In case you’ve been out of the podcast loop, wellness is the new true crime.
So you can spend more time chilling out and winding down (instead of spooking yourself over a 50-year-old murder mystery), we’ve lined up a sling of easy listens that span meditation, short fiction and a hybrid culture-wellness podcast you’ll no doubt get addicted to.
Here are all the best health and wellness podcasts to get around.
Terrible, Thanks For Asking
You know how when someone asks, "How are you?" and you just say, "Fine,” even if you’re totally dying inside, just so everyone can go about their day? Terrible, Thanks For Asking is the opposite of that. Nora McInerny asks real people to share their complicated and honest feelings about how they really are. It’s sometimes sad, sometimes funny, and often both.
Headspace
The Goop Podcast
We know, we know, Goop has a reputation for not exactly being aligned with science 100% of the time, but The Goop Podcast is packed full of awesome insights and input from professionals including psychotherapists, dietitians and educators (just to name a few). Top episodes include talks on cultural representation, refreshed paradigms for love and soft-belly breathing—we love the diversity of topics.
That’s So Retrograde
Elizabeth Kott and Stephanie Simbari have been coined “the Ab Fab of the new age” with good reason. Effortlessly merging pop culture and wellness, the ladies of That’s So Retrograde seek out their most authentic selves, one mistake—or mindful awakening—at a time, while graciously bringing their listeners along for the ride.
How To Be A Better Human
This one's by TED (yeah, like the Youtube vids), so you just know it's going to be stimulating. In a similar vein to the series you know well, expect a huge melting pot of topics from finding humanity in an automated world to enriching your life with poetry, with legit experts talking to each topic in a clear and easy-to-digest way.
The Minimalists
Previously big corporate juggernauts who were discontent even with some of the most glamourous assets in life, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus chat all things minimalist. Here, that doesn’t necessarily mean living with less and less ie. living with “less than 100 things” or no TV. It means finding freedom. Freedom from being overwhelmed, freedom from guilt and freedom from consumer culture. Episodes go through decluttering questions, how to improve your sleep and how to conquer negative thoughts.
Getting Curious
As the star of the Emmy-winning reality show Queer Eye, Emmy-nominated web series Gay of Thrones and acclaimed podcast Getting Curious, Jonathan Van Ness has become known for his fabulous, unstoppable energy. Van Ness takes listeners through all the important stuff we should be talking about including climate change, techno-chauvinism and even sunscreen.
Sleep With Me
Creator Drew Ackerman spearheaded the slow-lit movement with his now-famous Sleep With Me podcast. A literal snore-fest, Ackerman’s dulcet tones have the ability to send even the most anxious sleeper into a blissful slumber.
More of a bookworm? These are the best books on mindfulness.
Image credit: Daria Litvinova