Do we really need all these brand trips?
Influencers and celebrities are being shipped off on elaborate holidays, ostensibly to promote products. But are these lavish stunts a marketing tool or a wasteful display of wealth? Markers of extreme wealth become more normalised as the 1% grow exorbitantly richer. Take private jets, once revered as an exclusive mode...
Current in Wellness
New study finds arts engagement to slow biological ageing
Research from UCL suggests engaging with arts and culture improves overall health outcomes. These days, the fountain of youth is marketed as some kind of AI-backed, biohacked offshoot of the billionaire class. Health and wellness has crept further into a digital landscape – one often shaped by far-right thinking – and...
The PMOS renaming is a huge win for women’s healthcare
Reclassified as PMOS, the condition is finally stepping away from decade’s worth of misconceptions that have prevented many patients from getting well-deserved care. ‘It’s probably just stress or anxiety; there’s nothing wrong with you’. This is just one of the many things said by healthcare professionals before they go on to...
Is being offline a privilege?
Plenty of us want to check out from the algorithm. But is this a luxury few can afford? I told myself this would be the year I get rid of social media for good. It started with a phone detox – my addiction had reached its peak when I found it...
Is your perception of sleep quality why you’re really tired?
A UCLA study has built on research suggesting that our belief of how well we sleep has a greater impact on cognitive performance, tiredness, and general mood than how many hours we actually get. If there’s one thing this generation loves martyring itself over, it’s how ‘exhausted’ we are and...
Wellness culture has us training for pregnancy
Overzealous women are preparing for motherhood like it’s a marathon. The wellness girlies have become wellness mothers. Our societal love-affair with anything self-optimising, be it an overpriced supplement or a cyborg-adjacent beauty tool, has infiltrated the minefield of motherhood – particularly for first-time parents. Social media is window dressing for the global...
A definitive guide to surviving January
Spoiler alert: it doesn’t involve resolutions. It’s that time of year again: the start of a new one. A fresh twelve months lie before us, promising nothing except the unexpected. If there’s one thing I’ve learned after twenty-nine Januarys, it’s that you can make plans all you like. The universe will still find a way to laugh. Which makes the annual ritual of New Year’s resolutions feel particularly absurd. Perhaps to...
Opinion – the rise of carnivorous women says plenty about diet culture
Women joining the carnivore trend might look like a rebellion against diet culture, but the motivations, the messaging, and the results people chase still fall along familiar gender lines. In his New York Times piece about ‘the Men Who Eat Meat’, Steven Kurutz prefaces his exploration into the carnivorous diet trend by contrasting it with ‘Girl Dinner’. In case you missed it, the internet trend involves women documenting themselves curating...
Should ‘work-life harmony’ replace ‘work-life balance’ as a lifestyle goal?
A modern twist on work-life balance encourages a more ‘realistic’ and fluid approach to juggling our daily commitments. From the moment we start working, the question of balancing that work with our personal commitments becomes a lifelong fixation. And as modern capitalism demands more labour, time, and skills for comparatively less compensation, the chasm between our work and non-work selves seems only to grow. Navigating that gap feels impossible for many...
Feeling low? Here’s how to tackle the winter blues
From getting outside to tweaking your routine, these small changes make a big difference. Every year, winter rolls around and smacks me in the face. I know it’s coming – and yet I remain naive to its impact on my mental state. I’ll be half way through December before I realise the nagging sense of doom I’m feeling isn’t just ‘me’. My body’s been contending with dwindling sunlight, freezing temperatures, and a...
