Posts Written By Jess Alexander

Pilates: How It Started & Why You Need It

Pilates reformer

Pilates is an exercise that was developed in the 20th century. Originally called Contrology, Pilates focuses on increasing bodily strength, flexibility, and mental awareness.  The exercise is often praised for injury prevention and healing.

The name comes from its inventor, Joseph Pilates.

Joseph, born in Germany but an immigrant to Britain and then the US, was ill as a child. He searched for a method to build strength, and ended up body-building through his childhood and teenage years. He studied exercise methods from both the East and West, and practiced gymnastics, Tai Chi and yoga. While practicing each exercise, Joseph observed the effects on his body, and tied the effects to his study of anatomy and motion.

During World War I, the British interned Joseph as a German enemy alien, where he worked as a nurse. 

Through his experience, he experimented with his patients, by attaching springs and building contraptions, to help them tone their muscles on their hospital beds, while they recovered. It was this time in his life that provided him with the inspiration to create what we now know as the Reformer, a machine designed for isolated muscle toning.

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Dress For The Job You Want: Why the devil is in the details

“Dress for the job you want, instead of the job you have.”

“The clothes make the man!”

We hear these and similar sentiments often, and seem to associate dressing better with doing better and achieving more in the workforce. But is there actually evidence that “dressing for success” works? How? Do certain clothes make us do better, or are we just perceived differently?

In the business world—with interviews, meetings, and presentations—appearances do often set a first impression.

We tend to consciously and unconsciously judge people based on what they look like, including what they wear. While we may be judging based mostly on [socially conditioned stereotypes], we are still making decisions toward and assumptions about people based on their outward appearance. These assumptions can be completely accurate or completely inaccurate; it’s impossible to know if we don’t look at a person’s achievements and work habits.

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What if memories could be erased, while others created?

What if I told you the way you perceive memories was about to change drastically? The ability to remember varies for everyone. Some people’s memories may be fragmented, while others’ are quite vivid and rich with detail. How exactly could we change what our brains have already stored? And are memories not just the psychological residue of what once was? Isn’t what we remember something that is merely out of our control?

Where science is currently taking us in its research pertaining to memory and just how flexible our brains can be, will disturb some and fascinate others. How would you perceive a world in which it is possible to create memories without you even being a part of them?

Memory creation by cortical stimulation is real, tested, and possible.

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What if procrastination had an upside?

“I’ll do it tomorrow.”

We’ve all said this at one point or another, whether referencing laundry, cleaning, studying or paying mind to an important work project. Procrastination is a difficult habit to break, and a tricky urge to fight. And a lot of us battle it often—Twenty percent of people describe themselves as chronic procrastinators, meaning procrastination, for them, is a lifestyle.

Whether we procrastinate all the time, or every once in awhile, we know it can have negative effects on our productivity, and hold us back from getting many things done. So, when all’s said and done, we tend to berate ourselves for engaging in this behavior. Procrastination is seen as a dominantly negative behavior, so it appears to deserve punishment. But, wait, are we sure that there aren’t any benefits to procrastination? Is it actually a completely negative tendency?

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