We all desire and deserve healthy, mutually supportive relationships, but sometimes we can find ourselves entangled with people who manipulate and harm us. Why do some people get a rise out of putting others down? Here, we’ll be doing a deep dive into the psychology behind this form of emotional control and how to deal with it. The term negging first showed up in the world of “pickup artists,” men who prey on women and seek to break them down in order to have sex with them....

And we’ve only just begun to uncover the complexity of the skin microbiome. Think about how little we know about space in relation to the vastness of the universe—that’s basically our understanding of the galaxy of organisms that live on the skin. “We need to grow a sense of wonder and humility about what we’ve discovered. We have emerged and evolved within this fully microbial world that was once fully invisible to us,” says biotech and microbiome expert and researcher Larry Weiss, M....

This class of ingredients is most often found in two types of products: anti-aging creams (or healthy aging, as we like to call it) and barrier support. Once you dig into what they do, that’ll make perfect sense. Here, our guide to peptides in topical skin care. When used topically, they act as messengers for the skin, says board-certified dermatologist Hadley King, M.D.: “Neuropeptides act as chemical messengers. In the skin they can be synthesized by keratinocytes or endothelial cells [which will, in turn, strengthen the epidermis, or skin barrier], or they can be released into the skin from nerve endings....

“Sometimes people who are wonderful partners for you (share your values, histories, interests, etc.) are also folx who are not going in the same direction in life,” therapist Dennis Nguyen, LCSW, (no relation to the author, by the way!) explains to mbg. For example, one or both people may be going through something challenging, experiencing a significant life transition, or simply aren’t currently interested in a relationship. Since you aren’t able to see the relationship through, a “right person, wrong time” situation may leave you with a fear that you’re somehow missing out on this mythical soulmate connection—and make it easy to project fantasies onto them....

These, it turns out, are actually easy to come by—many might already be in our diet. But if you feeling a bit on the dryer side of late, consider upping your intake. One study found that cucumber contains many bioactive compounds, including cucurbitacins, cucumegastigmanes cucumerin, vitexin, orientin, and apigenin that can help hydrate skin, reduce swelling, irritation and even alleviate pain from sunburn1. This is important because as we age, and with UV damage, we lose the skin’s ability to keep hydrated....

To learn more about who might benefit from a gel mattress (and how our body temperature affects our REM cycle), we spoke with sleep specialist and neuroscientist Christopher Winter, M.D., who explains, “It is thought that sleep probably works best at a temperature of about 65 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit, and gel mattresses can absolutely help.” Winter encourages people to also be conscious about the types of bedding they are pairing with their cooling mattress....

If you’re considering joining the field and becoming a health coach, read on to uncover the five courses offering the most complete breadth of information and training that will equip you to start coaching. Three of them are also NBHWC-approved programs, meaning you can take a test to become a certified health coach upon completion. (More on that below.) Whether you’re working on a budget or already have a baseline of knowledge, here’s everything you need to know to choose the right health coaching program for your needs....