Meet The Mattress That's Reinventing The Way We Rest
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As I prepare to leave 2019 behind and usher in the new year, I am having a lot of conversations with myself about the words defining my year and the words I'm hoping to define my year to come. One of the words that has been a recurring theme as of late has been "rest". And let me tell you, it's with good reason.
For the past two years or so, I've been tossing and turning at night and waking up every 2-3 hours due to a combination of anxiety and a mattress that desperately needed to retire. There was a huge dip in the middle that indicated it was a few years passed its expiration date. Plus, any given day, my lower back would kill me. But you know the deal, I'd swipe my card for impromptu trips and Postmates every day in a heartbeat, but when it came to putting money down for a new mattress, I couldn't help but squint my eyes at its price tag. I was skeptical about whether or not a better night's rest was worth the investment.
However, as I am starting to relearn, a bomb mattress can save your life. Literally.
When Tuft & Needle offered me the chance to try their mattress, "The Original", I leapt at the opportunity. With 95% of their customers loving and keeping this particular mattress of theirs, I was certain I was going to thoroughly enjoy my experience with the T&N Original mattress. And to keep it all the way a buck, "rest" is now my middle name.
Read on to learn why you should consider making your next mattress purchase a Tuft & Needle mattress.
Why Tuft & Needle
Photography Taylor S. Hunter
Tuft & Needle has engineered their mattresses with customer feedback in mind so it's no wonder they have garnered over 5,000 5-star reviews on Amazon (which is almost three times the amount their top five competitors have received combined). They aim to reshape the way we view sleep. The mattress has just the right amount of firmness and resilience and doesn't sacrifice comfort for design.
And for a Queen sized bed (The Original), at $595, it is also relatively low compared to some of their competitors.
Photography Taylor S. Hunter
The Mattress Deets
Photography Taylor S. Hunter
Now, I've had a springless memory foam mattress prior to T&N, but this one took me to church! What I really loved about The Original is that it is comprised of T&N Adaptive® foam, which is a fancy way to say that the material adapts to you. This especially comes in handy as you move around in bed throughout the night, providing pressure relief to your body all the while. I noticed the moment I first sat down on the mattress, it felt like a cloud and, rest-wise, I have had that feeling of euphoria ever since.
The adaptive foam also offers hella support to the sleeper(s), meaning no matter your weight or position, it's an ideal universal mattress. So, whether you sleep on your back, on your front, to the side, or diagonally (I'm good for a diagonal sleep when I'm alone), the mattress conforms and supports you and the way you sleep. The T&N Adaptive® foam also consists of graphite and cooling gel, together these materials helps to pull the heat from your body and disperse it throughout the rest of the mattress. The end result is the good night sleep of your dreams.
The Science of Sleep
Photography Taylor S. Hunter
Admittedly, I spend a lot of time in bed. As much as I want to say I am one of those women who work from home, but have a separation between where I lay my head at night and where I work in the day, in reality, those lines are much more blurred. I wake up in the mornings, and instinctively reach for my laptop on my nightstand. And stay there for the next couple of hours. It's also how I segue into my semblance of a nighttime routine.
As previously mentioned, my nights were plagued by sleeplessness and my early mornings were plagued by aches in my lower back and sometimes my neck and thighs. And sometimes, although my bedroom was my workplace preference, it wasn't even an option because of how badly the uneven elevation of the mattress made my body feel.
While a bad night of sleep can deplete you, a good night of sleep can replenish you.
In addition to reduced stress, an improved mood, and clarity for a better work/school performance, better sleep has also been linked to health benefits like lowering your risk for heart disease and diabetes, as well as boosting your immune system. With my new Original mattress, I can check off those benefits and am happy to continue to do so. I get my full 8 hours each and every night and can work comfortably during the day. And as I'm relearning the importance of stillness and pouring into myself, rest has never felt so damn good.
Photography Taylor S. Hunter
Get better sleep 2020 is the wave. And if you're ready to ride it, click here to learn how you can invest in your rest with your new T&N mattress today.
Want more bang for your buck? Make your purchase between 11/25 and 12/1 to take advantage of the company's Black Friday sale. Click here for $200 off the Mint mattress.
Featured image by Taylor S. Hunter
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Stress Awareness Month: Sneaky Workplace Triggers Affecting Black Women, And How To Cope
We all know about the major stress triggers of everyday life, from relationship woes to monthly bills to unexpected emergencies, but there are small, subtle triggers that impact Black women in a big way, especially when it comes to work. It’s good to be aware of these sneaky stressors in order to maximize your day and find ways to incorporate solutions into your self-care routines.
Since it’s Stress Awareness Month, we caught up with Keanne Owens, LCSW, founder of Journey To Harmony Therapy Center, to talk about these triggers and what Black women can do to manage and cope.
Owens is an experienced South Florida-based counselor and social worker who offers her services via Grow Therapy, a therapy and medication management platform. She has worked with Black women professionals to unpack issues related to workplace stressors. “One is the pressure to perform–having to meet deadlines and deliverables. And a lot of times, these subtle stressors from performance are put upon ourselves as Black women. We want to make sure we’re doing our best. We don’t want to be critiqued in certain ways.”
Excessive micromanagement leading to fear of overly critical bosses is another subtle trigger that can negatively impact Black women in the workplace.
“Whenever something is done wrong, or we experience some type of injustice and have to report it, it’s the fear of retaliation–[fear that] we won’t be taken seriously or [our words] will be taken out of context because of being deemed as the ‘angry Black woman,’” she said.
Black Women And Workplace Stress Triggers
Her sentiments are backed by research. A recent report by Coqual found that 28% of Black women (compared to 17% of White men) say their supervisor uses “excessive control or attention to detail” when managing them. There’s more: A survey by the National Employment Law Project found that Black workers were “more likely to have concerns (80 percent) and twice as likely as white workers (18 percent) to have unresolved concerns at work, with 39 percent reporting they were “not satisfied with the employer’s response or did not raise concerns for fear of retaliation.”
The survey also found that 14 percent of Black respondents said they “avoided raising concerns to their employer for fear of retaliation—more than twice the average rate of 6 percent for all survey respondents.”
Owens pointed to the fact that these subtle stress triggers can negatively impact our physical health and our career advancement. “A lot of time it’ll affect our productivity,” Owens added. “We start to have negative thoughts of ourselves. The stressors can also cause fatigue. We’re no longer meeting or working up to our desired potential.” Other challenges as a result include insomnia and increased insolation, withdrawal, and lack of motivation to apply for jobs or promotions even when qualified.
valentinrussanov/Getty Images
How To Manage Subtle Stress Triggers
While there are systemic issues at play for Black women at work that has less to do with us and more to do with major overhauls that must be addressed by the powers that be, there are steps we can take for the betterment of ourselves and our mental health. Owens offered the following tips:
Tap into a support system, whether it’s a coworker you trust, a family member, an organization, or an outlet like a hobby.
Create a good work-life balance before burnout even starts. “Having certain boundaries [is the goal] such as, for example, if you get off at 5, you get off at 5. If your job description is this, you don’t go above and beyond because that brings you to a lot of burnout,” Owens said.
Prioritize self-care, whatever that means for you. “If you don’t have a routine, create one. Practice mindfulness and even some meditation,” she added.
Create structure in your life outside of work. “Even if you have a family, applying some structure in your routine helps relieve stress,” she said.
Get into grounding techniques. “Do a real quick square breathing exercise, that’s literally 30 seconds, or you can do a grounding technique that’s less than two minutes, right there where you are. You don’t need any other materials. That’s something you can do with just yourself and your body.”
Ask for help. “As Black women, we don’t ask for help enough,” she said. “Find where you need to ask for help. A lot of times, people think that’s indicative of weakness, but we need to rewrite that narrative. It’s okay to ask for help where you see fit. [If] you’re a mom, [it could be] every Wednesday from 5 to 6, your children are with the dad. You have to carve out that time.”
For more information on Grow Therapy, visit their website. You can also find out more about Keanne Owens, LCSW, via BeginYourJourneyToHarmony.com.
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Featured image by Charday Penn/Getty Images