She had her whole life ahead of her. Until she didn’t. Suleika Jaouad was living in Paris when she started to feel ill. The early symptoms were innocent enough: itchy legs and exhaustion. But they began to escalate, and her doctors advised her to fly back to the U.S. for care. At home, she finally got […]
How to Be a Real Man
Growing up fatherless, actor and life coach Dondré T. Whitfield had a vague understanding of manhood. His journey to find the true meaning of masculinity led to a life-changing discovery: not all males evolve into real men. Being a real man means that you are constantly aiming to be of better service to yourself, your […]
Expand Your Environmental Consciousness
When you pour love into the earth, you’ll get love in return. That’s the powerful perspective of Robin Wall Kimmerer, who marries the scientific knowledge of botany with her indigenous background to tackle sustainability and conservation. Kimmerer says we need to cultivate a healthy relationship with Mother Nature, just like any mother and child. We […]
Should We Legalize Heroin?
Should recreational drugs like heroin and cocaine be legalized? Dr. Carl L. Hart, a professor at Columbia University, makes a compelling case for decriminalization in Drug Use for Grown-Ups. The US government has been embroiled in the War on Drugs since the 1970s. But even with these expensive efforts, the number of Americans who use drugs has […]
How to Stay Sharp
Great news from the forefront of neuroscience: brain decline and memory loss can be prevented, and even reversed. A gradual decline in the brain’s hardware is a normal part of the aging process. The organ shrinks, its folds become more prominent, and its blood vessels harden. But we can maintain (and in some cases, enhance) […]
Forget Big Leaps. Try Small Steps.
Society measures our success in terms of big achievements. This can lead us to doubt our own progress when a change doesn’t look like a revolution. To be successful, we need to shake off this mindset and embrace breaking down large goals into tiny steps that take 30 seconds or less to accomplish. The 30-second […]
Why You Should Consider Sobriety
We do all sorts of things to better our health. We avoid gluten and do yoga. We eat healthfully and do cardio. And then we have a beer during happy hour or wine with dinner, erasing many of those healthy gains. Alcohol has been normalized to the point that we don’t realize how bad for […]
How to Live Honestly
For Laura McKowen, it was alcoholism. She battled her problem for decades before she won the war. People numb their feelings and escape from themselves in many other ways, whether it’s a vice, an addiction, or some other demon. McKowen thinks that we need to have more open, honest discussions, even though people tend to run from […]
Your Diet Needs Room for Mistakes
If you’ve found yourself gorging on sugary foods, salty snacks, and alcohol recently, you’re not alone. More than a year into the global pandemic, researchers are finding that adults have put on unwanted weight at an unprecedented rate. Whether you’re dieting for weight loss or simply trying to roll back bad eating habits, it’s critical […]
Go Ahead, Blame Someone Else
What if your deepest fears, most destructive behaviors, and worst failures aren’t your fault? A new area of scientific research called epigenetics suggests that the traumas of our parents, grandparents, and earlier ancestors may manifest in our daily lives. Any repeating pattern of emotion, including depression and anxiety, may be a tendency you inherited from […]
