Beauty and Personal Grooming

Even an innocuous, grooming task such as trimming nails is not left untouched by superstitious beliefs. An ancient European belief forbids a person from cutting nails on Sunday and Friday; cutting nails on Friday invariably brings bad luck and on Sunday attracts evil spirits. Another superstition doing the rounds in 19th century Europe was that a mother should never cut the nails of the child before it's first birthday and if she does so the child will grow up to be a thief.  India too has its share of superstitious beliefs regarding nail cutting. In India, at least in the part of South India where I grew up, there is a belief that cutting nails after dusk is a bad thing. Moreover clipping nails on Saturday and on the day of the week you were born is supposed to bring bad luck. So most people avoid cutting nails on these days.

This one's for the workaholics who work for long hours incessantly, unmindful of the devastating effects it can have on their health. Don't work for long hours incessantly.

If you find yourself or your dear ones often forgetting things, don't panic. While in most circumstances, memory loss is associated with stress, dementia etc., there could also be other reasons for forgetfulness and memory loss.

Menstruating women often experience myriad symptoms during PMS ranging from mood swings, poor quality of sleep to vivid dreams and nightmares . Reportedly, PMSing women are also prone to forgetfulness and sluggishness due to  the rise in progesterone levels in the later half of the menstrual cycle. This rise in progesterone levels has often been linked to a drop in serotonin, a neurotransmitter that boosts mood and helps keep you sharp .(1)