Lifestyle
Alongside taking care of other people and the planet, make sure you take good care of yourself. The Lifestyle section at the Optimist Daily has solutions for everyday wellbeing on topics like food, beauty, fashion, and the latest trends. Curious about caring for houseplants, eating plant-based, or parenting tips? It’s all in there.
What is the ideal bedtime? Science has a new answer
If you live in the US, daylight saving time has probably thrown your sleep schedule for a loop, but the good news is that if you’re working on getting back to a regular sleep and wake time, researchers have new insights into what time you should be striving for. Researchers from UK Biobank Read More...
Ireland to become 15th European country to ban fur farming
Minks, foxes, weasels, and other furry friends can breathe a collective sigh of relief—Ireland is to go ahead with its fur farming ban, which will be enforced in 2022. This makes Ireland the 15th European country to do so. Ruth Coppinger, a politician from the People Before Profit/Solidarity Read More...
How to master the art of receiving compliments (& why you should)
Gracefully receiving compliments is an art that many people struggle to master despite the growing evidence that giving and receiving compliments benefits us in many ways. If you’ve ever felt squeamish when someone directs a compliment at you, then you’re not alone—and there are many Read More...
5 Ways a neuroscientist turns anxiety into productive energy
Neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki says that 90 percent of individuals suffer from what she calls “everyday anxiety.” This condition is different from clinical disorders, and manifests instead in ways that we are all familiar with: difficulty focusing, discomfort in social situations, or sleep Read More...
4 simple ways to reduce your everyday waste
We all want to reduce our personal footprints, and a big part of this is reducing the amount of waste we produce at home. Today we bring you four strategies for reducing waste in commonly-wasteful areas of your life: Electronics, food, bedding, and the garden. Is it repairable? A high Read More...
How to prep your pup for winter
You’ve probably seen dogs fashionable sporting sweaters, jackets, and booties in the wintertime, and while this may be adorable to human onlookers, how critical are these fashion choices for dogs? Today we share how to equip your dog for winter and whether you really need to invest in jackets and Read More...
Don't toss that out! Why we should all be eating beet stems
Beets are a versatile and vibrant veggie that offer an abundance of health benefits… but did you know that beet greens (i.e., the stem of the leafy stem of the vegetable) are also full of nutrients? Two registered dietitians and a private chef share how to prepare and eat beet greens and give Read More...
What Norwegians can teach us about beating the winter blues
Today the sun will set in the Norwegian capital of Oslo at 4:06 pm. That sounds awful, especially for those of us living in the US, and makes us beg the question: how do nordic countries beat the winter blues when sunlight is so fleeting? One Stanford researcher, Kari Leibowitz, spent a winter in Read More...
7 Reasons cooking at home gives your mental health a boost
Cooking isn’t just a means to an end when you’re feeling hungry—it can actually be considered a kind of therapy. Professionals refer to the act of cooking at home to boost your mental health as 'therapeutic cooking,' 'culinary therapy,' or 'culinary mindfulness.' According to Culinary Art Read More...
Meet the woman on a mission to diversify the world of skateboarding
The world of skateboarding has been dominated by the typical “white boy” skater, which is what Marie Mayassi, who introduces herself as “born in Paris but originally from Congo,” noticed when she first took up the sport four years ago. Determined to change the scene’s lack of Read More...