Monday morning was difficult in my house. “Spring Forward”— in theory —is great. All that extra daylight at the end of the day seems to bring with it a sense of abundance and possibility. However, losing that extra hour of sleep knocked us all for a loop. It got me thinking about why we need our sleep and why losing just one hour can make us feel off our center. This week is National Sleep Awareness Week, a public health campaign spearheaded by the National Sleep Foundation to highlight the importance of sleep. They use this seasonal time change as an opportunity to spread their message that getting regular, quality sleep is a key component in health and well-being. In fact, along wit
March 8th is International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. International Women’s Day, designated by the United Nations in 1977, is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities. This year’s campaign theme, #PressforProgress, is a call to action based on The World Economic Forum's 2017 Global Gender Gap Report findings that show gender parity is over 200 years away. And with global activism for women's equality fueled by movements like #MeToo, #TimesUp an
Home heating and humidity (or lack of it) may play a role in staying healthy through the winter. These colder days likely find us turning the thermostat up, which also dries out the air, as well as our bodies. Dry sinuses make it harder for the immune system to arm itself against a virus, and dry skin is just plain uncomfortable. In fact, low indoor humidity may actually promote the transmission of flu and viruses. For example, with higher humidity, viruses expelled in a sneeze will likely attach to water molecules and drop out of the air before they can trigger a new infection. In a dry room however, those viruses can float around until they reach their next target. What can we do? One w
