Have you ever walked into a room to fetch something, then forgotten what it was? Or perhaps you’ve been in the middle of a sentence, then lost your train of thought? You might have experienced your mind wandering while trying to concentrate on a presentation at work, or felt a lack of clarity during a …
Have you ever stopped to think about how amazing and unique the muscles in your face are? In contrast to the muscles in the rest of your body, most of the 57 muscles in your face, neck, head, tongue and ears attach directly to the skin rather than to bone. This reflects their role, which …
Imagine if your body and mind was run by tiny people at work inside you. They would flip switches and send commands to control your organs – your brain, lungs, liver and kidneys. They could run your digestion, and even fight off bacteria. That was the nutty idea behind The Numskulls, a comic strip born …
What do you think of when you hear the word obligation? For many, it can create an uncomfortable, often negative feeling, where you feel pressured into a commitment. Perhaps you feel a reluctance to show up and complete a task, which obligation has turned into an inconvenience. And yet, as an integral part of the fabric …
It can feel as if you’re being told every day about the benefits of exercise and how it can help you on all levels, not least living a longer and happier life. But the truth is, as you age, your body changes. And even if you’ve worked hard at staying fit all your life, exercising …
In the late 1990s, the writer Sophie Dahl was a model celebrated for being plus-sized in an era when being skinny was the fashion industry’s norm. But it was her origin story that often hit the headlines: she’d had an argument with her mother, so the story goes, and was crying in the street outside …
As more people lead increasingly sedentary lifestyles, researchers have found that spending long periods of the day inactive can have wide-ranging effects on health. Some use the metaphor that ‘sitting is the new smoking’ to highlight the dangers of spending many hours a day sat at desks, in classrooms or in meetings, commuting on public …
Deadline = a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished. Deadlines. The very definition of the word is enough to bring you out in a sweat, with its ‘musts’ and ‘objectives’ and stifling constrictions. Yet the modern world is rife with them. At work and at home, the pressure is on …
As sunshine warms her cheeks, Kirsty listens to the hum of bees pollinating the nearby lavender plants. Her little garden, once unkempt, is now full of flowers, an abundance of roses in soft pinks and vibrant apricots. But the garden isn’t just for show: it’s planted in memory of her grandmother, who passed away a …
Tired but happy from a day spent working in the fields, you sit on the warm porch of your dream farmhouse, listening to the gentle rumble of cicadas in the trees, and watch as the golden sun slips below the horizon. This blissful scene might sound a world away from your living room sofa, especially …
