Tag Archives: fitness

The 22 Best TED Talks to Inspire Fitness, Health and Happiness

We all need a little inspiration every now and then. Watching a TED talk is a great (and free!) way to learn from the life lessons of a wide range of experts. Thankfully, Greatist has already curated 22 of the best talks in the fields of fitness, health and happiness! Enjoy!

Best TED Talks for Fitness, Health and Happiness Inspiration

Do you have a favourite TED Talk? Share your thoughts with us below!

Problem Sleeping In

Why Hitting Snooze is Bad for You

You know the feeling: It’s Monday morning, your alarm has just gone off, but your bed has never felt comfier. The thought of the weekend being over and having to head off to work shortly makes you want to dive deeper under your covers. You’d do anything to just get a few extra minutes of sleep so you can put off the start of Monday as long as you can. The alarm is blaring and you reach over and hit snooze…. time to head back to sleep.

Hitting snooze is probably one of our favourite things to do. Yes, it gives you a few stolen moments of sleep before you have to face reality, but there are actually a number of negative effects. The next time you try to steal an extra five minutes, consider these facts:

1. The saying “You snooze, you lose” is actually true – you’re setting yourself up to be more tired during the day. If you go back to sleep and enter a new sleep cycle, you won’t have enough time to finish it, which leaves you feeling groggy and tired

2. Maybe you need to go to bed earlier. Consider what time you’re going to bed, if you find that you’re hitting snooze every single morning, you’re probably not getting enough sleep. Turn in earlier and you’ll find that you won’t be tempted to hit snooze

3. You’re throwing off your internal clock – Waking up at 6:30am one day and 7:00am the next is not good for your body. Your internal clock will not know when to feel sleepy, which leads to you staying up later at night and consequently feeling sleepier in the morning

Shower Thoughts

Why We Get Our Best Ideas in the Shower

Have you ever realized that you get your best ideas while lathering on soap in the shower? It seems a little strange…why would your brain be producing such great ideas while you’re in the buff? You may think that your time in the shower is a time for you to shut off, but it’s actually when your brain is the most active.

When you’re doing something monotonous such as bathing, it activates your brain’s default mode network. Your mind then begins to wander, making it more likely for you to have a creative epiphany. Have a difficult problem that you’ve been trying to solve? It’s likely you’ll solve it in the shower.

Standing under nice, warm water relaxes you so much that your brain also releases a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Just a small dose of this can boost your creative juices. This is why the ideas you have in the shower are so much better than those you have at work. You’re in a nice, warm, relaxed setting with no external pressures or distractions to interrupt your thought process.

So, how can you capitalize on this time in the shower? If you’re coming up with ground-breaking ideas and you want to remember them, consider getting a water soluble pen to write your ideas on the glass or wall. In the shower, you have no judgment or analysis from others, which should allow your ideas to flow without you second-guessing. Use this time to solve problems and brainstorm so you can begin your day (or the next day) feeling empowered to follow through on your ideas.