5 things ancients knew about finding happiness - Fast Company
A Fast Company article that presents five ideas from ancient thinkers about how to find happiness.
Tagged wellness · everything
Interesting
A Tiny Forest Sauna Makes Room for Rest Without Major Excavation - Yanko Design
Sauna Zaježová, a roughly 269-square-foot timber building by Guča arch. at an educational center in Pliešovce, Slovakia, replaces an earlier sauna that wasn't comfortable enough. It gives changing, heating, resting, and cooling their own spaces: a central vestibule, a compact sauna room downhill, a larger glazed rest room uphill facing the forest, and a terrace with a cooling tub. The piece praises the design-build approach and the exposed larch frames, whose rhythm echoes stacked drying timber. It also praises the raised footing that avoids regrading the slope and the generous space given to post-sauna rest. It argues the project is no backyard template, since it's shaped by its site, and that the transferable lesson is to plan how people move through a place before worrying about the exterior. The old sauna is slated to become firewood storage.
7 Legit Ways to Improve Your Gut Health, According to GI Doctors
While gut health has become a wellness obsession fueled by social media and a booming supplement industry, there's actually no single formula for a healthy gut—it varies significantly from person to person. Rather than relying on pills and potions, gastroenterologists recommend proven lifestyle habits: eating plenty of fiber and diverse plants, staying hydrated, exercising regularly, managing stress, getting adequate sleep, and using antibiotics only when necessary. These everyday practices support the growth of beneficial bacteria and the gut-brain connection that influences everything from digestion to mental health and immune function.
Six Spokes Theory: Strategy For An Optimal Life
Proposes a "Six Spokes Theory" of life as a wheel with body, mind, love, work, money, and play as equally important spokes. Neglecting one is survivable for a while, but several loose ones eventually make the wheel collapse, as the author learned cycling in the Netherlands. The central twist is to balance energy rather than time, since work inevitably eats the hours: pace yourself like heart-rate training at 70–80% so you have energy left for the other spokes. The goal is an optimal, balanced life rather than becoming the best at anything, illustrated with the author's own habits around love, money, and play.
8 servicemembers in Lincoln strike group attempted suicide on recent deployment | The American Legion
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao disclosed that eight servicemembers aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln attempted suicide during a deployment exceeding 200 days of combat operations in the Middle East, contradicting earlier dismissals of mental health concerns by Trump administration officials and military leadership as "dishonest" media reports. The revelation came in a letter to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand after Stars and Stripes and other outlets had reported deteriorating conditions aboard the carrier during an extended deployment nearing a post-Vietnam War record, prompting calls for investigation from lawmakers. The Navy emphasized that no actual suicides occurred and that adequate mental health resources were available, while the service announced plans to improve future deployments through increased logistics and quality-of-life measures.
(98) You're More Stressed Than Ever - Let's Change That - YouTube
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3 Drugs Older People May Be Overusing - The New York Times
An analysis of prescription medications that older adults may be using unnecessarily or at excessive doses.
The sleeping x eating secret: 15 ways to better rest, a healthier diet – and a happier life | Food | The Guardian
Recent research confirms that diet significantly influences sleep quality, with a Mediterranean-style diet—rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats—offering the most comprehensive benefits, likely through anti-inflammatory compounds and gut-brain communication. Key sleep-promoting foods include nuts, seeds, tropical fruits, and tryptophan-rich proteins, while ultra-processed foods, high-glycemic-index carbohydrates, caffeine after midday, and alcohol (which disrupts REM sleep) all worsen rest. The relationship between sleep and eating is bidirectional: poor sleep alters hunger hormones to increase appetite the next day, particularly affecting men's ghrelin levels and women's leptin suppression, leading to an average 385 extra calories consumed and a preference for high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods.
The only sleep tracker metrics worth paying attention to, according to sleep experts
An expert guide to which sleep tracking metrics actually matter for optimizing your rest and recovery.
The Peptide People Are Using to Fix Their Sleep
Piece traces the TikTok-fueled trend of using sermorelin, an unregulated growth-hormone-mimicking peptide, to fix poor sleep, following biohacker Joe Scugoza's experience alongside anecdotes from Huberman and online forums describing initial REM disruption that resolves after a couple weeks. Sleep doctors interviewed push back hard, noting the science is thin (mostly a single 1998 study), the compounded drugs are unregulated and potentially contaminated, and there are real long-term risks like accelerated tumor growth—concluding that proven alternatives like resistance exercise are safer bets than what one doctor calls "hype dressed in real biology."
9 Things Experts Wish You’d Do in Midlife to Increase Longevity
How you care for yourself at this life stage matters a lot for your later years.
Cedar Soaking Tub
Product page for a Vancouver Island maker's cedar oval soaking tubs, spec'ing the clear vertical grain Western Red Cedar construction, stainless hoops, and 26"-deep single/two-person sizing, plus the choice between a wood-fired Chofu heater or 120V/240V electric packages with Gecko controls. Worth keeping as a reference for actual dimensions, heating options, and the caveat that electrical hookup and foundation prep are on the buyer, since tubs are built to order in Sooke, BC with variable lead times.
Does Fasting Work? The Strange Results of Living on Soup and Water for a Week
The author, a wine-drinking, indulgent writer, undergoes a week-long fast at the Buchinger Wilhelmi clinic in Spain, consuming fewer than 250 calories daily in broth, juice, and honey while receiving massages and spa treatments in a luxurious resort setting. Initially skeptical and preoccupied with fantasies of food, he adapts by day five as ketosis sets in, loses fourteen pounds, and experiences a psychological shift—not a temporary hunger fix but a genuine recalibration of his relationship with appetite and self-discipline that makes him question whether constant indulgence actually equals living well.
The 9 Biggest Wellness Travel Trends of 2026
This is a trend-forecast roundup for wellness travel in 2026, arguing that after years of hyper-optimized biohacking the pendulum is swinging toward sociable, low-tech, sensory experiences—group saunas with aufguss performances, DJ-infused spa clubs, star-bathing and desert retreats, mah-jongg and gardening workshops instead of pure fitness. It also flags women's health (especially menopause) and multi-generational/family programming as major growth areas, citing specific properties like Canyon Ranch's new Women's Collective, Scorpios' hotel-nightclub hybrids, and Six Senses' family fitness offerings. Worth keeping as a scouting list of specific hotels, retreats, and destinations to consider booking or referencing for a wellness trip.
Gifts for the Wellness-Obsessed: Little Luxuries That Nourish Inside and Out
A curated holiday gift guide built around wellness as the throughline, grouping picks into categories like self-care essentials, cozy rituals, nourishing treats, and stocking stuffers rather than by recipient type alone. It targets specific personas—the matcha devotee, the spa-bathroom sister, the breathwork-obsessed coworker—to help readers match products to particular habits and vibes. Worth keeping mainly as a shoppable reference list for 2025 holiday gifting, with affiliate links baked in.
Creating a Yoga Sanctuary at Home | Moss and Fog
A practical guide to designing a home yoga corner, covering location and lighting, decluttering, calming color palettes, natural elements like plants and salt lamps, aromatherapy, noise control, and personal touches such as altars or vision boards. It also flags post-practice recovery tools—foam rollers, CBD rollers, straps, massage balls—as part of building a complete, spa-like practice space rather than just a spot to unroll a mat.
The "Daily 50" Is a Simple Routine That Builds Lean Strength
The piece champions the "Daily 50" — 50 push-ups, 50 air squats, a 50-second wall sit, and a 50-second plank, split up however you like but done daily — as a no-equipment, anywhere workout built on functional compound moves and isometric holds. It argues the real value is consistency and accessibility (great for travel or getting back on track after a lapse) rather than serious hypertrophy, since the body will eventually plateau without progressive overload or gym work. Worth keeping as a low-barrier maintenance routine to fall back on, not a full training program.
Why French & German Beaches Are Embracing Naturism While U.S. Retreats Shrink
Piece traces Cap d'Agde's evolution from a 1950s-60s French experiment in body-acceptance and communal living into what's now billed as the world's largest naturist resort town, complete with its own bakeries, shops, marinas and unspoken codes of consent and discretion. Its real argument is philosophical rather than touristic: naturism there functions as "une philosophie de vie" tied to French joie de vivre, where stripping away clothing and social markers supposedly levels hierarchies and produces more genuine, judgment-free interaction. Worth keeping less as a travel guide and more as a case study in how a countercultural lifestyle experiment got normalized into a functioning village economy and cultural landmark.
I tried everything to get better sleep. These five items actually helped — Guardian US
A journalist with chronic sleep issues and sound/light sensitivity reviews tech tools she's actually used to improve her sleep, ranging from a $20 pair of Loop earplugs to a $349 Elemind headband that uses brain-wave stimulation. She finds that while some devices are genuine snake oil, several genuinely help—particularly the Elemind for fall-asleep assistance and travel, noise-canceling earbuds for blocking disruptive sounds, and a bone-conduction pillow speaker that doesn't require in-ear wear. The piece emphasizes that these tools work best when you're genuinely trying to sleep rather than as magical fixes, and offers budget-friendly alternatives alongside premium options.