Sagittarius energy is often big and bold. This is a sign that’s always seeking, seeking, seeking. They’re the quintessential adventurers of the zodiac.

We can begin to understand the nuances of Sagittarius by looking at its ruling planet, Jupiter, the expansive and benevolent force of the cosmos. Jupiter likes to see the big picture, always seeking wisdom, intuition, and cosmic law and order. Think of it as the bird’s-eye view planet. Jupiter shows up in our lives to remind us of our larger purpose in this expansive universe.

Jupiter grants Sagittarius its affinity for adventure and novelty. Sag is also associated with the ninth house in astrology—the realm of higher education, foreign travel, spirituality, and wisdom. This is a sign that will travel to far reaches of the globe searching for truth.

Sagittarius is represented by the centaur, or archer, a mythological creature (half-horse, half-human) that’s often pointing a bow and arrow toward the sky. The horse portion of this Sagittarius symbol is unruly, relentless, beastly, and strong (just think about the force and beauty of wild horses). The human portion is wisdom-seeking and rational.

This speaks to the complicated conversation that’s often going on in a Sagittarius’ head. How can I balance my animal instincts with the more visionary, rational, truth-seeking part of myself? Since Sag is a fire sign, they tend to explore this question with plenty of heat, passion, and boldness.

Sag is also a mutable sign like Gemini, Virgo, and Pisces, meaning that they tend to be adaptable to change and like to mix up their daily routines often.

Scorpionic energy often appears calm and subdued but is intensely emotional underneath the surface.

We can begin to understand the depths of Scorpio by looking at Pluto—its ruling planet that is associated with the underworld, death, and rebirth. We meet with Pluto in our lives when we feel we need to cross a threshold, examine deep emotional processes, or find truth by delving deep into the hidden parts of ourselves.

Scorpio is a fixed sign, meaning Scorpios tend to like stability, routines, and home life—just like their opposite sign, Taurus. We can think of Taurus as the natural world and all that is visible and Scorpio as the underworld, or whatever emotions, thoughts, truths, and secrets linger below the surface. 

Scorpio is often associated with the eighth house in astrology—an arena that rules sex, death, and rebirth, among other things.

Scorpios are famously discreet and even secretive, with an air of mystery around them. Other personality traits include fearlessness, boldness (thanks to Mars), passion, creativity, and fierce loyalty.

This creamy vegetable soup is also rich in natural fibers, like organic cruciferous vegetables, as well as prebiotic fiber (hello, flaxseed), and probiotics to nourish the gut microbiome.* More specifically, it contains Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains, which have been shown to provide beneficial microbes to support GI function.*

In this delectable soup, the warm orange hue of the pumpkin and carrots comes from beta-carotene, a powerful carotenoid and form of vitamin A. This antioxidant helps promote oxidative balance in the body, playing a role in overall immune functioning and even eye health.*

Yes, all those benefits with just five ingredients and three simple steps. Here’s more on how to make it. 

Despite our hesitance to get deep with strangers, the results of this study suggest deep conversations between strangers were not only less awkward than participants thought they would be, but also more enjoyable, which resulted in stronger feelings of connection between the pairs.

Interestingly, the participants also often assumed strangers wouldn’t be interested in learning about them, when this proved to not be the case. On top of that, participants who had some deep conversations and some shallow ones thought they’d prefer the shallow conversation. Again, not the case.

As professor of behavioral science and study co-author Nicholas Epley, Ph.D. explains in a news release, “People seemed to imagine that revealing something meaningful or important about themselves in conversation would be met with blank stares and silence, only to find this wasn’t true in the actual conversation.”

Many Type-A people see sleep as unnecessary. But the science of sleep says otherwise: Besides helping your cells to repair and renew, sleep clears junk information from your brain, integrates information and consolidates memories, and also provides a safe space to process traumas. And that’s just the beginning of a very comprehensive slew of functions sleep fulfills. It is definitely not redundant or a waste of time. 

We are just learning to respect sleep as a cornerstone of our lives. What if we could respect leisure as an equally important cornerstone?

Taking breaks is about spending time to buy back exponentially more time and peace of mind. That pause helps us to strategize and respond wisely, instead of reacting from a place of fear. How about acknowledging leisure’s role in nurturing your most important relationships, taking care of your body, and indulging your curiosity in other parts of life? Because the more areas of life we expose ourselves to, the more raw material we have to be creative. Not to mention, resting or leisure time (meaning, not working) activates the Default Mode Network in our brain, which is absolutely essential for creative breakthroughs, whether to create solutions or innovations. 

While many people fear becoming lax or undisciplined with leisure activities, the truth is, for many people, it will take a lot of discipline to become indolent and hedonistic. 

Hey beauty fans, welcome to art class—today we’re learning about color theory. You’ve likely heard of the color wheel (go ahead and Google it real quickly, should you need to). And according to color theory, shades on the opposite side of the circle cancel each other out. That’s exactly the science behind toning shampoos! 

“We use toners to enhance dull tones or cancel unwanted tones,” says hairstylist Natasha Speth. “When we are canceling unwanted tones, we refer to our faithful color wheel to select the proper tones. We would use complementary colors to cancel out unwanted tones.” The basics of at-home toning are using violet for yellow, green for red, or blue for orange. “For instance, if a light blond with soft golden undertones would prefer to be an icy white blond, we may use a violet base toner or send them home with a violet-based shampoo and conditioner.” 

Enter, a platinum blonde’s best friend: Purple shampoo. These are your standard shampoos made with violet pigments that deposit onto the hair to color-correct brassy and yellow undertones. (Oh, and on that depositing note? Yes, these can start to stain your hair lavender if used too often—although the fix is simple: Just cut back how much you use it!) And because we’re mindbodygreen, all of the below are sulfate-free too. 

While desserts are tasty any time of year, most people don’t want hot-from-the-oven treats when temperatures are high in summer. This is where no-bake desserts can come in handy, like my healthy take on creamy, citrusy Key lime pie.

Key lime pie is known for its zesty flavor, velvety center, and crumbly crust. This healthier version swaps a few standard ingredients for more nutritious alternatives while still maintaining the pie’s classic flavors and textures. The Key limes are still there, of course, but this pie gets its vibrant green color from another key ingredient: mbg’s organic veggies+.

Along with adding a nice green hue, the greens powder conveniently works some extra vegetables and nutrients into this dessert. The organic kale, spinach, sea vegetables, turmeric, ginger, and more deliver antioxidant benefits and enhance immune function.* It also contains digestive enzymes, prebiotic fiber, and probiotics to help support digestion.*

Intuitive skin care is a concept we often preach here at mindbodygreen. Your skin knows what it needs—and will send you big red flags when you’re treating it poorly. So you should pay attention to these signals, and adjust your skin care accordingly. 

Unfortunately, we have so long equated pain, adjustment periods, and putting up with side effects as a normal part of skin care. If you haven’t already, remove yourself from that mindset. Skin care should feel good—and should sustain you. 

“Always ask your skin, ‘What do you need today? Every morning, just a little like tune-in and a little check.’ And not forcing ideas, putting force on the skin, or coming at my skin with that energy of fixing,” she says. “But rather tuning in and going, ‘OK, skin, what do you need today?’ And then allowing both my skincare practices and just my practices throughout the day to kind of evolve around that.”

According to cosmetic chemist Kelly Dobos, arbutin is a naturally occurring chemical found in some botanical extracts like bearberry, cranberry and Japanese pear. And in case you’re wondering, many use the terms alpha arbutin and arbutin interchangeably and that’s because alpha arbutin is simply a variant of the original chemical.

“There are two isomers of arbutin, the alpha and beta forms,” Dobos says. “They differ in structure and properties.” She also states that alpha arbutin is about 10 times more effective than beta arbutin when it comes to skin brightening effects, which is why so many are reaching for this powerhouse ingredient when it comes to bettering the skin. 

Here’s what all curly-haired folks know to be true: To get your springs just right, you need the right technique, products, healthy habits, and—yes—tools.

For many, diffusers rank at the top of the list of must-have-on-hand-at-all-time items. If you don’t know, or are just now embracing your waves and curls, here’s a primer on the hot tool addition: A diffuser is a blow dryer attachment (that comes in all shapes and sizes) that literally diffuses the airflow.

According to celebrity hairstylist Nate Rosenkranz, “A diffuser slows and distributes the airflow coming from within the dryer,” he says. “It works to gently dry the hair without disrupting the curl pattern, which is typically highly susceptible to frizz.” What’s great about the tool is it doesn’t affect how much air is coming out, just how that air is directed. 

Anyone with a wave or curl pattern can use them, but they are particularly useful for those with curls, kinks, and coils. And if your strands fall in this broad hair type range—and you choose to use a hot tool instead of air drying—diffusers are a total necessity.

So right about now you may be wondering which diffusers are the best? Well, take it from this beauty editor with a head full of curls and waves, these are the best for any price range.