Vipassana is a 10-day silent meditation retreat—and there is nothing like 10 days of silence to show you the nature of your own mind. Vipassana means “to see things as they really are,” and that is exactly what I experienced in the course. Vipassana meditation reveals the ways in which we create our suffering, and once this is understood, we can begin to free ourselves from that suffering. Breakfast, lunch, and afternoon tea are served daily....

Unlike some nutrition queries that are somewhat gray and equivocal in nature, when vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) go head-to-head, the winner is clear. Allow me to use an analogy to explain. To wrap my Olympics nutrition visual: Vitamin D3 is on the middle podium with its anthem playing loud and clear, whereas vitamin D2 didn’t medal at all. Harsh but true. Before I get granular on why D3 triumphs over D2, let’s recap why vitamin D should be top of mind in the first place....

Although vayus are subtle, they have a huge impact on how our bodies feel, so learning to move with their natural rhythms is vital for our health. Practicing pranayama and heart-opening asanas will get your prana vayus flowing. If you want to connect with your prana vayu, practice bow pose, camel pose, cobra pose, dancer pose, and bridge pose. Since it is situated in the pelvic floor, its energy pervades the lower abdomen....

This movement through the astrological ages is a backward motion, so it goes from Pisces to Aquarius. Nobody is certain when or if the official shift from Pisces to Aquarius occurred—and it’s thought to be a lengthy transition—but many agree that it happened over the last few decades and we are, in fact, living in the Aquarian age. As we move deeper into the Age of Aquarius, the values that humanity has organized around must change to reflect the current astrological age....

If so, you’ve likely heard these beneficial bacteria have a number of research-backed benefits, like supporting digestion and promoting gut health.* In order to maximize all these benefits, you may find yourself wondering: What’s the best time to take a probiotic? You’ve heard that fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed better when you take them with food or some healthy fats, but does the same hold true for probiotic bacteria? Experts set the record straight on whether or not there’s actually a best time to take probiotics and what other factors affect their effectiveness....

The reason “fat” has developed such a negative reputation is because it also pertains to that excess buildup around your love handles and under your chin. And therein lies the issue—most people confuse dietary fat with cosmetic fat. While I do subscribe to the notion that “you are what you eat,” in this case we can’t take it quite that literally. The fat you eat and the fat on your body are two completely different things....

But when it comes to our relationships, having open and honest communication is necessary to creating a healthy, sustainable partnership. Here’s why honesty in relationships is so important. It involves a few key practices: never lying, never hiding the truth, and never purposefully omitting or misdirecting people from the truth. Honesty in a relationship means always telling your partner the truth and being totally open with them, both for the big things and the little things....