Fitness tracking can help take your training to the next level, but know when you're taking things too far. ( ) Calin Van Paris has been writing about wellness for more than a decade. Here, she breaks down a handful of wellness hacks and trends that, though beneficial for some, many of us could do without. Let’s talk about wellness trends.
More specifically, let’s talk about our collective penchant for “optimizing” the human experience. Being a person is not always easy. We’re all in bodies that are designed to decay, with minds that tend to run amok and emotions that can seem like they have brains of their own.
It’s only natural to try to control what we can—and self-care provides what can seem like an ideal platform for the pursuit. Routines that can support physical, emotional, and mental well-being fall under the ever-growing umbrella of “wellness.” But many wellness trends begin in a beneficial place and spiral out of control from there. A growing corner of self-care fads is overly focused on tracking, streamlining, and pushing extremes.
And anything that makes you feel inadequate or anxious is one we’d love to fade into the background. Take what, if anything, really works for you from the below trends and then notice when it’s time to let it go. The concept of “sleepmaxxing,” or maximizing the quality of your sleep, began swirling around social media a couple of years ago.
Sleeping better is a trend we can get behind—but you don’t need expensive gadgets or high levels of anxiety to do it. More importantly, putting too much focus on your sleep habits has the potential to backfire, transforming a restful part of your day into a stressful one. Nicole Moshfegh, MD, clinical psychologist and author of The Book of Sleep, notes that proper (or inadequate) rest can affect your physical health and cognitive function, not to mention your mood.
Sleep is meant to be restful. Your sleep routine should not be causing you additional stress. If habits like evening restorative yoga, breathwork, or less blue light after dark improve your sleep quality, maxx on!
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