Today’s Solutions: January 19, 2025

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.

Herb-infused oil

Five herb-infused cooking oils you can DIY

Herb-infused cooking oils can add a welcome fragrance or taste note to your home-cooked meals. Not only that, but many of them can also be used as a moisturizer or to treat small cuts and scrapes.  Here are five herb-infused recipes for your cooking oil. For these, you’ll want to use plant Read More...

Bipolar mental health and brain disorder concept as a human head in paper divided in two colors as a neurological mood and emotion symbol or medical psychological metaphor.

How to support a loved one with bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition defined by extreme mood swings which include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). From individual to individual, the intensity of the condition varies, with some people experiencing extreme highs and lows multiple times a year or Read More...

African american man relaxing after work breathing fresh air sitting at home office desk with laptop, black relaxed entrepreneur meditating with eyes closed for increasing productivity at workplace.

Simple desk meditation exercises to help you de-stress at work

Stress manifests itself differently in all of us. Some of us have stomach pains, others headaches. Or maybe your shoulders tense up when you’re under pressure. An office is a place of peak stress for many people, but simple mindfulness techniques can help you take stock of your stress levels and Read More...

Fork in the Road

What to do at a personal or professional fork in the road

Whether it’s in our home life, academic life, or career, we all eventually come to an inflection point. This can be a fork in the road where we have a personal-professional dilemma of choosing between home and work. It can be the culmination of our frustration with a current job and a decision to Read More...

Composting

Five easy steps to start composting

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, about eight percent of all carbon emissions come from food waste, and about half of that comes from “the consumption stage,” which means waste from households and food services. This means that we can control about four percent of carbon Read More...

A bowl full of blueberries surrounded by bluberries

Adding blueberries to your diet could help stave off dementia

From slowing cognitive decline to accelerating chronic wound healing, blueberries can have many surprising health benefits. Now, scientists at the University of Cincinnati have uncovered that adding blueberries to your daily diet in middle age could reduce your risk of dementia later in life. The Read More...

a journal amidst an assortment of gardening tools

Start a garden journal to promote the health of your personal ecosystem

Here at The Optimist Daily, we are big fans of brain-boosting hobbies that support your health. For instance, cultivating your own garden has a positive impact on your well-being and is good for the environment. Journaling is also a fantastic way to de-stress, reflect on your life circumstances, Read More...

Portrait of a mature African American woman in the workplace.

Menopause education in the workplace (part 1)

Half of the world’s population goes through the life-changing experience of menopause. In America, this occurs around the age of 51. Menopause is the time that marks the end of your menstrual cycles due to changes in levels of the hormonal estrogen and can last between two and 10 years. Some Read More...

Smiling pleased disabled aged Caucasian person looking at the volunteer dusting the table in his presence.

Being a caregiver is hard, here are some tips to help you through

With an aging population, more people are becoming caregivers, with one in three adults in the United States currently being informal caregivers, someone who provides help and support to another who needs it. For example, looking after and helping an ill spouse, an aging relative, or a disabled Read More...

young woman suffering from severe period pain

Women’s health news: Spain to introduce 3-day “menstrual leave”

While some governments seek to limit women's access to safe abortions, there are some in the developed world aiming to do just the opposite and even go a step or two further. The Spanish government is poised to approve proposed legislation that will allow women who suffer from severe period Read More...