Hello!

save this for your next academic year and finals, and it’ll save your grades and time.

1. whenever you read a paragraph with new content, close the book/look away and ask yourself: “what have i just learned?” explaining the concept to yourself right away and asking follow-up questions will change the way you retain new material forever.

2. at first, it’ll be daunting, and it’ll be pretty hard to actually bring yourself to do this. trust me, it’ll be worth it - as this is scientifically proven one of the most effective study techniques.

3. to try this out, set yourself a timer for how long you estimate learning a concept might take. now take away 20% from that estimate. you won’t be able to reach this goal with basic highlighting and re-reading techniques - but with active recall, you will.

4. once you’ve understood the concept, use spaced repetition systems like anki flashcards to force yourself to retrieve this information in a set period of time. this way, your brain will always be reminded of this concept before it could possibly forget it.

5. teach it to others as much as you can. as with the old wisdom “see one, do one, teach one”, one of the only guarantees you’ve really gotten something is when you can effectively teach it.

hope these are helpful for you!!

Turns out it was triple negative breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nods. Mastectomy, radiation and chemo saved her life.

This could SAVE a life.

If you buy pre-made herbal tea blends (usually have names like Bedtime, Calm, etc) check the ingredients. I just saw a Nighttime blend that had St. Johns Wort in it, which can be dangerous when mixed with some medications. Talk to you doctor what herbs you should avoid. (Especially when you want to ingest st. Johns wort or mugwort) 

St. John’s Wort also interacts with birth control.

If we’re not missing our mark here, teas containing these ingredients have a “talk to your doctor” warning on them, and many herbal remedies have something resembling a Drug Facts table in back. That’s always a good sign to run the ingredients through a checker like the one at Drugs.com.

I use interaction checkers, too, but bear in mind that they flag everything, even rumored interactions that happened twice in the 1970s and don’t have great evidence. Be sure to find pharmacists in your community who you feel that you can reach out to. Our advice is free, a phone call away, and most of us love being asked questions. And definitely tell us about herbs, teas, even tinctures that you’re using. We’re meant to help with all drugs, not just the ones that big pharma sells.