In our modern age, death has become over-medicalized, and the “human” has been removed from the process. Enter a new kind of wellness practitioner: the death doula, caregivers who give the dying full physical, emotional and spiritual support and fill that serious gap in care between medicine and hospice. Read a new conversation with Henry Fersko-Weiss, a true pioneer of the death doula movement and…
A large, new study from the National Cancer Institute, analyzing data from the N.I.H.-AARP Diet and Health Study, indicates that with exercise, it’s never too late to begin. People who started exercising in midlife had the same protection against mortality as people who had always worked out. The bad news? The reverse is true: If you stop exercising in midlife, all the longevity benefits you accrued…
There are an ever-growing number of research reports from global economists that go far beyond the limited metric of GDP to gauge nations’ overall happiness and wellbeing. These studies all use somewhat different measurements, so rankings can vary. And because this research is giving us a clearer, deeper picture of the true health and wellness of people in countries worldwide, the GWI has created a…
The 2019 World Happiness Report was just unveiled and, once again, Northern European nations prove that they are out in front in cracking the happiness code, with eight of the top 10 happiest nations hailing from the region: 1) Finland, 2) Denmark, 3) Norway, 4) Iceland, 5) Netherlands, 6) Switzerland, 7) Sweden, and 10) Austria. New Zealand and Canada took the #8 and #9 spots.…
MONTHLY BAROMETER – WELLNESS EDITION A new US survey sheds some light on how our work generally impacts our wellbeing. In the country that is the keenest about wellness (the US) and in the socioeconomic group that is the most invested in it (the affluent, upper-middle class), new data reveals that a surprisingly high percentage of individuals are miserable at work. According to a survey…
A large, new study from Harvard’s School of Public Health found that drinking sugar-heavy beverages (whether sodas or fruit drinks) was associated with early mortality. One extra 12-ounce serving of a sugary drink daily was linked to a 7 percent increased risk of death overall and a 10 percent increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. One researcher noted: “The optimal intake of these drinks…
