At times, the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Or, in fitness circles, maybe a triathlon. For Paulajeanne PJ OClair, a movement specialist from Manchester-by-the-Sea, aerial yoga fits the bill.

For the uninitiated, aerial yoga is a unique combination of acrobatic, circus-like arts, and antigravity asana, or yoga practice, said OClair.

Many people are under the impression that aerial classes have you flying around and hanging upside down like they do in a Cirque du Soleil show, she said. But aerial instructors are trained professionals and well aware that most people coming into class are not skilled circus performers. They know how to provide a safe and effective environment for their students.

OClair first learned about aerial yoga from a spa owner in Nova Scotia.

I fell in love with the feeling and concept of suspension, she said. I tried to mimic it using the TRX Suspension Trainer, but it wasnt the same.

OClairs original Clubxcel & Northeast Pilates in Manchester couldnt accommodate the specific equipment required for aerial yoga. That situation changed when she opened Praxis Performance + Wellness in Beverly last summer.

We fabricated our aerial rigging from a huge construction crane, she said. The welders built the structure in the parking lot and then installed it.

Suspension from aerial hammocks, said OClair, has many benefits, including pain relief and body alignment.

You can support your limbs, decompress the spine, and relieve stress, said OClair. Its very restorative. You feel like youre in a cocoon. Its a personal experience suspended swinging in space completely encapsulated in a silk hammock.

A 2016 study commissioned by the nonprofit American Council on Exercise confirmed the disciplines health benefits.

Even though aerial yoga does not include traditional cardio exercises, a single session of aerial yoga offered participants many of the benefits associated with low- to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise like brisk walking or leisurely cycling, reported Dr. Cedric X. Bryant, the organizations chief science officer. After the six-week program, participants displayed measurable reductions in some common risk factors for cardiovascular heart disease.

Classes last anywhere from 50 to 90 minutes.

It starts like most any other practice a warm-up and then a solid asana practice to build strength, mobilize the joints, and integrate the entire body, said OClair. You can start the practice on the mat, standing, or inside the hammock.

There are various class formats a traditional vinyasa flow, a core inspired focus, or restorative practice, she said. Doing aerial twice per week is extremely beneficial. Look at it as a cross-training tool.

Other than the rigging provided at the studio, no special gear is required.

Just an open mind, said OClair.

There are many options for success, she said. Its a discipline, and there is no rush and no need for perfection. Just practice daily and build yourself.

A discipline like aerial yoga, said OClair, is particularly beneficial during winter.

My advice is to get it done early in the morning, she said. That way life cannot derail you. Once you get to work, its hard to get out, or youre exhausted. Get it done early. Youll feel charged up and ready to face the day.

Its easy to turn over and hit the snooze button when you dont have anyone waiting for you. said OClair. Schedule to meet up with others. Become part of a community to hold yourself accountable. Our members are very committed to their groups and partner up.

For details, visit praxisperformwell.com.

Correspondent Brion OConnor can be reached at brionoc@verizon.net.

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For practitioners of aerial yoga, the skys the limit - The Boston Globe

Lenovo is following the pattern of revealing updates to its flagship lineup at CES, and this year, ahead of CES 2020, Lenovo has updated the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and ThinkPad X1 Yoga with WiFi 6 support, additional security features, and a new keyboard.

The new 8th Generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and 5th Generation Yoga, are moderately similar to the previous generation models while sharing equal weight, 2.40 and 2.86 pounds, and thickness, 14.9mm and 15.25mm, due to the reuse of the previous generation's chassis. Hardware specifications include Intel 10th Generation Comet Lake processors up to six cores, soldered LPDDR3 memory available in either 8GB or 16GB (DIY users beware as this memory is soldered and not easily replaceable), and memory devices up to a 2TB SSD.

Lenovo ThinkCentre M90a AIO for Business Comet Lake & Radeon 625

Lenovo's improvement to the ThinkPad X1's keyboard is evident with the addition of VoIP controls and retains the scissor-type keyboard as found on previous models. Upcoming ThinkPads will also feature WiFi 6, a feature first introduced on AMD's X570 platform. Lenovo now offers an optional 1080p display with a maximum brightness of up to 500 nits and is paired with Lenovo's PrivacyGuard screen filter, a technology designed to narrow the viewing angle of the screen to prevent viewing of the screen from surrounding eyes. Various models will support PrivacyAlert on top of PrivacyGuard, a software that warns the user of another person viewing the screen and will automatically enable PrivacyGuard. For the full-fledged models, the Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 and Yoga are equipped with a UHD, 500 nit display with support for Dolby Vision.

Last but not least, both ThinkPads have a 51 Wh battery onboard that offers up to 15 hours on the Yoga, and 18 hours on the Carbon. As for the Carbon, this generation also meets the requirements for, and is part of, Intel's Project Athena program, and therefore meets Intel's performance and battery life bar.

The 2020 ThinkPad lineup is expected to become available later this year with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon coming in at a base price of $1,499 while the Yoga starts at a price of $1,599.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and Yoga 2020 Updates Revealed - Wccftech

A new study from the University of California, Berkeley has identified and mapped the 13 subjective experiences that different kinds of music can evoke in people.

Have you ever been in a situation where you wanted a playlist of musical tracks to put you in a certain mood for example, to motivate you to work but were unsure how to find it or put it together?

Soon, it may become easier to find music to suit your current emotions or kickstart you into action, thanks to a new study from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

The research, which doctoral student Alan Cowen led, used more than 2,000 music samples to gauge how different types of music influenced emotion in cohorts from two different countries and cultures: the United States and China.

"We have rigorously documented the largest array of emotions that are universally felt through the language of music," says the study's senior author Prof. Dacher Keltner. The study findings now appear in PNAS.

For their study, the researchers recruited 1,591 participants from the U.S. and 1,258 participants from China, who listened to a total of 2,168 samples of different types of music.

A first experiment involved a subgroup of U.S. and Chinese participants who listened to a music library of 1,841 samples, which they rated on 11 scales assessing for broad affective features.

This primary investigation allowed the investigators to come up with a long list of possible emotional experiences that different types of music could evoke.

It also allowed the researchers to verify how participants from different cultures perceived the same subjective experiences that the music tracks elicited.

"People from different cultures can agree that a song is angry but can differ on whether that feeling is positive or negative," notes Cowen.

Further experiments eventually led the researchers to identify a range of 13 emotions associated with music, which participants from both countries recognized.

The categories were: amusing, annoying, anxious or tense, beautiful, calm or relaxing or serene, dreamy, energizing, erotic or desirous, indignant or defiant, joyful or cheerful, sad or depressing, scary or fearful, and triumphant or heroic.

Across the spectrum, songs such as the iconic "Rock the Casbah" from the '80s rock band The Clash made people feel more energized, and the same went for Antonio Vivaldi's Baroque masterpiece, "The Four Seasons."

Al Green's 1971 single, "Let's Stay Together," elicited erotic feelings, while Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's upbeat version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" made listening participants experience feelings of joy.

Participants tended to experience feelings of defiance when listening to heavy metal and, as the researchers had predicted, feelings of fear when they heard the track "The Murder" by Bernard Herrmann, which served as background music for the famous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho.

To make sure that participants from different cultures really did experience the same emotions when listening to certain types of music, the researchers also conducted a confirmation experiment that they had designed to eliminate, as far as possible, cultural biases.

This experiment involved asking participants to listen to more than 300 traditional instrumental tracks from both Western and Chinese cultures. The participants' responses confirmed the findings: Listeners from both the U.S. and China reported that these tracks evoked similar emotions.

"Music is a universal language, but we don't always pay enough attention to what it's saying and how it's being understood," notes Cowen.

"We wanted to take an important first step toward solving the mystery of how music can evoke so many nuanced emotions," he adds.

"Imagine organizing a massively eclectic music library by emotion and capturing the combination of feelings associated with each track. That's essentially what our study has done."

Alan Cowen

In the future, the researchers believe that their work may even have practical applications. It may help psychologists and psychiatrists develop better therapies involving music and better allow developers to program music streaming services to identify playlists that will fit the listener's current mood.

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The 13 emotions that music evokes in us - Medical News Today

If you worry that you or someone you love will get heart disease or even have a heart attack, it's understandable.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Research shows you can lower your risk, particularly if you team up with family, friends or co-workers. This kind of social support may be the key to your success.

NHLBI, one of the National Institutes of Health, is inviting people across the country to team up and join #OurHearts, a national heart health initiative that encourages people to improve heart health together.

"Studies show that having positive, close relationships and feeling connected to others benefits overall health, blood pressure, weight and more," said NHLBI's Dr. David Goff, director of cardiovascular sciences.

Risk: Inactivity

Solution: Move more throughout your day. Aim for at least 150 minutes each week of physical activity. Build up to activity that gets your heart beating faster and leaves you a little breathless. If you're busy, try breaking your daily activity into 10-minute chunks.

Stay motivated: Make walking dates. Join a pickup soccer or basketball game. Join a fitness class with your neighbor. Grab a loved one and dance in your kitchen.

Risk: An unhealthy diet

Solution: Consider an option like NHLBI's Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan, which is free and scientifically proven to lower high blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels.

Stay motivated: Invite friends to cook up heart healthy recipes together. Start a lunch club at work and trade recipe ideas.

Risk: Smoking, even occasionally

Solution: Quitting can be beneficial to your overall health, even if you've smoked for years. Set a quit date and let those close to you know. If you've tried quitting in the past, consider what helped and what made it harder.

Stay motivated: Ask your family and friends for support or join a support group. Find resources and connect with a trained counselor at 1-800-QUIT-NOW or SmokeFree's .

Risk: Inadequate or poor-quality sleep

Solution: Sleeping 7-8 hours each night helps improve heart health. Try going to bed and waking up at the same time each day. Getting a 30-minute daily dose of sunlight may also improve sleep.

Stay motivated: Resist that late afternoon nap. Turn off all screens at a set time nightly. Relax by listening to music, reading or taking a bath.

Risk: Uncontrolled stress

Solution: To help manage stress, try relaxation therapy and increase physical activity. Talk to a qualified mental health provider or someone you trust. De-stressing may also help improve sleep.

Stay motivated: Join a friend or family member in a relaxing activity like walking, yoga or meditation every day.

Learn about heart health and heart healthy activities in your community at nhlbi.nih.gov/ourhearts. Use #OurHearts on social media to share how you and your friends, colleagues or family members are being heart healthy together.

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5 Ways to improve your heart health - San Marcos Daily Record

He started singing at the tender age of five under the direction of Priscilla Psaila. In 2016 James took part in the Singer Stage International Festival, finishing third, and that same year took part in the Konkors Kanzunetta Indipendenza with the song Ahwa Maltin, Ahwa Ghawdxin as part of the supergroup K4 featuring Graziella Vella, Maria Desira and Justine Delmar. James has also made appearances on Malta Llejla, Kalamita and Twelveto3.

Whats the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

I take a shower and have a bowl of cereal, to give me a boost for the day ahead.

What is the best advice youve ever received?

No matter how hard life gets, keep smiling.

What do you never leave the house without?

My mobile phone and wallet.

Pick three words that describe yourself

Hmm I really dont like describing myself but people say Im quiet, shy and calm.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

My greatest achievement is working in a school environment with children of all ages. It was always my dream job, since I was a child myself.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Eating a lot of chocolate.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

Giving up is never an option, especially if you believe in yourself.

Whats the most expensive thing youve ever bought?

My car for sure.

What is one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?

Playing the guitar, even though its never too late to learn.

Whos your inspiration?

My mother! I have always looked up to her.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Due to the fact that my voice changed when I was younger, there was a time when I had to stop singing completely so getting back in music was quite challenging, especially getting back on stage, but I am glad to have taken that step.

If you werent a musician, what would you be doing?

Most probably I would practise a sport. Football and tennis are definitely at the top of the list.

Do you believe in God?

Yes!

If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would it be?

There are way too many people whom I would like to meet up and have dinner with, but if I had to choose just one person, it would have to be Freddie Mercury because he was incredibly talented and would surely share a couple of stories.

Whats your worst habit?

Putting unfolded clothes in my wardrobe instead of hanging them (Sorry ma!)

What are you like when youre drunk?

Extremely funny, and loud.

Who would you have play you in a film?

Hugh Jackman.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Being double-faced, I cant stand it.

What music would you have played at your funeral?

Any music, but preferably, it wouldnt be sad, because I want it to be a celebration of my life.

What is your most treasured material possession?

My laptop as I watch a lot on movies on it in my free time.

What is your earliest memory?

My earliest memory has got to be of me singing for the first time in a singing competition. I was about five years old.

When did you last cry, and why?

Not so long ago. My dog hurt her leg and couldnt walk easily. But somehow, miraculously, after four days she was back to normal.

Who would you most like to meet?

Billie Eilish as she is my favourite singer at the moment. I would like to pick her brain.

Whats your favourite food?

Mixed shellfish and fish.

Whos your favourite person on social media right now?

Sarah Zerafa and Tamara Webb are definitely at the top of my list.

If you could travel in time, where would you go?

I would go back to when I was still in secondary school. It was definitely the best time of my life with no real responsibilities. The only worry I had back them was how I was going to complete the objectives on my playstation games.

What book are you reading right now?

I dont read a lot of books as I find online news more interesting.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Being invisible or teleportation.

Whats one thing you want to do before you die?

Seeing the Northern Lights has always been on my bucket list.

What music are you listening to at the moment?

A myriad of musical songs by Disney with the re-release of Aladdin and Lion King.

In the shower or when youre working out, what do you sing/listen to?

It depends on my mood and how tired I am but normally I would prefer to hear some relaxing music.

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Brad James: 'Seeing the Northern Lights has always been on my bucket list' - MaltaToday

MANSFIELD - The summer concert series for 2020 in and around the Boston area just keeps getting better and better. Not only will Green Day, Weezer, and Fall Out Boy be joining forces to make a big splash in Massachusetts. Not only will Taylor Swift hold one of only two U.S. tour stops in Foxborough in 2020 for her Lover Festival. Not only will Billy Joel break a record with yet another concert on the diamond of Fenway Park. Not only will James Taylor croon at the very same baseball stadium. But now, another legend is making his return to our music-loving state this coming summer in 2020. But the catch is that it is for justone night only, as shared by Masslive.

Jimmy Buffett, an iconic musician who has inspired legions of fans to follow him wherever he goes and proclaims themselves to be "Parrot Heads," will have the cool, relaxing vibes and good times coming with him on his Slack Tide Tour in 2020. Part of this tour will take him to Mansfield, Massachusetts on August 8 this summer. Joined by his Coral Reefer Band, the tunes of summer will be palpable at this Xfinity Center concert towards the end of the season.

This is Buffett's one night in Massachusetts in 2020 so New England Parrot Heads will definitely want to make the most of this when they can. Tickets will officially be on sale this Friday at ten o'clock in the morning so devoted followers of the seventy-three-year-old musician will have to set their alarms if they want to be privy to the first-come, first-serve nature of the event's exclusive ticketing availabilities. The "Margaritaville" and "Cheeseburger in Paradise" musician has limited the buying power of his concert to eight admissions per purchaser.

If August 8 is not a good time for you and you are a devoted Parrot Head, there are more opportunities to experience the music of Buffett this summer whenEscape to Margaritaville, Buffet's original Broadway musical, tours in Hartford, Connecticut from June 9 to June 14. It might just end up being the summer of Buffett!

Image via Wikimedia Commons

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Jimmy Buffett Returns to Massachusetts This Year - Up To Boston

Heres hoping that your holiday season has been filled with joy, loved ones, and good health. But if were being honest, were pretty sure that the past month or so has been filled with over-eating, nonstop celebrations, an endless supply of champagne (or whatever your beverage of choice may be), and not nearly enough sleep. Dont worry, youre not alone. Ask literally anyone you know and were willing to bet youll find that people dont sleep enough during the holiday season. But the really excellent news is that as we kiss the holidays and New Years Eve madness goodbye, we have a new excuse to celebrate January 3rd is the Festival of Sleep, which is literally the BEST way to kick-off 2020.

No, were not making this up. The Festival of Sleep is actually a thing. It might not be a national holiday or an official awareness day, but its definitely a day we can get behind.Imagine, a day to focus on nothing but rest. An opportunity to relax, re-invigorate, and reboot. A day that is entirely dedicated to sleeping and catching up on the shut-eye you totally neglected since Thanksgiving.

Not getting enough sleep seems harmless enough the holidays were busy, you were stressed from social engagements and family reunions and gift-giving, etc., so you slept less and felt exhausted more. But that lack of sleep can actually do more damage to your overall health than you might realize. Experts agree that sleep is crucial to good health, and many of the costs of poor sleep go unnoticed. Medical conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease have been linked to insufficient sleep, and sleep deprivation is considered an important risk factor for several illnesses according to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

We all know how crappy we feel when were exhausted, sleep-deprived and operating on post-holiday fumes. Which is why this Festival of Sleep falling just days after New Years Eve wraps is such a genius day of rest we all deserve. Think of it as a vacation from your vacation a day to relax after a far-from-relaxing festive month of fun. Seriously, put on your PJs and get back in bed, on January 3rd you have our permission to just chill.

Cant skip work and spend the entire day in bed drifting off to dreamland? No worries, there are a lot of ways you can observe this day without your head even hitting the pillow. Listen to relaxing music as you wind down from the day. Take a relaxing bath instead of a quick shower to help your body and your mind relax. Keep your clothes comfortable, your sheets clean and soft, and your clutter to a minimum. Use the day as an excuse to keep things simple, soothing, and mellow.

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Why We Should All Start Our New Year by Observing the Festival of Sleep - BELatina

Activate Your Vagus Nerve

Its the secret to calming down

Activate what now? Stick with us: The vagus is the largest and longest of the 12 nerve fibers emanating from your brain. It branches out to reach every major organ in your body, making the mind-body connection a literal one. Researchers hypothesize that the vagus is part of whats known as the microbiota-gut-brain axis, and John Cryan, an Irish neuroscientist, has identified the nerve as one way that microbes in your gut send signals to your brain. Which, as he likes to say, proves that what happens in vagus does not stay in vagus.

Why should you care?

Because the vagus nerve is a link to your parasympathetic, or rest and digest, nervous system. When stimulated, it slows down your heart rate, switches off your fight-or-flight response, and relaxes you. Things like yoga, deep breathing, massage therapy, and moderate exercise can activate it, which might help explain the positive feelings we get when we do them.

In an effort to trigger my own vagus nerve, I began searching for a quick and effective technique. Beyond stimulation therapy, in which surgeons implant a device that sends electrical impulses to the brain, there are no other FDA-approved methods to get the health benefits. Ive yet to find a piece of scientific evidence that doesnt get extrapolated well beyond where it should be, says Mike Tipton, a professor of environmental physiology at Englands University of Portsmouth.

I ruled out any method that required surgery, hiring a specialist, chanting, or gagging (the vagus nerve is connected to the throat muscles), as well as long-term investments like changing the composition of my gut microbiota or developing more meaningful friendships. The technique I kept returning to was cold-water face immersion. A number of experiments have shown that dunking your face in cold water reduces your heart rate and blood pressure. Even Tipton agrees that its a legitimate way of stimulating the vagus nerve, but notes that the therapeutic benefits are currently unproven.

A group of scientists in Luxembourg recently tested wearable devices that cool the vagus nerve via a patch of skin above the clavicle, but you dont need to buy any new gadgets. Simply submerge your face in cold water for a few seconds. I tried it for several days, using water at about 55 degrees, and found the experience refreshing and, after the initial shock, somewhat calming. Even a quick splash can work. Ahhhhh. Feel that? Thats vagus-nerve stimulation. Peter Andrey Smith

Just go outside. Thats it.

The crux of Jenny Odells argument in her book How to Do Nothing is that a narrow definition of productivity, which plays out on devices and social-media platforms, has monopolized our minds. Her solution? The 33-year-old Stanford lecturer urges us to pay attention to the natural world wherever we arewhether thats the wilderness or the middle of the city. We asked Odell what that looks like. Molly Mirhashem

I dont spend time outdoors to think about myself. Its not about self-improvement. Its about fundamentally refiguring your relationship to everything around you.

My book isnt anti-technology. I teach digital and internet art, and there are amazing things online. But within the attention economy and social media, time feels very stunted. Youre trapped in an endless urgent present. When I think about how it feels to go for a walk around the block and just look at things, its almost the direct opposite.

I use the crowdsourcing app iNaturalist to help identify local flora and fauna. It works well in places like the Bay Area where theres an active community of users. And I find it heartwarming to know that someone else is paying attention to the same thing as me and cares about it.

I considered myself to be in conversation with the outdoors as I worked on the book. Whatever environment I was in played an active role in how I formed my thoughts. It sounds cheesy, but I considered parks a collaborator, just like if you had a partner on a project who you talked through your ideas with.

(Photo: Hannah McCaughey)

Binge-watch Netflix. Eat pizza. Take that tequila shot. Not every day, but some days. Because a little indulgence is liberating.

Its good for your brain

Each time we acquire a complex skill, our brains spring into action, shifting gray and white matter around in a process sometimes referred to as activation-dependent structural plasticity. To use an analogy from running, its like trading a steady 5K jog for a series of high-intensity sprints. It might be painful at first, but it makes your brain stronger. Even more appealing, developing new abilities may make us less stressed.

I reminded myself of this one morning last fall as I stood on the deck of the Wild Pigeon, a J/24 keelboat with a jaunty red hull owned by the Manhattan Yacht Clubwhich, despite its name, islocated at Jersey Citys Liberty Harbor Marina. I was here to learn to sail, but also to explore the broader upside of doing so. In instructor Krista DeMille, I had an encouraging role model. She started sailing only a few years ago. A classically trained dancer and actor who also led river-rafting trips, she was a walking advertisement for the polyvalent self.

With the metallic clang of nearby construction as a backdrop, DeMille kicked off the two-day intensive course by guiding me through sailings dizzying multitude of terms. I struggled to keep up with the flurry of hanks and clews and halyards, my Scrabble arsenal expanding by the minute. Next we moved to knots: square knots, slipknots, figure-eight stopper knots. To teach me the bowline, DeMille used a little story of a rabbit and a tree. Then she had me raise the jib and mainsail and fix the trio of tensioners, each with its own dynamics. It felt like doing a full-body workout while standing on a balance board.

This dockside training was a tonic for my brain, suggests Denise Park, director of research at the University of Texass Center for Vital Longevity. There is some evidence, she says, that engaging in cognitively demanding tasks over a sustained period of time keeps our brains sharp as we age. The ideal task is something intellectually challenging and preferably novel. As much as the brain likes a mental workout, it also likes physical exertion: exercise has been shown to enhance cognition.

DeMille took us into New York Harbor, one of the worlds busiest, filled with a staggering array of large vessels, most of which seemed to be bearing down on us. Raise the jib! she shouted. I clambered toward the bow and began hoisting. The sail unfurled a few feet and then refused to budge. DeMille took a look. Sailing, she told me, is about problem-solving. Eventually, she found that Id shackled the line not only to the grommet (correct), but also to the forestay (incorrect).

Once that was sorted, she handed me the tiller, and all that previously abstract instruction became very real: we were a crew of two, and the winds were robust. Sailing demanded all my attention. This itself, in an age of endless distraction, has benefits. While at the tiller, I couldnt reach for my phone or think about the sources of anxiety in my life (bills, story deadlines, middle school application forms). No surprise there. But the fact that I was also learning a new skill provided its own form of stress reduction. As a recent study in the Journal of Applied Psychology on stress in the workplace suggests, learning gives us powerful psychological tools to combat job stressors, building our feeling of competence and enlarging our sense of self.

In my case, Id studied several things at once: knots, navigation, the wind, the etiquette of the seathe 100-question certification test I took afterward (I passed) only scratched the surface. Ultimately, sailing seemed like a metaphor for learning itself: something that takes you to new places and uses the power of nature to make you feel better.Tom Vanderbilt

It isnt making you happier

Caffeine is the worlds most popular psychoactive substanceAmericans alone spend $72 billion on coffee each year. But surprising research suggests that it doesnt work the way we think it does. According to Jack James, former editor of the Journal of Caffeine Research, if youre a regular coffee drinker, caffeine doesnt make you sharp, improve mood, or perk you up. And some of the worlds leading drug researchers, including David Nutt at Imperial College London and Peter Rogers at the University of Bristol, have confirmed that caffeine doesnt boost wakefulness above baseline for those who are dependent on it. They explain it this way: You feel fatigued as your first espresso wears off, and you start going into withdrawal. So your next jolt is really just bringing you back to normal. Thats pleasant and encourages caffeine consumption, Rogers says, but its not providing a net benefit to functioning. Given that, and the fact that caffeine can cause sleep disruption and elevate blood pressure, it may be time to wean yourself. Life really is possible without it.Peter Andrey Smith

Hang time is easy and portable with the Eno DoubleNest. Its small and light enough to bring on any adventure, easy to set up, and roomy enough for two.

Three simple steps

Jennifer Stewart is a cofounder of Gateway Productivity, which coaches business owners on how to be digitally organized. She shares the core principles that help her clients. AbigailBarronian

(Photo: Hannah McCaughey)

Multitasking is a myth, Stewart says. She recommends that you turn off all notifications except texts and phone calls and consider installing an app and website blocker like Freedom, which forces you to choose when you digitally engage.

We hold everything in our head, and that causes stress, says Stewart. Pick a place where all those things can go. That way your brain can relax. Things 3 is a simple management tool that allows you to sort and schedule your chores.

Wonder where the day went? Try Toggl, a piece of time-tracking software. You record how you spend your work hours. After a few days, youll have a clear sense of where your energy is going and how you can adjust.

Avoid the stress of airport lines and delayed flights and be a tourist in your own town.

You need more sleep

Ive always been a morning person. I set my alarm for before dawn and head to the trail or gym when most people are still asleep. Then I shower and sip coffee while I catch up on the news or sift through e-mail. But a few months ago, I started to feel sluggish during those sunrise jogs, and I watched my mile times slow. As I yawned through the day, I wondered whether I was a morning person after all.

It turns out a lot of us feel tired. According to a Gallup poll, 40 percent of Americans report getting less than the recommended seven hours of sleep per night. The fewer zs we get, the more our bodies and brains are compromised. You might see a significant decline in physical performance over a period of three or four days, says W. Christopher Winter, a sleep researcher, neurologist, and author of The Sleep Solution. And youre likely to make three times as many mental errors.

So I vowed that for two weeks, I would sleep in. I reset my alarm from 5 a.m. to 6:30, kept my regular bedtime of 11:30 P.m., and meticulously tracked how every day went.

It didnt go well. Each morning, I woke up before my alarm and forced myself to close my eyes again. When the alarm went off, Id bolt upright, race to the shower, and start my day feeling unprepared. That frazzled state stuck with me as I hurried to meetings.

Yet I did notice that I was more engaged at work and made fewer mistakes. I started running in the evening and shaved five seconds off my mile time. While sleeping later isnt for me, it confirmed that my body feels healthier and my brain sharper when Im getting at least seven hours. So Ive set my alarm for 5 a.m. again, and I now have a second alarm that chimes at 10 P.m., telling me to go to bed. What I needed all along was to get more overall rest, something a lot of us could use. Abigail Wise

Exposure to biodiverse soil is good for your microbiome, which has been correlated with improved mood. Plant a tree, start a gardenor dig in at the Many Hands Peace Farm in Highlands, North Carolina, where guests learn and practice regenerative agriculture.

Want to relax? Tryknitting. Seriously.

Last winter, bucking gender stereotypes and the derisive looks of my 11-year-old daughter, I became a proud knitter. But lets back up. It all started as I was preparing for a podcast interview with Cal Newport, the author of Digital Minimalism, a bestselling book that examines the pitfalls of our screen-addicted lifestyles. My work project quickly evolved into a self-help mission. Newports book described a litany of bad habitstuning out the world with music, mindless social-media scrollingthat sounded eerily familiar. So I decided to commit to his prescribed digital declutter30 days without recreational screen time.

Newport is careful not tocall his plan a detox, a word he worries implies a short-term break rather than the transformation of ones relationship to technology that hes promoting. One of the things Ive noticed is that the people who succeed actually took advantage of the 30-day break to think seriously about what they really want to do with their time, Newport told me. You have to have a positive thing to replace this with. In other words, you need a hobbysomething you value that can fill the time you once spent scrolling through your Instagram feed when the monthlong moratorium expires.

(Photo: Hannah McCaughey)

Thats when I picked up knitting, essentially by default. It was February, so gardening and other outdoor hobbies werea no-go. I love reading, butI knew my passion for dense nonfiction would inevitably be overrun by the lure of Twitters more snackable nuggets. Woodworking sounded cool, but I have few tools and zero carpentry skills. Knitting? That seemed doable, perhaps even easy. I picked up two pairs of needles and two balls of yarn, recruited my wife to join me, then briefly broke my digital fast for a quick YouTube tutorial.

For the next month or so, we set aside our phones and plopped on the couch for nightly sessions of knit one, purl one. As soon as I had the basics down, I found that the repetitive, mindless task was relaxing and meditative, helping me to decompress from office life. Turns out research backs that up. In 2013, British well-being coach and knitting advocate Betsan Corkhill teamed up with an occupational-therapy researcher to survey more than 3,500 active knitters from 31 countries. Their conclusion: people who knit more than three times a week report improved moods, reduced anxiety, and less stress.

When the weather improved and the days got longer, I confess I put away my needles. But I plan to be a knitter for life. Winter is here, and theres a yard-long stretch of stitches in my closet yearning to become a scarf.Christopher Keyes

The scent of trees relaxes us. Skylonda Lodge, an hour south of San Francisco, has four-to-seven-day retreats that include strolling among redwoods reaching 300 feet.

Rest is an opportunity for reinvention

No one likes getting hurt, but sometimes the forced pause leads to much needed downtime and an opportunity for introspection. Last May, professional ultrarunner and coach Megan Roche ruptured her hamstring when she stepped into a prairie dog hole while training near her home in Boulder, Colorado. Initially, the prognosis was that shed never compete at the same level again. But Roche found a surgeon who told her that a reconstructed tendon could make her stronger than she was before. She had surgery soon afterward.

It was a crazy moment in my athletic career, because I fully contemplated what my life would look like without having that competitive outlet, 29-year-old Roche says. I went through every stage of the grieving process before ultimately getting the news that I should be OK. The episode made her acutely aware that she didnt want her identity wrapped up in something that could vanish in an instant. Roche, who also has a medical degree, says that her injury woke her up to the fragility of her career and inspired her to go back to school to pursue a Ph.D. in epidemiology.

Roche also points out that an injury often leads athletes to come back to their sport with a more well-rounded training approach. She appears to have found a middle ground: her research centers on bone health and the genetic predictors of sports injuries, and she plans to continue to coach and run.Martin Fritz Huber

(Photo: Hannah McCaughey)

Theres solid research on the stress-reducing benefits of having a pet. Meanwhile, Harvard researchers recently noted that walking is one of the healthiest forms of exercise.

Theres a reason tai chi has been aroundhundreds of years

Im a skier, biker, and climber with a full-time job, which means I obsessively cram my free time with as much high-impact activity as possible. But lately, recreation has felt less like fun and more like an urgent invitation to beat myself up, so I decided to slow things down. Which is why, on a sunny Friday afternoon, I find myself standing at the back of a martial-arts studio, relearning how to walk.

Jill Basso, a tai chi instructor for more than 20 years, comes over to correct my form. Im moving forward too much, she says. Which until now I considered the primary goal of walking. Tai chi, however, isnt really about getting anywhere.

The ancient Chinese martial art has been steadily growing in popularity in the U.S. over the past decade, boosted in part by support from the medical community. Research about its potential to build strength, balance, and stability, particularly in older practitioners, has led doctors to prescribe it to their patients. But those benefits probably extend to young people as well, explains Elizabeth Eckstrom, a professor at Oregon Health and Science University who has been studying tai chi in a clinical setting for nearly two decades. The practice can improve sleep, teach mindfulness, and help athletes advance in their sport. Its a good partner for all the things we do, says Eckstrom.

A typical session involves a slow series of movements. In Bassos class, the mostly over-60 students move fluidly and confidently through side steps, lunges, and sweeping arm motions. Without the goal of getting faster or going bigger, I learn about smaller limitations: my ankles are rigid, my quads allow my knees to bend only so far, my hips catch with certain movements. My limits are internal.

I have a complicated relationship with exercise. Its deeply tied to my sense of self-worth, and if I havent gotten my heart rate somewhere near 180 in a few days, I can get manic. Its something Im trying to change, healing my relationship with physical activities that are supposed to be enjoyable but have become a form of self-flagellation.

Tai chi, on the other hand, kept my heart rate around 80. It plugged me into a welcoming community of people who are tending to their bodies like a slow-growing garden. I started going to class twice a week, moving as deliberately as my body would allow. I learned that my sports habits and tai chi actually have the same goalsmental calm, physical strength, and overall well-being. And tai chi doesnt put me at risk of broken bones or a bruised ego.Abigail Barronian

See the rest here:

How to Chill Out and Relax Already - Outside

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When do you plan to retire?

Many individuals have an age at which they want to call it quits. And then there's the age when you really stop working.

If you're lucky, those ages are one and the same. But research shows that they're likely not.

Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies recently found that a majority of workers 54% plan to stop working after age 65 or never at all.

"By and large, many simply have not yet saved enough to retire comfortably," said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, of the research.

More from Personal Finance: Why Americans are contributing more to their 401(k)s Social Security narrows wealth gap but many retire in poverty New parents can take penalty-free early retirement withdrawals

But a September survey from personal finance website NerdWallet found that today's retirees stop working at age 59, on average.

That's much earlier than when experts generally recommend retiring. For one, Medicare eligibility doesn't generally kick in until age 65. What's more, full Social Security retirement benefits are now starting as late as age 67, depending on your birth year.

NerdWallet's survey found that some of those retirees 36% said they didn't have a choice as to when they retired. Moreover, 18% said they had to stop working because of their health, and 9% said a job loss forced them into retirement.

Right now, you're probably saving as if you will be the one deciding when you retire. You may not have to retire unexpectedly early, but you should save as if you may have to.

If you're in your 20s, putting more money away now means that you will have to save less over time, noted Arielle O'Shea, investing and retirement specialist at NerdWallet.

Even if the idea of retirement itself doesn't motivate you, the flexibility that having those funds will give you should.

"You're giving yourself options," O'Shea said, including the ability to pursue a different career if you choose to.

If you're in your 30s or 40s, do not get discouraged, O'Shea said.

Take advantage of any changes to your expenses, such as children switching from private day care to public school, to invest that extra money toward your retirement.

Bottom line: "Save as much as you can," O'Shea said.

One thing all retirement savers should do: calculate how much you need to save for based on multiple retirement ages. Non-retired survey respondents most commonly said they expect to retire between 60 and 66.

By moving your target retirement date higher and lower, you can see how that changes your retirement savings targets, O'Shea said.

"Americans aren't saving enough for retirement, and we're hoping to open their eyes about that and do whatever they can to boost those numbers," O'Shea said.

NerdWallet's online survey was conducted by the Harris Poll in July. It included 2,027 individuals ages 18 and up, 1,605 of whom are not currently retired.

Read more here:
The retirement savings blind spot you don't realize you have - CNBC

Kyle Long's retirement is a stark reminder of how much he's meant to the Bears

Maybe the craziest Kyle Long fact of all is that his football career started because he was tired of stocking the shoe room.

That was 10 years ago, and Long was 21. Then, playing at Saddleback College in California, not only did he switch from defensive end to guard(which Im sure never comes up in the Long household), but he picked it up so effortlessly that Pac-12 powerhouse Oregon offered him a scholarship after one season of JuCo ball. Playing on the offensive line against D-1 talent for the first time, Long started six of 12 games for the Ducks before being taken 20th overall in the 2013 NFL Draft.

But anyways, hows your early-20s hobby going?

We think the world of [Long], Ryan Pace said at the Bears end-of-season press conference. Its unfortunate hes had a handful of injuries. Hes tried to battle through all of them.

Those injuries are why, 10 years later, Long is hanging it up. Turns out, theres not a whole lot of individual accomplishments left after earning three different Pro Bowl selections and a spot on the team-sanctioned Top 100 Bears of All-Time list.

Unfortunately -- not to mention unfairly its his time spent off the field thatdominatesthe conversation these days. Long played 16 games only twice (2013 and 2015 seasons)and hadnt played in more than 10 since 2015. His labrum, triceps, foot, ankleand shoulder all failed him at one point or another along the way, and the collective toll outweighed another grueling offseason of rehab.

"Some Chicagoans are probably happy to hear I'm finally stepping away and getting my body right," Long tweeted. "Some Chicagoans may be sad to hear this. Either way u feel about it, I want u to know how lucky I am to have spent time in your city. I became a man while playing in Chicago. Thank you."

The end of Longs career was objectively hard to watch; you dont often see someone getting placed on IR after playing a full game just days before. But like Long tweeted, the writing was on the wall. At his peak, though, Long was not only one of the best players on the Bears, but one of the premier offensive linemen in football. According to Pro Football Focus, he graded as an elite or above-average NFL starter in every year from his rookie season in 2013 through 2017.

Hes also entertaining as hell, bringing his energy to both Halas Hall and The Web. The Bears locker room isnt short on vocal leaders anymore, but it was Long who stood up and talked for teammates while the team limped to various third- and fourth-place finishes in the NFC North. This past summer, in the span of a month, Long got kicked out of practice for fighting AND went full-frontal (accidentally, which cannot be stressed enough) on Tarik Cohens Instagram without so much as one preachy column about Athletes These Days.

Hes also more Logged On than his brother, retired NFL star Chris Long, which is arguably more of an accomplishment than the Pro Bowl at this point. The way Kyle used Twitter to hint at his retirement was a master class in content creation. Hes got a future in media should he want it.

As for Long's on-field abilityat his peak, fellow O-lineman Charles Leno Jr.summed it upbest.

"I told him I've seen how dominant he was, Leno said after the Bears put Long on IR. Literally seen him pick 350-pound guys up off the ground. That's really hard to do if you guys don't know. He would do that consistently. It just really sucks because I remember what he used to do and I just wanted to always get him back there.

The 2020 NFL draft will be here before you know it. The Senior Bowl gets underway with practices beginning on January 20, and the NFL Scouting Combine will follow soon after from February 23 to March 2. Add in a slew of college pro days, and it's draft weekend.

Free agency will play a big part in which positions the Bears target with their two second-round picks, but the way the 2020 draft class is looking right now after the slew of underclassmen declarations, there are two positions that may make the most sense for GM Ryan Pace: quarterback and tight end.

This year's quarterback class will feature several first-rounders, including LSU's Joe Burrow, Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa and Oregon's Justin Herbert. Other prospects like Utah State's Jordan Love and Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts have also received some first-round praise. But that doesn't mean Chicago won't have a chance to land a promising player with starter's upside at picks 43 or 50.

Washington's Jacob Eason, for example, is a prime candidate to come off the board in the early portion of Day 2, and with Mitch Trubisky's status as the team's starter in 2020 on shaky ground, it's an absolute necessity that Pace add a prospect to the roster from this year's class.

Whether he pulls the trigger on a quarterback in the second round is anyone's guess, but if he does, Eason would be hard to pass up. Here's how The Draft Network broke down his game:

Eason has a cannon for an arm and projects best into an aggressive vertical passing offense to take advantage of his arm talent to the deeper levels of the field.

He'd bring that touchdown-to-checkdown mentality that Matt Nagy has preached to Trubisky, who has yet to look like anything resembling a consistent NFL starter.

Quarterback won't be the only focus for Pace early in the 2020 draft. He has to fix the tight end position too, and the recent decision by Notre Dame's Cole Kmet to declare for the draft was great news for the Bears.

Kmet will jockey for the right to be this year's top tight end prospect throughout draft season. But even if he earns that title, he probably won't be a first-round pick. The top tight ends in the 2020 class are clustered together as early second-rounders, which, again, is fantastic for the Bears.Chicago can upgrade from Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen with one pick, and Kmet could be that guy.

Kmet's skill set as a receiver, whileoffering the baseline minimum as a run blocker, make him an every-down player who could eventually do for the Bears what many of the league's more reliable tight ends do for their offenses. He'd be a massive upgrade over anyone Chicago fielded in 2019, and that includes Burton.

If the Bears were able to come away from the second round of the 2020 NFL draft with Eason and Kmet, the offense would at least have a candidate to start immediately next season and a much-needed prospect at the game's most important position.

And that would be an absolute win.

The 2020 NFL offseason is already underway for the Bears, but the real fun won't get started until March when free agency officially kicks off.

Here are some key dates to circle on your calendar if you plan on tracking what general manager Ryan Pace does over the next few months:

Pace will have some difficult decisions to make between March 16 and 18, and some of those decisions will involve the futureof current Bears players.

Here's the list of current Bears who are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents, per Spotrac:

The good news for the Bears is there are only a few names on this list who warrant serious consideration to be re-signed. Kwiatkoski, Trevathan, Williams and Clinton-Dix immediately come to mind, but McManis and even Daniel deserve some attention. It isn't easy to find a special teams player as productive and selfless as McManis nor is it a simple task to land a backup quarterback who can serve as a coach and mentor without a starter's agenda.

The most likely scenario to unfold this offseason is this: Pace will identify two of the Bears' unrestricted free agents as priorities (my guess would be Kwiatkoski and Clinton-Dix) and will do everything in his power to re-sign them before March 16. He'll allow the market to dictate the terms for Trevathan and Williams; if their contract offers from other teams are reasonable and Chicago can offer the same terms? Maybe the hometown club gets the nod.

Pace acted swiftly to extend safety Eddie Jackson last week, and there's no reason to believe he won't (or shouldn't) do the same with wide receiver Allen Robinson. Then it'll be time to turn his attention to the team's players who are ready to cash-in on the open market before getting raided by clubswith more money and bigger needs.

Read more:
Why the Bears will miss Kyle Long on and off the field - NBCSports.com