POMC, or pro-opiomelanocortin, also creates the opioid peptides that make the warm sun feel so good on our skin. James Watson, the father of modern genetic science who co-discovered the double helix in 1953, identified this gene as his favorite of all twenty-thousand-plus human genes, telling Forbes magazine in a 2012 interview that its very

Life is 10 percent what happens to us (chance) and 90 percent how we respond to it (choice).

moved out of Manhattan to a Brooklyn neighborhood where he teaches yoga and meditation

The synergy of light, appetite, and fat storage is actually a desirable evolutionary process kicking in. Our ancestors stayed up later in the summers eating carbs in the form of seasonal fruits, vegetables, and tubers. This triggered hormonal processes that prompted their bodies to start storing fat, a desired effect when considering the long,

When we fail to obtain adequate sleep, we decrease our ability to process even moderate levels of oxidative stress. The impact leads to faster aging and measurable neurological decline.

Turns out that the more choices you encounter over the course of a day, especially trivial choices, the more stressed you become.

During sleep, elevated levels of testosterone, human growth hormone, and other adaptive hormones pulse through your body, a critical nighttime process that repairs organs and strengthens and rebuilds muscle. What’s more, your immune system’s white blood cells kick into high gear, with macrophages and leukocytes multiplying rapidly, thus inducing

Challenge yourself to disconnect. As a general rule, stay focused at work, but when you come home, stay tuned in there. Try not to skirt it with rationalizations as you fondle your iPhone in one hand, and push your child on the swing with the other.

Today, we make what isn’t real our reality. We literally dream up ways to make our lives more difficult and miserable. We spend hours obsessing in front of mirrors when our ancient ancestors never in their lives saw a full image of their own reflection. We compare ourselves to digitally enhanced people on magazine covers, who in reality have no