February 03, 2020 at 05:11PM by CWC If 2019 was the year burnout became a globally recognized condition by the World Health Organization (hint: it was), 2020 will be the year we start to figure out how to stop it from plaguing our careers, bodies, and minds. In this panel discussion, experts in the fields of functional medicine, workplace wellness, and mindfulness will break down actionable steps we can all take in order to cultivate a healthier and more balanced way of living. EVENT DETAILS Wednesday, February 19, 2020 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Location: WeWork Now | 902 Broadway, New York, NY 10010 THE PANEL Celeste Headlee | Journalist + Bestselling Author of Do Nothing Author of the forthcoming book, DO NOTHING: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving, Celeste Headlee is an award-winning journalist, professional speaker, and bestselling author of We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter. In her 20-year career in public radio, Celeste has been an executive producer, anchor, and national morning show co-host, and she is currently the co-host of the new weekly series Retro Report on PBS. Dr. Sarah Adler | Chief Clinical Officer, Octave As Octave’s chief clinical officer, Sarah is committed to finding ways to join forces with employers and insurance companies to expand access to in-network care nationwide. She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, where her research focuses on the intersection between technology and behavioral health. Sarah received her
Tag: Media
The psychological reason why you can’t stop watching cooking shows
January 19, 2020 at 02:00PM by CWC Every time I go to my local nail salon, the communal TV is turned to The Food Network. As the technicians work away, massaging hands and painting nails, all eyes seem to be casually focused on Ann Marie Drummond making a farmers’ market breakfast or an old rerun of Chopped. It’s like a trance has come over the room, hypnotized by the bread kneading, egg whisking, and vegetable sautéing happening on screen. For some, culinary shows are a sort of ever-present background noise; not actively watched but somehow always “on.” But for others, it’s a passionate interest. Just look at the take-off of The Great British Baking Show. While Netflix famously doesn’t share viewership, the UK series has over a million likes on Facebook and countless Reddit threads devoted to its episodes. Then there’s Masterchef, the cooking competition show which has been so successful that it inspired a spin-off, Masterchef Junior, showcasing tweens who can soufflé and sous vide better than you can. Whether it’s a tutorial or competition, it’s clear that watching other people cook is enjoyable for millions—whether they are active in their own kitchens or not. It’s a bit of a conundrum: You’re watching mouth-watering meals come together without the joy of getting to eat them. When you think about it, it should be torturous, like someone placing a plate of homemade pancakes just out of reach. But it’s not. Why is that? It’s like a Hallmark rom-com, but with food
Introduce your winter blues to koselig, Norway’s loneliness-fighting version of hygge
January 10, 2020 at 10:00PM by CWC One of my happiest memories takes place in February, which is hilarious because February is a frigid, dark, gray month. It was a winter wedding weekend at mountain resort, where the snow is somehow always fresh and you can ice-skate safely on the river. The marriage didn’t last, but the memories of log beds with plaid blankets and hot chocolates by the fireplace will keep me emotionally snuggled forever. To describe it succinctly, it was pure koselig. If that word feels foreign, that’s because it literally is. Koselig is a concept from Norway that embraces this ski-lodge-vacation-with-your-loved-ones type of energy. It doesn’t translate smoothly, but the best English equivalent is “cozy.” Let me guess what you’re thinking now: Koselig sounds a lot like that tough-to-pronounce Danish concept of hygge. If so, you’re right again because, well, it kind of is Norway’s version of hygge. Koselig and hygge are both rooted in the belief that there’s nothing better than coziness. But where hygge life emphasizes JOMO and a love of solitude with the likes of Netflix binges and weighted blankets, koselig calls upon a more adventurous spirit and social desire. “Embracing this idea of leaning into the winter and finding positive ways to enjoy it can lead us to feel less alone, more positive, and closer to those who we care about.” —Jennifer Silvershein, LCSW While there’s no wrong way to practice self care, we tend to trust Scandinavian countries when it comes to joy: Norway, after all, landed
Checks+Balanced: How to budget for early retirement while maintaining healthy habits
December 26, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC Do you know how much money your friends make? What about how much their rent is or how much is in their bank accounts right now? I’m guessing no. Even in a world where questions about menstrual cups and the ins and outs of sex are completely (and blessedly) normal to ask, somehow the ever-ubiquitous use of money remains a touchy subject for many. People want to live their healthiest life ever, but—#realtalk—it can add up. Have you ever wondered how your colleague who makes less than you do (or so you think) can afford to buy a $5 matcha and a $12 chopped salad every day? Or how your friend is able to hit up $34 fitness classes three times a week? It’s enough to make anyone want to ask, “Ummm, excuse me. How can you afford that?!?” That’s where Well+Good’s monthly series Checks+Balanced comes in. By lifting the thick, tightly drawn curtain to expose how much women of varying income brackets spend on wellness, we’re spreading transparency and hopefully providing some inspo that’s possible to copy. Because no matter how much you make, it’s possible to cultivate healthy habits that work within your budget. This month, meet *Leslie, a 37-year-old living in Hawaii with her husband and two kids. Leslie and her husband have a shared goal of early retirement, in 10 years. Leslie loves to eat healthy and work out, but because saving is her family’s main goal, she’s prioritized living simply. Keep reading to see how
9 controversies and scandals that changed the trajectory of wellness in 2019
December 22, 2019 at 03:00PM by CWC Jade eggs in 2017, the great 2018 celery juice craze—every year brings a few wellness-related topics that divide the nation. But in 2019, the most buzz-worthy wellness news had a sense of gravity and urgency that sparked people to take action beyond a casual retweet. Some marched in the streets to support a strike organized by teen climate activists. Others sent donations to Planned Parenthood after the organization withdrew from the Title X grant program, or boycotted their favorite fitness studios to make a political statement. And then there were the stories that were just flat-out scandalous, like the one accusing a high-level Nike trainer of mental and physical abuse. Here, we look back on the most controversial news items to hit the wellness scene in 2019, all of which are sure to reverberate into the new decade. One thing’s for sure: If this year were a season of The Bachelor, Chris Harrison would definitely be calling it the most dramatic one yet. 1. Celebs and influencers called for a boycott against SoulCycle and Equinox In August, news broke that Stephen Ross, an investor in SoulCycle and Equinox, would be hosting a fundraiser for Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection bid. Although both brands issued statements saying they had no involvement with the event, celebrities like Chrissy Teigen and Billy Eichner still urged their social media followers to boycott. Equinox later responded by pledging to donate $1 million to several charities, while SoulCycle’s then-CEO, Melanie
Here’s what happened when I quit multitasking for a week to improve my productivity
December 20, 2019 at 06:00PM by CWC Like many (if not most) people these days, I am a practiced multitasker—it’s simply my strategy for how to be productive at an optimum level. While working, I have multiple browser tabs open at once, so I can toggle between items on my to-do list. And I take my laptop to meetings, so I can listen, participate, and work, all at the same time. I even multitask when I’m relaxing, watching Netflix while snacking and scrolling Instagram. This is how we all live, right? Otherwise, how would everything—anything, even—get done? I’ve heard rumblings before that multitasking isn’t the most efficient answer to how to be productive, but that’s always left me wondering, if not multitasking, then…what? In her forthcoming book Do Nothing (out March 10, 2020), Celeste Headlee acknowledges the societal pressure to multitask, but points to studies suggesting that not only is it ineffective, it’s actually impossible to do successfully. “As our obsession with hyperproductivity has increased, so has our belief that we are able to multitask and that it helps us get more done in less time,” she writes. “The truth is wholly the opposite in almost every circumstance, if neuroscience is to be believed. In study after study, we’ve found that we are slower at completing tasks when we switch from one activity to another than we are when we simply repeat the same activity.” “We are slower at completing tasks when we switch from one activity to another than
Our devices have made us digital hoarders, even if we claim to live minimally
December 17, 2019 at 03:00PM by CWC I currently have 14,394 unread emails in one of my inboxes, a barrage of files cluttering my laptop desktop, and hundreds of thousands of photos (including screenshots I’ll surely never need to see again) on my iPhone. If these digital files were physical documents, they’d be swallowing my home whole. And while I definitely don’t need all (or even most) of them, for some reason, I can’t bring myself to delete the extraneous files. It seems that the advent of cloud-based storage has expanded the scope of hoarding disorder beyond stockpiling just material goods. Now, we’re all just a bunch of digital hoarders, clinging to matter with no critical mass. Mayo Clinic defines hoarding disorder as “a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them.” Digital hoarding is a relatively new subset of the condition—officially, at least—as it was first identified as a thing in 2015 by researchers in Amsterdam. “Patients with digital hoarding as a symptom of hoarding disorder experience a very high urge to collect and save their digital data,” says one of those researchers, psychiatrist Nienke Vulink, MD, PhD. “They feel an intense connection with their belongings—in this case, digital data—and are not able to throw things away.” Dr. Vulink says more research is needed to better understand the symptoms of digital hoarding, and how to treat them. What we know about digital hoarding Nick Neave, PhD, director of a hoarding research group at the
Level up your health and wellness knowledge in 2020 with these 8 online courses
December 14, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC As much as I love a good Netflix binge, after a few hours of being a couch potato, I often feel wish I had an avenue for channeling some quality productivity…preferably while still remaining comfortably recumbent on my couch. Enter: digital learning. Thanks to a number of online courses and memberships spanning an endless spectrum of topics and interests, it’s now entirely possible to gain empowering knowledge and know-how, right from your own home. So, in the spirit of a new year, new you mentality, rounded up below are eight of the best online courses covering a variety of wellness, spirituality, and personal-development topics to add to your queue. Check out the 8 best online courses to level up your health and wellness needs in the new year. 1. “The Journey by Pause Breathwork” Breath work is mindfulness tool that asks your body and your breathing patterns to do the healing work for you. “The Journey by Pause Breathwork,” taught by speaker, author, and wellness coach Samantha Skelly, is a great place to start for learning more about this. During the six-week online course, Skelly shares a powerful breath pattern to unlock and release stagnant emotions and empower you to feel safe in your own body. Pro tip: Keep some tissues handy. Duration: Six weeks (weekly modules with a brief video lecture, breathwork aduio, and worksheet) Available: Year-round Price: $197 2. “Life-Force Academy” With any mindful or movement practice, the most important component is
8 tried-and-true stress relief products for staying calm in every situation
December 14, 2019 at 01:00AM by CWC Even if your home is a Zen respite and your workplace epitomizes what a healthy office can offer, it’s hard to keep your cool 24/7. We dwell in a gloriously effed up burnout culture that overloads us at all times, so emotional and mental exhaustion is the default, and calm is something we work toward. The good news? Stress-relief products exist to help achieve that sense of calm. The less-good news? Plenty of stress-relief products exist to help achieve that sense of calm, so how can you decipher which ones will work best? Truth be told, every person is different, so every person may find different strategies work best for de-stressing. So to take out some guesswork (and expensive trial-and-error-style testing), rounded up below are several standout stress relief products team Well+Good swears by for restoring a sense of calm in the most frazzling of moments. Whether you’re buried under too many assignments at work, more social events than feels manageable, or an irritating number of texts from your mom asking for help on how to send an attachment on an email, there’s something great you can try in order to put yourself at ease. Below, find 8 tried-and-true stress relief products for big-time Zen feels. 1. Lord Jones Royal Oil, $100 While the world may have reached peak CBD-product saturation (thus making room for other cannabinoids to take their turn in the spotlight), this one is still of note for the regal-leaning
A dermatologist lays out 4 ways to spot counterfeit skin-care products
December 04, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC When you’re shopping for the perfect serum to add to your skin-care regimen, things like five-star product reviews and a good-looking price tag can outshine where, exactly, you’re purchasing it from. Add to cart with the wrong retailer, though, and you could wind up with a bad reaction on your skin (or worse). That’s because in the world of counterfeit beauty products, buying fakes can pose a lot more problems than a knock-off designer bag would. In a recent episode of Netflix’s docu-series Broken, industry insiders take a deep dive into the world of counterfeit beauty products, schooling viewers on just how prevalent—and problematic—the industry is. Seizures of counterfeit cosmetics have exploded—according to a recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, counterfeit goods value more than half a trillion dollars in the global economy, and US Customs and Border Protection figures say that counterfeit products cost over $75 million per year to the cosmetics industry. Thanks to the Internet, it’s easier than ever for people to sell knockoff cosmetics and pass them off as the real thing. For consumers, the consequences of this can either result in a non-effective beauty product… or you could face problems with your skin (like rashes). “Counterfeit beauty products [can] include ingredients that have no business in skin care, like super glue for example, and they are often created in completely unsanitary makeshift labs. So, you might find vile contents mixed into the products you