To help us gain perspective and maybe even reclaim some calm, Mindful’s Content Director Anne Alexander talked with mindfulness expert and psychiatrist, Dr. Judson Brewer, Director of Research and Innovation, Mindfulness Center, at the Brown University School of Public Health. Dr. Brewer has been researching how app-based mindfulness can help calm anxious minds for several years. Anne: As a psychiatrist, can you explain a bit about what’s going on in our brains as we absorb the fact that we are all in the midst of a global pandemic?...

Yes, but… There is a hitch. If I’m asked, “Are you happy?,” I start rapidly running down a list of what’s been happening (things are going well for my children, or not, money is OK, or not…) and what looms ahead (the house is falling apart, the car is falling apart, hell, I am falling apart). That simple question transports me into evaluative head games about the past and the future, until finally I blurt something out....

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. To learn more about them, click here. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader Game Overview We don’t want to know who is smarter than a 5th grader; we want to know who is the smarter spouse! To play, one spouse will step up to be the contestant. The other spouse will act as the “classmate.” They will also answer the questions, but they will not be trying to earn money—yet....

How to Avoid Brittle Hair 1. Heat Styling Applying heat to your hair is a dangerous game. For many women, using heat to style is absolutely non-negotiable as it gets them the style they desire, and we totally understand! We’re not saying you have to stop using hot tools, but keep in mind they can cause serious heat damage if you don’t use a protectant in conjunction. When you do heat style, use a protectant like TIGI Copyright Custom Create Heat Protection Spray and try to make your style last for as many days as possible before re-styling....

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. To learn more about ’em, click here. Before we take a closer look at these one-of-a-kind contest prize ideas for adults, we need to give a massive designer shoutout to Diva Elizabeth. She helped make these printable game night prizes a reality! Each card represents a sexy prize, and we’ve included pre-made prize cards as well as blank options (in case you want to come up with your own sexy game prize ideas for adults)....

Don’t know where to start? Here are our top three tips to help you out for any curl type: How to Get The Best Curls Ever 1. Use a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. If you want your curls to have life, what you wash your hair with is very important. Some curly girls tend to stick to washing their hair with a cleansing conditioner as they feel it’s gentler on their curls than traditional shampoos....

Best Hair Styling Tools: 10 Essentials Every Girl Should Own 1. Hot Rollers You’re probably thinking that this is so old school but hear us out. Hot rollers are one of the best hair styling tools for achieving voluminous styles, or they can be used to prep your hair before creating updo hairstyles like beehives. 2. Curling Iron Yes, nowadays we can use a flat iron to curl our hair, but the only reason people opt for this is when they don’t own a curling iron to begin with....

We’re helping you achieve your best afro yet, so read on to learn more about how to get the best big afro style that works for every season: Tutorial: Steps for Creating a Big Afro On Natural Hair It’s time to create a voluminous style! Learn how to create a big afro below. Step 1: Wash your hair with a volumizing hair care system. Great hair all begins in the shower!...

There are so many block braid styles to choose from, and of course, endless ways to wear the look. If you’re looking for ideas, you have come to the right place! Read on below to see which we’ve rounded up as our most sought-after looks: 1. Large Block Braids The bigger your blocks, the bigger your braids will be. Try this fun take on the block braid with colorful braiding hair....

Keep scrolling to find inspo for a body wave perm if you’re looking to get the treatment done. Body Wave Perm: 10 Looks to Love The process of the perm can take 2 to 4 hours, but, if cared for properly, this chemical treatment can last 6 to 8 months. The decision-making process is rather difficult when it comes to committing to any chemical treatment. No one wants to be stuck with a style they end up disliking or spend hundreds of dollars on something that they hate....

The Bouquet Crown Hit the Runway and We are Living for It The focal point of this look is none other than the bouquet crown. It’s important to have your hair slicked back and completely groomed to avoid any distractions created by frizz or flyaways. Before creating this look, you should make sure that the shampoo and conditioner you are using will help keep your hair looking shiny and without any unwanted breakage....

Another way to streamline your workout is to make your gym hair routine easier. Trust us: using the right hair products and finding a style that transitions from the treadmill to your fast-paced life will make your gym days so much easier. One of our favorites is a braided ponytail that’s really easy-to-create and can easily adapt to your life post-gym. Ready to break a sweat and still look great?...

Now, a new study suggests a potential remedy for overly stressed medical students: compassion training. Caregivers Learn Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) Researcher Jennifer Mascaro and colleagues from Emory University randomly assigned volunteer second-year medical students to either 10 weeks of Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) or to a waitlist. The training, based on the Tibetan Buddhist practice of lojong, consists of cognitive exercises that strengthen students’ attention and explore the nature of suffering—how it arises in ourselves and others, of human interdependence, and of the randomness of labels that we assign to other people (e....

The study, a collaboration between Richard Davidson‘s lab and the Madison-based Games Learning Society (GLS), will be the first study of videogames done in the context of Davidson’s pioneering work exploring the link between neuroscience and mindfulness. Crystals of Kaydor is one of two games developed for the study. “This project underscores that social skills should be understood the same way as cognitive skills,” Davidson says. “One’s ability to respond empathically is a skill that can be trained in the same way that memory can be trained....

That doesn’t mean however that the rest of us have to sit this one out. Chalk colors provide the same pastel-hair charm, with a convenient wash-out option. That means, we dye-shy gals get to play with the pastel color trend too, but without a lot of the drawback, i.e. damage on our strands and our wallets. The best part? These hair chalk ideas easily shampoo out in a flash, so you don’t have to salt your game and decide on just one shade a season....

Curious how to turn your go-to chill out style into a chic messy bun? Read on: Feel On Point at Home with this Chic Messy Bun How to Create the Chic Messy Bun It all starts with some volume at the crown of your head and a little bit of a refresher. We suggest Love Beauty and Planet Volume and Bounty Juicy Grapefruit Dry Shampoo to refresh second-day hair and give you a clean start....

“We created this look to be chic and elegant, but also powerful since the hair is pulled back and you cannot hide,” explained Odile Gilbert, TRESemmé NYFW Stylist. Keep scrolling to find out how you can achieve this runway-worthy chic statement pony. The Chic Statement Pony is Your New Go-to Updo Blow-Dry Hair for a Smooth, Chic Statement Pony Start by blow-drying your hair straight and towards the back to achieve a chic statement pony....

This is so easy. Who enjoys cleaning the house and doing chores? No one, but we all appreciate when we don’t have to do them! Having a messy house isn’t fun either, so why not quickly do one {..or more} chore for your spouse today? This is sure to put a huge smile on your sweetheart’s face and of course make the evening together MUCH more enjoyable. Don’t forget to leave a sweet note nearby letting them know how much you love and appreciate them....

The goal of the five-day session is to bring the discussion of integrating contemplative practice into higher education to the fore, and engage the conversation on a face-to-face level. The session will cover contemplative practices as they relate to pedagogical issues, recent research, practical applications, and administrative and collegial comunication. The faculty for this year’s session will include professors from a range of backgrounds including: Daniel Barbezat, Professor of Economics at Amherst College, Linda-Susan Beard, Associate Professor of English at Bryn Mawr College Judith Simmer-Brown Professor of Religious Studies at Naropa University Joel Upton, Professor of Art and Art History, at Amherst College, Patricia Wallace, Professor of English at Vassar College, and Arthur Zajonc, Director of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society and professor of physics at Amherst College....