News and ideas worth your attention.

6 Ways to Outsmart High Blood Pressure

Hypertension is a major driver of both stroke and heart attack. But for common cases of borderline high BP, the best medicine is upgrading the way you live: your diet and your exercise habits and the way you deal with stress.

Defying Convention

Break the rules or break yourself. That’s the overarching lesson Pilar Gerasimo has learned during two decades spent covering — and influencing — the health-and-wellness industry. And also through the course of her own life.

8 Simple Ways to Fall Asleep Fast

Who doesn’t want a good night’s sleep? It recharges you for the next day, it gives your enzymes and hormones the green light to repair and restore cells and muscles. And as researchers now tell us, it’s also essential for clearing out the metabolic garbage that builds up in our brain during the course of the day.

Why Noise Is Bad for Our Health

Noise can elevate our stress hormones — even at levels that do not produce hearing damage — according to a recent study.

7 Tips for a Clean, Green and Serene Bedroom

Sleep. It’s the essential, health-supportive, feel-good habit that we get to treat our bodies to every night. And while most of us are aware of its importance, not everyone thinks about the health of the space they’re sleeping in -- their bedrooms. Granted, you probably wash the bedding and vacuum on the regular, but your bedroom’s still got a dirty little secret.

6 Ways an Out-of-Balance Gut Affects Your Well-Being

The community of bacteria living in your body have a bigger impact than you may realize — from your mood to your heart health.

8 Ways to Lose Your Winter Blues

For those of us who live in the temperate zone, winter is a real thing. Not only does it have its own characteristic weather profile – gray, chilly, intermittently snowy or slushy or rainy – it’s got its own emotional profile to match. Call it the winter blues or the winter blahs.

Everything You Need to Know About Intermittent Fasting

Not so long ago, nutrition experts advised eating small, frequent meals throughout the day and never, ever skipping them. Today, some of those experts have changed their view. They now recommend a practice called intermittent fasting, or IF, an approach to food timing that involves periodic short fasts — anywhere from 14 to 48 hours — that can spark substantial health benefits.

4 Fantastic, Fast-Acting Stress Fighters

For many of us, being relentlessly stressed-out has become an almost ‘normal’ state, however unpleasant. Unfortunately, the stress overload of modern life can have a massive impact on our health, weakening immunity, damaging organs and, over time, increasing the risk for many of the diseases we fear most.

Resolution Backlash

For many people, the New Year feels like a fresh start. So we make resolutions to lose weight, to play the piano daily, to learn Mandarin. These vows are an ancient practice - though they may have been no better at fulfilling their resolutions than we are now.

20 New Year's Resolutions for 2020

When it comes to the end of one year and the start of another, I always like to take some time to reflect on the lessons learned and think about the tweaks we all can strive to make going forward. This year, going into 2020, I propose focusing on 20 behaviors that encourage wellness in all aspects of life.

Outsmart Your Smartphone: 4 Ways to Curb Digital Distraction

Reboot your natural brain power — without totally untethering from technology.

Words from the Wise: Choosing Optimism for 2020

Continually voicing your difficulties can push you – and others – down a rabbit hole of negativity, ironically leading to increased disconnection from others, a poorer outlook on life, and even compromised health. Optimism has the opposite effect, according to numerous studies, positively impacting both mind and body.

5 Ways to Slow Down

Do More and Age Less By Helping Your Mitochondria

Because mitochondria power the biochemical reactions in most of your cells, when you don’t care for them, your body just isn’t going to work very well. If you’ve noticed that your energy isn’t what it used to be, or maybe you’re struggling more frequently with brain fog, that’s a clear signal to pay your mitochondria more attention.

Could You Have Responsibility Fatigue?

We couldn't arrange to have more hours added to the day, but if you're drowning in tasks, this advice will serve as lifeline.

Grow Your Gratitude

You know the drill: ruminating on ’how bad things are,’ competing with others or striving for what you don’t have. It’s all too easy to set yourself on a very dissatisfied course. How to get off the not-so-merry-go-round? Learn the art of gratitude! Think of gratitude as a skill that you can, and should, brush up on.

All About Collagen

This dietary supplement has been getting a whole lotta love from the wellness and beauty worlds. Here, the facts behind the hype.

8 Ways to Stress Less This Holiday Season

The holidays are upon us, and though few of us can skip the month of December altogether, there are ways to better manage this stressful season while preserving your health and sanity. Here are a few tips to help keep body and soul on an even keel for the next few weeks and well into the New Year.

What You Need to Know About Essential Oils

Do essential oils work? They’ve become a powerful wellness trend — but are essential oils a cure-all, a marketing scheme, or something in between?

Health Coach Tip - Giving Thanks

The Thanksgiving meal may be the one meal that we pay the most attention to. Many of us make the effort to cook the whole meal from scratch, often in the company of family and good friends. We are reminded of what and who is truly important to us.

Foods and Spices to Strengthen Your Immunity This Winter

We as a culture have become used to popping antibiotics with the first signs of a cold, especially during the winter. Instead of popping pills, incorporate some of these foods into your diet. Minimize the need for antibiotics by lacing your diet with foods that naturally have antibiotic properties.

Holiday Stress - 5 Causes and Antidotes

The holidays are almost upon us, and while this time of year is exciting and joyous, it can also be downright demanding. Between holiday parties, family gatherings, and other commitments — or perhaps the absence of such — we often wind up feeling stressed, depressed, or burnt out by the time New Year’s Day hits.

Boost Heart, Brain and Mental Health with Meditation

Need a vacation? Get into meditation! It’s free, easy to learn and is an essential skill that you can use anytime, to help you manage the stress, pressure and non-stop challenges of modern life. And did we mention that meditation can also keep your heart, brain and body young, healthy and relaxed?