November/December 2025

Healthy Connections

The holidays bring fresh challenges to both longstanding and new relationships. Discover inspiration to overcome the kind of fraught interactions that can turn celebratory gatherings into unhealthy battlegrounds.

On the Cover

Reclaim Your Joy With Judith Joseph, MD, MBA

Psychiatrist Judith Joseph, MD, MBA, unmasks the hidden face of high-functioning depression — and offers strategies to restore joy in your life.

By Jill Patton, NBC-HWC

Depression & Anxiety Happiness/Joy

Behind the Scenes With Judith Joseph, MD, MBA (Video)

Go behind the scenes of the November/December 2025 cover shoot with Judith Joseph and discover how to reclaim your joy.

By Experience Life Staff

Attitude/Mindset Happiness/Joy

Features

How to Stop Being a People-Pleaser

Learn how to stop putting others’ needs ahead of your own — and how to bring more authenticity to your relationships.

By Laine Bergeson

Coworkers Emotional Intelligence

The Fascia-Fitness Connection

The health of this overlooked tissue affects not only your exercise routine but nearly every aspect of your life. It's time to give it the attention it deserves.

By Andrew Heffernan

Flexibility & Mobility

The Key to a Better Sex Life? Focus on Pleasure, Not Desire

Many people worry about their desire for sex — or their lack of it. But shifting the focus from desire to pleasure can make all the difference. Here's why.

By Emily Nagoski, PhD

Attitude/Mindset Happiness/Joy

Real Food

How to Cook With the Three Sisters: 4 Creative Recipes Using Squash, Beans, and Corn

Corn, beans, and squash are a traditional Native American gardening combo. They also complement each other in the kitchen.

By Jose Guzman, RDN

Cooking & Food

6 Common Kitchen Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

Become a better cook by learning to steer clear of these everyday errors.

By Adam Meyer

Cooking & Food Meal Planning & Prep

chicken noodle soup to support the cold and flu

SOMETHING SIMPLE: Sick-Day Chicken and Rice Soup

Cure what ails you with this soothing, comforting recipe.

By Kaelyn Riley

Soups

Real Fitness

3 Multiplanar Moves to Build Full-Body Strength

Short on time? Stack these three bodyweight exercises for an efficient and effective full-body routine.

By Lauren Bedosky

At-Home Workouts Body-Weight Workouts

Build Cardio Endurance With Zone 3 Training

Discover how to build endurance — and avoid “junk miles” — by training in this midrange cardio zone.

By Maggie Fazeli Fard

Cardio

5 Ways to Sharpen Your Senses While You Exercise

Embrace your sensory experience — and boost your brain health — by tuning in while working out.

By Nicole Radziszewski

Fitness Tips Mindfulness/Meditation

How to Do the Bird-Dog Row

Improve core strength and spinal stability with this twist on a classic ab exercise.

By Maggie Fazeli Fard

Strength Training

Real Life

Simple Solutions for Acute Stress

Reset a triggered nervous system with these natural interventions.

By Henry Emmons, MD

Functional/Integrative Medicine Stress

a woman hits outside drinking a warm beverage

How to Recover from “Family Jet Lag”

Expert tips for navigating the fraught dynamics of family gatherings.

By Jessie Sholl

Family/Parenting/Kids Relationships

What is Energy Clearing?

Simple techniques for shaking off sluggishness — in yourself and in your space.

By Courtney Helgoe

Functional/Integrative Medicine

two women sit on a couch drinking coffee staring straight ahead

Stuck in an Awkward Conversation? 11 Tips to Rescue It

A communication expert offers tips for transforming uncomfortable conversations.

By Jon Spayde

Coworkers Family/Parenting/Kids

A women smiles with her hands clasped under her chin.

What Does It Mean to Decolonize Beauty?

Aboriginal writer and former model Sasha Kutabah Sarago discusses the need to shift the beauty paradigm.

By Kate Nelson

Inclusive Wellness Personal Care/Beauty

Well Informed

How Strength Training Supports Better Sleep

Tired of tossing and turning? Any type of exercise will support better sleep — but new research argues that strength training may be your best bet.

By Michael Dregni

Fitness Tips Sleep

a woman looks thoughtfully at her computer

Ask the Expert: What Are Stem-Cell and Exosome Therapies?

Life Time’s chief science officer, Jim LaValle, RPh, CCN, MT, explains.

By Jim LaValle, RPH, CCN

Autoimmunity Inflammation

7 Ways to Help Your Body Manage Microplastics

Learn how to avoid microplastics and reduce your body’s overall microplastic load.

By Michael Dregni

General Health Sustainability

a middle aged man works on a crossword puzzle

The Overlapping Risks — and Antidotes — of Stroke, Depression, and Dementia

Because vascular damage in the brain may contribute to all three diseases, modifiable lifestyle factors can make a difference.

By Craig Cox

Alzheimer’s & Dementia Depression & Anxiety

In Every Issue

5 Ways to Warm Up Your Space

Create a warm hygge vibe with these cozy lights.

By Experience Life Staff

Home/Living Product Reviews

Embracing Radical Self-Care

How art educator Christina Chang improved her fitness and renewed her creativity by embracing lessons she learned from a childhood best friend.

By Christina Chang

Friends Healthy Aging

What’s Your Favorite Wellness Tool?

EL staffers share some of their favorite health-supporting gadgets. Did yours make the list?

By Experience Life Staff and Alexandra Smith, MA, LPCC

General Health

Columns

Imagine the Possibilities

Bahram Akradi on the power of slowing down and reflecting amid rapidly advancing AI.

By Bahram Akradi

Attitude/Mindset Personal Development

Less Is More

EL's editor in chief on how to slow down — and why simplifying is more important than it’s ever been.

By Jamie Martin

Emotional Intelligence Mindfulness/Meditation

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