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Here's a site with some tips for your intellectual wellness.

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The Internet has democratized business education-it's now easier than ever to learn almost anything from nearly anyone you'd like to reach.

In the past, you might have had to send snail-mail correspondences, call repeatedly, or get a personal introduction to get advice from those high-profile individuals you so admire. In our connected world, though, the world's top experts are just a click away.

Online education platform Skillshare led the pack for innovation in the learning space, enabling users to learn anything from anyone. It began as a platform for connecting with experts in the real-world and has since turned its focus back to online coursework.

Others, too, have followed suit, and three platforms in particular have caught my attention- Popexpert, Udemy, and Clarity. These three sites alone could keep me busy learning new skills and picking up side hobbies for months. Here's why you should get started on each.

1. Popexpert

To my knowledge, Popexpert is the only site where you can easily search for and book experts to speak with in one-on-one, real-time video chats. No matter where you are, you can connect digitally with some of the world's most interesting people to teach you about the ways of life and business.

Need a career coach? Book Kate Katsudaira, founder of employee-development startup popforms, to discuss your work woes. Want to learn how to run a crowdfunding campaign? Chat with Jesse Genet, who, as founder and CEO of innovative fabric-printing company Lumi, raised $280,000 in one of Kickstarter's first breakout campaigns. Or trying to bring your screenplay to life? Why not enlist the executive producer of "The Blair Witch Project," Kevin Foxe to discuss go-to-market strategies?

For my first Popexpert video chat, I spoke with wine connoisseur Debbie Gioquindo about my longtime goal to become a winemaker. Gioquindo, who owns a wine brand and is known as the "Hudson Valley Wine Goddess," set me on the right path, pointing out a few options that could get me closer to learning how to make wine, even while I'm pursuing my MBA. The video chat was a departure from most digital experiences with new acquaintances as we had both carved out time to speak face-to-face about a very specific topic of which I was interested. The platform, too, enabled me to write and save notes during the video chat, as Gioquindo was spouting out wisdom left and right.

As CTO and Popexpert co-founder Jeremy Thomas told me, the company is starting with experts in what it deems the Life, Work, and Play categories-those who have a tendency to be more EQ (rather than IQ) focused. Users, then, will find experts on meditation, nutrition, relationships, and parenting, alongside productivity and marketing coaches, as well as language, music, and fashion professionals.

The company is just nine months old and raised $2.2 million in seed round capital in May-look for this one to make waves in the coming year.

2. Udemy

If you're a fan of video learning, but aren't so into the face-to-face conversations offered by Popexpert, Udemy may be more up your alley.

Udemy is an online education platform, which offers self-directed, video-based courses for the most part, but also allows users to ask questions of their instructors when they just need a human voice to make sense of things.

Udemy courses, while rooted in video lessons, also feature documents, article references, and quizzes to keep users engaged. On the platform, users can search for courses in topics ranging from technology, business, photography, and design to languages, fitness, music, and sports.

Business owners will find Udemy's wide range of marketing, entrepreneurship, content strategy, and analytics courses to be quite useful-especially since some of them come at the low cost of free.

I, for example, teach a Udemy course on public relations for startups, which features 13 video lectures and two hours of content, all on the topic of gaining press on a tight budget. The course has been taken by nearly 200 students and has a five-star rating. While most students are independent in going through the course, I receive the occasional message asking for clarifications, which I'm happy to engage.

As a student, I've experienced the same responsiveness on part of instructors, though I tend to mosey along on my own most of the time. Jim Hopkinson, author of Salary Tutor: Learn the Salary Negotiation Secrets No One Ever Taught You, for example, teaches a free course on salary negotiation, of which I'm a student. His course not only features high-quality and engaging videos, but also offers a spot for one-on-one messaging with Hopkinson for more case-specific recommendations.

Founded in early 2010, the site boasts 8,000 courses and 800,000 students as of June, has raised $16 million in funding, and partnered this summer with TechCrunch to power its online startup school, CrunchU.

3. Clarity

For those who would rather throw video to the curb and get down to business on a simple voice chat, look no further than Clarity, a mobile app for connecting with more than 14,000 experts on a plethora of topics, all by phone.

Among many other types of professionals, the site features a wide selection of startup founders, venture capitalists, and marketing experts, all available to chat for prices that are all over the map-some experts offer their advice for free while others charge upwards of $25 per minute. The average, it seems, though, is around $3 or $4 dollars per minute to chat these folks up.

For $8.33 per minute, you can talk with TechStars co-founder Brad Feld about venture capital. Ask Couchsurfing social media manager Marian Schembari about best practices for Facebook marketing, at a rate of $4.17 per minute. Or speak with Clarity founder himself, Dan Martell, about the ins and outs of starting a technology company for an even 10 bucks per minute.

I was introduced to Clarity by colleague and seasoned startup marketer Fred Perrotta, who offers his marketing advice at $1.67 per minute on the platform. Perrotta, once an AdWords account strategist at Google, has worked with startups, including Airbnb, Lyft, and Udemy, to grow their businesses through paid advertising.

If ever I need someone's opinion on digital advertising or marketing, Perrotta is my man. As a colleague, I can simply shoot him an email or set up a time to chat. But,those who don't know him might have a tough time tracking him down without a tool like Clarity. That's the beauty of this app-you can search and filter through thousands of experts, "favorite" the ones who interest you, quickly request calls, and get to chatting in no time.

The app is currently available via iPhone and iPad, and with $1.6 million in seed funding, we can only hope an Android app is on the way.

What sites do you use to get advice from micro-experts? Tweet me @ericaswallow to share your favorites.
Erica Swallow is a tech and lifestyle writer, technology entrepreneur, and MIT Sloan MBA candidate. Follow her on Twitte Photos from top: Thinkstock, www.popexpert.com, www.udemy.com, clarity.fm r @ericaswallow.

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The Internet has democratized business education-it's now easier than ever to learn almost anything from nearly anyone you'd like to reach. In the past, you might have had to send snail-mail correspondences, call repeatedly, or get a personal introduction to get advice from those high-profile individuals you so admire.

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Six ways to live a less frazzled life.

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Saturday, May 11, 2013

Hard Fact: your response to stress may be a greater determinant for how healthy you'll be in the future than the food you put in your mouth or the workout you fit into your schedule. Most people understand that exercising for several hours every day is a bad idea. It's too much for the body to recover from. However, we miss that same connection when we work and push our mental abilities for 10-12 hours, six to seven days per week. With long hours and multiple running lists of chores, errands, and other obligations, we live a harried lifestyle in which personal fulfillment comes last and stress runs rampant. Without mental rest and personal replenishment, this type of unrelenting stress will take a serious toll on our health--unless we choose otherwise.

To demonstrate just how serious the stress and health connection is, a new shows that measures of cortisol in the hair (which are a good indicator of cortisol levels in the body) was a clear predictor for cardiovascular risk and type 2 diabetes. In fact, the researchers found the stress levels to be as predictive of heart disease as other more conventional risk factors! Another recent study showed that the top 20% most stressed employees had a79% increased risk of heart disease! While relational stress can take its toll, work-related stress is often the most common source of non-physical stress we encounter. Again, that's not always a bad thing. If work was too easy, it would leave people bored and keep them from growing, which is important for job satisfaction. It's when pressure becomes too great, hours too long, or breaks too infrequent that work negatively influences health.

As crucial as diet and exercise are to our basic health, clearly reigning in stress plays a vital role as well. We often hear about the importance of "managing" stress, which can include genuinely helpful strategies for relieving the immediate effects of stress in our day. There's another take on stress, however, that's less about alleviating or managing symptoms but diffusing the power of stressors themselves. Some of the best ways to blunt the impact of stress aren't just about keeping stress at bay but about filling our lives with enough positive experiences and inputs to counter stressful experiences as a whole. It's what I'll call the "long view" on stress--and it's about living life less frazzled and more fulfilled.

Use Your Vacation Time

Just as you need to pause to recover between weight training or sprint sets to maintain your level of performance, you should pause every so often from work to recover mentally. In 2012, Americans took an average of 12 days of vacation , less than half of what most Europeans take. When you break that down, it's only one vacation day per month. What's more, nearly 60% of us deliberately forgo the vacation days allotted to us in our jobs. This isn't a good way to let the body and mind recover throughout the year. While it's difficult to say that vacation time will directly improve health, research linking stress to serious physical and mental health issues (as well as job burnout) continues to grow.

Summer is coming and, with it, vacation season for many people. It's the perfect time to make a resolution of a different sort: resolve to take all of your vacation this year. (If you're diligent about preparing work for your time away, you shouldn't even have to check in much, if at all, when you're gone.) Plan more than the dates but also what you'll do with the time. If money permits, go somewhere you've always wanted to go. If it doesn't, plan the most relaxation and adventure you can with day trips, unplugged time at home, and regional activities or camping.

Schedule Unplugged Personal Time.

Beyond the vacations, you might ask, what about the every day? How do we take the "long view" on stress in the midst of the daily grind?

If you have a tendency to bring work home and get caught up in it for several hours on the weekend, be sure to schedule yourself as well--your own personal time for R&R alone or with family and friends. Work of one sort or another has a way of filling every minute it's allowed to--that is, if you don't impose hard boundaries. Set a schedule and stick to it. Maybe you pencil yourself in from 12-5 on Saturdays or for the first half of the day on Sundays. Maybe you block out the whole day for yourself and your family.

What's more, make most (if not all) of those personal hours unplugged time. Turn off your phone. Don't check email or social networking sites. Put the technology aside and relish the real, non-virtual moment.

Even if you can't spend the day in a hammock, envision a way to enjoy the chores and errands you have to do. My wife and I tend to take our time getting errands done together. We'll combine shopping with a meal at Whole Foods as a way to catch up. Additionally, we set aside some unplugged time at home. Whether it happens on Friday evenings or Saturday afternoons, we always have at least four hours to ourselves--sans chores and technology.

Get outside--every day.

Sure, not every day can include a leisurely hike in a remote forest. Nonetheless, we can take advantage of small moments in the day by drinking our morning coffee in the backyard, eating dinner outdoors, or going for a walk over our lunch hour. We can turn off the T.V. at night and sit outside to talk or read. On weekends or days off, we can prioritize "green" time by getting some outdoor exercise in, biking to do errands, or spending time in a favorite local park. For vacations, we can plan plenty of outdoor activities like hikes, boating, or time at the beach.

Treat Sleep as Sacred.

I can't stress enough how much this will change your life. We're naturally diligent about setting our alarms to get up in the morning to be on time for work, school, or other obligations. How about setting an alarm to go to bed at night? Consider it an obligation to yourself. You'll be healthier, happier, more energetic, and more productive if you allow yourself the chance for adequate rest. An added bonus: you won't need to bombard yourself with caffeine the next day.

Act in sync with your Circadian rhythms by powering down a couple hours before bed if you can. When you need to use blue screens shortly before bed (e.g. phones, laptops, etc.), wear yellow-tinted glasses to counter the blue light, which interferes with melatonin production. The sooner you can put the power equipment away, however, the better. Leave your inbox or Facebook for the morning. (Consider it a good step in trimming your media diet.) You'll relax more with a good book or a quiet chat and fall asleep more easily.

Do one thing every week for pure pleasure.

You may love painting, wood working or discussing the latest bestselling novel in a book club. Alternatively, you enjoy rock climbing or hitting the golf range. What about a movie (minus the carb coma of popcorn, soda and candy)? We all have things we like that don't necessarily make us more productive, intelligent or better at our jobs. As long as it isn't actually hurting your health (like a weekend bender) do it! These passions and pastimes are an integral part of who we are and how we enjoy life. In prioritizing them, we "exercise" the dimensions of ourselves that can languish and leave us feeling unfulfilled and more prone to the effects of everyday stress.

Do one thing every day for relaxation.

A couple months ago on the LTWL Facebook page, we shared a cartoon of a person walking outdoors with his dog and two thought bubbles above his head. In one was a reflection of the landscape in front of him. The bubble was labelled "mindful." The other thought bubble was filled with pictures of mental static like a car, people, laundry, work, and mail. It was labelled "mind full." You get the picture, but which one would describe you?

While developing genuine mindfulness practices can offer enormous stress-relieving and health-enhancing benefits, simply incorporating a casual relaxation routine each day can make a definitive difference in our personal contentment. It can be a focused and formal activity like yoga or Tai Chi, of course. However, it can also be something as basic as a quiet evening walk or bike ride or something more thoughtful like writing in gratitude journal. Whatever relaxes your mind and lets you live pleasantly in the moment will offer you benefit.

These are just a few ideas among many for infusing your life with more fulfillment to counteract the frenzy of everyday stress. I hope you'll share your own favorite ways to "fill the well" and cultivate more happiness and relaxation each day.
Written by Tom Nikkola - Sr. Director of Nutrition & Weight Management This article is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations in this and other articles is at the choice and risk of the reader.

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6 Ways to Live a Less Frazzled Life - Articles - LifeTime WeightLoss

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Saturday, May 11, 2013 Hard Fact: your response to stress may be a greater determinant for how healthy you'll be in the future than the food you put in your mouth or the workout you fit into your schedule. Most people understand that exercising for several hours every day is a bad idea.

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Listen for the suggestion of a walking, red wine, book club for optimal brain health :o)

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The numbers are pretty grim: More than half of all 85-year-olds suffer some form of dementia.

But here's the good news: Brain researchers say there are ways to boost brain power and stave off problems in memory and thinking.

In other words, brain decline is not necessarily an inevitable part of aging. "It's simply not pre-destined for all human beings," Bryan James tells Shots. He's an epidemiologist at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago. "Lots of people live into their 90s and even 100s with no symptoms of dementia."

So what can you do to increase the odds? Neuroscientist Art Kramer, who directs the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois, has a number of suggestions. First and foremost, Kramer says, is to exercise. Research shows it's the best thing you can do for your brain.

Kramer did a study in which he scanned the brains of 120 older adults, half of whom started a program of moderate aerobic exercise - just 45 minutes, three days a week, mostly walking. After a year, the MRI scans showed that for the aerobic group, the volume of their brains actually increased.

What's more, individuals in the control group lost about 1.5 percent of their brain volume, adding up to a 3.5 percent difference between individuals who took part in aerobic exercise and those who did not. Further tests showed that increased brain volume translated into better memory.

The findings support earlier animal research in which rodents that were exercised had a number of favorable physiological changes, Kramer says. They had more new neurons, stronger connections between neurons, and increased blood supply to a number of regions in the brain.

Rachel Whitmer, a researcher at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California, agrees that it's important to exercise your body to ensure the health of your brain. It's not just getting adequate exercise, Whitmer says, it's also "maintaining good blood pressure, levels of cholesterol and a healthy weight," and remembering that "what's good for the heart is good for the brain."

What about mental exercises? Kramer says the evidence isn't nearly as conclusive, but keeping your brain active can't hurt.

The brain loves novelty, so if you do crossword puzzles, try shifting to a different type of puzzle - Sudoku, for example, he says. Or learn a new language. Play a new instrument.

And go out with friends. James recently published a study looking at the social lives of about 1,100 adults over 80. He asked them about going to restaurants and sporting events, playing bingo, doing volunteer work and other activities.

Individuals were followed for up to 12 years. Those with busy social lives were half as likely to develop dementia, compared with those with minimal social activities.

In another study, James looked at a different measure of activity - something he calls "life space." He added up how often people got out of their bedroom, went out of their house, traveled out of their neighborhood or out of town. "The people who never left their home - even though they didn't seem to have any cognitive problems when we started following them - were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease" over five years, James says.

And finally, there's the popular notion of brain food. There's some evidence suggesting that omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish, and antioxidants, like vitamins C and E, found in vegetables, may help nourish the brain.

Putting it all together, Kramer jokingly suggests that the best advice might be to join a book group that walks and drinks red wine while talking about the book. Red wine contains antioxidants, Kramer notes. You'd be discussing a stimulating topic with good friends while exercising your body. "How can you beat it?" he says. "It's got all four!"

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How Exercise And Other Activities Beat Back Dementia

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The numbers are pretty grim: More than half of all 85-year-olds suffer some form of dementia. But here's the good news: Brain researchers say there are ways to boost brain power and stave off problems in memory and thinking. In other words, brain decline is not necessarily an inevitable part of aging.

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Keep a tennis ball in your office.
Several times during the day
sit back with your feet flat on
the floor and hold the tennis ball
between your knees. This strengthens
the lower body and tightens the core.