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.
Why does spicy food make your nose run?
No matter what spice level you can handle, we’ve all eaten spicy food that’s a little too hot. Whether it’s from sprinkling a little too much hot sauce over your meal or ordering too ambitiously in an Indian restaurant, the sensation is not the most pleasant. Your mouth starts to burn, Read More...
Is flossing actually important, and how often should we do it?
It’s probably safe to say that most are committed to brushing their teeth at least twice a day (though whether most people also reach the recommended two minutes is another story). However, when it comes to flossing, it’s way more common for people to drop the ball. The American Dental Read More...
How to be an ally part I: performative allyship
In recent years, and especially in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020, social advocacy and activism around the world have evolved and continue to evolve at an admirable pace. The emergence of activism in the era of social media, which, whether we like Read More...
How to be an ally part II: effective allyship
Welcome to part two of this two-part series on allyship --- click here to read part one --- one of the neologisms born out of contemporary English-language social justice activism. More specifically, this piece will discuss what it takes to move from performative allyship to effective allyship, Read More...
Your questions about adaptogens answered
Health buzzwords are used all over the place - bio-organic, all-natural, pasture-raised - but do we know what they really mean? Well, today we are going to dive into one particular word being thrown around a lot at the moment: adaptogens. What are adaptogens? "Adaptogenic" means to regulate or Read More...
Here’s how to prepare for allergy season
Spring is well underway, bringing with it migrating birds and blossoming trees. For some, spring also marks the start of allergy season. According to the CDC, 19.2 million adults and 5.2 million children in the U.S. suffer from seasonal allergies or hay fever. Due to climate change, pollen Read More...
The formula of “flow”: how we get in the zone at work
We’ve all experienced the fulfilling experience of “flow.” This is the immersive and usually elating state of mind we reach when we are creatively moving from one sentence to another deep into a writing project, reacting thoughtlessly and rapidly in a basketball game, or even operating at Read More...
5 cities celebrating the earth by “plogging”
If case you haven’t heard, “plogging” combines physical exercise and cleaning up your town and environment. It started in Sweden — “plogging” being a portmanteau of the Swedish phrase “plocka upp,” meaning to “pick up,” and jogging — and the craze has caught on around the Read More...
Six ways to encourage pollinating bees in your garden
Bees are the most prolific pollinators on the planet and every gardener’s best friend. The majority of flowering plants in the world need the help of pollinating animals like bees to reproduce, and they pleasantly add a gentle buzz to the air. So how do you make sure that your local bee Read More...
With empathy comes better solutions. Here are 3 ways to be more empathetic
Everyone sees things differently, and yet we often assume that people share our same perspectives. With such assumptions, you may conclude that someone else should also behave like you would or hold your beliefs. Unfortunately, these assumptions are often wrong and can cause us to have less empathy Read More...