2019 Health
The cosmic reason that Tuesday’s elections could feel even more dramatic
November 04, 2018 at 04:26AM As if Election Day didn’t feel heightened already, the movement of Uranus (the planet of revolution, evolution, and change) could amp things up even more, says astrologer Jennifer Racioppi. Here’s her best advice on feeling your best over the next week with your food, fitness, and self-care choices—no matter what your sun sign is. Monday, November 5 The week begins with the moon waning dark in Libra. Libra, the sign of justice and equity, calls for balance, harmony, and moral commitment to your values. With the election, now’s the time to review your local ballots and decide on the candidates you wish to support. Make sure you have a plan in place to get to the polls. Politics aside, the moon moves through its balsamic phase, and we prepare for the upcoming new moon in Scorpio on Wednesday. Take a moment to review where you’ve journeyed over the last few weeks. What’s played out in your life? What did you learn? Then, consider your intention for the next lunar cycle. What do you next want to bring to fruition? Tuesday, November 6 With the midterm elections here in the States, allow your commitment to self-care to lead you to the polls. Voting, after all, remains an essential exercise in using your voice and advocating for your beliefs. Uranus, the planet of revolution, evolution, and change, (who’s retrograde) moves from Taurus, back into Aries today too. Given this, we can expect this day to feel explosive potentially. (Nothing like
How to keep your teeth healthy if you grind them in your sleep
November 03, 2018 at 12:27PM If you’re really into oral hygiene (as we all should be), you may have switched to a holistic dentist, ditched the fluoride for homemade toothpaste, or concocted a turmeric and coconut oil “mask” to keep your pearly whites looking good. But teeth grinding, otherwise known as bruxism, is one bad habit that you could still be partaking in without even knowing it. It’s actually a very common issue at any age, says Beverly Hills-based cosmetic dentist Bill Dorfman, DMD. Although the grinding mainly goes down at night while you’re sleeping, it can also happen during the day. So if you fall into the former category, how do you know if you’re grinding your teeth at night? Asking your significant other or a loved one (one that is totally cool with creepily watching you sleep) is a good place to start, Dr. Dorfman says. However, the only way to know for sure is to ask your dentist. “A trained dentist will be able to look at your teeth and know instantly just by the wear patterns on your teeth,” he says. Before you pencil in an appointment with your dentist—which you should be doing regularly anyway because, hygiene—noting your symptoms, if any, can also give you a good indication of whether you’re engaging in bruxism while you snooze. Things like headaches, migraines, and stiffness in the jaw can all be telltale signs, says Dr. Dorfman. Tooth damage is also a major red flag, says Timothy Chase, DMD, a
Your A to Z guide for winter jacket styles and shopping
November 03, 2018 at 09:57AM We’re finally making that seasonal shift (no, not daylight saving time) from sweater weather to outerwear no longer being elective. It’s a wardrobe transition that confounds more than a few every year. Since your coat is essentially your outfit for an entire season, the sartorial stakes are pretty high. The market is completely oversaturated with more options than you could ever sift through—a problem which led to the creation of this glossary of winter jacket styles. Shopping for a coat comes down to picking the style that both fits your aesthetic and your cold weather requirements. But you can pretty much find every jacket style with different levels of insulation so what it’s really a matter of homing in on a silhouette and letting that filter down your options. “Brands that focus on material and construction quality are the same brands that are thinking about the longevity of their designs in the ever-changing, trend-driven fashion landscape.” —Jeff Johnson, co-founder and creative director of outerwear brand The Arrivals To help you do this, take some advice from Jeff Johnson, co-founder and creative director of outerwear brand The Arrivals. “Follow quality,” he says. “Brands that focus on material and construction quality are the same brands that are thinking about the longevity of their designs in the ever-changing, trend-driven fashion landscape.” When you’re looking for a jacket that’ll work this season (as well as for seasons to come), Johnson suggests asking yourself a few questions: “Does the product keep you warm and
Yes, you actually *can* cut your own bangs—here’s how
November 03, 2018 at 04:01AM “Should I get bangs?” It’s one of those questions that seems to pop up every few years when you’re looking for a change. Then come the polls: friends, family, and colleagues must weigh in, as the pendulum swings back and forth until you finally find your answer. If you go with choice A—to get bangs—the next decision is all about how you go about getting them. The obvious choice is simply to make an appointment at a salon, but, for the bold and daring, you may consider performing the feat yourself. It’s just taking a small section of your hair and snipping, after all—right? While the thought of cutting your own bangs can make some people cringe, with the right advice on-hand, you’re certainly capable of executing the style yourself—but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be that easy. “To cut your own bangs or not to cut your own bangs… it’s the age-old question,” says Brooke Jordan, owner and master stylist at Brooklyn’s Bird House salon. “It seems like such a simple thing, and it can be, but it can also be disastrous.” All of the hairdressers I spoke with say to go to a professional if at all possible because it can be a tricky skill to master. “Even as a hairdresser, I prefer for another person to cut my bangs,” says Jordan “To cut a good bang actually takes a lot of strategy and technique—evaluating face shape, considering length, and creating movement and texture,” she
10 pro tips for overcoming insecurity and cultivating unshakable confidence
November 03, 2018 at 04:00AM Insecurity is something we’ve all experienced at some point or another. Even the most confident person in the room is surely insecure about something. The thing about insecurity is that it has the power to hold us back in all areas of life. And the culprit can totally be little things, like worrying about whether or not you’re wearing the latest, chicest leggings, or the really big life stuff, like negotiating for a higher salary or staying in a toxic relationship because you subconsciously don’t believe you deserve to be happy. Although there are many reasons that can explain how a sense of insecurity is cultivated, according to confidence and communications expert Karol Ward, some common examples include growing up in an environment that didn’t feel emotionally safe, or experiencing a traumatizing incident that provided for negative feedback (i.e., getting dumped made you believe you are unlovable, or bombing a presentation in middle school led you to believe you’re terrible at public speaking). The good news is insecurities are not set in stone. You can 100 percent overcome them, no matter how big or small they are. Doing so just requires some work on yourself and a plan of action. But, know this: Regardless of what your insecurity tells you (you’re not good enough, worthy enough, pretty enough—blah, blah, blah), we are all inherently enough. Period. Ready to feel more confident than ever? Keep reading for expert tips to kick insecurity to the curb for good.
File under “phew!”: Experts say there’s no BPA in bottled water
November 02, 2018 at 01:38PM We all know how important it is to stay hydrated. And getting those recommended ounces of water every single day requires carrying around a water bottle. If you’re eco-minded, you’ve probably already accumulated a collection of reusable water bottles. But even still, there are tons of people chugging their H20 from plastic water bottles every single day, which raises the question: Is bottled water bad for you? This hotly debated topic has been around for, like, ever. Some experts argue that it’s detrimental to our health due to things like Bisphenol A, or BPA, a hazardous environmental toxin and endocrine disruptor that’s been shown to cause cancer. While others, like Peter Gleick, a scientist and expert on global water and climates issues, say bottled water is perfectly safe to drink. “There’s nothing wrong with bottled water from a health perspective,” he says. Elizabeth Royte, author of Bottlemania: How Water Went On Sale and Why We Bought It agrees, saying that, “There’s no evidence it’s bad for us.” One major reason why? That belief that plastic water bottles contain BPA is a myth. According to Gleick, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is the type of plastic most water bottles are made of, doesn’t contain BPA and never has. “PET is actually a remarkably good plastic,” he says. “It’s one of the reasons we put beverages in it. As far as we know, bad things do not leak out of PET.” So, he says, BPA isn’t something you need
No, the city you live in *isn’t* why you’re still single
November 02, 2018 at 12:53PM Dating anywhere can be rough, but if the internet is to be believed, dating in a major city is impossible. It seems that every year, data or impassioned personal accounts come out declaring New York, or Los Angeles, or Miami, or some other major metropolitan post-grad melting pot to be the worst city for singles. Just this week, folks from the podcast The Great Love Debate deemed Seattle the worst city in America to live in if you’re looking for a date. Cue the eye roll. While location can definitely play a factor in your dating life (for example, it’s hard out there for rural-living babes like farmer-turned-Bachelor-star Chris Soules, who are kind of at the mercy of low population density), these “findings” are nothing to full-on panic over. “It’s impossible to paint all of the single people in a city with one big brush,” says Brandy Engler, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist based in Los Angeles. She chalks the city-shaming sentiments up to nothing more than fear-mongering. “The only reason [location] might have an effect is if there are massive disparities in the ratio of men to women. But even then, it’s less about statistics and more about where these people are in life.” —Brandy Engler, PsyD According to Dr. Engler, location has very little to do with why people behave certain ways when they date. “The only reason it might have an effect is if there are massive disparities in the ratio of men
The best thing in the world to do for your gut microbiome? Don’t move to the US
November 02, 2018 at 12:39PM Hop on the Magic School Bus and let’s get Miss Frizzle about what’s going on in the gut. While it’s not new intel that microbiomes differ from country to country, I have some tea to spill about a brand new study that indicates that moving to the United States from another country could alter one’s flora in a not-so-hot way. In new research published in the journal Cell, scientists found moving from another country to the US doesn’t just affect your gut bacteria—it can also mess with your health down the line. The study looked at a group of 514 women in a few different categories: those from Thailand and still living in Thailand, those from Southeast Asia who moved to the US, and those born in the US from immigrant parents from Southeast Asia. What they found was the second anyone moved to the US, their gut microbiome began changing. And not in a good way. Crazily enough, by bacteria alone, you couldn’t even tell who was a US native and who wasn’t after a while. The second anyone moved to the US, their gut microbiome began changing. And not in a good way. Unfortunately, along with the changes in gut bacteria came some health problems. According to Newsweek, those in the US mainly have Bacteroides bacteria (a prime animal protein digester), while those outside the US mainly had Prevotella bacteria (a prime plant fiber digester). Unfortunately, the move totally made the Prevotella disappear, making immigrants’ bacteria less diverse overall—something that
Why “gaining an hour” can make you *more* tired—and how to fix it
November 02, 2018 at 11:40AM If you’re one of the 164 million Americans who struggle to get enough zzz’s, you may have the first Sunday in November marked with praise hands in your calendar. It’s the day we “fall back,” or gain an extra hour of sleep by transitioning out of Daylight Saving Time—something you can surely appreciate even if you’re not waking up to run the New York City Marathon. But with the earlier sunrise comes shorter, darker days. And, according to a 2013 study published in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews, there’s little evidence to suggest you actually get extra sleep that first night. In fact, you’re more likely to toss and turn, rise earlier, or experience an overall feeling of sleepiness (and perhaps sleeplessness) for the next week as your body adjusts to the new schedule, the researchers report. “Many people don’t or can’t take advantage of the extra hour due to their own circadian rhythms.” “Many people don’t or can’t take advantage of the extra hour due to their own circadian rhythm,” says Teofilo Lee-Chiong Jr., MD and chief medical liaison for Philips Respironics. But just because falling back is inevitable doesn’t mean your body and mind need to suffer. According Dr. Lee-Chiong, your biological clock is controlled by a mix of internal and external factors, like sunlight and temperature, so there are changes you can make to your routine in order to temper that “out of whack” feeling you have when the clocks change. After you trick out your bedroom with these dreamy accessories, follow these tips for better