Amid the discerning consumers of post-pandemic wellness culture– in which the prospects for future thriving look increasingly like things we used to do in the past— ice baths and cold plunges are having a pop culture renaissance. I first heard about cold plunging almost ten years ago, when the talking heads in the New York […]
free therapy
4 Mental Health Bath Recipes For Improving Wellbeing (& Why We All Need Hydrotherapy)
Baths are an ancient healing practice in almost every culture around the world, from the hothouses of Scandanavia and banyas of Russia to mud baths in Ecuador, hot springs in New Zealand, and ancient Indigenous parajes of the American Southwest. The therapeutic use of water to soothe mental and physical ailments (also known as hydrotherapy), […]
Why Your Partner Shouldn’t Be Your Therapist
After one of our posts went viral on Instagram, we figured it was best to expound on the thread that Sandra from Twitter, below, so thoughtfully started. Why is it, exactly, that your partner shouldn’t be your therapist? The idea here is tempting. You can save money on therapy, allow yourself to be vulnerable and […]
The ‘Psychic Sponge’ Effect: How To Be Less Sensitive To Other People’s Emotions
Empaths who are highly sensitive to other people’s emotions are often exhausted by the so-called “psychic sponge” effect. When you’re a very sympathetic person that’s acutely aware of other people’s emotions and “vibes”, moreover, they call that being a “psychic sponge.” For people who identify with this level of heightened emotional awareness, navigating life can […]
How To Use Glimmers (The Opposite of Triggers) to Relieve Stress
I first heard about glimmers and the concept of a “glimmers list” when somatic coach Sarah Baldwin mentioned them both in a tutorial about how anxious people can learn to understand and regulate their nervous system. After 10 years of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and about ~3 years of Somatic Therapy, I was surprised that this […]
Watch Esther Perel’s Concise Lesson on How to Argue Better
Esther Perel is a preeminent psychotherapist and relationship expert from Belgium, who is known for her dynamic research on everything from couples intimacy to argument style. She is the author of several New York Times bestselling books on relationships (including The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity) as well as the creator of a new, intriguing […]
This is “The Most Calming Song in the World” According to Neuroscientists
Hunting for relaxation music and want to get really clinical about it? Marconi Union’s “Weightless” is literally the most calming song in the world– at least according to neuroscientists. Allow me to explain further. In 2011, British ambient band Marconi Union worked with sound therapists and researchers from Mindlab International to specifically design an 8-minute […]
12 Things That Are Better Predictors of Happiness Than Money, “Success”, or Accolades
If happiness is all that matters at the end of the day, then why obsess over money and success when everything you need to be happy is already within your control? This is the premise of what I call the “Dirty Dozen” of Happiness: 12 key attributes, circumstances, and personal qualities that are better predictors […]
5 Proven Strategies for Building a Resilient Mindset
Resilience– also known as psychological resilience— is understood as a person’s ability to recover from setbacks and remain relatively unruffled by what life throws at them. It’s not really something you can measure so much as feel. We all have it, but like most aspects of mental fortitude, some of us are better at it […]