April 15, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC The last time I lived in a new place where I didn’t know anyone was college. Back then, it didn’t matter that I shied away from starting conversations with people I didn’t know. Everyone was in the same boat: new and friendless. Bonds were made easily, based on who else lived on your dorm floor, what your major was, or a new, shared love of cranberry vodkas. Making friends was never a problem, even for me, a generally introverted person. After college, I moved to New York City along with the majority of my other friends. Even though I was in a new, overwhelming place, my college friends and I experienced it together. I also made new friends at the magazines and clothing boutique where I worked. I didn’t feel the need to “put myself out there” at all; I had my people and never felt lonely. That’s how it worked for ten years. Then at the end of last year, I moved down south to Raleigh, North Carolina—a city where I didn’t have any friends whatsoever. My parents, older sister, and younger brother all lived in the area, but because they were in such vastly different life stages than me—single with no kids—I knew they weren’t going to be much help in the friends department. My move also required me to start working remotely, which meant that I now couldn’t rely on my job to give me a built-in place for friends.
Tag: WFH
The chilled-out nighttime ritual that helped me drop my screen time use by 25 percent
April 12, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC Full disclosure: I have always eyed certain aspects of the wellness world with a dose of passive skepticism. For instance, I look at crystals and think they’re neat in a Fortress-of-Solitude way, but I don’t buy into the idea that quartz-fondling is going to make me rich. The same goes for dry brushing. I respect its Ayurvedic origins and fully acknowledge that it can stimulate circulation and soften skin. But I’ve not seen any scientific evidence that it will, as some claim, remove toxins or eliminate cellulite. (I’ve got my fair share of both, for the record, and they ain’t going nowhere.) And yet, upon seeing Nourish by The Now Copper Dry Brush ($42), I wanted to know more. The brush has copper bristles, which purportedly generate negative ions—invisible molecules with more electrons than protons—to “counter the effects of digital technology.” For some people, I’m sure technology brings with it happiness and overall satisfaction with life; however, for me, it’s an always-on factory that churns out bad feelings. So naturally, I’m open to anything that will make me feel better about the hours I spend parked in front of my laptop. There’s some research that suggests negative ions might actually be able to do that. Back in the ’90s, a Columbia University study found a correlation between negative-ion exposure and feeling less depressed; a recent literature review suggested that, while more research is needed to explore other claims around negative ions, there’s real
Sitting at your desk all day could be making you more sore than your workout
April 11, 2019 at 08:00AM by CWC Approximately once a day, I stand up from my desk with the type of groan that can best be likened to Grandpa Joe getting out of bed in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My hips, quads, back, and hamstrings (so basically, like, all of my muscles) are constantly sore, which until recently I’d attributed to the hour of exercise I force myself awake for every day before I head into the office. But nope! My mornings spent on the bike and the Pilates reformer aren’t to blame for the horrible discomfort I feel in my body when I’m working. It’s actually all of my desk-sitting that’s doing me dirty. What is commonly mistaken as soreness (AKA what I had always thought was soreness) could actually be inflammation, and inactivity is one of the biggest culprits. “You can have chronic inflammation from simply sitting at a desk all day,” explains Jeff Brannigan, program director at Stretch*d. “Often times, we may not experience the feeling of soreness, yet the muscles can be tight and inflamed. Repetitive stress of any kind can lead to inflammation, and this includes inactivity. People tend to associate high levels of activity with soreness and inflammation but being still all day, every day, is one of the worst things you can do for your body.” While your muscles can totally become inflamed from an intense workout, you’re more likely to experience this phenomenon after hours of sitting still—like when you’re on
Science told me the idea alone of coffee is energizing, so I looked at a photo of it for a week
April 03, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC What if simply looking at a cup of coffee could give you Gilmoresque abilities to perk up and talk 80 miles per minute? Well, maybe the concept isn’t so crazy: A recent study published in Consciousness and Cognition suggests cues of coffee alone can promote a sense of alertness (sans the jitters over-caffeination can promote). And, my God, if anyone was meant to test this out, it was me, the awful human equivalent of a “But First, Coffee” mug. The study authors came to their buzzy (had to!) conclusion after analyzing four separate experiments of 871 total participants, that tested responses to both coffee and tea. Ultimately, those exposed to coffee-related cues (but not real cups of the energy juice that they could actually drink) perceived time as shorter and had clearer, more precise thoughts after the experiment. Let me repeat: They were more alert and they hadn’t even caffeinated. It’s a mind-blowing result for anyone who got through college on the sugary jet fuel of four caramel macchiatos a day. (Just me? Bueller?) Dubious but intrigued, I decided to see for myself whether the mere image of a morning cup of joe could be the best part of waking up. Day 1: I’m so excited I open my MacBook to catch up on emails, and see my new desktop-screen photo of twin coffee cups cradled in pink saucers. My desktop is cluttered beyond any sort of joy-sparking repair, yet these two coffee
What you can actually expect from a therapy session, straight from a no-nonsense therapist
April 01, 2019 at 03:00PM by CWC After college, when I was living on my own for the first time, I decided to try therapy. Everything around me was new, and all the uncharted territory led me to feel small and uncomfortable. But I was also a 23-year-old who wanted to talk about dating, and my therapist, a referral from a family friend, seemed to only wanted to poke fun at that based on my perception our first appointment. I left feeling frustrated, annoyed, and belittled. And I never went back. But, here’s the thing: That’s not what therapy typically looks like—it shouldn’t anyway, at least. It’s also not you lying on a sofa, clutching a box of tissues, staring up into space while being incessantly asked, “How does that make you feel?” Since the notion of therapy is often fraught with confusion and misconceptions, it’s time to set the record straight. Here, psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb—whose new book, Maybe You Should Talk To Someone, follows her journey as a therapist who also goes to therapy—answers all your Therapy 101 burning questions, from how to find the right therapist to what to expect from that first session and how to know if it’s “working.” You asked, she answered: Find your Therapy 101 cheat sheet cheat sheet. Photo: Getty Images/FatCamera 1. How do I even begin to find a therapist? To start, scan Psychology Today to get a sense of a given therapist, learn what their areas of specialty are, and also
Rebrand every weekend as a vacation to kick your weekly case of the Mondays
March 29, 2019 at 07:27AM by CWC Sometimes my Sunday Scaries are so terrifying that I pray for a light family emergency just so I don’t have to deal with the emotional drain of Mondays. So when I came across research suggesting that getting over a weekly case of the Mondays just requires a mental rebrand of your weekend, my interest obviously piqued. The research calls upon results from two studies, for which 500 participants were asked to rate their level of happiness going into the weekend. For the first study, a control group was instructed to go about their weekend business as usual and the other group was to, as much as possible, treat the two days as a vacation. Come Monday, the vacationers rated themselves as both happier and more present. The second study, also of 500 participants split into two groups—a control group and a vacation mind-set group—asked people to keep a journal of activities they did and how they felt about each. Again, the vacationers reported being happier and more present on Monday. Though the vacation group ultimately did fewer chores and the vacationers did more of the…dirty, researchers note that the activities themselves weren’t as significant of a predictor of happiness as the mind-set sustained while doing said activity. Meaning, it’s not necessarily what you do, but how you feel about doing it. Enter vacation mind-set. Vacation mind-set doesn’t require you to take endless weekend jaunts (which might be a better way to exhaust rather
Is ClassPass still worth it? I tried it to find out
March 15, 2019 at 07:17AM by CWC Classpass has come a long way in the last six years. What started as a $100-a-month membership plan that gave you unlimited access to workout classes across New York City has now expanded 2,500 cities in 15 countries, and launched a booming digital fitness business that gives members access to top trainers from the comfort of their own living rooms. As the company’s offerings have changed over the last half-decade, so too, has its membership options. Which begs the question: Is ClassPass worth it? The monumental increase in partner studios and gyms (9,000 were added in the past year, rounding out to over 15,000 total) is just one of the many, many things that’s changed about the boutique fitness membership platform recently, along with the addition of varying class pack options, price hikes, the discontinuation of the Unlimited class plan, and the addition of wellness experiences to the growing roster. The biggest recent change, though, has been the introduction of the “credits” system. Unlike the original post-unlimited ClassPass model, where your membership afforded you a set number of classes per month (the Core Plan, for example, yielded 10 classes for $135), users are now able to purchase “credits,” and can redeem those credits at as many different classes as they’d like. Various classes retail for a various number of credits determined by a “dynamic pricing system”: A peak spot at Barry’s Bootcamp, for example, could cost 20 credits, while a two-hour slot at Crunch Gym will
Work an office job? Memorize these yoga poses to balance yourself out
March 07, 2019 at 07:02AM by CWC Here’s a scary truth: Whether hunched over a laptop, trying to achieve inbox zero or double-tapping your Instagram feed at lightning speed, the average American adult spends *11 hours a day* staring at some sort of a screen. That’s almost double the amount of time they spend sleeping, and far, far more than on any other single activity in a given day. In addition to messing with our mental health, bedtime routines, and even our vision, all of those screen-front hours can have some seriously detrimental effects on our bodies. “When we spend a long time on the phone or computer, we tend to drop our neck, hunch our shoulders forward, and sink into our lower spine. Maintaining these bad postural habits throughout the day can cause prolonged neck pain, lower back pain, tight hips, shoulder pain and more,” says yoga instructor Claire Grieve. “Using technology constantly can also wreak havoc on our breathing patterns and mood, so it’s important to take breaks throughout the day to counterbalance all of this.” If you’ve been walking around for the better part of the past two years with some sort of crick in your shoulders or tweak in your lower back, your tech habits may be to blame. And while cute phrases like “text neck” have become part of the vernacular as a way to describe this phenomenon, there’s really nothing cute about it—especially if you, like me, are currently spending hundreds of dollars a month on
I’ve been working out on my own for decades, but now I never sweat without this app
March 06, 2019 at 08:02AM by CWC Let me paint a little picture for you: I was in the middle of my treadmill run—a HIIT sequence led by a Peloton trainer on my app—when the streaming abruptly came to a stop. I don’t know whether it was the spotty Wi-Fi in the gym or Mercury Retrograde rearing its ugly head, but either way, it led to an absolute crisis. I truly didn’t know what to do with myself next. Without one of my go-to running instructors from the streaming platform guiding me through each and every interval, hill, and sprint, I was helpless. The ironic thing is that I’ve been working out for decades on my own, no trainer needed—so I can assure you without hesitation that within my brain are a roster of workout moves and running drills that I could perform on my own…just like I used to. But for some reason, these days I just can’t bring myself to, well, instruct myself through my own workout. Ever since I was introduced to the Peloton workout app about three months ago, I haven’t done a sweat sesh without it. Former, independent me would scoff at the fact that I now workout without my running playlist (which I used to look forward to sprinting to)—but now I’m totally hypnotized and reliant upon Peloton trainers like Olivia Amato, Selena Samuela, and Rebecca Kennedy, regardless of whether or not I like the music they play in the background. Watching a Peloton instructor actually do the workout
Brittle nails can wreck your manicure, so here’s how to make them stronger
March 06, 2019 at 03:00AM by CWC I’ve got to admit that I put my nails through the ringer. I don’t remember the last time they weren’t painted, I’m clack-clack-clacking away on a laptop (or my phone) for the majority of the day, and I rip and tear packages and food containers open like a beast. So, I’ve never been surprised that there are often times when my manicured nails simply break. I’ve always chocked it up to them being weak from overuse. During one manicure sesh, though, my nail technician said that I’m actually dealing with really brittle nails. When I asked to learn more about the condition, it definitely described my nails to a T: “Brittle nails are nails that are thin, dry, and prone to breakage,” explains nail guru Jin Soon Choi, who owns an eponymous nail salon and nail polish line. Nadine Abramcyk, co-founder of nail hotspot Tenoverten, adds that brittle nails are softer and thinner than normal and have a tendency to split and tear apart. Yep, it me. You don’t get brittle nails from the reasons I thought, though—there can be more to it than simply overuse and too many gel manicures. “Brittle nails can be a sign of an ongoing health issue, but are often related to age, overuse of polish, and sometimes even the weather,” Abramcyk explains. “When you never give your nails a break from polish—specifically dark colors—your nails tend to dry out and become brittle over time.” (Guilty.) Choi adds that