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Life’s challenges were seemingly everywhere. And yet…I was smiling. I was cheerful. I was grateful. What? Was I crazy? I made a general goal to cultivate more resilience around the ups and downs of life, so I made a point of tuning my awareness toward the appreciation of life’s small delights. I was curious about what I would discover if I focused intentionally on the things that I appreciated. That morning, as I let wakefulness peel the dark back, I could smell my neighbor’s coffee brewing....

We love books around here because they broaden our perspectives, help us learn new things, entertain, and sometimes they even inspire fun dates to create and enjoy! This time around we decided to take a classic—Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss—and plan a quick and easy date around it. When you are all of the sudden struck with the realization that date night is here and you don’t have anything planned (OOPS!...

As tricky as it is to trim your bangs, it can be even trickier to grow them out; you’ll need to learn how to style hair differently while patiently waiting for your fringe to grow. To make this in-between stage as painless as possible, we’ve broken down the process of how to style bangs as they grow out. Trust us, it’s seamless and easier than you think. How to Grow Out Bangs As Painlessly As Possible Not quite sure how to grow out bangs?...

Not quite sure what headband curls are or how the use of a simple headband can help you create stunning curls? Fret not, as we have all the hair inspiration you will need, plus a handful of handy tips and tricks, just below: Why Headband Curls Need to Be on Your Radar 1. You can create boho waves with little fuss. If you’re a lover of bohemian waves, but can never quite master that carefree, easy-breezy finish (that we all know actually entails a lot more work than it looks), then headband curls are the easiest way to achieve them....

Christmas is just around the corner, and then New Year’s will be here before you know it! If you’ve been enjoying as many tasty holiday treats as we have this season, you might already be thinking about making a New Year’s Resolution to re-commit to your health and fitness in 2015. If that sounds like you, we have some great news! We’re collaborating with some of our favorite bloggers on Pinterest to offer a fun giveaway designed to help you meet your health and fitness goals for the new year....

Are you one of those people that LOVED or HATED high school? I don’t know if it was the friends I had or that I met my husband in high school, but I loved my high school experience. With such fond memories of high school and after seeing this amazing and this awesome idea, I decided I needed to create a Return to High School date! Start the date off right with the decor!...

For five minutes, four times a day, stop briefly. (Even set these pauses in your phone or digital calendar.) Bring your attention to your breath and body in the moment, just as they are. And no need to think about your to-do list—it’ll still be there when you’re done. Try passing on a few invitations this year. Pick one or two events that hold special meaning or importance, and enjoy the extra time that opens up in your schedule....

From coconut oil to drugstore treatments, here are the ways you can treat your dry and damaged hair and give it that healthy look and feel it deserves. 3 Top Home Remedies for Dry and Damaged Hair 1. Pre-Shampoo Coconut Oil Treatment Coconut oil has been used for years to treat hair and skin. The use of coconut oil as a hair treatment can help repair hair, prevent damage and moisturize dry hair....

“I tap into creativity by looking through the window of my studio at the blooming flowers, and fluttering butterflies! I marvel at their freedom in flight and the predictability of the seasonal cycles, and I delve into an art journal with the same uninhibited ways nature models for me.”Val V. “I like to find inspiration in nature. Then I paint, either watercolor florals or even design mandalas on flat river rocks…I also love to take photographs of trees in the fall at sunrise, capturing the bold bright colors....

The problem is, of course, that it isn’t so easy—this softening thing. Elena Aguilar knows this, which is why she wrote the new book Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators. “Simply put, resilience is how we weather the storms in our lives and rebound after something difficult,” explains Aguilar. But resilience is more than this, she claims—it’s also “what enables us to thrive, not just survive.” Last year may go down in history as one of pure “survival” for some of us, but why settle for managing or enduring when we have the potential to feel energized and joyful in our work?...

If you’re in the market for a new mohawk hair look, you’ll need to know what to say to your barber. But first you need to decide how you want your ‘hawk to look! Read on to learn how to decide on your specific mohawk hair style, and how to ask your barber for exactly what you want. The Modern Mohawk Hair Look: How To Get The Exact Cut You Want The two major decisions you’ll need to make when it comes to mohawk hair is the length on top and on the sides....

As a long-time meditator and technology researcher, I’ve been exploring how this simple practice of questioning can enrich our digital lives. This curiosity can help us bring the full dimensionality of our human being into all of our digital doing across three broad areas of our everyday lives. 3 Questions to Build a Healthy Relationship with Technology 1) What are my experiences with tech actually like? We read much in the media that questions various aspects of our relationship with technology, from the problems of misinformation to the merits and harms of social media....

On your quest to get in on this cleansing conditioner (otherwise known as co-washing) movement, let us help you choose the best cleansing conditioner for your hair type below. Choosing The Best Cleansing Conditioner for Your Hair Type Hair Type: Medium Hair Your main focus is preserving the overall well-being of your healthy-looking hair since you don’t have any concerns at the moment. Try out a cleansing conditioner that’s suitable for all hair types....

It is also a primary aspect of mindfulness. Curiosity allows us to begin to turn toward the entirety of experience, moving us from avoidance to approach, including that which we don’t like. I would argue curiosity and kindness are the antidotes to judgment and other harsh evaluations we may direct toward ourselves or others and it is a quality that can be developed. Curiosity can be used as a way to inquire into our experience—the joyful and painful alike....

It’s different for everyone and the challenge is finding what it means for us. Kurt Vonnegut says it so well: “And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.” In this video from Elaine Smookler, she asks people to notice that sometimes the reason we’re not happy is because we haven’t taken the time to figure out what that means for us....

Exercise: AWARE An effective way of working with self-stories is summed up in the acronym AWARE, which stands for allow, witness, acknowledge, release, and ease up. Allow all of your thoughts and feelings to come and go as they will. This will help you soften your reactions to whatever comes up for you in the space of mindful awareness. Allowing is a kind and curious attitude that enables you to look more deeply into your stories and learn from them rather than becoming entranced by them or trying to block them, both of which will just leave you more stuck....

Or, maybe you only half heard what was said, as the subject matter sent you into a fear-based place. It’s a common reaction: When anyone says something we don’t like, it’s plausible that instead of really listening and then thinking it through, we feel threatened. This activates the amygdala, which readies us to attack back. Really taking the time to listen to how another person feels—without immediately and sometimes impulsively reacting—creates the space for both parties to feel heard and then to show up with kindness and a more mindful ear....

Of all our communication skills, listening is the one most called upon—and neglected. Philosopher Martin Heidegger identified it as a key to maintaining meaningful relationships with family, friends, and even colleagues. But what is listening? Often we hear something and before we know it we’ve labeled, categorized, and shelved it. At its core, listening is really just taking time instead to experience what we’re hearing in the moment. I recently had a conversation with one of my mindfulness students about why he had taken my class....

Not only is mousse one of the most versatile hair styling products on the market, but it’s also a great multi-tasker that helps to add volume to fine, limp locks, setting styles in place, and helping de-frizz curls. However, in order to do all of these amazing things, the mousse has to be applied to your strands properly. So, if you’re unsure about how to do this, don’t stress: Simply read on and let the ATH experts give you some handy tips and tricks....