It’s no secret that modern life is stressful. Burnout is an epidemic. The World Health Organization boldly stated its dedicated efforts to help people improve their health and well-being through nature.
And thanks to a new initiative, Sweden is stepping up to offer a new holistic remedy: a physician-prescribed visit to Sweden, aka “The Swedish Prescription”.
“We have made great strides in making nature/social/culture prescription a more integral part of public health in the United States– but there is still so much more to be done,” said Dr. Stacy Stryer, Associate Medical Director for Park RxAmerica.“I welcome Sweden’s initiative and hope it will help break down institutional and organizational barriers, ultimately benefiting all patients.”
Patients can escape to Sweden’s pristine environment for true respite. Backed by scientific data and research from Yvonne Forsell, Senior Professor at Karolinska Institutet, healthcare professionals can prescribe Sweden as a destination where patients engage in non-medical treatments and outdoor activities to ease their ailments and offer a fresh reset.
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Restore body and mind with the Swedish ritual of alternating ice baths and saunas. Swim, hike or forage through silent forests, lakes, parks and nature reserves – or simply sit in the stillness. Witness the Northern Lights dancing across winter skies, or soak up the calm of the summer midnight sun. In Stockholm, Europe’s clean-air capital, take a deep breath and feel the difference.
Or skip the great outdoors and spend time embracing Sweden’s unique cultural practices. “Our cozy fika tradition [Sweden’s daily pause for coffee and conversation], our “lagom”-balanced lifestyle [the idea of “not too much, not too little”] and our easily accessible nature are a soothing balm for body and mind,” says Susanne Andersson, CEO at Visit Sweden.
Sit back in front of a masterpiece in one of Sweden’s many art museums, or head out to a live music event after browsing concert options on Swedish-founded Spotify. You might catch chart-topping hits from producer Max Martin or discover the country’s thriving metal scene. Call it an early – or late – night, and enjoy restorative sleep in Sweden’s cool night air.
Sweden is the therapeutic destination your health has been craving. Learn more about “The Swedish Prescription” and its benefits for your mental and physical health here.
Imagine if this kind of joy had a bigger place in the world.
You might recall Marcos Alberti's mega-viral "3 Glasses" project from 2016, in which he photographed people after they had consumed one, two, and then three glasses of wine. The series was impactful in part because it showed the physical transformation that comes from being relaxed after some wine. That, and it touched on a common curiosity. Haven’t we all wondered if we look as different as we feel after getting a little tipsy? (Spoiler alert: the answer is yes.)
Using a very similar format to “3 Glasses,” as well as the elements of lightheartedness, novelty, and rawness that made it so special, Alberti utilizes his photography to delve into a topic much less discussed: women’s sexual wellness.
The concept is simple: photograph women before, during, and after an orgasm. You can see why he calls this the “O” project.
Despite the subject matter, Alberti assures viewers that the intention wasn’t to be explicit, or even erotic, for that matter. The 20+ women who participated, of varying ethnicities and varying levels of sexually liberated versus conservative countries of origin, were completely covered below the waist while using personal massagers.
“The underlying message: all women deserve to be in control of their sexuality, no matter their background. Women should be free to be empowered by–and have a little fun with–their sexuality,” Alberti wrote on his website.
Similarly, Fan Yang, Global Brand Manager of Smile Makers (a sexual wellbeing brand that partnered with Alberti for this project) noted that the goal was to break through stigma and show female pleasure in a positive, healthy light. The hope is that not only society normalizes female pleasure, but that women themselves connect to their sexuality without “shame and secrecy.”
Given that all the women who participated were “in awe” seeing themselves “glowing and radiant” in their final photo, as Yang put it, it feels safe to say mission: accomplished.
Take a look:
An O Project participant. marcosalberti.com
An O Project participant. marcosalberti.com
An O Project participant. marcosalberti.com
An O Project participant. marcosalberti.com
An O Project participant. marcosalberti.com
An O Project participant. marcosalberti.com
An O Project participant. marcosalberti.com
An O Project participant. marcosalberti.com
An O Project participant. marcosalberti.com
An O Project participant. marcosalberti.com
In a video posted to YouTube, we get a behind-the-scenes look at Alberti’s process. Welcoming the models in, setting up his camera behind a curtain for privacy, talking them through the process, making them feel safe and comfortable, etc.
We also get to see the “awe” that Yang spoke of. It’s palpable.
“Initially, I was still apprehensive… [with] a lot of worry. And this one [referring to the final image] is like “Ha! Life is beautiful!” one woman shared, grinning ear-to-ear.
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We can talk ad nauseam about how women’s pleasure shouldn’t be a taboo subject, about how it’s a natural, vital part of her overall wellbeing, how it can lead to better mood, heart health, immune function, sleep, intimacy, self-esteem…yadda, yadda yadda…but there’s nothing like actually witnessing its semi-miraculous powers firsthand. It’s one of the things that make photography so powerful. We feel something raw and honest on a visceral level, so that we can THEN talk about it with empathy and understanding. It’s clear that Alberti knows this on a deep level and is using that knowledge for something truly good.
Be sure to follow Alberti (@marcos_alberti ) on Instagram to keep up-to-date with all his work.
A woman pulls up her bed sheet
GiphyOnce again, the youngins are flabbergasting the older generations with their disregard for once-important things they now deem unnecessary. There's always something that gets dropped or altered generation to generation. We learn better ways or technology makes certain things obsolete. But it doesn't matter how far we've come, our beds still need sheets to cover the mattress.
The debate is on the use of top sheets, also known as flat sheets. They're the sheets that keep your body from touching the comforter, most Gen X and Boomers are firmly for the use of top sheets as a hygiene practice. The idea being that the top sheet keeps your dead skin cells and body oils from dirtying your comforter, causing you to have to wash it more often.
Apparently, Millennials and Gen Zers are uninterested in using a top sheet while sleeping. In fact, they'd rather just get a duvet cover, though they may be cumbersome. A duvet cover can be washed fairly frequently, but some may opt for a simple comforter, a cheaper option that should be washed even more often. Still, many young people don't care how much more frequently they'll need to wash their comforters because their distain for a top sheet is that strong.
A woman snuggled up in her duvet coverCanva
But why on earth do Millennials and Gen Zers hate top sheets? It turns out it's mostly about practicality. Many Millennials are on the move holding a full-time job and a side hustle or two to make ends meet. To add an extra step when making the bed seems unnecessary.
“For a younger demographic, eliminating that step when making the bed in the morning really gives you a jump start on the day," Ariel Kay, CEO of Parachute tells Wall Street Journal.
Parachute is a company that offers bedding sets sans top sheets for folks who just don't like them and, boy, has Kay heard everyone's unsolicited opinions on the matter. She told WSJ that people will stop her on the street to get into debates about the importance or unimportance of top sheets. Yikes.
Feet poking out from under the coversCanva
In a since deleted tweet, @JesseLynnHarte writes, "People say millennials “killed” chain restaurants, marriage, & napkins... But WHEN will they acknowledge our greatest take-down yet?? TOP SHEETS. I don’t know a single millennial who uses one. Top sheets are archaic. This is just the truth."
It would seem that Millennials and Gen Z would much rather wash their duvet covers weekly than to add a flat sheet into the mix. One big complaint about the flat sheet that adds another con to the list is they get bunched up or tangled around your legs if you're a restless sleeper. Not everyone likes hotel tucked corners on their sheets because it can feel confining.
Gif from "New Girl" of woman trying to make the bed via Giphy
But if you run hot, Boomers and Gen Xers might be onto something with the top sheet. It would seem that that thin piece of material that irritates some people can help control your body temperature according to USA Today. Even if you don't tend to need the cooling effect of a top sheet, what Mary Johnson, Tide Principal Scientist at Procter & Gamble has to say in a USA Today follow up article, just may make you rethink ditching the top sheet.
Simply by existing, "people produce one liter of sweat, 40 grams of sebum, 10 grams of salt, and 2 billion skin cells. All that stuff that happens below the waist [and] up by your head—skincare products, hair care products, ear wax, snot, drool, lots of really gross stuff—is transferred to your sheets," Johnson tells the outlet.
So whether you're team top sheet or not, it may be a good idea to at least wash whatever you use to cover your bed at least once a week.
@goodhousekeepingofficial We asked the #GoodHousekeeping team what they really think about #topsheets, and the answers might surprise you. 😆 Keep watching to find out where everyone stands in this epic #bedding #debate.
This article originally appeared earlier his year.
Self-help books, philosophical novels, and children's classics abound.
In his (often misquoted) 1889 essay "The Decay of Lying: An Observation," Oscar Wilde boldly declares that “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.” While this question has sparked countless philosophical debates, there remains an undeniable kernel of truth: in a beautiful moment of kismet, for some indescribable reason, a piece of art resonates with you.
For Reddit user @_rahmatullah, that happened when they read a specific book. On the Subreddit “r/productivity” they wrote: “A few months ago, I stumbled upon a book (I won’t name it here to avoid biasing responses), and it triggered something I can’t fully explain. It didn’t just change how I think—it changed what I notice, how I react, and how I show up in life. Since then, I’ve made it a habit to collect these transformation stories—not summaries, not reviews—but real-life shifts triggered by reading a book. It’s incredible how the right book, read at the right moment, acts like a psychological lever.”
Then, they posed the following question: “I’m asking this out of pure curiosity (and maybe low-key research): Have you ever read a book that changed your internal wiring in any way—your mindset, habits, or how you see the world? … Sometimes, the best books aren’t bestsellers—they’re just the right words hitting us at the right time.”
So many book recommendations, so little time. Photo credit: Canva
One user describes the book: “It’s not super long, and it’s written in this really straightforward, almost no-nonsense way. But it hit hard. The whole idea is about Resistance, that sneaky little force that stops us from doing the stuff we actually care about. It made me realize how often I make excuses without even knowing it. And Pressfield’s take is simple but powerful, just show up, do the work and don’t wait for some magical moment.”
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Others were quick to follow, with one person commenting, “The War of Art is the only book I have ever read more than once. Well worth the read” and another said, “Do The Work is a solid follow up to it. It’s short and to the point. Can easily listen to the audiobook in one sitting when you need a boost to GSD (get sh*t done). It’s 90 min.”
One of the great self-help books from the late 1980s was recommended by multiple people.
One commented, “If I wanted to suggest the ONE book anyone to read in their lifetime, it is it. The idea is simple—be proactive, live by your values, and focus on what’s in your control. It will change the way you think and approach life.”
Another agreed, writing, “7 Habits also changed my life years ago by making my interpersonal relationships better, even though it doesn’t talk much about it. The book just motivated me to be my authentic self, increase my self-worth, and hence improved my relationship with others as a side effect. I had also read how to win friends and influence people at that similar period, but that book didn’t add any value as much as 7 Habits did.”
The first children’s book to grace the chat is a best-selling thought experiment that imagines the world’s 6.8 billion population as a village of just 100 people. One person describes it as a “short picture book, but [one that] completely changed how I see the life, world.”
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They continue, “I was shocked how fortunate I was compared to all other people who do not even have basic food and water, and at the time, I was so ashamed that I took it for granted. Since then, I’ve traveled around the world, trying to interact with local people, and I try to learn about the history and the reality of these locations. (And I learned English to communicate.) I would not be who I am today without that book.”
Acclaimed psychiatrist Dr. Ellen Vora’s nonfiction book helps readers understand how anxiety manifests itself in the body and mind as a fear mechanism—and walks them through steps they can take to overcome it.
“Before reading this book, I’d been focusing lopsidedly on the spiritual side and suffering from years of anxiety problems and panic attacks,” writes one Reddit user. “This book is a turning point for me, enabling me to view the mechanism of anxiety in the body more objectively.”
First published as a short story in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (which won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story the following year), Flowers for Algernon is a powerful novel about the treatment of people who are mentally challenged. It explores the complicated relationship between intellect, emotion, and happiness.
One person commented that the novel “really made me think about how we all judge and treat other people, especially how we as humans look down on other people in different, subtle ways. It actually made me sick in a way I’ll never forget” and “completely changed my view on how we treat ‘stupid’ people. It’s so profound, because it’s such a short text, but it just hits you like a bullet train. I never cried so much after reading a book before.”
Pirsig narrates a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, which slowly morphs into a man’s search for meaning.
“I can’t fully describe the feeling. Part of my love was his concept of ‘quality’ and it almost becomes religion-like,” commented one person. “It’s been probably 25 years since I read it. I should read it again.”
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“The metaphor about society being a faulty plane that is falling off a cliff but thinks it’s flying simply because it hasn’t hit the ground yet has always stuck with me,” wrote one Reddit user of the philosophical novel.
Framed as a Socratic conversation between two characters, author David Quinn explores the ways modern human supremacy causes irreparable damage to the environment.
Another user echoed their praise, writing: “I read a ton of self-help, and all the ones mentioned in this thread I have rolled my eyes at because they reiterate common thought trends with an occasional light bulb moment. Not to say they aren’t helpful, just not necessarily 'change my life' kind of books. Ishmael made me THINK and put life in perspective. It was the book that changed my conservative thinking to a very much empathy based way of living with intention.”
The Roman Emperor’s series of personal writings resounded with readers, with one who commented, “Some of the best thoughts on how to live and grow, and how to deal with adversity, mortality, and impermanence. Dude was pretty in touch with the universal human condition for an Emperor.”
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Another person replied, “I think I really need to give a copy of this to my brother… It really helped me out, and I think I see him struggling with things that could be easier for him with some tools he could gain from this.”
Reddit users are not the only ones who loved this book about embracing life through the heart of a Buddha; beloved Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, “Radical Acceptance offers us an invitation to embrace ourselves with all our pain, fear, and anxieties, and to step lightly yet firmly on the path of understanding and compassion.”
Similarly, people on the thread sung its praises, writing, “Her RAIN method has literally saved my life and changed my perspective on how I interact with the world and how I treat myself. Thanks to her, I’m heading into a new chapter where trauma doesn’t rule my life,” and “This book helped me tremendously while navigating hard personal situations, including terminal disease in my family.”
One person found this book, which posits our subconscious dictates life events, to be tremendously powerful.
“I’m a pragmatic person and would question this book would it be introduced to me now instead of when my mind was more open,” they begin. “Maybe it works because it makes you believe that all it takes is a wish and some work… I read it when I was about 15 and have had many things I wished for happen.”
Hesse’s ninth novel follows the spiritual journey of a man during the time of the Gautama Buddha. Originally published in 1922, it was later published in the United States in 1951.
One user writes, “We sometimes find ourselves most lost when we stop believing other people are going to be able to give us the mentorship we need. Often, literature can teach what straightforward non-fiction texts can’t.”
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For a user on the thread, Ravikant’s inspirational self-healing book “brought home how essential self-love is, and that it isn’t indulgent or narcissistic. It’s the foundation that makes everything else possible.”
One of the best-selling books of all time, The Little Prince comments on life, adults, and human nature.
In particular, one part of the novel stood out for this Redditor: “The part in The Little Prince where the adult looks at his drawing and thinks it’s a top hat and the kid says ‘no, it’s a picture of a snake that just ate an elephant’ really helped little kid me understand how people can see the same things so differently. It seems small now, but as a little kid it’s hard to understand why adults ‘don’t get it’ when it seems obvious to kids. That helped me have patience for my parents/adults, and I think I carried it with me as a beginner builder of compassion for people in general.”
The final book recommendation came from a user’s friend. For them, psychologist and behavioral scientist Aylet Fishbach’s book “changed the way I think about how I manage my time and myself. I rarely think of ‘recovery’ and ‘productivity’ in the same sentence, and generally think in terms of opportunity costs or how to best use my time.”
This article originally appeared in June.
Generation Jones points out the biggest cultural differences between them and Boomers.
Generation Jones, people born from 1954-1964, is considered a 'micro-generation' between Boomers and Generation X. Though typically lumped in with Boomers, there are some pretty distinct differences between them.
In an online community of Generation Jones-ers, a member named @WalkingHorse, prompted those in Generation Jones to discuss how their upbringing differed from Boomers in a post titled "What is and who are Generation Jones. Step inside...".
"We're often described as pragmatic idealists—raised on big dreams but tempered by economic recessions and a sense of lowered expectations compared to the Boomers’ post-war prosperity," they wrote. "Think of us a generation that got the tail end of the party but had to clean up the mess."
It inspired many Generation Jones members to share their thoughts and opinions. These are some of the major cultural differences those in Generation Jones have with Boomers:
"We were too young to fully participate in the counterculture of the '60s but old enough to feel its aftershocks." —@WalkingHorse
Gen Jones men also signed up for the selective service, but were not drafted as the Vietnam war had ended." —@tedshreddon
"Boomers had Elvis and The Beatles. We had Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd." —@Scr33ble
"First teenage generation to experience the Space Shuttle launch. First teen generation to watch music videos in between movies on cable TV then the birth of MTV. We laughed when hearing that golf obsessed President Gerald Ford would routinely slice or hook a ball into a crowd of spectators. Then laugh at Chevy Chase for mimicking our clumsy commander in Chief. We watched our parents go through the fuel rationing days where you could only buy gas for you car if the last digit on the plate was an odd or even number. We counted days along with the media on how long the Iran hostages were being held. We lost John Lennon while not in that sweet spot age to have experienced the musical British Invasion of the 60’s. Instead, MTV opened to floodgates to the Brit-pop invasion of Duran Duran followed closely by big hair, neon clothing and wondering why saying ‘too hip’ was all that and a bag of chips. Best part was that college tuition was sorta affordable." —@contrivancedevice
"Not mentioned yet, but we were present for the rise of gay rights. Went to my first gay bar at 19. Music, especially Disco, was infused with pride and acceptance and coming out. 'We are Family', 'I’m Coming Out'. Queen and the Village People, etc. The rise of 'women’s music' like Holly Near and Chris Williamson. Activists like Harvey Milk and later ACT UP. We were young adults when AIDS hit and the fight for treatment led to a huge wave of coming out. We lost a whole generation of gay men to that plague. 😢" —@BldrJanet
"Boomers remember where they were when President Kennedy died. We remember where we were when John Lennon died." —@KJPratt
RHCP on cassette is peak Generation Jones.Photo credit: Canva
"Musically speaking, I think we were blessed. Our musical heyday had everything. Our moms played Elvis the king on the radio, and we had Elvis Costello. The Stones and The Who transverse generations. We are old enough to remember Joan Baez and Bob Dylan pre-Chalamet, not to mention Freddie and Elton before their bio-pics. And Johnny Cash too. And shout out to the poster girl of the 80’s Cyndi Lauper (I got special love for her as a race tracker cause she walked hots at Belmont Park.)" —@Binky-Answer896
"We gave a hoot, and didn’t pollute!" —@Awkwardimplemet698
"We are the generation that got to see the war every evening at dinner 'live via satellite'. —@blurtlebaby
"Think: 45s—albums—-8 tracks—cassettes—-CDs—-Streaming! I’ve had the Rolling Stones on all!" —@NOLALaura
Gen Jones was there for the launch of the tech revolution. Photo credit: Canva
"I always said that I experienced it all...born in 1957. I listened to my older siblings music. I stole my sisters Woodstock album when she went off to college. I still have it. I recall all the assassinations from JFK and MLK.I saw RFK being killed on live tv.(at least I think I did), I remember the chaos of the Vietnam war, the Chicago riots, the Nixon mess. I recall the beginning of the environmental fight, Sesame Street and the moon launch. Computers, and floppy discs, cell phones that came in small cases that would plug into the car. So much good stuff. So much chaos." —@mammaV55
"There’s a sure way to know if you’re Gen J. Were you deadly afraid of quicksand?!" —@NOLALaura
This article originally appeared earlier this year.
