After some time spent volunteering on an organic farm, a summer interning in the health and wellness space, and a whole lot of time spent reading and researching as a result, what I was hearing was accelerated aging, increased risk of cancer, poor circulation, and cognitive impairment as a few of the not-so-sweet effects of sugar. I figured I’d cut back on it for a week, maybe two, and see if there was any validity to what sounded at the time like pretty extreme health claims....

That acceptance is the letting go. It’s understanding that you’re better off without this person having immediate access to you, if any at all. And from this place of acceptance, you’re able to free up the attention and energy you were giving this person and put it toward things that actually bring you peace and joy. Whether you’ve just experienced a breakup, or you have a feeling you’re about to, finally letting go of that person is never easy....

All luffa is native to hot, tropical locales, so this is a sun-loving plant that will grow best in warmer climates. And grow it will. When a luffa vine is happy in its environment, it can reach 30-plus feet high and produce 50 large gourds (1 to 2 feet tall each), and a plethora of pollinator-friendly yellow flowers, in a single season. Luffa can take up to 200 days to produce gourds, though, so patience is key with this plant....

Lingam is the Sanskrit word for penis and loosely translates to “wand of light.” In tantra philosophy, we approach the lingam from a place of the utmost love and respect, the same way we approach the yoni, or vagina. (The yoni massage might be considered the equivalent of the lingam massage, just performed on people with vaginas.) When you bring your partner pleasure through their “wand of light,” you are filled with that same energy or light in a conscious exchange of energy in giving and receiving pleasure....

We reached out to licensed marriage therapists Beverley Andre, LMFT; Kiaundra Jackson, LMFT; and Elizabeth Earnshaw, LMFT; for their thoughts on what couples should talk about before getting married. Here are some of the most important, eye-opening questions to ask before marriage: Consider questions like: Consider questions like: You’ll want to understand how you’ll share the housework, child care, and mental load. “Everyone who plans to get married has created a story or a narrative in their head about what that will look like for them....

In our brain-imaging work, we began by looking for patterns that could help us diagnose and treat mental health conditions, such as ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety. But as we studied more and more scans, we also realized that certain brain patterns corresponded to personality types. Based on our research, we have identified five primary brain types that influence who you are, how you behave, and how you relate to others....

But in committed love relationships, “cheating” isn’t always about a sexual encounter, secret flirtation, or online erotic event. Fundamentally, it’s about breaching trust. It’s one person making a unilateral decision to cultivate nonsexual intimacy with someone other than their primary romantic partner in a way that weakens or undermines the relationship. Many see this type of connection as having an erotic component to it. Though there often can be an underlying romantic or erotic energy in emotional cheating, it can also occur without the element of romance or eroticism present....