Women's Health

Women's Health readers strive to better their whole lives. And that's exactly why Women's Health reports on all the topics that interest them. In every issue you'll find topics on success strategies, nutrition, weight loss, health, fitness, special reports, sex & relationship, beauty breakthroughs, and style & fashion.

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Women's Health

Recently, my two-year-old Berner, Willa, went to the country for dog camp.

Puppy Love • You don’t need another reason to snuggle your pup, but here’s one anyway.…Dogs can help heal anxious attachment, says Jenni Skyler, PhD, a licensed marriage and family therapist and director of The Intimacy Institute. This issue often stems from ruptured intimacy in childhood, like when a primary caregiver is emotionally absent, resulting in a connection-hungry, sometimes-needy adult. That’s where Lassie’s enthusiastic and everlasting affection comes in. Because dogs are unconditionally loving, they will always be there, says Skyler. (How many times have you come home to find Fido bursting with excitement to see you? Exactly.) Basically, there’s no risk of a heart-crushing rejection. If you call out to a dog, you can rest easy knowing they’ll come running even when life gets, well, ruff. (Had to!)

Give Yourself an Antibody Boost

Strength in Stillness • When was the last time you slowed to a stop in your workout? We don’t mean a rest break. Pausing—on purpose—to hold an isometric exercise (a static contraction) can help “build muscle, balance, and range of motion,” says Jacqueline Kasen, CPT. Plus, isos fine-tune form.

Challenge, Accepted

Cool Caps • A mainstay of Eastern healing practices for millennia, adaptogenic mushrooms are now popping up in lattes, energy bars, you name it. WH finds out if the potential benefits support the price tag.

Join the Dark Side

Choice Control

Hold the Phone • If a device is the third wheel on date night, you’ve been Pphubbed (a.k.a. partner phone snubbing).

Scraps to Riches • Composting is the most direct way you can impact climate change, says Shawn Garcia, former director of the Lower East Side Composting Project and Democratic district leader in New York. Why? Doing so can reduce food waste, limit methane gas emissions, help grow plants, and even give back to the community. Benefits big and small abound, but getting started can be daunting. How to turn trash into a new kind of treasure, wherever you live…

Early Investor • Fran Hauser, author of Embrace the Work, Love Your Career and a financial backer for more than 30 female-led companies, knows that taking care of business starts by taking care of herself. Essential oils and a centering sesh put her in the right frame of mind to work.

Sensitive Subject • Online tests claim they can identify the foods behind your complexion and health woes—and provide a solution. Are they worth it? Ahead, experts weigh in and offer sound strategies for a face-first eating plan.

The Soothe Strategy • Hives and rashes may indicate an allergy. Try one of these quick-acting tips.

Glow From Within • Including these foods in your regimen will help you put your best face forward.

Beauty MVPs • The WH team selected and sweat-tested the best products for your active lifestyle.

America Ferrera • “The past few years have been a reminder to not take anything for granted, to seize the joy where you can. Even trying to lean into the discomfort of something and be grateful for it—grateful for the opportunity to grow, to stretch, to feel anything, because we’re alive. Gratitude has been an invigorating habit to come back to because even if I’m doing something that is seemingly not what I want to be doing, I feel like with an attitude of gratitude, there’s always a lesson to learn from the...