Polo Lifestyles February 2023: St-Barths Special Edition

ST-BARTHS MUST-NOT-MISS LIST

BAGATELLE'S CHEF GILLEN

NIKKI BEACH

LA PETITE PLAGE

CHEF

BAPTISTE GAUTHIER

LE BARTHÉLEMY

LA GUERITE

L'ISOLETTA

SHELLONA

LE PIMENT

BLACK GINGER

EDEN ROCK

& MORE

WINERIES CAN'T GROW ENOUGH OF THIS GRAPE

HOW TO LOVE A CONSPIRACY THEORIST

THE POWER OF READING PEOPLE'S ENERGY

HOW MUCH MONEY IS ENOUGH? WHAT BEING RICH FEELS LIKE

BECOMING A MORNING EXERCISE PERSON

MARRIAGE

THE ULTIMATE TEAM SPORT

AGING

SUCCESSFULLY REVERSED

PIEDS-À-TERRE

REAL ESTATE'S HOTTEST FRIEND

SNOW POLO WORLD CUP ST-MORITZ · PORT MAYACA POLO CLUB · PLETT POLO · KITZBUHEL SNOW POLO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Ambassador Claude-Alix Bertrand Publisher

Joshua Jakobitz Editor-in-Chief

William Smith

Copy Editor & Philanthropy Contributor

Claire Barrett Head of Photography

Dana Romita Luxury Real Estate Contributor

Amritlal Singh Spirituality Contributor

Cezar Kusik Wine Contributor

Polo Photographers

Katerina Morgan

Justine Jacquemot

Irina Kazaridi

Helen Cruden

Dillon Driscoll

Nick Tininenko

Michael J. Snell Lifestyles & Luxury Automobile Contributor

Joey Velez Wellness Contributor

Justin "Goliath" Johnson Wellness Contributor

Raphael K. Dapaah Art Contributor Brand Representatives

Michael J. Snell - NYC

Stanley Pierre-Etienne - West Indies

Jessica Foret Wax - Santa Fe

Justin Johnson - Atlanta

Contributing Photographers

Xavier Merchet-Thau

Aubrey Chandler

Eric Carre

Eva Espresso

Tony Ramirez

Polo Lifestyles is a publication of HT Polo Publishing Co. 995 Detroit Avenue, Suite A Concord, CA 94518

Cover photo of Valeriia Hovorushko Wearing 100% Capri

Shot by Xavier Merchet-Thau at Eden Rock, St-Barthélemy

Content Copyright © Polo Lifestyles 2023

All Rights Reserved.

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COLORADO SPRINGS

The Broadmoor 2023 Winter Polo

Classic

NATIONAL POLO CENTERWELLINGTON

Joe Barry Memorial

Ylvislaker Cup

The Gauntlet of Polo

- C.V. Whitney Cup

- USPA Gold Cup

- U.S. Open Polo Championship

USPA Junior Open Final

U.S. Open Women's Polo

Championship

Florida Circuit 16-Goal Series

GRAND CHAMPIONS

POLO CLUB

USPA North American Cup

USPA National 20 Goal

Legends of Polo

Carlos Gracida Memorial

International Cup

AUCKLAND POLO CLUB

NZ BMW Polo Open

MIAMI BEACH

Miami Beach World Championship

SCOREBOARDS & COCKTAILS

ST-MORITZ SNOW POLO

POLO LIFESTYLES EDITORS & CONTRIBUTORS

Joey Velez Wellness Columnist Velez Mental Performance @velezmentalhealth

Eva Espresso Photographer Eva Espresso Photography @Eva.espresso

Amritlal Singh Spirituality Contributor Monarch Visionary @monarch_visionary

Cezar Kusik Wine Contributor Polo Lifestyles @cezartastesearth

Dana Romita Real Estate Contributor Douglas Elliman @danaromita

William Smith Philanthropy Contributor May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust @willismith_2000

Justin Johnson Wellness Contributor Goliath Coaches @goliathcoaches

Ambassador Claude-Alix Bertrand Publisher Polo Lifestyles @haiti_polo_captain

Josh Jakobitz Editor-in-Chief Polo Lifestyles @joshuajakobitz

Michael J. Snell Lifestyles & Automobiles Contributor @agnello_1

Eric Carré Photographer EC Photography @ti_carre

Claire Barrett Head of Photography Claire Barrett Photography @clairebarrettphoto

Raphael K. Dapaah Art Contributor Dapaah Gallery @dapaahgallery

Katerina Morgan Polo Photographer Horse Polo Art Gallery @horsepoloartgallery

Becoming a morning exercise person, page 76

What being rich feels like, page 67 Scientists successfully reversed aging, page 84

ST-BARTHS

MUST-NOT-MISS LIST FOR A PERFECT TIME IN PARADISE

PAGE 84

Marriage is the ultimate team sport, page 88

ST-MORITZ SNOW POLO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

BY DILLON DRISCOLL

LET ME JUST START OUT BY STATING THIS: IT HAS BEEN HARD TO NOT SPOIL THE SECRETS ON THIS ISSUE. SINCE THE END OF NOVEMBER, WHEN WE RETURNED HOME FROM ST-BARTHS, I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO SHARE MY COUNTLESS RECOMMENDATIONS PUBLICLY… UNTIL NOW. IT HAS BEEN A JOY TO RELIVE EVERY MOMENT FROM OUR TRIP TO MY FAVORITE PLACE IN THE WORLD, ST-BARTHS, AS I PENNED THE COVER STORY THIS MONTH.

People who know will often say of St-Barths, “There is no other place in the world like it,” and it’s true. It’s a combination that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else (if you believe it does, please e-mail me, because I’d like to go there, too).

One of our stories this month in Polo Lifestyles, What Does Being Rich Feel Like?, really ties into the cover story and topic of our special edition, because I truly believe that when you’re on vacation in St-Barths, you can stop and say to yourself, “This is what being rich feels like.” I thought it would be hard to put that on paper… maybe it’s one of those things that you have to experience to understand, but the story came to me as our group discussed – and chose – our most-outstanding memory of the trip. It was unanimous: midnight dinner at La Petite Plage. I chose to open with that story as a foray into the world that is above and beyond all expectations of service.

I stopped by myself over and over, questioning, “Is this an overshare? Will anyone care about this detail?” Yet, the details made the trip. They took it from a 9 to a 10 so to speak. When every detail is perfect and you can just relax and enjoy it, that’s when it feels like vacation should. Up until minutes from closing this issue, we doublechecked over and over again – Do you include ‘this’ or ‘that’? So in returning a favor to St-Barths for a perfect time, here’s our ultimate Must-Not-Miss List, prepared with every detail in mind so that you can relax, knowing how, what, when and where ahead of time.

So, whether you’re hitting the tarmac in St-Barths for this high season or planning a trip sometime in the future, let this issue be your guide to the Must-Not-Miss places, people and things to experience on this magical Caribbean island in the French West Indies.

Best,

Josh Jakobitz josh@pololifestyles.com

INNOVATION EXISTS PURELY TO SERVE YOUR COMFORT, SAFETY AND CONVENIENCE VIA MULTIPLE SENSES. A VIRTUAL VOICE ASSISTANT LISTENS TO SERVE YOU.

LIGHTING AND FRAGRANCE SUBTLY SOOTHE YOU.

Beyond first class is a class of one.

condenastetraveller

Summer travel plans... Stay at the villa from HBO's White Lotus season two in Italy

jomalonelondon

The perfect Valentine's gift offering from Jo Malone London, purveyor of fine scents

jordancohen1

Equestrian properties are hot in the real estate market right now, it may be time to invest again

naomiosaka

Naomi Osaka announced her pregnancy on social media, signaling a pause in her tennis career

tomford

violetcakeslondon

After Dry January, its time to reintroduce sweet indulgences just in time for Valentine's Day

whowhatwhit

This romantic bar at the Baccarat Hotel in New York City is perfect for quick Valentine's libation

Imagine waking up to this lovely creature waiting for you in the courtyard

This familiar face is also an amateur equestrian @gigihadid

Brad Pitt looking fresh in Tom Ford at the annual Golden Globes

eqluxe

assouline

Click and comment on our choices... Tag @pololifestyles . We will share noteworthy comments with you next month.

yonabeach

new way

away

hermes

This is what saddles dreams are made of... Luxury products from the world's finest leather goods brand

jennifercoolidge

Grateful, funny and sincere, actress Jennifer Coolidge is on top of the world right now following awards season

rebootspa

When flowers seem tired, a day at the spa makes a perfect Valentine's gift for your someone special

stickandball

Equestrian accessories and apparel from Stick and Ball will complement your ranch wardrobe

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On game night, we break out Monopoly Haiti at Haiti Polo Captain's lakehouse

mjsgroupe

Personalized and bespoke boxes ready to ship to treasured friends and clients

greenwichpoloclub

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A luxury floating bar and pool docked off the coast of Thailand may be the perfect

to get

#SundayPolo at the Greenwich Polo Club will be back before we know it

The Indian polo prince is dashing in Ralph Lauren at home in Jaipur

SNOW POLO WORLD CUP ST-MORITZ 2023

SNOW POLO WORLD CUP ST-MORITZ 2023

The sun was shining and the PerrierJouët flowing on day two of the Snow Polo World Cup while some of the best polo players in the world did battle on the frozen lake of St. Moritz. As the Godfather of Polo, Reto Gaudenzi, Founder, CEO and Vice President of Evviva Polo St. Moritz AG said, “It is the best polo ever – the field is fantastic, there is no wind, which means we can all really enjoy the

amazing skill of the players – what an event!”

Match 1: The Kusnacht Practice vs. Flexjet, 5-3.5 to The Kusnacht Practice

Match 2: Azerbaijan Land of Fire vs. World Polo League, 5-4 to Azerbaijan Land of Fire

Match 3: Clinique La Prairie vs. St. Moritz, 4-8.5 to St. Moritz

Saturday's results mean St. Moritz will play Azerbaijan Land of Fire in the Final for The Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz at 2.30pm, Clinique La Prairie vs Kusnacht Practice in the Subsidiary Final for The St. Moritz Trophy at 12.15pm and Flexjet vs World Polo League will play for The Casablanca Trophy (5th and 6th place) at 11am.

SNOW POLO WORLD CUP

ST-MORITZ 2023

SNOW POLO WORLD CUP ST-MORITZ 2023

SNOW POLO WORLD CUP ST-MORITZ 2023

PLETT POLO

PLETT POLO

PLETT POLO

PORT MAYACA POLO CLUB

PORT MAYACA POLO CLUB

PORT MAYACA POLO CLUB

SNOW POLO WORLD CUP KITZBUHEL

SNOW POLO WORLD CUP KITZBUHEL

AUSTRIA'S HIGH-GOAL TOURNAMENT ON THE SNOW

SNOW POLO WORLD CUP KITZBUHEL

HOW MUCH MONEY IS ENOUGH MONEY?

WHAT BEING RICH REALLY FEELS LIKE

THESE DAYS, NOT EVEN THE RICH FEEL RICH. ACCORDING TO A RECENT SURVEY BY THE FINANCIAL-ADVISORY FIRM AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL, ONLY 13 PERCENT OF AMERICAN MILLIONAIRES CLASSIFY THEMSELVES AS WEALTHY. EVEN SOME OF THOSE SURVEYED WHO HAD MORE THAN $5 MILLION ACROSS THEIR BANK ACCOUNTS, INVESTMENTS, AND RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS SAID THEY DIDN’T FEEL RICH. IF MULTIMILLIONAIRES DON’T FEEL WEALTHY, WHO DOES?

I decided to go to Elizabeth Dunn, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia and a co-author of Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending, with my question: Once people have enough money to cover their basic needs and then some, what would make them feel satisfied— happy, even—with what they have? Dunn said she didn’t know of any academic studies that addressed this question head-on, but she did point to some related research that provides possible answers.

First: “Social comparison, we know, is critical,” she told me, meaning, roughly, that if a person is richer than the people he compares himself with, he’s going to feel rich. One 2005 study based on data from Germany looked at how

people’s incomes compared with those of people who were similar in terms of age, education, and region of residence, and found that “individuals are happier the larger their income is in comparison with the income of the reference group.” In fact, the study found that “the income of the reference group is about as important as [one’s] own income for individual happiness.” Similarly, a more recent paper found that middle-income people were less satisfied financially if they lived in American states with higher levels of income inequality.

These dynamics play out on a much smaller level, too. Research that looked at fine-grained data from Canada found

BY JOE PINSKER

that when people won the lottery, their neighbors were more likely to run up their debts and file for bankruptcy— the idea being that they tried and failed to keep up with their lucky peers. In a different study, not as focused on such an extreme outcome, people tended to be less happy the more their neighbors earned.

“If you live in a neighborhood where everybody has about the same as you do, then you don’t feel as perpetually behind as [when] you’re in a place where it’s more diverse economically,” says Keith Payne, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who studies the mental effects of inequality.

Dunn also noted a couple of variables, other than peers, that might lead people to feel richer. She brought up a 2016 study that found people’s bank balances—viewed separately from just spending, or investments, or debt—to be, in its authors’ words, “of unique importance to life satisfaction.” “One reason why middle-income people might feel pretty good about their level of income is if they just happen to be living their lives in such a way that even if they don’t actually have a lot of net worth, but they always have 8,000 bucks in the bank,” Dunn speculated.

Perhaps it’d be more prudent to invest that money, Dunn noted, “but then it’s tucked away and you don’t see it except maybe quarterly, when you check that balance—whereas your bank-account balance, you just see it so much that I think it shapes your sense of your financial security.”

She also suspects that people overrate the importance of earnings in feeling financially satisfied. “All of this talk about ‘income, income, income’ overlooks the fact that it matters a lot what you do with your money,” she said. As she and other researchers have found, spending money in certain ways can make people feel better; it generally

helps to funnel more funds toward charity, memorable experiences (as opposed to material goods), and paying others to handle one’s most dreaded tasks, such as washing the dishes or cooking.

And these spending tactics don’t only work for affluent people. “It’s not just how much you have—it’s what you do with it,” Dunn told me. “If you make really good spending decisions, … you can turn a middle income into a fair bit of happiness.”

Those are some of the main takeaways of the academic research that’s been done on this subject, but maybe financial coaches—people who have firsthand experience listening to people’s money problems—can fill in some answers that research can’t.

Maggie Germano, a financial coach in Washington, D.C., who works mostly but not exclusively with mid-career professional women, told me her clients are often under the wrong impression about what will ease their financial stress. “That’s actually something that I hear a lot, where they think that if they just increase income, that everything would get better,” she said. Yet even when they do earn more, they frequently remain frazzled by their finances and sometimes, Germano said, “still feel like they’re living paycheck to paycheck.”

Germano said that in her experience, “the people who feel the best about their financial situation … are people who are fully aware of what their financial situation is.” Full awareness includes a thorough accounting of where the money goes—Germano said her clients are often surprised by how much they end up spending each month on online shopping and rides with Uber and Lyft. Perhaps spending it on other things would be more fulfilling. “I do think it is less about how much is actually coming in and more about how they’re consciously using

the money,” she said.

This was similar to what Michelle Tascoe, a financial coach in Los Angeles with some clients making “multiple six figures,” told me. “I can have clients that make half as much money as another client, but they’re happier, because they have clarity around where their finances are at,” she said.

Tascoe also stressed the importance of defining one’s financial goals clearly. “I want to give my kids fulfilling lives” is a noble aim, but a vague one. Sharpening it—maybe to “I want to send my kids to summer camp”—makes it easier to plan and save for, as well as easier to complete. It’s not clear when the task of providing a fulfilling life to one’s kids is finished, if it ever is.

But sometimes, stress about money is not truly about money. Amanda Clayman, a financial therapist who practices in L.A., says that because money is a means of attaining many of the things people dream and fret about, their anxieties about what those things symbolize can get projected onto the money and the things themselves. For instance, if someone starts to feel a need for a bigger house, that person might want to think about what having such a house would mean personally, and whether it would really quiet any inner restlessness.

“The proxy nature of money means that we can get stuck,” Clayman says. “Instead of doing our own emotional work, it’s like we’re trying to do this superficial change instead, to get out of doing the work that’s actually much harder and makes us feel a lot more vulnerable. Sometimes it can seem more attainable to just make more money and get a nicer house.”

In her work, Clayman often finds herself talking clients through emotional problems that they originally interpret as financial problems. For example, a man who’s convinced he needs a new,

bigger house might be reacting to, say, the unresolved trauma of watching his parents go bankrupt and being forced to move to a new house and school; processing those long-ago feelings might do him more good than a new home ever would.

“All this classic [psychological] stuff is going to find some sort of expression in money,” Clayman says. Maybe working through these underlying emotional issues would help people feel more okay with what they have.

The other experts I talked with suggested different tactics for counteracting the sensation of needing more. Many focused on social comparisons. “We can choose to make other kinds of comparisons,” says Keith Payne, the UNC researcher. “For example, we can make downward comparisons to people who are doing less well than us, which frankly sounds kind of mean, but it kind of makes sense.” He also suggests the less schadenfreude-y strategy of comparing one’s current position to where one was financially and professionally some years ago.

Another comparison one could make is to one’s own childhood. For those who are more financially secure than

their parents were, remembering their family’s onetime money troubles (or even just their parents’ unhealthy relationship with money) may make them feel more appreciative of their current situation. However, the ranks of Americans for whom this would be an encouraging exercise is, unfortunately, shrinking: According to research by the economist Raj Chetty, kids born in 1940 had a 92 percent chance of going on to out-earn their parents, whereas kids born in the 1980s had closer to a 50 percent chance—meaning that there are now a lot more people who are living with less buying power than what their parents had when they were growing up.

Payne also recommends something that researchers call “self affirmation,” though he admits to disliking that term because, in his words, “it sounds selfhelpy.” But the idea is to block off some time to write down or think through what values one considers most important, which can function as a reminder that one need not keep up with others in order to feel good enough.

These mental exercises may be effective, but they do seem hard to make a regular practice of. Maybe, given what

researchers know about social comparisons, it’d be effective instead to be more deliberate about the friends that one keeps—if they share similar values, it wouldn’t be so bad to mimic them.

Relatedly, many of the experts I spoke with brought up the idea that social-media follows could be similarly manipulated. “Virtual reference groups are interesting because we potentially have more choice over [them],” said Elizabeth Dunn. “There’s a lot of constraints on what neighborhood you live in or who you’re able to socialize with in the real world, but nobody has to follow the Kardashians on Instagram,” or their own conspicuous-consumer acquaintances, for that matter.

And when it comes to peers, the financial coaches had an additional piece of advice. “I think it’s really important to be talkative and honest about your finances with friends and family,” said Maggie Germano. “Because then you can see what other people are struggling with and that you’re not the only one who maybe feels discontent with their finances.” In the realm of money, it seems people would be better off doing less observing of peers, and more talking with them.

THE DATING APPS USERS ARE DELETING THE MOST

TINDER IS THE DATING APP USERS WANT TO DELETE THE MOST, WITH 45,000 GLOBAL SEARCHES EVERY MONTH AROUND HOW TO DELETE THE APP.

Badoo is the second least popular app for online daters, with 22,000 monthly searches to delete the app.

A study by dating app, Dua. com has revealed that Tinder is the dating app people want to delete the most.

The study analyzed numerous dating apps, measuring the global search volume for terms relating to deleting the app to arrive at the app most people want to delete.

Tinder is the least popular dating app, with an average of 45,000 searches being made each month around the world for how to delete the app. When broken down, searches for “how to delete Tinder account” brought in the highest volume of 19,000 searches globally, and “delete Tinder account” saw 13,000 searches worldwide each month. The app has accumulated 80 million users – more than most apps, and therefore contributes to its high ranking in this study - over six years and 64,000 ratings on the Apple App Store. The app’s rating currently sits at 3.8 out of five.

In second place is Badoo, with 22,000 worldwide searches each month for how to delete the app. Set up in 2006; the UK-based but

internationally operating app has gathered 60 million users between 2015 and 2021.

With 18,100 deletion related searches on Google each month, the dating site Plenty of Fish ranks third. When broken down, the term “how to delete Plenty of Fish account” is searched 6,900 times a month, and “delete Plenty of Fish account” has 5,400 average monthly searches.

Searches to delete Bumble’s average at 8,400 every month, making it the fourth app users want to get rid of the most.  Users have searched for “how to delete Bumble account” 3,900 times on a global monthly average, followed by “delete Bumble account” being searched 2,400 times around the world.

Happn takes the fifth spot with a worldwide deletion-related search volume of 6,700 per month. With 15 million downloads, the app has received searches for “delete happn account” 2,000 times per month on average and “how to delete happn account” 1,800 times per month.

Commenting on the study, Valon Asani from Dua.com said, “Daters are becoming more aware of what they want from not only relationships, but also the apps that enable said relationships. This study offers a fascinating insight into which apps are the least favorable among users and it will be interesting to see if this ranking changes as 2023 continues.”

Credit dua.com

HOW TO BECOME A MORNING EXERCISE PERSON FROM ZZZZZZZ TO ZOOM!

SPORTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A BIG PART OF CIARÁN FRIEL’S LIFE. BEFORE HE BECAME AN EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGIST AT THE FEINSTEIN INSTITUTES FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH IN NEW YORK CITY, HE WAS A PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER AND A GAELIC FOOTBALL COACH. HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN ACTIVE. BUT NOW THAT HE HAS A DESK JOB, HE SAID, IT’S HARD TO FIND TIME TO WORK OUT.

Like many Americans, “I have faced the same challenges of getting up in the morning or finding time to exercise,” Dr. Friel said.

It’s not clear when the ideal time of day to exercise is. Studies have suggested that the weight loss benefits are highest in the morning, but improvements in blood sugar and cholesterol may be best in the afternoon. Realistically, it’s most effective whenever you can do it consistently.

Despite the challenge of waking up early enough for a workout, Dr. Friel said, mornings are better for most people because they have more control over their time before the commitments of the day kick in. You’re usually not being asked to work or do errands at 7 a.m., he said. Friends rarely invite you to happy hour at 6 o’clock in the morning.

“Life happens,” said Shawn Youngstedt, an exercise psychologist at Arizona State University. He added that for many people, “if they don’t exercise in the morn-

BY EMMA YASINSKI FOR POLO LIFESTYLES

ing, they aren’t going to be able to.”

It’s not easy, however, to simply jump out of bed in the morning and start running, swimming or lifting weights. If you’re looking to build a sustainable morning exercise routine, here’s what experts say can help.

PREPARE TO START GETTING UP EARLIER.

Almost every cell in the body functions on a daily rhythm that lasts approximately 24 hours. This cycle determines not just when we fall asleep and wake up, but also our body temperature, our hunger pangs, our hormones and more.

To wake up earlier and start a morning exercise routine, “what we’re trying to do is not just shift your bedtime, but actually shift your entire circadian clock

to be earlier,” said Kimberly Fenn, a cognitive neuroscientist who studies sleep and learning at Michigan State University. “That’s the ultimate goal.”

In the morning, we get a flood of the hormone cortisol, which is thought to help wake us up, among other things, Dr. Fenn said. But if you suddenly switch your alarm clock from 8 a.m. to 6 a.m., your cortisol levels won’t be high enough when it rings and you may struggle more than usual to get out of bed. Instead, she recommended gradually going to sleep at an earlier time.

“If your goal was to start training on Saturday,” she said, “maybe on Tuesday, instead of going to bed at midnight, you go to bed at 11:45. Then on Wednesday, at 11:30.”

There are also things you can do during the day to shift your circadian rhythm. In one study, Dr. Youngstedt and his

team instructed 101 adults to do an hour of moderate exercise at eight different times for three days. As expected, those who hit the treadmills in the morning shifted their circadian cycles forward, meaning their bodies were ready to sleep and wake up earlier.

But they weren’t alone. The participants who exercised at 1 and 4 p.m. saw similar shifts, suggesting that even exercising in the afternoon might make waking up earlier the next day just a little easier. If you can fit it in your schedule, consider working out in the early afternoon for a few days before making the full jump to a morning sweat session.

SHINE A LITTLE LIGHT.

In the summer, your best bet for feeling energized might be to step into the morning sunshine right away, but in the winter, you will probably be rising before the sun. In that case, you’ll need

some bright artificial light to wake your body up. Bright light tells your body to stop making melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy.

“Having access to bright light in the morning is the best way to help train your circadian cycle,” said Dr. Fenn, who has spent many dark mornings running on New York streets training for marathons.

“Intensity does matter,” she said. Your soft bedroom lighting is unlikely to do the trick. Most studies suggest that 10,000 lux — which a good light therapy lamp can deliver — is enough to help shift your circadian rhythm. Some suggest it can go as low as 2,000, however, which is about the same as two 100-watt bulbs.

Dr. Fenn is working on a study to test the effects of light therapy using glasses that shoot light directly into

participants’ eyes as they go about their morning routines. There’s limited data on these specific glasses, but she believes they may have the same effect as other forms of light therapy.

WORK BACKWARD. MAKE YOUR PLAN.

First, you need to figure out how exercise will fit into your mornings. Think about your morning deadline, or the time of your earliest immovable obligation, such as driving your kids to school or arriving at the office, and work backward.

Avoid distractions that can slow you down, like checking your email right when you wake up. Try laying your exercise clothes out the night before to save time.

Once you identify your morning deadline, you can consider your preference. For example, Dr. Friel has to help his kids get ready for school at 6:45 a.m. In the summer, he said, he exercises at 5:30

a.m., before they wake up, but in the winter, when it’s darker and colder, he waits until the kids are on their way.

CHOOSE A REALISTIC GOAL AND ANTICIPATE OBSTACLES.

Once you’ve got a plan and a schedule that makes sense, it’s time to think of what else might get in the way. For example, if you’re planning to run outside at 6 a.m. in January, you may need to make sure you have warm, reflective running clothes.

It’s also important to have a “no judgment approach,” Dr. Friel said. He suggested avoiding performance-based goals when you’re first starting out. If you’re running, don’t worry about speed or distance. Instead, just try to get in the habit of jogging for 30 or 40 minutes in the morning.

MAKE IT A HABIT.

If you stick with it, exercising will become less of a decision and more “just

what you do,” Dr. Friel said, but don’t be discouraged if it takes a long time to get to that point. It can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days for a habit to become automatic, according to a widely cited 2009 study.

To keep the habit going, Dr. Friel said, you can’t beat yourself up if you shorten or even miss some workouts. Associating exercise with negative feelings is not sustainable, he said. It’s exciting to start a new routine, but when obstacles get in the way, it’s easy to lose motivation. Find ways to make exercising enjoyable, like listening to your favorite e-books only when you work out.

It’s also crucial to maintain your regular sleep schedule, even on weekends, Dr. Fenn said. Otherwise, you’ll be struggling on Monday morning to drag yourself out of bed all over again.

Eventually, you’ll get to a point where “you’re just up and you do it,” Dr. Friel said. “You don’t think about it.”

NUTRITION EXPERT REVEALS THE ULTIMATE BREAKFAST GUIDE FOR EARLY MORNING EXERCISE

While not everyone is a ‘morning person,’ the early morning is a great time to work out and can offer several valuable benefits.

Fitness and nutrition expert Patrick Dale from Fitness Volt has revealed a useful guide on what to eat to fuel your morning workouts and maximize early-morning energy.

WHAT ARE SOME SUGGESTED MORNING PRE-WORKOUT MEALS AND SNACKS?

Armed with the information above, you should have no problem selecting your early morning workout meals and snacks. That said, here are a few ideas to get you started:

Ripe banana mashed onto toast with a little honey

Cereal and low-fat milk

Fruit smoothie made with soft fruit, low-fat yogurt, and protein powder

A carb/protein energy bar or granola bar

Scrambled egg whites and rice crackers

Instant oatmeal and berries

Bagel and turkey slices

Toasted English muffin with lowfat cream cheese

Toast and fruit preserve, plus a cup of low-fat natural yogurt

Turkey and crackers

Ultimately, so long as your meal contains moderate to high carbs and a source of protein, it will provide your body with what it needs to power through your workout, even if those foods are not traditional breakfast foods.

HOW LONG BEFORE WORKING OUT SHOULD YOU EAT?

Ideally, you should consume your early morning training meal 30-60 minutes before you start training, as this will give the food long enough to start digesting. Make sure to save time by planning and preparing your morning workout meal the night before your workout.

Also, liquids digest more quickly than solids, so if you plan to train shortly after getting up, it may be better to drink rather than eat your pre-workout meal.

Pro tip: Make sure what you eat the night before is also a pre-workout meal

Even a great pre-early morning workout meal will not make up for not eating correctly the night before. Eating a nutritionally complete meal a few hours before bed will help fuel muscle recovery and growth and ensure you wake up with good levels of muscle glycogen. Your early morning pre-workout snack should top up your already high levels of glycogen and glucose.

CARBOHYDRATES

When you eat carbohydrates, they are broken down into glucose which acts as an immediate source of energy, and any surplus is converted to and then stored as glycogen. As glucose and glycogen are needed to power you through your workout, carbohydrates should be the cornerstone of your pre-early morning workout meal.

Because there will not be much time between getting up and starting your workout, you need fast-acting and easy to digest carbs. This means you should choose foods that rank mod-

erate to high on the glycemic index chart (1). The glycemic index chart ranks carbs from 1-100, with 100 being the fastest acting. Moderate to high glycemic carbs are digested easily and raise your blood glucose quickly.

Examples of moderate to high GI foods include:

Dates

Breakfast cereal

White bread

Ripe bananas

White rice

Protein

While you can just eat carbs before training, some research suggests combining carbs with protein will have an even better effect (2). Consuming carbs with protein provides energy and can also help prevent muscle breakdown.

AVOID FATTY FOODS

Fat is the most significant gastric inhibitor, which keeps food in your stomach for longer and delays digestion. As such, your pre-early morning workout meal should be very low in fat, not even healthy fats such as olive oil, flaxseed oil, or coconut oil. Also, avoid natural sources of fats, such as nuts and whole eggs.

LOW FIBER-FOODS

Fiber is part of most carbohydrate foods. However, while fiber is very good for you, like fat, it is also a major gastric inhibitor and best avoided in pre-early morning workout meals. Instead, look for more refined and naturally low-fiber foods, such as white bread instead of wholegrain bread.

TURN BACK TIME: THE SECRETS OF AGING PART 2

SCIENTISTS REACH KEY MILESTONE IN REVERSING AGING

IT’S BEEN 13 YEARS IN THE MAKING, BUT DR. DAVID SINCLAIR AND HIS COLLEAGUES FINALLY ANSWERED THE QUESTION OF WHAT DRIVES AGING.

In a study published January 12 in Cell, Sinclair, a professor of genetics and co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research at Harvard Medical School, described a groundbreaking aging clock that can speed up or reverse the aging of cells.

Scientists studying aging have debated what drives the process of senescence in cells—and primarily focused on mutations in DNA that can, over time, mess up a cell’s normal operations and trigger

the process of cell death. But that theory wasn’t supported by the fact that older people’s cells often were not riddled with mutations, and that animals or people harboring a higher burden of mutated cells don’t seem to age prematurely.

Sinclair therefore focused on another part of the genome, called the epigenome. Since all cells have the same DNA blueprint, the epigenome is what makes skin cells turn into skin cells and brain cells into brain cells. It does this by providing different instructions to different cells for which genes to turn on, and which to keep silent. Epigenetics is similar to the instructions dressmakers rely on from patterns to create shirts, pants, or jackets. The starting fabric is the same, but the pattern determines

what shape and function the final article of clothing takes. With cells, the epigenetic instructions lead to cells with different physical structures and functions in a process called differentiation.

In the Cell paper, Sinclair and his team report that not only can they age mice on an accelerated timeline, but they can also reverse the effects of that aging and restore some of the biological signs of youthfulness to the animals. That reversibility makes a strong case for the fact that the main drivers of aging aren’t mutations to the DNA, but miscues in the epigenetic instructions that somehow go awry. Sinclair has long proposed that aging is the result of losing critical instructions that cells need to continue functioning, in what he calls

the Information Theory of Aging. “Underlying aging is information that is lost in cells, not just the accumulation of damage,” he says. “That’s a paradigm shift in how to think about aging. “

His latest results seem to support that theory. It’s like the way software programs operate off hardware, but sometimes become corrupt and need a reboot, says Sinclair. “If the cause of aging was because a cell became full of mutations, then age reversal would not be possible,” he says. “But by showing that we can reverse the aging process, that shows that the system is intact, that there is a backup copy and the software needs to be rebooted.”

In the mice, he and his team developed a way to reboot cells to restart the backup copy of epigenetic instructions, essentially erasing the corrupted signals that put the cells on the path toward aging. They mimicked the effects of aging on the epigenome by introducing breaks in the DNA of young mice. (Outside of the lab, epigenetic changes can be driven by a number of things, including smoking, exposure to pollution and chemicals.) Once “aged” in this way, within a matter of weeks Sinclair saw that the mice began to show signs of older age—including grey fur, lower body weight despite unaltered diet, reduced activity, and increased frailty.

The rebooting came in the form of a gene therapy

involving three genes that instruct cells to reprogram themselves—in the case of the mice, the instructions guided the cells to restart the epigenetic changes that defined their identity as, for example, kidney and skin cells, two cell types that are prone to the effects of aging. These genes came from the suite of so-called Yamanaka stem cells factors—a set of four genes that Nobel scientist Shinya Yamanaka in 2006 discovered can turn back the clock on adult cells to their embryonic, stem cell state so they can start their development, or differentiation process, all over again. Sinclair didn’t want to completely erase the cells’ epigenetic history, just reboot it enough to reset the epigenetic instructions. Using three of the four factors turned back the clock about 57%, enough to make the mice youthful again.

“We’re not making stem cells, but turning back the clock so they can regain their identity,” says Sinclair. “I’ve been really surprised by how universally it works. We haven’t found a cell type yet that we can’t age forward and backward.”

Rejuvenating cells in mice is one thing, but will the process work in humans? That’s Sinclair’s next step, and his team is already testing the system in non-human primates. The researchers are attaching a biological switch that would allow them to turn the clock on and off by tying the activation of the reprogramming genes to

an antibiotic, doxycycline. Giving the animals doxycycline would start reversing the clock, and stopping the drug would halt the process. Sinclair is currently lab-testing the system with human neurons, skin, and fibroblast cells, which contribute to connective tissue.

In 2020, Sinclair reported that in mice, the process restored vision in older animals; the current results show that the system can apply to not just one tissue or organ, but the entire animal. He anticipates eye diseases will be the first condition used to test this aging reversal in people, since the gene therapy can be injected directly into the eye area.

“We think of the processes behind aging, and diseases related to aging, as irreversible,” says Sinclair. “In the case of the eye, there is the misconception that you need to regrow new nerves. But in some cases the existing cells are just not functioning, so if you reboot them, they are fine. It’s a new way to think about medicine.”

That could mean that a host of diseases—including chronic conditions such as heart disease and even neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s— could be treated in large part by reversing the aging process that leads to them. Even before that happens, the process could be an important new tool for researchers studying these diseases. In most cases,

scientists rely on young animals or tissues to model diseases of aging, which doesn’t always faithfully reproduce the condition of aging. The new system “makes the mice very old rapidly, so we can, for example, make human brain tissue the equivalent off what you would find in a 70-year-old and use those in the mouse model to study Alzheimer’s disease that way,” Sinclair says.

Beyond that, the implications of being able to age and rejuvenate tissues, organs, or even entire animals or people are mind-bending. Sinclair has rejuvenated the eye nerves multiple times, which raises the more existential question for bioethicists and society of considering what it would mean to continually rewind the clock on aging.

This study is just the first step in redefining what it means to age, and Sinclair is the first to acknowledge that it raises more questions than answers. “We don’t understand how rejuvenation really works, but we know it works,” he says. “We can use it to rejuvenate parts of the body and hopefully make medicines that will be revolutionary. Now, when I see an older person, I don’t look at them as old, I just look at them as someone whose system needs to be rebooted. It’s no longer a question of if rejuvenation is possible, but a question of when.”

MARRIAGE: THE ULTIMATE TEAM SPORT

CELEBRITY NEWS DOESN’T TYPICALLY INTEREST ME, BUT A QUOTE FROM THE ACTOR SCARLETT JOHANSSON RECENTLY CAUGHT MY EYE. THE 37-YEAR-OLD HAS BEEN MARRIED THREE TIMES, AND IN AN INTERVIEW, SHE GAVE HER ASSESSMENT OF WHY SO MANY CELEBRITY MARRIAGES SEEM TO FAIL.

The reason she cited from firsthand experience wasn’t being too busy, or apart too much, or filming sex scenes with someone who isn’t your spouse. “If one person is more successful than the other,” she noted, “there may be a competitive thing.”

It’s easy to see how competition could wreck a marriage when millions of dollars and adoring fans are at stake. But the rest of us really aren’t so different. We all have individual interests that are

important to us, and they can readily fester into competition in a relationship. Small things such as who unloads the dishwasher can become a contentious issue of fairness; when one partner earns more money than the other, it can stimulate rivalry even between people in love.

As a man who has been married for the past 31 years, I know this is natural. But competition doesn’t have to be the predominant language of a relationship, nor should it be. The most harmonious couples are the ones who learn to play on the same team. Their predominant mode of interaction is collaborative, not competitive.

Few people, I imagine, enter into a romantic union seeing it explicitly as a competition. “I’m going to kick his butt” doesn’t make for a great wedding vow. However, this is effectively what happens when each partner prioritizes “I” over “we,” creating a clash between two

identities, according to scholars writing in the journal Self and Identity. In contrast, couples who see themselves as part of a unique couple identity—where neither partner’s individual identity is dominant—tend to be better at coping with conflict. This makes sense: Good teams see internal strife as a problem to solve together, because if unresolved, it lowers the whole team’s morale and performance.

The key is not to eradicate all competition, but to change what kind of competition we’re engaging in. A study of young basketball players published in 2004 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology makes this clear. Researchers asked a group of boys to shoot free throws. They found that when boys cooperated to get the most free throws as a team and competed against other teams, both their performance and enjoyment were higher than when they competed individually

without the support of a cooperative relationship. The implication for love is clear: The world can be harsh and competitive, so face it together—arm in arm. Your partner’s struggles are your struggles, and their victories are your victories. Your adversaries are the problems you both face.

Competitive personal relationships are like a prisoner’s dilemma, a famous model in which two partners in crime are motivated only by self-interest. Call them Bonnie and Clyde. If, when captured and interrogated separately by the police on suspicion of bank robbery, Bonnie and Clyde look out only for themselves, they have an incentive to rat out the other to get off easier—but both will lose and go to jail. As researchers have shown, however, if Bonnie and Clyde both independently seek the best outcome for the team (staying silent) rather than what’s good for themselves (squealing), they receive the smallest punishment collectively and the greatest number of years free to be together. I certainly hope your romance does not involve bank robbery, but the lesson is the same: In a competitive relationship, each partner looks out for her or his own interest, and both sides end up getting less than they want and feeling aggrieved. When both sacrifice individually for the joint good of the couple, both are better off.

“Sacrifice” implies loss, but a collaboration can feel like a win to both people. For instance, when it comes to purchasing decisions, such as buying a car, psychologists have found that if both partners cede some control in service of a mutual decision, it doesn’t feel like anyone loses. On the contrary, both partners tend to come away from those decisions feeling a greater sense of power in and satisfaction with the relationship. In my experience, this approach works for all kinds of decisions. For example, I know partners who come out of graduate school together who—instead of moving where one person will have the higher-paying and more prestigious job—resolve to go where their combined

income and job satisfaction is highest. This approach also makes inevitable conflict less harmful to a relationship. All couples have disagreements, but the happier ones frame them as shared problems to manage jointly. Those that have a competitive conflict style (associated with win-lose arguing) tend to be unhappier in their marriage than those with a collaborative conflict style (where the couple works together to find solutions). This pattern is clear even in the way they speak. Researchers studying couples’ arguments have found that those that use “we-words” when they fight are apt to have less cardiovascular arousal, fewer negative emotions, and higher marital satisfaction than those that use “me/you words.”

If your relationship is a little too competitive and not collaborative enough, there are a few effective steps to consider.

1. MORE WE, LESS ME.

We often assume that our thoughts and emotions control what we say, but a lot of research shows the opposite as well: What you choose to say can affect your attitude through the “As-If Principle,” in which acting as if you feel something can induce the brain to make it so. If you want your partnership to be more about “we” than “you versus me,” start making a joint effort to talk that way. Instead of saying, “You don’t try to understand my feelings,” try, “I think we should try to understand each other’s feelings.” Make we your default pronoun when talking with others. If you like staying out late, but your partner hates it, say, “We prefer not to stay out so late” when you turn down a 10 p.m. dinner for your partner’s sake.

2. PUT YOUR MONEY

ON YOUR TEAM.

Many couples act individualistically when it comes to their money—keeping separate bank accounts, for example. This is generally a missed opportunity to think and act as a team. Indeed, scholars

have demonstrated that couples that pool all their money tend to be happier and more likely to stay together. This might be harder for partners with very different spending habits. But research has shown that people tend to spend more practically when they pool their resources.

3. TREAT YOUR FIGHTS LIKE EXERCISE.

Something every inveterate gym-goer will tell you is that if you want to make fitness a long-term habit, you can’t view working out as punishment. It will be painful, sure, but you shouldn’t be unhappy about doing it regularly, because it makes you stronger. For collaborative couples, conflict can be seen in the same way: It’s not fun in the moment, but it is an opportunity to solve a problem collaboratively, which strengthens the relationship. One way to do this is to schedule time to work through an issue, rather than treating it like an emotional emergency. Look at a disagreement as something we need to find time to fix, instead of me being attacked by you, which is a disturbing emergency. One final note to consider as you work toward greater collaboration in your relationship: This does not mean losing your identity. Collaboration requires people to choose to work together, not to cease being individuals. There is no “us” when one or both lose the self.

“The biggest danger, that of losing one’s own self,” wrote the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, “may pass off as quietly as if it were nothing; every other loss, that of an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife … is sure to be noticed.” It is, he believed, the basis of despair—certainly not of conjugal bliss.

In love, collaboration brings happiness when it is the ultimate expression of mutual freedom—the decision of each partner to blend the “I” into the cosmic “we” that, almost like magic, expands our happiness beyond what either of us could imagine alone.

HOW TO LOVE A CONSPIRACY THEORIST

FIGHTING OVER FACTS IS UNLIKELY TO CONVINCE ANYONE

IN THESE POLARIZED TIMES, ONE OF THE LAMENTS I HEAR A LOT FROM READERS AND FRIENDS IS THAT PEOPLE THEY ARE CLOSE TO HAVE FALLEN PREY TO CONSPIRACY THEORIES. THIS IS STRIKINGLY COMMON; AFTER ALL, SOME SCHOLARS ESTIMATE THAT, IN RECENT YEARS, HALF OF AMERICANS ENDORSED AT LEAST ONE SUCH BELIEF.

Perhaps you are cringing as you look toward Easter, when someone you love will explain the truth about the midterm elections, or the real origins of the coronavirus. It can be very upsetting to hear a friend or family member say things that seem to you like obvious, falsifiable

nonsense—it can feel almost as if they had joined a cult.

Perhaps in the past you have tried to meet these beliefs with evidence and reason. Maybe you lost your patience and resorted to derision and mockery. Most likely, you made no progress and only strained your relationship. Fighting over the facts is very unlikely to convince anyone. The truth is that, often, the substance of conspiracy theories— the actual claims they make—isn’t why people cling to them so tightly. In some ways, these beliefs can make people happier. To those who hold them, they may bring a sense of belonging, control, and even entertainment. Understanding this can help you meet their views in a more compassionate and persuasive way.

A conspiracy theory is the belief that powerful people have conspired to achieve a particular circumstance or

event and have done so in a covert way. Those who believe these theories often have what psychologists call a “conspiracy mentality,” or a general tendency to suspect that powerful people are acting in hidden ways.

A big mistake we make in confronting conspiracy theories is assuming they provide nothing but harm to those who hold them. In fact, a tendency toward these beliefs may be wired into us, because they could have been helpful to our survival at times. For example, some scholars have theorized that true conspiracies by hostile forces in past times—before modern institutions such as civil rights and police protections—could be so deadly that it was better to be safe than sorry by embracing a paranoid idea that might well be false.

BY ARTHUR C. BROOKS

Conspiracy beliefs can also bring tangible benefits for well-being. For example, they can provide a sense of control in a chaotic world. Research has shown that people who feel they have little control over their lives are more likely to hold superstitions (for example, that the number 13 is unlucky), see spurious correlations (in, say, the stock market), and believe in conspiracies. Similarly, people with a need to feel unique and special may gravitate toward unusual beliefs, such as conspiracies, held by a minority of people.

These beliefs can also provide a sense of community, as Kelly Weill wrote in a piece in The Atlantic last year, delving into people who believe in a flat Earth. Even though conspiracy theories can drive a wedge between those who believe them and their friends and family who don’t, at the same time, these unpopular views can create a sense of kinship among people who hold them—sort of like unpopular tastes or esoteric knowledge. For more than a century among some social scientists, this has been called the “sociology of secret societies.” (Come to think of it, with our specialized language and technical toolkit, we social scientists might be considered an example of just such a society, although hopefully not a conspiratorial one.)

Plus, conspiracy theories can be, well, fun. Think of all the movies you’ve enjoyed where the hero has to get to the bottom of something that powerful, bad people are secretly doing. People find conspiracies entertaining in real life

too. In a paper published in 2022 in the British Journal of Psychology, researchers described experiments in which people were offered both conspiratorial and non-conspiratorial explanations for big events, such as the Notre Dame fire. The former explanations were rated as more entertaining and elicited stronger emotions than the latter. Conspiracy theories are where current events meet entertainment; it’s easy to see why they are such good business on cable television and social media.

Understanding the benefits that conspiracy beliefs give to their adherents doesn’t mean ignoring or minimizing the danger they can sometimes bring in terms of radicalization, prejudice, or even violence. If someone you know and love entertains conspiracy theories, it’s reasonable to be concerned about these threats. Or maybe it just feels undignified to see someone you love falling prey to ideas that seem to you not just incorrect but preposterous. But to comprehend why they hold these beliefs can make you more empathetic and thus more effective in dealing with them.

Keeping in mind the benefits that conspiracy theories bring, here is a two-step plan—starting with the behavior to resist, and then what to do instead—to help someone change course (or at least to help change the subject and protect your relationship).

1. RESIST THE URGE TO DEBUNK.

I remember arguing with a colleague years ago about

what I considered a patently absurd conspiracy in our workplace. It felt like every way I showed that his theory was ridiculous simply hardened his resolve. In the end, he said, “The more you say I’m wrong, the more I believe I’m right.” I figured he was just closed-minded, but then I encountered the work of the psychologist Rob Brotherton, the author of Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories. Brotherton writes about the so-called backfire effect, where a person who believes conspiratorial views holds them more strongly in the face of alternate explanations or refuting evidence. Debunking is often a doomed venture.

2. FOCUS INSTEAD ON WHAT YOU HAVE IN COMMON.

Maybe you can remember the experience of leaving home for the first time, feeling alone and insecure. Imagine that in this vulnerable state you fell in with a group of people who made you feel better—less alone. They had views very different from those of your family and old friends, a difference you saw starkly when you went back home. If your family attacked your new way of thinking, they would in effect be attacking the one thing that had made life tolerable for you during a lonely time. Homecoming would have been much sweeter if they’d simply welcomed you back and focused on the things you still had in common, right?

Do the same with your loved ones who hold odd or incor-

rect beliefs. Talk about your shared loves and cherished memories, not the things you disagree on. Do things together that you used to enjoy and go back to your old corny inside jokes. At the very least, this will make the time at hand easier, and it might just create a line back to reality for your loved one, if and when, they’re ready for it.

One last point worth considering is the costs and benefits to you of focusing on a loved one’s conspiracy beliefs. Something that astonishes me about humans is our capacity to ruin things we love by focusing exclusively on what we hate. I understand this from an evolutionary perspective, of course: Survival often requires attention to the speck of threat in a vast space of comfort. I also understand it from a practical perspective: It is terrible to see someone you love in the grip of something you consider insane or even dangerous.

But that tendency is woefully maladapted at Easter dinner when we insist on drilling into Aunt Marge’s weird views on fluoride instead of focusing on the warmth and goodness of being together as a family. Sometimes, the problem with conspiracy theories isn’t that others hold them, but that we focus on them alone, making things unnecessarily unpleasant. When you think about it carefully, you might just conclude that being right is less valuable than enjoying some love in your life.

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THE MUST-N0T-MISS LIST ST-BARTHS

AHHHHHH, ST-BARTHS: ENCLAVE OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS, A TASTE OF THE SOUTH OF FRANCE IN THE CARIBBEAN, NOTORIOUSLY HARD TO GET TO AND RENOWNED FOR ITS ENVIABLE MIX OF POSH SHOPPING, UNBELIEVABLE BEACHES AND IRRESISTIBLE FINE DINING.

IT WAS AFTER MIDNIGHT ON A SUNDAY NIGHT (TECHNICALLY MONDAY MORNING) AS ABBA’S “GIMME! GIMME! GIMME!” PUMPED THROUGH THE AIRWAVES AS MOVIE STAR-ESQUE SERVERS DANCED ON BOXES AND TABLES WHILE LATE-NIGHT DINERS DRESSED IN WHITE SWAYED TO THE MOTION, TOES PLANTED IN THE INCHES-DEEP SAND THAT COATED THE FLOOR OF LA PETITE PLAGE RESTAURANT ON THE WATERFRONT OF GUSTAVIA, ST-BARTHÉLEMY.

We had traveled all day to arrive in St-Barths just before sunset. Following the check-in and then naps at our villa, we woke up around 10:30 p.m. feeling hungry. A quick Google search revealed La Petite Plage was open daily until 2 a.m. A phone call around 11:15 p.m. confirmed it, but with a gentle reminder the kitchen would close at midnight. From our villa in Marigot, we jumped in our rental Mini Cooper and raced toward Gustavia.

Our table was the last reservation of the night to be seated when we walked in minutes before midnight. The party

was in full swing at one of the newest restaurants in the city. The manager, Romain Leclerq, met us at the entrance with a smile and a warm welcome.

Seated in the middle of the party, the staff graciously welcomed our midnight party of three like it was five of nine and not five of 12.

At least four times between 12:01 and 12:10 a.m. I thought to myself, “At some

point, someone is going to tell us we missed the cut-off for the kitchen and our late-night dinner is going to be reduced to whatever they can pull out of the refrigerator.” But it was not to be. Without an ounce of pressure, we were presented with both cocktail and full dinner menus from a smiling server who pointed out her recommendations and presented the chef’s specials of the evening.

IMAGE COURTESY LA PETITE PLAGE

As plates arrived at our table, Leclerq kept a watchful eye on our table from a discreet distance. Plates were laid and later removed in unison from a team of three servers. About halfway through our dinner, we realized we were the last table in the restaurant. Course after course, servers continued to smile and dance while the DJ pumped high-energy beats into the nearly empty restaurant. Around 1 a.m., Leclerq came to our table to check on us. He shared that La Petite Plage had recently opened

on the Rue du Bord de Mer in the fashion of its original St-Tropez location, with sand on the floor and a DJ seven nights a week.

“We aren’t a thousand-Euro table tonight,” noted our publisher to Leclerq, “but you’ve made us feel like it.” Leclerq beamed. “That’s exactly how we want every table to feel, no matter if you’re popping bottles or coming by for a quick bite,” he replied.

And this would continue to be our experience over

and over in St-Barths. On an island renowned for its snobby approach to, well, just about everything, the warm temperatures of November in the Caribbean matched warm welcomes from every aspect of the island.

for Polo Lifestyles in 2019. I was determined not to repeat our 2019 trip – no sense in doing a Been There, Done That trip. That turned out to be the easier part: so many restaurants and hotels have opened or re-opened in the last three years, we barely had time to squeeze everything in. So, whether you’ve been to St-Barths many times or are planning your first trip, here’s your can’t-miss check list to the ultimate French West Indies experience.

SUNDAY

Back in September, I was at a birthday party when our publisher mentioned to me that it might be time to go back to St-Barths. It had been three years since our previous promotional tour

From the Vanderbilt Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a driver from Cloud9 Jets whisked us to the checkin for private aviation at SJU organized by Rome International Services. Edmondo from RIS checked us and our nine bags (every outing requires an outfit change in St-Barths) efficiently. We hadn’t budgeted much time between check in and take off, so Edmondo moved us quickly through the back hallways of the airport to the obligatory but efficient security check point where airport employees come and go. A private party bus awaited us to head over to the private terminal where our King Air PJ, organized by Cloud9 Jets, awaited us on the tarmac. I texted Sam, the Cloud9 Jets marketing director, that we were boarding. We settled comfortably into the luxurious jet and watched out the windows as Puerto Rico faded away and the port of Gustavia slowly appeared on the horizon. I have landed in dozens of countries, some

IMAGE COURTESY LA PETITE PLAGE

of them hundreds of times, but there is nothing like landing in Gustavia. From the slow descent over the port – full of yachts and sail boats – to the steep and heart-stopping descent to the ultra-short runway. The moment when the pilots cut the engines and float to the tarmac is somewhere between magical and terrifying – you know that it’s going to happen, but suddenly the aircraft is silent, suspended only on invisible forces for a few moments before the wheels hit the tarmac and it’s screech, screech, screech to the end of the runway.

During high season (November to April) the Gustav II Airport (SBH) is so

busy that planes land and take off every three to five minutes. Sam from Cloud9 Jets shared with me that securing landing and departure times at SBH was the hardest part of the entire logistics of our trip from San Francisco.

Whenever the logistics were too overwhelming, we had Brice Cagan of Services St-Barth on speedial. Brice and his team work in the St-Maarten, San Juan and St-Barths airports, ensuring seamless connections with their signature VIP service. We have used Services St-Barths too many times to count over the years. Always a pleasure.

Daniel Correia of Luxury Homes St-

Barth, our villa concierge, met us on the wide veranda on the front side of the airport. He took most of our checked luggage with him while we made a quick stop at Alamo SBH to pick up our wheels for the week. We knew we were going to have a commute each day from our villa in Marigot (near the Rosewood Le Guanahani) to Gustavia, and the best way to spend time in the car in St-Barths is with the top down, so we reserved a Mini Cooper convertible. It proved to be a blast: easy to park, great for our tans, efficient and sporty. We jumped into the Mini and followed Daniel to Villa Black Pearl in

IMAGE COURTESY LUXURY HOMES SAINT BARTH

Marigot. There was new construction going up all around the villa, including other villas, multi-unit housing and smaller structures that dotted the hillsides.

Villa Black Pearl is set into the hillside, facing the sea, which meant we parked above it and descended 12 stairs to reach the front door. The villa’s ceilings soared in the traditional French Caribbean architecture and the entire living room opened to a huge outdoor living space that included a dining table for 12, two more seating areas and deck chairs facing an infinity pool. Bedrooms flanked both sides of the outdoor space. A stairwell led to two more en suite bedrooms on the lower level. From the pool above, Daniel pointed out Le Barthélemy Hotel and Spa, Le Sereno and the Rosewood Le Guanahani in the distance.

I opened a bottle of rose that Daniel had stocked for us and, exhausted from overnight travels from San Francisco to San Juan, a night in San Juan, and traveling for a second day to arrive in St-Barths, we agreed that we needed a quick grocery supply run followed by naps. On the way back from the grocery, we stopped at Le Piment in St-Jean for burgers and fries. It was World Cup play-offs, so Le Piment was packed at the bar. Over the next 10 days, we could tell every time that France was playing based on the number of spectators and the noise coming from Le Piment as we cruised through St-Jean on our way somewhere.

That evening, we dined very late at the chic and hospitable La Petite Plage on the port of Gustavia. The kitchen stays open until midnight, but the ultra-gracious staff and manager served us well

after that. We recommend the Beignet de Gambas Epices (Spicy Prawn Fritters), Wahoo Cuit en Papillote (Wahoo Cooked in Foil), Carpaccio de Filet de Beouf (Beef Carpaccio) and the Belle Cote de Veau (Veal Chop). For dessert, the kitchen sent us the Carpaccio d’Ananas (Pineapple Carpaccio)… delicious.

MONDAY

On Monday, we shopped. The shopping in St-Barths doesn’t compare with anywhere else in the world. Even the most basic pharmacies and groceries are filled with both local and imported French specialty supplies. We filled up our shopping baskets before moving on to the other boutique stores in St-Jean. Afternoon storms forced us indoors, so the shopping continued and we ended up across from the airport in traffic feel-

IMAGE COURTESY LUXURY HOMES SAINT BARTH

IMAGE COURTESY LUXURY HOMES SAINT BARTH

GUSTAVIA

ing very hungry. The Eden Rock Café was within a stone’s throw, so we pulled up and were delighted to find a mix of bakery goodies and tasty sandwiches served alongside artisan iced teas and lemonades.

We had a reservation at Cheval Blanc for dinner, but high winds and rain dampened our spirits and desire to go out again. We snacked at home on the delicacies we’d picked up earlier.

TUESDAY

On Tuesday morning, I called the marketing manager at Le Barthélemy Hotel and Spa where our lunch and afternoon itinerary was planned. “Camille, I need to tell you I have never been to Le Barthélemy when it’s not raining!” I admitted. “Don’t worry,” was her reply, “the weather looks much better today.” In fact, the sun was shining… right up until the moment we pulled up at the valet in front of Le Barthélemy when the clouds assembled over our heads and true to tradition, it rained at Le Barthélemy.

The rain, however, cannot dampen spirits at Le Barthélemy. An enormous and airy indoor dining room overlooks the beach and sea. Our table was mere feet from the sand, yet completely protected from the elements that weren’t cooperating at the moment. It was at lunch that day when we met photographer Xavier Merchet-Thau in person after weeks of corresponding first by Instagram and

IMAGES COURTESY LE BARTHÉLEMY HOTEL & SPA

then by email. If you have been to Le Ti St-Barth for a wild evening in the last 10 years, you have met Xavier, who is the staff photographer there. As we were discussing plans for the week, Xavier was full of ideas for logistics and settings, and most importantly, he was incredibly flexible regarding timing. He worked independently for much of our time in St-Barths, proactively capturing images and editorial shots. He worked as his own assistant and only asked that for weekends off in order to take the ferry to St-Maarten to visit his children who are attending school there.

Le Barthélemy worked in a last-minute spa appointment for one of our crew and I headed to the beach chairs that Camille had reserved for us. The rain had let up and the temperature was perfect. The beach-side bar brought piña coladas and cold beers to our chairs, so it was toes in the sand and a drink in my hand. Perfect.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday morning started with French pastries and coffees from La Petite Colombe bakery, brought back to Villa Black Pearl, reheated and served with fresh juices. Our maid, Christine, arrived with the news that the rainstorms had passed and the forecast called for sunny skies for the next seven days. With a 2 p.m. Reservation at Nikki Beach, we put together our beach bags headed to St-Jean.

Nikki Beach is a world-renowned destination - from Ramatuelle to St-Barths - and the name alone conjures images of beautiful people wearing perfect clothes with every hair in place while dining on delectable food and satisfying cocktails beach-side. Nikki Beach is all that and more.

Not only were we warmly welcomed by name, sat at the best table in the entire restaurant and indulged to no end by

the attentive and picture-perfect staff, but the food was delicious and the drinks were never-ending until we had to ask the servers to stop. Nikki Beach is small by design and exclusive as a result.

PHOTO BY ARTMAN AGENCY

NIKKI BEACH

NIKKI BEACH

Paradise on earth! Located on St-Jean Beach, Nikkie Beach impresses visitors and celebrities for nearly two decades with its oceanfront views and luxury-party atmosphere.

The dining hot-spot is touted as the first and original luxury beach combining elements of fashion, film, art, music, dining and entertainment into one place.

IMAGES COURTESY NIKKI BEACH

We started with salads (Thai Beef Salad and Miami Beach Chicken Caesar Salad) with our cocktails and craft iced teas, moved on to main plates (Angus Beef Sliders, Octopus Risotto and Black Angus Beef Tartare). The chef sent an assortment of sushi rolls – a Nikki Beach specialty – and we shared the Light Red Berry Cheesecake for dessert.

We were ready to install ourselves on the beach chairs. With a bottle of rose on ice between us, we spent the rest of the afternoon listening to waves crash and planes land at Gustav II Airport. I went back to the house mid-afternoon to supervise the set up for the evening with Baptiste Gauthier, a private chef, who would be serving dinner at Villa Black Pearl for us at 8 p.m.

EDEN ROCK

It is possible – believe it or not – to tire of dining out several times a day. When this happens, a private chef is just what you need and St-Barths boasts no shortage of private chef choices. We were thrilled to connect with Chef Gauthier Baptiste in early November to secure a place on his calendar for the busy last week of November. The French-born and -trained chef recently relocated to St-Barths from Australia to set up his private chef-catering company, Bon Appetit SBH.

Villa Black Pearl, for all of its splendid-

ness, did not boast a well-stocked, chef’s kitchen. It was everything we needed for warming pastries and making coffee, but a chef requires a certain type of set up. Chef Baptiste arrived with everything from plates to poêlons.

As the sun set and we relaxed with our toes in the pool, Chef Baptiste brought out canapes. While we changed for dinner, he and an assistant set the table and lit candles around the villa. We chatted with the chef in the kitchen while he seared filets and arranged the side dishes just-so. Seated at the table,

courses followed courses and palate cleansers as Chef Baptiste pulled out all the stops. As a small, intimate group, we decided to invite both the chef and Lou to sit with us for dessert as we wanted to get to know more about them and their paths to St-Barths. Afterward the two of them washed and cleaned the kitchen, stocked the refrigerator with leftovers and wished us a bon sejour en St-Barths. Not only was the food and service perfection, but Chef Baptiste and Lou were incredibly warm and thoughtful.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY XAVIER MERCHET-THAU

GUSTAVIA

THURSDAY

Thursday morning, we headed to Gustavia for breakfast. Parking in high season proved to be difficult, so we ended up on the far side of the port, near La Guerite. On the walk back to the Rue du Bord de Mer, we passed Bagatelle where the crew was getting a head start on unloading fresh provisions from trucks. The guys working in the intense heat of the sun couldn’t have been friendlier as we maneuvered by and mentioned we’d be back for dinner. In addition to looking like Vilebrequin models, their warm smiles and natural ability to chitchat with strangers on the sidewalk was a good omen for the evening’s dining experience.

Bagatelle offered us, in advance, a tasting menu prepared by Chef Leopold Gillen, which we gladly accepted. A tasting menu eliminates the need for less-decisive members of the group

to endlessly review the menu and can help expand the palates of those prone to order safely. As the sun set over Gustavia and we dressed for dinner, Chef Leopold, armed with our food allergies and preferences, was settling into his kitchen with the evening’s guests in mind.

The staff at Bagatelle had organized a superb table for us adjacent to the action inside, but gladly obliged our request to sit on the port-side patio. While the party inside was just getting started, our refuge on the patio provided us with sufficient lighting to take photos for our Instagram accounts without bothering other tables. Small boats came and went and beautiful passersby looked longingly at our table, laden with cocktails and plates of Chef Leopold’s culinary perfection.

Martilde, our server, was an absolute delight, full of joie de vivre and passion-

ate about the Bagatelle experience. She was a wealth of information about the tasting menu and the chef’s background. Bagatelle Passionistas (a specialty cocktail) flowed and plates appeared non-stop for nearly 90 minutes until we could eat no more. Martilde appeared table-side at one point with gift bags in hand, “Just a little something from all of us to thank you for coming,” Everything had been thought-through and wellplanned from A to Z.

Inside, the party was in full swing and Martilde asked if we’d like to move inside for dessert. She set us up in a corner booth and Chef Leopold came out to present our desserts and to thank us for dining at Bagatelle. The chef chatted with us at length about his background and approach to food, answering every question as though we were the only table left in the restaurant, when in reality, the tables around us were moments away from dancing on the tables and

IMAGE COURTESY BAGATELLE

PHOTOGRAPH BY XAVIER MERCHET-THAU

the spirit was high as the music pumped and magnums of Champagne refilled glasses. If this was only Thursday night, what would Friday and Saturday nights be like? “Oh, people would be dancing on the tables already,” said Martilde with a twinkle in her eyes.

Chef Leopold’s carefully curated tasting menu included Tempura Vegetables, Bagatelle’s signature Tuna Tartare, Riviera Salad, Herb-Marinated Lamb and Sea Bass, with a dessert selection of Meringue with Timut and Crepes in Tonka Bean Cream. Don’t ask us to choose a favorite; we can’t. They were all amazing.

Do you know that feeling: you don’t

want to leave a party, but you know it’s time? That’s the feeling you have at Bagatelle. It was nearly 1:30 a.m. when we said goodbye and a bientot to the crew at Bagatelle, once again the last table of the evening to make our exit.

FRIDAY

Friday was destined to be a working day for us, as our trip to St-Barths was promotional in nature. We shot the cover that afternoon during the 4 p.m. magic hour on the grounds of Eden Rock. The hotel and restaurant graciously hosted us that afternoon as we took over their parking lot and recruited a handful of their staff members to make cameo appearances in several of our photos.

When we were done, we descended upon Gustavia’s perennial Bar de L’Oubli for sandwiches, French fries and cold drinks for a very late lunch around 6 p.m. In between evenings of fine dining and private chefs, white tablecloths and live music, Bar de L’Oubli is a casual, sporty local hangout nearly on the sidewalk at the corner of Rues de la France and de la Republique. Decorated entirely in red, it is as much as a people-watching locale as a be-seen destination. The last time we were there, Bono was having lunch in a corner booth, with a straw hat and dark sunglasses barely concealing his identity. When you’re short on time, in a hurry or just plain hungry in Gustavia, Bar de L’Oubli

IMAGE COURTESY LE BAR DE L'OUBLI

is just steps away from any part of the small city. Down the block and around the corner was Black Ginger, a local Thai restaurant that we always enjoy. We stopped by to make a 10 p.m. reservation. “No problem,” the host said, “We’ll see you later.”

Black Ginger was winding down when we walked in just before our reservation slot. The few tables still seated were several bottles of wine into the evening – everyone was having a good time. The crowd at Black Ginger was decidedly a mix of local residents and international guests. Wildly oversized, hanging lanterns lit an otherwise all-black interior as we slipped into a corner booth. We ordered Green Papaya and Mango Salad, The Crying Tiger and Red Chicken Curry. Delicious and efficient.

IMAGE COURTESY BLACK GINGER

IMAGE COURTESY LE PIMENT DE SAINT BARTH

BORD DE MER

SATURDAY

By Saturday morning, the ladies at La Petite Colombe greeted me by name, starting my coffee-to-go order without asking. A few pastries and coffee in hand, I sped back to Villa Black Pearl because we had a relaxing beach day planned. Our first stop was at Governor’s Beach, a smaller sand beach that seemed a little crowded to us, so we went on to La Saline, an expansive stretch of sand that meets perfect blue water where yachts dock off-shore in the distance, shuttling their guests back and forth.

By about 5 p.m., the sun was setting and

we had enough sun. It was back to the villa to change because that evening, we had a reservation for a tasting menu at La Guerite. Currently situated across the port at La Pointe from most of the city’s activity, its owners are planning to relocate to a beach-front location that will be more on brand with its Cannes location. At La Guerite, the chef is Greek and that influence is reflected ever-so delicately in the menu. Chef Yiannis Kioroglou’s dishes are healthy, carefully crafted and beautifully presented.

We were warmly welcomed into La Guerite about 20 minutes late for our reservation and seated in the dining

salon between two large tables near the DJ. The music that evening set the mood for the entire experience and several times, one of us held up our phones with Shazam open to identify the song and artist, which led us to discover Yann Muller. The DJ played his mixes, remixes and covers frequently that evening and I will never hear “Malibu” by Yann Muller without being transported back to La Guerite again.

The dinner service turns into a party around midnight and often goes until 2 a.m. The large tables around us were in celebratory mode, befitting the Saturday evening hour and atmosphere.

IMAGES COURTESY LA GUERITE

SUNDAY

Spending the day at Shellona sounded like a good idea to us, so a quick phone call secured us a table for three for lunch and beach chairs. The food at Shellona is Mediterranean-inspired and, like at Bagatelle and La Guerite, it was a tasting menu from the kitchen. Shellona, situated on Shell Beach, just minutes from downtown Gustavia, shares an executive chef with La Guerite, where we’d dined the night prior. Similar Greek influences permeated the menu much to our delight. Plate followed plate until we finally begged for a break and submerged

ourselves in the warm Caribbean waters, floating on the currents until the salt water on our lips urged us back to shore for rehydration.

One last dinner awaited us that night at Eden Rock, where we hadn’t been since before Hurricane Irma, which unleashed its fury on the renowned property. In 2019, when we last visited, Eden Rock hadn’t been re-opened yet, so we were ready to experience it again. It did not disappoint. Re-appointed from head to toe and absolutely stunning in every aspect, Eden Rock stands out in its class of luxury hotels and restaurants. We enjoyed every interaction with staff,

every bit of culinary perfection and hand-crafted beverages.

The cuisine at Eden Rock is masterminded by world-famous Master Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten who exemplified a stellar career from Michelinstarred kitchens and restaurants in NYC to Tokyo and Executive Chef Maxime and his kitchen have made the Sand Bar the culinary heart of the hotel. We opted for a few signature sand classics: truffled pizza with crispy salmon, egg toast caviar with herbs, seared fois gras, baked brie, local mahi mahi and poached lobster. It was an extraordinary sensory experience to be repeated.

IMAGES COURTESY SHELLONA

IMAGE COURTESY EDEN ROCK

EDEN ROCK

PHOTOGRAPH BY XAVIER MERCHET-THAU

As the day drew to an end, so did our time in St-Barths – all-too soon. It was time to pack and prepare to meet fly home. On Monday morning,

we met our Cloud9 Jet on the runway of the airport. Fortyfive minutes later, we touched down in San Juan in the private jet terminal at SJU.

The Cloud9 Jet shuttle service whisked us to the American Airlines First Class check-in counter and we began the journey home, with memo-

ries fresh in our minds, and our phones full of photos.

BY JOSH JAKOBITZ EDITOR POLO LIFESTYLES 2023

PHOTOGRAPH BY XAVIER MERCHET-THAU

BAGATELLE'S

CHEF LEOPOLD GILLEN

IN THE CHEF'S KITCHEN

CHEF LEOPOLD GILLEN

Toulousian chef Leopold Gillen fell in love with the culinary world during an internship under the auspices of Chef Alain Ducasse in Monaco.

He found his marks in Paris in several three-star establishments and in the highest altitude village in Europe in the Alps before joining Alain Ducasse’s Maison Rech in Paris, the Qatari restaurant, IDAM, and taking part in the opening of two new restaurants for Ducasse.

Today, you’ll find him at Bagatelle in the heart of Gustavia’s shopping and fine dining district nestled right on the water-front harbor. Gillen is as personable as he is talented in the kitchen. He’s known to check on tables himself, thank guests for coming and answering any and all questions patiently.

The evening that we dined at Bagatelle, his charm was the icing on the proverbial cake to a perfect evening of fine dining paired with exceptional service. There is no doubt in my mind that he could have gone straight home and been in bed before 1 a.m., but there he was, tableside, chatting to us like old friend in the corner booth at Bagatelle.

A few nights later, on his night off, we were seated next to him at L’Isoletta, a local pizzeria famed for its diminutive tables that contrast with oversized and over-the-top pizzas. Warmly, he

greeted us as old friends, chatting about the food at L’Isoletta and half a dozen other things before inviting us – nay, insisting – back to Bagatelle so that he could showcase round two of his menu for us. What does one do when a chef with a

Michelin-star background insists you visit his restaurant twice in one week? You make a reservation!

Our second evening at Bagatelle was even more delightful than the first because Chef Gillen’s gloves

came off and he didn’t hold back. Between the courses we ordered this time, he sent out off-the-menu bites and shareable plates. If this is how you turn clients into regular reservations, then Chef Gillen could teach a Masters Class.

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FASHION & STYLE

MEN'S FASHION WEEK - PARIS HIGHLIGHTS

HAUTE COUTURE REVIEW

MEN'S FASHION WEEK

LOEWE · DIOR · GIVENCHY · RICK OWENS · YSL

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MEN'S FASHION WEEK

A TALE OF TWO GIVENCHYS

WITH HIS FALL 2023 MEN’S COLLECTION, CREATIVE DIRECTOR MATTHEW M. WILLIAMS FINALLY BEGAN TO EMBARK UPON THE HAUTE-MINDED, YET STILL YOUTHFUL AND STREETSMART, LEVEL OF DESIGN THAT WE HAD BEEN HOPING FOR SINCE HIS APPOINTMENT TO THE PRESTIGIOUS PARISIAN HOUSE.

The series of four incredibly sharp black suits with hidden buttons styled with turtlenecks, gloves, and pointed toes that opened the show felt like a radical shift from the maximally casual 2000sy sweatpants, hoodies, and denim that characterized Williams’ polarizing previous men’s show for the house. Aside from the almost industrial angularity

that attested to previous touches we’ve seen from the designer, these four looks felt like an intentional reset.

From here, though, Williams’ previous tendencies trickled in, and quickly became a rushing stream. Hoodies abound, layered over or under flannels, tees, and sweatshirts. Double-knee pants à la Dickies reference workwear getting recommissioned by skaters, while stompy work boots push a similar idea of practical, purposeful clothing being picked up a street staple.

While the silhouettes and names of pieces are familiar from last time, a rich new sense of layering and materiality creeps in. Leather is pushed beyond patina and chaotically distressed for a shredded surface effect that is nonetheless touchably soft, or else irregularly washed and laminated. Oversized pants are slashed above the knee (a bit of inspiration from Miu

Miu?) and worn as shorts over slightly less oversized pants. Color combinations seem intentionally unintentional, as if these characters got dressed in the dark or are wearing everything they own. (With regards to this latter idea, it does feel weird for a luxury company to sell the image of looking homeless, and it’s tough not to make the comparison.) Symbols of luxury occasionally peek through the chaotic grunge mishmash: snakeskin, fur lining, sleek jewelry.

There are maybe two too many of these looks; while there are nice textures and layered moments to them, we get the idea pretty quickly, and Williams takes longer than he needs to remind us where we started and recognize that this is, in fact, a French luxury house. Finally, he brings us back, layering in lush knit coats and sweaters. But what is probably the collection’s best moment comes in one of its simplest, in a pair of

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suits – one charcoal and one navy – the lapels of which, in a subtly progressive tailoring gesture, are crisply unfolded and whose hems are left raw and ragged. This look feels like an unobtrusive synthesis of the collection’s competing personas of edgy indulgence in street-

wise decay and haughtily restrained luxury. The rest of the collection continues to riff on this idea, introducing more classically chic archetypes and other workwear-by-way-of-street-style staples, as well as fun textures and technical details, into the established silhouette.

Relaxed tailoring over layered personal style essentials has felt like the biggest theme this menswear season across Milan and now into Paris, and Williams nicely played into this idea while sticking to his guns and putting a distinct spin on it.

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MEN'S FASHION WEEK LOEWE DRESSES DOWN

JONATHAN ANDERSON’S RECENT WORK FOR LOEWE MEN’S (AS WELL AS AT HIS OWN EPONYMOUS LABEL) SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MOVING INTO A REALM OF PARED-BACK, UNCLUTTERED FOCUS – THOUGH NOT WITHOUT HIS SIGNATURE SURREALIST SENSIBILITY – AND TODAY’S SHOW FELT LIKE THE FINAL STAGE OF THAT TRAJECTORY.

Aside from shoes, many of

the looks feature just a single garment: a long coat, a silk crewneck, a sort of hybrid coat/dress/robe. When layering does appear, it’s quite minimal. Exposed skin is a constant presence; as if to tease apart the logic of dressing, and especially men’s dressing, as what is between the world and the body, nothing comes between the most external piece of clothing and the body.

A closer analysis reveals that almost all the pieces here can be put into one of two categories: formal-ish outerwear, and loungewear. Anderson seems to be interested in breaking down the barriers of domestic and the public, recasting what feels personal

and private as something for all to see. There are far more instances of long underwear and boxers here than what we might consider “actual pants,” but paired with a modernist, swooping-shouldered coat or a teddy-bear jacket and sent down a Paris runway, they take on another aspect.

The works by artist Julien Nguyen which featured as the highlight of the show’s set shed further light on Anderson’s thinking behind these stripped-back, unfinished outfits. With an angular, impressionistic style, they depict a young man in a moment of private reflection, wearing just undergarments – boxer shorts and socks –but also a necktie, a some-

what contradictory element of social formality. Together, the two artists question the distinctions between intimacy and performance and invite us to consider who we let into our private spheres, and why.

Though it’s quite conceptual, there’s definitely still some sellable pieces, which is sure to keep the Loewe bosses happy.

It does feel like the end of the line for Jonathan Anderson’s stripping-back approach, and unless he wants to send models down the runway completely naked, we expect to see a change of direction and a new idea come in next season.

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MEN'S FASHION WEEK RICK OWENS' SILHOUETTES

AS IS ALWAYS THE CASE WITH ALL OF THE MEN’S SHOWS FOR CLOSE TO FOUR YEARS NOW, THE SHOW WAS OPENED BY OWENS’ PROTÉGÉ AND MUSE TYRONE DYLAN, WHO WORE A THIGH-HIGH RENDITION OF THE DESIGNER’S SIGNATURE KISS BOOTS, ELEVATED GYM SHORTS (AS IF WE NEEDED ANOTHER REASON TO BELIEVE HE SPENDS A LOT OF TIME IN THE GYM), LEATHER GLOVES WITH NO THUMB –AN INTERESTING PRACTICAL DETAIL AS YOU CAN THUS TEXT IN THEM – AND A TORSO-REVEALING CAPE AND MANTLE.

The next few looks reprised Rick’s familiar dark geometry with moto-jacket influences and broad shoulders. Sculptural but soft body wrappings made another

appearance, and last season’s peaked shoulders also returned, but its bright colors did not. Instead, the collection was loaded with black, a dark yet familiar choice that, coupled with some of the cloak-y, cape-y looks and the dramatic face paint, created a feeling of the occult and witchy.

When colors did creep in, they were scummy green and poison-berry purple, the former of which frequently appeared as a gradient dye on gray denim, recalling algae-covered concrete or a dip in a swamp.

Outlandish and avant-garde as his reputation may be, Rick isn’t at all out of touch with current trends, and the collection showed some smart thinking on incorporating some familiar pieces like puffer and bomber jackets or grungy shredded denim into his own oeuvre. Nor does he lack commercial viability, even beyond his expansive cult of loyal fans, as a classic and perfectly tailored jacket or an oversized parka points out. And still these pieces feel at home alongside the most combative

and daring moments of the collection, suggesting that their world isn’t as distant from ours as we might think – or perhaps that what we’re familiar with is much stranger than we think.

The striking power of the silhouettes as a whole can make it easy to overlook the exquisite details and materiality throughout the collection. Classicism meets conscious innovation: mohair twill is sourced from vintage 1950s looms owned by legendary Italian fourth-generation textile maker Bonotto; flight jackets are made from GRS certified recycled polyamide which is dyed by using eco-pigments on synthetic fibers, while other looks derive their color from olive waste.

This collection went another layer deeper into this conversation by reappropriating both from itself with iconic elements of Owens’ stellar and astoundingly consistent career and from the new world of fashion that has arisen since he began designing – a world that has been largely influenced by him.

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HAUTE COUTURE

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CHANEL

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SCHIAPARELLI HAUTE COUTURE

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MAISON MARGIELA DECONSTRUCTING THE FABRIC OF TIME

MAISON

MARGIELA’S FIRST PROPER RUNWAY SHOW FOLLOWING YEARS OF EXPERIMENTAL HYBRID FILM FORMATS WAS A STELLAR RETURN FOR ONE OF THE BEST IN THE BIZ, A RICHLY LAYERED REMINDER OF WHY THE RUNWAY IS THE BEST PLACE TO EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF CLOTHING IN MOTION – BOTH IN SPACE AND IN TIME.

With its sinuous silhouettes of elongated torsos, widened

shoulders, and done-up hair, the collection’s general reference point seems to be women’s fashion of the 1930s, a smoky antique glamor that is emphasized by the veiled pillbox hats made from both silk and what appears to be plastic bags. It’s a base layer of inspiration against which the many anachronistic moments evocatively stand out, and yet totally work together. Of course, most women – and men – of the 30s wouldn’t be wearing mini shorts over fishnets, or the many alluring layers of sheer fabric that both obscure and reveal the body of which Galliano is so fond.

A partnership with Pendleton

means the brand’s legendary plaid runs throughout the collection, lending both a cowboy roguishness and a punk sense of rebellion to these poised and darkly glamorous figures, which in turn adds punch to the house’s transgressing of codes and eras. Whether glittery pumps or black derbies, every shoe is a tabi. Still, even if we couldn’t see the feet, we would know this is unmistakably (Galliano’s) Maison Margiela.

A sense of cultural cross-pollination is threaded through the layered looks that aptly ties into their elevated-cut-and-paste approach: old-school Mickey and

Minnie Mouse graphics, a pink and haphazardly Xeroxed poster that directly recalls the Sex Pistols’ imagery (another celebratory reference to Westwood’s punk trailblazing legacy), and the famous Pendleton patch, image of an iconic American garment, all appear. The frequent references to western wear are of course quite Americana as well.

Coupled with the collection’s feeling of noirish glamor, this transatlantic mutual exchange seems to paint its characters as posh yet punky steamship passengers and haunters of gin bars, pretty young things who lived the transition from café society

to jet set. Yet these aren’t just geographical explorers, but also temporal, as their accoutrements plucked from Victorian London, 1880s wild west, 1930s Paris, and 1970s American suburb go to show (the stark and gleaming set design did indeed feel a bit like the interior of a time

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machine).

Galliano’s approach to deconstructionism in fashion, which sees him leave exposed seams and structural elements that would normally be invisible in a finished project to reify its process of coming into being or rework

the back of a piece as its front to question taken-for-granted constructs in our daily dressing, has always been a core element of his work at Margiela, but its power for blurring time and space feels especially apt in a collection that is concerned with doing just that. He’s also revived the

Recicla collection, in which one-of-a-kind vintage pieces are sourced and restored by hand in the house’s atelier.

It’s a fitting collection to end a men’s fashion week that was about much more than just men’s fashion.

MANSION OF THE MONTH

MANSION OF THE MONTH

BETTER

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HUS STUD FARM

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In Search of Solace Terroir Magic & Sauvignon Blanc

THE SPLENDORS OF SAUVIGNON BLANC

WILLIAM SMITH @willismith_2000 COPY EDITOR & CONTRIBUTOR

NE OF THE MOST WONDERFUL WAYS TO ENJOY WINE IS TO EXPLORE JUST HOW IMPORTANT TERROIR IS TO THE FINAL PRODUCT.

The exact grape varietal planted in one place may have little to no resemblance to the same grape planted in a different locale. Sure, winemakers create their own magic, but place is a dynamically dominant factor. And when wine has the power to transport you across the

globe, I’m all in.

OThe word terroir (ter-wa) encapsulates the entire natural environment in which a wine is produced, including factors like soil type, topography, elevation, rainfall and other elements attributable to climate. The term “gout de” (gouduh) terroir is used to describe the unique flavor characteristic imparted to a wine by that overall natural environment where the grape is grown.

All grapes, to some extent, are gloriously subject to the magic of terroir and this month, we are exploring the impact of terroir on Sauvignon Blanc, focusing on four different wines from France, California and New Zealand.

The origin of Sauvignon Blanc is without question, somewhere in western

France, but there are competing claims as to whether it hails from Bordeaux or the Loire Valley. It is a green-skinned grape that is often blended with other grapes, for example, with Sémillon to make both Sauternes and dry white blends. To fully appreciate and underscore how terroir impacts Sauvignon Blanc, all the wines we include here are 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc.

FRANCE

We should start in the “mother country” of Sauvignon Blanc where I chose selections from both Sancerre and Touraine. While not every Sauvignon Blanc is a Sancerre, every Sancerre is 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc. I was happy to come across a stellar example of Sancerre recently at one of my favorite dining spots, Avow, in Napa. Wine prowess

runs deep at Avow, whose owner is Joe Wagner (yes, Wagner) the son of Caymus’ founder, but also, in his own right, the creator of Belle Glos, one of my favorite Pinot Noirs (see my column in November 2022’s Polo Lifestyles). At Avow, they offer the 2020 Domaine de la Villaudiere by the glass and yes, I had more than one.

Benefiting from the diverse soils of limestone, clay and shale throughout the Sancerre AOC, this bottling sources from among 68 plots of vines, which are on average 40 years old. The two main avenues through which winemakers can create art with the varietal – time in contact with the skins and temperatures at which fermentation occurs – are studiously attended to.

Grapes are pressed within three hours of harvesting and fermentation takes place in stainless steel at ideal temps between 15 and 20 Celsius. The winemaking conditions allow this classic expression of Sancerre to shine through.

The nose is all Sauvignon Blanc with

peach, nectarine, pineapple and passion fruit. On the palate, what I loved most about this bottling are the well-balanced minerality and flint notes that speak powerfully and uniquely to the soil of its place. The finish is powerful and compelling, thus my having more than one glass during my recent dining excursion. I enjoyed it alongside a pan-seared Chilean Sea Bass with Meyer lemon, fennel and a sun-dried tomato pesto served with herb-roasted red potatoes. The wine stood up marvelously to the bold flavors of the dish. www.lavillaudiere.com

The Sauvignon Blanc I chose from Touraine, the 2020 Domaine Pré Baron Touraine Sauvignon, was for a singular purpose – my love and quest for that “feline” characteristic that only this varietal seems to create. Feline. Hmm.

Yes, as one of my dear sommelier friends put it succinctly, “cat pee.” Of course, putting that in writing might give one pause… or even revulsion. It shouldn’t. But words themselves cannot

communicate the rare and sensory experience of encountering a wine with “feline” characteristics, to use a less scatological descriptor. This bottling has that and more.

Glistening light gold in the glass, the color hints to a depth of richness absent from New World bottlings of the varietal. It is grassy, herbaceous and full of bursting grapefruit on the nose. On the palate, the feline profile is complemented by lemon zest and kiwi, pleasant but prominent acidity, and a long, lingering finish. This wine also benefited tremendously from being served around 11 Celsius/52 Fahrenheit and in a glass with a larger bowl than one might consider for a typical white, which allowed the wine to develop.

This exceptional Sancerre would be a decadent complement to spicy mussels and chorizo (where I would add some of the wine to the recipe as well) or a white fish prepared with some heat. I enjoyed it alongside a Thai Chili Spiced Tilapia over riced cauliflower.

In Search of Solace Terroir Magic & Sauvignon Blanc

CALIFORNIA

From the Old World to the New World, the terroir and wine-making practices in the New create entirely different expressions of Sauvignon Blanc. Let’s start with California.

As I was penning this month’s column, an article was published in the San Francisco Chronicle with the headline “California wineries can’t make enough of this suddenly popular grape,” referring to the boom in demand for Sauvignon Blancs. It wasn’t always the case.

In the late 1960s, when Napa Valley icon Robert Mondavi was offered a crop

of Sauvignon Blanc, he knew such wines were eschewed by American wine drinkers who didn’t care for the same characteristics of the wine that have fueled contemporary demand – namely the grassy and tropical fruit notes.

Mondavi took to aging the varietal in oak and marketing it as Fumé Blanc in a nod to the French Pouilly-Fumé.

Mondavi Winery continues to refer to the Fumé Blanc as his “signature wine.”

Prior to Mondavi’s brilliant re-imagining of the varietal, the earliest history has it that California’s Sauvignon Blanc came from the storied vineyards of Château d’Yquem. Not a bad place to start.

In choosing a California Sauvignon Blanc, I took my lead from Wine Spectator whose editors recently placed the 2021 Joel Gott California Sauvignon Blanc at the #5 spot among the top 10 best value wines of 2022. Globally. Given this wine found itself in the good company of others on the list like Drouhin, Decoy and Beaulieu, I had to give it a try.

Gott, headed by the husband-wife team of Joel and Sarah Gott, unabashedly promotes itself as “food-friendly wines at great prices,” which also means Gott produces significant volumes of wine, which additionally, and fortunately, means that

for many readers, it may be found in the wine section of your local grocer.

For this bottling, Gott sourced fruit from “throughout California,” which translates to his ability to find quality fruit without paying Napa Valley prices. Fruit was sourced from Sonoma, Lake, Lodi, Monterey and Santa Barbara counties and underwent “a long and cool fermentation” in stainless steel tanks.

Perhaps lacking the nuisances of a French version or the tell-tale grass of a New Zealand, it is perfectly delicious and straightforward in its own right. A pale straw

color in the glass, aromas of melon, peach and citrus notes hint to the freshness of this wine on the palate. There, ripe kiwi with hints of Meyer lemon create a crisp and bright flavor profile with just enough acidity for a slight zing. I enjoyed mine one evening alongside Maryland crab cakes with a remoulade rich in smoked paprika and a pinch of cayenne.

For me, what the California terroir brings to an unfussed-with Sauvignon Blanc is a perfectly crisp, refreshing and straightforward dry white. And sometimes that fits the bill… exactly. Perhaps given the varieties to be found elsewhere, it’s this wonderful commonness that California imparts to the varietal that warrants Gott’s bottling landing on the list of best values of 2022. And while I won’t share exactly what I paid for this (on sale at my local grocer), it’s a tremendous value and like me, you should run and pick up a case for those perfect summer evenings dining al fresco with friends.

NEW ZEALAND

If California is able to illuminate and elevate Sauvignon Blanc with an incredible commonness, New Zealand is the opposite. What emanates from Marlborough is entirely unique.

I’ve written previously about the gout de terroir of Cabernet Franc grown in Virginia. Once you taste it, you will always be able to

easily identify it (and it’s wonderful by the way). The same is true of Sauvignon Blanc grown in the Marlborough region– it tastes like nothing else, anywhere.

The rise in prominence of the varietal in New Zealand is perhaps best-exemplified by Cloudy Bay Vineyards. Founded in 1985 when there was nary a mention outside of the country for New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Cloudy Bay put the wine on the proverbial map. Rich alluvial soils and protected from extreme weather patterns by bordering mountains, Marlborough presented the ideal nexus for viniculture and Cloudy Bay filled it. To cut to the short of it, they were so successful that in 2003 they were acquired by luxe champagne house Veuve Clicquot and are now part of LVMH. I’d say that being family with Louis Vuitton denotes a certain arrival in terms of status.

If Cloudy Bay represents an “arrival” of sorts for Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, many hoping to replicate the success have since followed. The Marlborough region now accounts for 70 percent of all vineyards in the country and plantings of Sauvignon Blanc have grown from around 4,500 hectares (about 11,000 acres) to over 23,000 hectares (about 57,000 acres) in just over 15 years. The largest importer of these wines is the United States.

There are many choices in finding bottlings that repre-

sent the varietal’s expression in Marlborough. I chose the 2021 Stoneleigh Sauvignon Blanc that I find to be a step above the norm. Nearly colorless in the glass (I also liked a large bowl for this wine), its tell-tale lush, grassy nose immediately denotes its Marlborough terroir. Wellrounded on the palate with medium acidity, its herbaceous and wet-stone essences extend into a delicious finish of grapefruit. Ambrosial! One tidbit from the label that I loved: “In our vineyards, sunstones absorb sunshine during the day, radiating heat into the vines at night, resulting in our distinctly vibrant wines.” Now that’s terroir!

This is a perfect wine for grilled swordfish with grilled mango salsa or a simple and elegant Salade Niçoise. I enjoyed my tasting alongside butternut squash ravioli in a light butter sauce, where the wine’s acidity cut through and complemented the richness of the dish’s butter.

CHEERS TO TERROIR

You may or may not have a favorite expression of Sauvignon Blanc. I do not. I love all its expressions and how unique they are from place to place – where terroir creates magic that ends up in a glass where that magic is again replicated for the drinker.

Grab a few friends, a few iterations of this noble grape, and delve into your own tasting. You won’t regret it. ¡Salud!

Once you’ve freed your Muse

ROLE IN

ALIGN WITH YOUR PLANETARY ASCENSION HYDROGEN'S

Surrender her to flight With the surge of her charge Your focus pierces common sight

Starlight emanating from the crown Soles are lifted off the ground Enlightened in realization

Every leading moment collapses Into one pulsing sensation

Rise up

Oh, Children of the Sun

To behold our Spirit’s birth As our hearts unite as One

- AMRITLAL SINGH

THE CALL FOR ASCENSION

AMRITLAL SINGH SPIRITUALITY CONTRIBUTOR

@monarch_visionary

UMANITY IS ON THE VERGE OF AN ENERGY REVOLUTION OF BIBLICALLY PROPHESIED PROPORTIONS. AS THE GLOBAL POPULATION SURPASSED 8 BILLION IN NOVEMBER 2022, FROM AN ESTIMATED 2.5 BILLION SINCE 1950, THE SURGING POPULATION IS EXPECTED TO REACH 120 TONNES OF ELECTRONIC WASTE PER YEAR BY 2050, ACCORDING TO REPORTS BY THE UNITED NATIONS.

Furthermore, according to Reuters, global energy consumption is expected to increase 50 to 100 percent by 2050.

HWe dwell at present in a heavily distracted and poisoned society. Our very DNA has been damaged by the onslaught of heavy metals and toxic chemicals that pollute our atmosphere, water, soil, and vegetation. Our dependence on the burning of fossil fuels to support our addictive technological dependencies is a primary cause of this hastened onslaught which is compounded by electromagnetic field poisoning that interferes with our brain waves and stimulates unhealed traumas. Unable to capture the ascension energies and divine intelligence transmitted from the solar cosmic rays, humanity is left scrambling for what is abundantly ours - infinite energy produced through our very veins.

Adding to the global mental health epidemic, cancer rates are steadily increasing with one in two Americans expected to develop the disease within their lifetime. Awash in a sea of toxic energetic turbulence, like rats clawing from below deck of a sinking ship, humanity is drowning from the weight of its own forged chains. Triggered into death and blinded of higher sight, what’s the point of living without the quality of existence that we were divinely designed to experience? The war on consciousness is more than an attack on our intelligence, it’s the enslavement of our souls at the detriment of our collective ascension.

AS ABOVE SO BELOW

It is all quite overwhelming, until you begin to see the potential born in the space between. The drive inwards to save our dying race will shift us into beauty and grace, for true success is

“From nothing, comes everything, and with the proper focus and a creative imagination, we can each embark upon discovering the greatest of the universe’s mysteries.”

YOUR PURPOSE

IN SYNC WITH YOUR VIBE

The Pulse of the Universe

established by bridging the potential from states of consciousness that few can access. To live in deliverance is every man’s quest.

Nobel Prize Laureate and co-founder of Quantum Theory, physicist Richard Feynman, is famously quoted for his statement, “There is enough energy in a single cubic meter of space to boil all the oceans in the world.” Ever within the eternal womb of creation, we are suspended in a sea of infinite potential known as the zero-point energy field. When we truly focus, we realize that we are flooded in natural abundance, accessible through the charged force of our beating hearts.

Of the estimated 4.7 percent of the infinite universe that is realized baryonic matter, 74 percent is hydrogen. The smallest, lightest element of the known Universe is also the most powerfully equipped. Currently at the forefront of the movement to decarbonize the $6-trillion global energy economy, policymakers have begun a massive push for hydrogen. In the past five years, more than 30 countries have developed or started to prepare national hydrogen strategies as a primary source of energy.

Aligned with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Earthshot Initiative, scientists are currently explor-

ing the cost-efficiency of electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. As an example of global coordinated efforts for a clean planet, on Dec 19, 2022, joint-venture Ascension Clean Energy announced a partnership with Denmark’s technology industry leader in decarbonization, Topsoe, for a planned $7.5B clean hydrogen-ammonia production and export facility in Ascension Parish, La., to supply the world’s growing clean energy market.

If the smallest and lightest element discovered, thus far, holds the highest energetic capacity between its bonds of unity, what is in store as our inner realiza-

Bless the dance of Shiva and Shakti, the cosmic flow of soul that breathes life into the Earth, churning the golden nectar that nourishes Gaia’s soil. Freedom rings as the call for change inspires innovation, arousing the flames of hope to invoke our ancient wisdom. Rejoice, as the thunderous clap of realization ripples through the biosphere. Like lightning, rays of truth crackle through humanity’s collective roots, electrifying the Earth with the power to renew. Polarized through the charge of breath, our Great Mother ascends into a state of harmonious existence.

Kissed by an angel upon our holy crown, the flow of life-giving nectar nourishes the spinal cord to restore the nervous system, rejuvenating our circuits to revitalize our organs. To those who serve, divine sight is restored to capture the glory of an illumined world. Rapturing as one, awestruck, to the drums of liberation, the Kingdom of Man shall ascend, purified in the eternal breath of Brahman.

HYDROGEN'S

ROLE IN

PLANETARY ASCENSION

THE CALL FOR ASCENSION

tions guides us further into the depths of the unseen? Ascending vibrations of inner peace will be ultimate discovery to guide us into the infinite power source we all seek.

AS WITHIN, SO WITHOUT

From nothing, comes everything, and with the proper focus and a creative imagination, we can each embark upon discovering the greatest of the universe’s mysteries. The unrealized potential within the emptiness that we each hold, is enough to spark the entire world aflame with hope. For man is the candle designed to churn his own oil.

The average human body consists of 10 percent hydrogen, illustrating the atomic man as a powerfully unrecognized nuclear agent. Considering that 99.9999 percent of the human body is unrealized empty space, how do we consciously harness the power of the Human Energy Generator? Clean air is certainly a starting point for chemically activating the planetary’s healing capabilities.

Designed to shine, the human body emits more energy than the Sun. The Sun, on average, generates 1/5000 of a watt per kilogram, whereas the human

body generates over 1 watts per kilogram. While the Sun is 10 trillion times larger than the human body, the human star being has evolved to be potentially 5,000 times more efficient that the Sun.

Within each of the body’s 100 trillion cells are up to 300 mitochondria, which produce 90 percent of our vital force energy by transforming glucose and fatty acids into electricity through ATP synthesis. Through the body’s own natural process of aerobic respiration, within a complex process known as the electron transport chain, completes its own hydrogen-oxidation process to produce 32 molecules of ATP from one molecule of glucose.

If the human body can optimally produce more energy than the Sun, where will our next discovery lead us as our collective intention to thrive guides our spiritual realizations even deeper into our dormant abilities? What potential lies within the biophoton? As we clean our Earth to realize our true Soul force, the pulse of the Universe shall steer our hearts. The infinite power we seek is delivered as we rise for Global Peace.

REMEMBERING YOUR STAR-BORN MISSION

Raise your vibe to attract your tribe, realizing that you

are not alone as you remember your role in the formation of the New Earth. Our body is the Universe’s greatest self-evolving, self-realizing creation, experiencing the dream of our creator as we evolve, consciously. Keepers of our blue-jeweled garden, inseminated with the golden rays of the stars, as we serve her, she nourishes the evolution of our spiritual heart. As our hearts expand and our minds ignite, in recognition of the miracle of our own creation, we sustain her through our embodied star mission.

Scientist, futurist and environmentalist James Lovelock, who eloquently introduced Gaia hypothesis, beautifully wrote, “It may be that one role we play is as the senses and nervous system for Gaia. Through our eyes, she has, for the first time seen her very fair face, and in our minds become aware of herself. We do indeed belong here. The Earth is more than just a home, she’s a living system and we are a part of her.”

Every man is born with the potential to become a godlike being, a Brahman of his own decree; just as every child comes bearing a gift that is awakened through the conscious liberation of their heart’s sacred energy.

Descending our souls, as vessels of the infinite, we ascend

spiritually as we activate the Earth’s star potential within the atmosphere, transcending duality in realization of the oneness of reality. Uniting in our mission to crystallize Heaven upon Earth, we learn to co-exist, receiving the guidance of the elemental forces as well the councils of masters who serve from the higher realms. To live in these most inspiring times is the greatest gift.

By facing the darkness within ourselves and society, the grandeur of our potential is realized as the Universe reveals the future that awaits humanity. Building the neural synapses to behold the energetic frequency of higher dimensions of reality that correlate with our ascending heart’s frequency, our perception of the Universe expands as we bridge the light of our souls into being. All perception is merely an expression of that which has been genetically activated within us. We are each the star force of our own holographic Universe.

Unraveling the multi-dimensional capabilities of the human star being, a portal to cosmic consciousness, is a lifetime soul mission, and with every step forward, the universe is listening. The greatest beauty possibly known for man to discover, is man himself. Each time birthed, the first time, re-

membering eternity.

THE POWER OF YOUR SOUL-FILLED PROPHECY

Dissolving our human skin, liberated to live in harmony with the Universal forces of nature, we discover the abundance of living prosperously as messengers of cosmic energies; galactic citizens remembered, initiated by the growing charge of the wave potentiality. Driven by the excitement for life, the passion for creation that incites our imagination compels just action. As we rise to serve, victoriously, we become the synchronicity.

The universe’s natural process of photosynthesis is the most ingenious method for energy creation whereby life is inspired to self-create, determining its own highest order of magnificence that drives the evolution of intelligence through the sentience of the

primordial subtle energy, in service to the harmony of our Universal eco-system.

Through photosynthesis, nature uses sunlight to synthesize its energy source from carbon dioxide and water; chlorophyll and oxygen are the general by-product supporting the evolution of expanded lifeforms. As man evolves, his bio-photonic energy field transforms the Earth’s vibratory signal. All of nature delivers in service of the ever-flowing fountain of the eternal life force spreading through the Universe; the Christed light that sparks from our hearts. Humanity is on the verge of employing free clean energy.

As the Earth calls out for our support, we must face ourselves to make the shift to empowerment; rising in the celestial courts, as we accept the guidance of the high councils. It is through

lower densities of existence that spirit is able to experience creation, and when our darkness seems unbearable, it is an opportunity for us to realize our ultimate purpose.

Bridging the Heavens in service of our collective destiny, the veil of separation shall be dissolved naturally. As our senses deepen through embodiment of the Laws of Unity, the angels guiding our hand will take form. The emergence of a new Earth shall be envisioned through the eyes of a realized humanity.

Definitions:

The cosmic dance of Shiva and Shakti symbolizes the interplay of dynamic and static divine energy flow, containing the five principles of eternal energy: creation, preservation, destruction, illusion and emancipation. The masculine Shiva represents consciousness, pure stillness, while the

feminine shakti is the activating and energizing principle that is pure becoming in all her flow and creativity as well as her endless opening to possibility.

In Hinduism, the Breath of Brahman, the highest universal principle of divinity, creates and destroys worlds in a cyclical rhythm of seven planetary stages of from chaos and darkness to harmony and enlightenment. With the intake of breath, the universe is called back to the source and ceases to exist, and on the act of breathing out again manifestation begins anew.

Named for the Greek Earth goddess, Gaia Hypothesis proposes that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic and self-regulating, complex system that maintains and perpetuates the conditions for life on the planet.

MOLD YOUR MIND

THE POWER OF UNLOCKING YOUR MIND

PART

2: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE LEARNING ABOUT YOURSELF

JOEY VELEZ HEALTHY LIFESTYLES CONTRIBUTOR @joeyavelez88

AST MONTH, WE BEGAN DISCUSSING WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE BY INCREASING AWARENESS OF YOUR EMOTIONS AND IMPROVING YOUR ABILITY TO REGULATE THOSE EMOTIONS.

This month, we expand that awareness to understanding the emotions of other people. This awareness is just as important since, and I am going to go out on a limb here, you are a part of some semblance of a team currently, or at the very least, have been in the past. Your own emotions, whether good or bad, can spread like wildfire in the workplace, which adds to the importance of self-awareness and self-regulation. However, being able to read the emotions of other people and understand what they are experiencing has the potential to put out that fire.

BUILDING SOCIAL COMPETENCE

LSocial competence is your ability to understand other people’s moods, behaviors, and motives in order to improve the quality of the relationship. Tuning into the experiences of other people as you interact with them will help you gather a more accurate view of your surroundings, which, in turn, can ultimately help increase your understanding of the experiences of another individual, can improve empathy, and can improve overall communication. The two components to build social competence are social-awareness and relationship-management skills.

Social awareness is the ability to look outward to learn about and appreciate other people. It is important to note that with social awareness, a key component is to make sure that you are present and able to give your full attention. Our internal monologue can create a narrative that may not be fully accurate, so being present while not anticipating what the other person may say or your own response can help you gather more accurate information. One strategy you can utilize that will help increase social awareness is by figuratively stepping into their shoes, which you can do by asking

yourself the question of “if I were this person...”. This question can increase empathy and help you gain a deeper understanding of other people, which can help you identify problems before they escalate. Gathering a new perspective and keeping your biases at bay can make communication efforts more effective, therefore enhancing the relationship.

Relationship management is the ability to use your awareness of your emotions and those of others to manage interactions successfully. When it comes to interactions with other people, it is important to note that the connection you have with that person makes a big difference. The weaker the connection you have with someone, the more difficult that conversation becomes because you both don’t have an accurate understanding of each other’s emotions, behaviors, or tendencies.

A way to build your relationship management skills is by being open and curious. Being open refers to sharing information about yourself with the other person. This leaves room for interpretation and helps the other person get an idea of who you are. When talking about being curious, it is taking the same approach, but with the other person. Being interested in the other person’s story not only minimizes the

chances of interpretation misfires but increases the likelihood of you meeting that person’s needs. This process can help you establish, build, and maintain relationships. Whether you have an established relationship with that person, or you are trying to strengthen the connection with someone new, take the time to get to know them and to also let them get the chance to know you.

FINAL THOUGHTS

When it comes to building emotional intelligence, it is a skill that needs to be practiced consistently. You did not learn to ride a bike by getting on one time and becoming an expert bicyclist. You fell, you stumbled, you got cuts and bruises; building the skill of emotional intelligence may have a similar path.

It will be challenging, you may struggle, but that is all a part of the learning process. Take the time to understand your emotions, practice self-regulating those emotions, take the time to understand others’ emotions, and practice building those relationships. If you can practice those things and hone your skills, you will find that life itself will become much more satisfying.