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All moon phases bring a certain energy to us down here on Earth, but something about the first full moon of each year — also called the Wolf Moon, since the animals tend to be very vocal in January — feels especially important. This year, the Full Wolf Moon will occur on January 28 in the fiery sign of attention-seeking Leo. The moon rules our emotions — so be prepared for things to get dramatic.

Some of that is just because Leo is a theatrical sign. But there’s a lot going on during this full moon that adds to the drama. To start, the moon will oppose Jupiter (in Aquarius) and square Mars and Uranus (both in stubborn Taurus), points out Lisa Stardust, an astrologer based in New York City. “This will bring a larger-than-life energy to the already dramatic sentiments that are brewing on the 28th,” she explains. “Arguments will start out of nowhere and get bigger than normal, which may take a long time to make up from. If there ever was a time to break up in relationships in 2021, this would be it.”

Venus will conjunct Pluto during this full moon too, which could also push relationships toward a crossroads, adds Leslie Hale, psychic astrologer for Keen.com. “This can be connected to obsessive thoughts and feelings directed toward relationships, love, money, and sex,” she explains. “Matters may become deep and intense, and there could be issues of control, or certain things may be revealed at this time.” Hale says that this energy may lead some relationships to their expiration date — but, with effort and communication, others could be transformed for the better.

There’s also an intense aspect known as a T-square happening on this day, notes Narayana Montúfar, senior astrologer for Astrology.com: The moon in Leo; the sun, Jupiter, Mercury, and Saturn in Aquarius; and Mars and Uranus in Taurus are all involved. T-squares tend to highlight areas of our lives that are at odds with each other, and these planets are all in fixed signs, so the energies are especially intense, she notes. Our core values might be disturbed — but we could also be feeling particularly stubborn and unwilling to compromise, Montúfar says.

Of course, we should stand our ground around the things we really care about. But remember what Stardust said earlier about explosive arguments during this luminary? Choose your battles carefully, and know that tensions are running high right now.

All in all, this Full Wolf Moon is an eventful one. But we promise we’re not joking when we say it’s still a good day. January 28 is also being called the “Day of Miracles,” because the Sun and Jupiter will form a conjunction in Aquarius, bringing on optimism and good luck. It may be a day of change, but that change could be incredibly positive — if you go through a breakup or a difficult conversation, it may be an overdue one. And as we approach February, there will be a huge shift in the overall astrological energy, Montúfar says. “This full moon can be an opportunity to close doors, so others can begin to open,” she explains. “After all, full moons are all about peaks of energy, and therefore, endings.”

And endings aren’t all bad. Sometimes they’re needed to create space in your life for bigger, better things to come in. Whatever ends — or is reborn — during this time may very well set the tone for how the rest of your 2021 goes. It’s only up from here!

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Once a year, the bright and powerful Sun and the abundant planet of Jupiter form a conjunction. This time, that meeting occurs on January 28, in the innovative sign of Aquarius. The energy of this aspect is so potent — and so positive — that astrologers often refer to it as the “Day of Miracles.”

“It’s a great day to take risks in your life, because you will be protected,” Lisa Stardust, an astrologer based in New York City, tells Refinery29. Buy up those lottery tickets, tell your longtime crush your true feelings, pitch that big idea at work: With the power of these two celestial bodies behind you, anything is possible.

There is just one cloud marring the beautiful blue sky that is the Day of Miracles: a very potent full moon in Leo that’s squaring Mars in Taurus. “Because of that Mars square, people are going to be fighting to assert their views,” Stardust cautions. “Mars in Taurus can be a little bit stubborn.” The good news is, the sheer optimistic power of the Sun-Jupiter conjunction will drown out the negativity caused by this square, and help push us to take meaningful action in our lives.

Full moons are a time for letting go, so if you’re trying to move past something (ahem, 2020), the Day of Miracles will help you do it, Stardust says. She recommends practicing manifestation to help you make the most of the good vibes this day offers. “It’s a good day to manifest things that you need luck with,” Stardust says. “If you’re wanting to change things in your life, set an intention. If you’re unhappy in a job or a relationship, manifest what you want [instead]. Anything is possible if you really put your dreams first.”

Vocalize what you want but put actions behind your wishes, too. Ask for that raise, lay out what you need in your relationship, book a virtual class to build your skill set. There’s no better day to start these practices than on the luckiest day of the year.

We won’t be experiencing this conjunction again until March 5, 2022, so use this time wisely. If you play your cards right, you could be setting yourself up for a great (and lucky) year ahead.

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The year is already off to a wild start, and an unpredictable transit on January 17 might add fuel to the fire. That’s when Jupiter, the Planet of Luck and Abundance, will square with Uranus, the Planet of Freedom and Rebellion. This clash last happened in 2014, and when these two planets come together it often aligns with life-changing breakthroughs… or eruptive protests. Are you ready for it?

At the time of this square, Jupiter will be in Aquarius and Uranus will be in Taurus, says Narayana Montúfar, senior astrologer for Astrology.com. “Uranus’s job is to bring change by shaking up the status quo,” she explains. “The planet’s transits are usually intense and unpredictable.”

Those words describe the first month of 2021 to a T. But this specific square may offer an opportunity for a change in our energy, says astrologer Lisa Stardust. “We’ll feel overly optimistic and want to break through the constraints that hold us back,” she says. “Embracing our new mindset will open us up to amazing possibilities.”

If 2020 was the year of, like, realizing things — à la Kylie Jenner — then 2021 is shaping up to be the year of putting some action behind those realizations. The I-want-to-change-the-world energy here is explosive. “The square Jupiter forms with Uranus is important because it will magnify what Uranus is doing — which is bringing an enormous amount of change into our society and the way we relate to government and authority,” says Montúfar. “Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, and it expands everything that it touches.” The urge to change broken systems will be impossible to ignore.

While Jupiter squaring Uranus means drastic change for the collective, on a personal level we’ll be feeling the need to break free from what’s been holding us back. “If we’ve been feeling like a job, relationship, or situation is trapping us, the tension coming from the square might push us to act,” Montúfar says. This transit will affect everyone, but since it’s in a mixed square, if you’re a fixed sign — Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, or Aquarius — it’ll hit you especially hard. Each of those four signs will notice tension in a certain area: Leo and Taurus in their work lives; Scorpio in their love lives; and Aquarius in their home lives.

But, adds Montúfar, “While freedom is the ultimate goal, the presence of Mars in this configuration could make us do something that we might later regret.” The energy of this transit may have us trying to claw our way out of the constraints we feel that we’re in, but we must think things through and create a plan before acting. In other words, don’t quit your job on a whim without something else lined up. The word of 2021 should be intention.

Leslie Hale, psychic astrologer at Keen.com, says that this is a true “gambler’s transit,” meaning it can go either way in terms of incredible breakthroughs or a disappointing loss. But Montúfar stresses that slow and steady wins the race: “Under this aspect, we can really manifest the autonomy we need and deserve, as long as we’re strategic at creating this new reality for ourselves.”

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By now, you’ve probably heard about the new mutant strain of COVID-19. The variant, known as the SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7, originated in the United Kingdom in the early fall, and was first detected in the U.S. on January 5. And it’s spreading — fast.

All viruses mutate, but B.1.1.7, along with other new variants that have been detected in South Africa and Ohio, are concerning, says Abisola Olulade, MD, a family medicine physician based in San Diego: “They’re worrisome because they have a lot of mutations, not just a few, and these mutations are significant and can have potential clinical implications.”

Most alarming: British scientists published a study in late 2020 stating that the B.1.1.7 variant was 56% more transmissible than the one we’ve been battling until now. In other words, it’s more contagious: Dr. Olulade says that the variant’s spike protein (which helps the virus latch onto and enter cells) has mutated, possibly allowing the virus to bind more tightly to our cells. The good news is that there’s currently no evidence that the B.1.1.7 strain causes more severe symptoms or has a higher fatality rate than previous strains, and experts believe the approved vaccines should protect against it. Even so, this super-spreader strain is a big deal.

After nearly a year of living in a pandemic, many of us have likely started loosening the strict precautions we were taking initially. We’re lingering a little longer at the grocery store. We’re shying away from telling the people in our pod that, no, we’d rather you not see your other friends right now. We’re treating being outside like a panacea, tugging our masks off or forgetting to socially distance during walks with friends. But experts are urging people to respect the seriousness of the illness — and to stop taking these unnecessary risks.

First and foremost, that means avoiding public indoor places. Dr. Olulade stresses that we know that the virus spreads much more easily indoors than it does outdoors. If you do have to be inside, keep your trip as short as possible. “You don’t want to be having conversations or lingering [indoors],” she says. “You want to plan out what you’re going to be doing and spend as little time as possible [indoors].” Even if we’re outside, we must avoid close contact, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as being within six feet of someone else for a cumulative 15 minutes, over the course of a day.

The CDC’s COVID-19 guidelines have been steady throughout the pandemic: Wear a mask, stay at least six feet part from others, avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, wash your hands, and clean disinfect surfaces often. “We have to go back to old-school methods of preventing this, especially since the vaccine rollout has been abysmally slow,” Dr. Olulade says. Of course, there are people who can’t avoid certain high-risk activities, including essential workers. That makes it even more crucial for the rest of us who can stay at home to do so.

Dr. Olulade says that having a healthy fear of COVID-19 is a good thing, pointing out that the virus is still new and relatively unstudied. And its effects still appear to be somewhat random: One person might have mild, cold-like symptoms while someone else might end up hospitalized.

“Some people tend to have an optimism bias, that ‘This is not going to happen to me, I’ll be fine.’ But a lot of people that thought it wouldn’t happen to them have unfortunately died or been hospitalized with long term effects. We just can’t let our guard down,” Dr. Olulade says. “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, but we’re very much still in it.”

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On Tuesday, January 12, the Supreme Court ruled to limit access to medication abortions, at the request of the Trump administration. The order reinstated a federal requirement that people seeking a medication abortion must pick up the pill in person, from a hospital or medical office. This is the court’s first ruling on abortion since Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a judge with an anti-abortion track record, was confirmed to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, putting the court at a 6-3 conservative majority.

The pill in question is called mifepristone (brand name Mifeprex). It’s one of two pills involved in a medication abortion; the other is called misoprostol. In 2011, the FDA imposed a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) on it. As a result of the REMS, Mifeprex must be dispensed by a certified provider in a clinic, hospital, or medical office. That means patients generally can’t be prescribed via telemedicine, or receive the drug via the mail.

The REMS is incredibly restrictive given that the pill is largely seen as completely safe. A study of over 19,000 medical abortions found “a very low prevalence of clinically significant adverse events among patients undergoing medical abortion,” reports the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

In May 2020, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of medical experts led by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that challenged these restrictions. The ACLU claimed that not allowing patients to be prescribed the medicine via telehealth during the pandemic subjects them to unnecessary risk. Federal U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ruled in favor of the ACLU in July. This meant that until the public health emergency was over, the FDA would not enforce its REMS regarding the abortion pill. 

This judgment enabled people seeking abortions to receive the abortion pill via telehealth, greatly increasing access to the reproductive care for people who had trouble visiting a qualifying health center because they lived far away from the nearest facility, they were in a high-risk population for COVID-19, or many other reasons. Some hoped that the ruling would pave the way toward the restrictions around medication abortions being permanently loosened. The latest Supreme Court ruling — which came less than a week after the U.S. Department Of Health & Human Services extended the country’s COVID-19 public health emergency status for the fourth time — is a big step backwards. 

Justice Sonia Sotomayor agrees. In her dissent, she wrote: “The COVID–19 pandemic has thus made many typical activities more difficult and dangerous. A trip to the doctor’s office is no exception. This country’s laws have long singled out abortions for more onerous treatment than other medical procedures that carry similar or greater risks,” Justice Sotomayor continued. “Like many of those laws, maintaining the FDA’s in-person requirements during the pandemic not only treats abortion exceptionally, it imposes an unnecessary, irrational, and unjustifiable undue burden on women seeking to exercise their right to choose.”

“As a physician caring for patients during this pandemic, I find SCOTUS’ reinstatement of this unnecessary requirement unconscionable,” Kristina Tocce, MD, MPH, vice president and medical director of the Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, tells Refinery29. “Medication abortion care is safe, whether accessed in person or via telehealth. We must work to dismantle barriers to accessing this care, not uphold arbitrary ones, especially in this moment in history.”

This ruling has only proven what we’ve known all along: that opponents of abortion don’t care about the safety or the science, they just want to restrict access. And while the U.S. may have voted Donald Trump out of office and secured a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate, this ruling makes it clear that the fight for reproductive rights is still far from over.

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2021 has already had a rough start. (Remember when Nazis stormed the Capitol?) But January 13’s New Moon in the ambitious sign of Capricorn gives us a chance for a fresh beginning.

New Moons signify a rebirth, and are generally a good time to set intentions. But because this is the first New Moon of 2021, and because it occurs in the determined sign of Capricorn, it’s a good time to dig extra deep, and map out your wishes and goals for the upcoming year.

“This New Moon gives us the energy as well as the drive to come up with a plan to manifest our deepest desires for the year ahead,” says Narayana Montúfar, senior astrologer for Astrology.com. Capricorn is a practical sign that will help us approach our hopes and dreams for 2021 in a rational, responsible way. Use the energy of this New Moon to create a to-do list for the upcoming year, setting your personal, professional, and relationship goals in place.

This New Moon is even more intense because it forms a conjunction with Pluto, a planet associated with power and psychology, says Montúfar. “Pluto’s influence can help us transform an area of our lives that is due for a renewal,” she explains. “During this time, we will get hints from the universe on what we need to do to reawaken our power.” Montúfar points out that Pluto communicates through our subconscious mind, meaning that now is the time to turn off the outside noise and tune into your intuitive side. Does where you’re at in your career feel right? Do you need to reevaluate your relationships this year? Listen to what your mind and your body tell you during this new moon — you may just receive some eye-opening messages.

Mars will be squaring Saturn from its current position in Capricorn during this lunation, too. “We may face or encounter anger, frustration, and blocks,” says Leslie Hale, psychic astrologer at Keen.com. “This can be a mentally and emotionally draining period.” Montúfar’s advice? Try and use this frustrating energy to your advantage. “Under this configuration, we must shy away from conflict and instead, choose to channel that energy constructively,” she says. If you’re feeling resentful toward your partner, for instance, avoiding fighting with them. Instead, use your frustrations as motivation to decide whether you want to move forward with the relationship. If you’re feeling frustrated at work, use your emotions productively by reaching out to a coworker for help.

Astrologer Lisa Stardust says that this New Moon in Capricorn is awakening the Capricorn transits we experienced in 2020: the Saturn-Pluto conjunction on January 12, and the Jupiter-Pluto conjunctions on April 5, June 30, and November 12. Those conjunctions (which occur when the planets line up in the same sign) brought up a “rage against the machine” energy; they were times of foundational transformations, especially related to politics and authority figures. “This time, we are wiser and smarter with a lot of things, including how we relate to the government and COVID,” she explains. “With the vaccine on its way of being given to others and the transition of political power happening this month, the New Moon serves as the second chapter to the story created last year.”

2020 was definitely a year filled with lessons — but 2021 will be the year we take what we’ve learned and channel it into effective action. So this luminary offers a chance to ask ourselves how we can move forward with the knowledge and the experiences we’ve gained, Stardust says.

With the transformative energy of this new moon backing us up, now’s the time to make a change and embrace this “second New Year” — on a personal and a collective level. We can’t promise that the road ahead is easy, but the only way out of the hard times is through.

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The COVID-19 vaccines are on their way to becoming a key tool in the fight against the pandemic: Getting vaccinated gives you immunity to the virus, helping to stop the spread and keep everyone safe. That’s why it’s so important for everyone to get the shots — and why the myths circulating about the vaccines, including that they can cause infertility or aren’t safe for pregnant people, are so harmful.

“There are a lot of people that are worried about the vaccine and vaccine safety, and I think that’s a result of how much misinformation that was put out there,” Iahn Gonsenhauser, MD, chief quality and patient safety officer at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells Refinery29. While most Americans are willing to receive a vaccine, 27% of people are still hesitant, found a December Kaiser Family Foundation survey. Many of those people are afraid about possible side effects, the survey showed, despite health officials emphasizing the safety of the vaccines.

One widely shared Facebook post called the COVID vaccine “female sterilization.” It contains a spike protein known as syncytin-1, the post said, which is important in creating the placenta. The post claims that the vaccine will cause people to form an immune response against that particular spike protein, causing fertility issues. Dr. Gonsenhauser says, “That’s simply, completely false.”

“There is no evidence to suggest that this vaccine would affect fertility and this is not a reason to not get the vaccine,” says Abisola Olulade, MD, a family medicine physician based in San Diego.

Another false and fear-mongering Facebook post — this one shared by a naturopath — says that “they” don’t want women in the Moderna trials to conceive a month after the second dose of the vaccine. The naturopath concluded that this means the vaccine is unsafe to be given to pregnant women, but again, there’s no evidence to back up these claims.

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention gave the go-ahead for pregnant people, and those trying to get pregnant, to receive the vaccine, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists echoes that, recommending that COVID-19 vaccines “not be withheld” from pregnant individuals who meet criteria for vaccination, and should be offered to breastfeeding people too.

There is limited data about the safety of receiving COVID vaccinations during pregnancy. Pregnant people are typically excluded from clinical trials due to concerns about harming the fetus (although many argue that keeping pregnant people out of trials leads to their health needs being underrepresented). Twenty-three of the participants in Pfizer’s trial became pregnant over the course of the study, but that’s too small of a sample to tell us much. Dr. Olulade says that people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or trying to become pregnant should talk to their doctor before getting the vaccine (everyone should!). “Ultimately it’s about weighing the risks of the unknown when it comes to the vaccine in pregnant women versus the known dangerous risks of COVID.”

“There’s a lot of data that supports the increased risk that [pregnant people] bear from severe illness from COVID-19,” Dr. Gonsenhauser adds. They’re more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and to require mechanical ventilation due to COVID-19. “From a risk-benefit perspective, there are very few risks that have been identified for pregnant women due to the vaccine and there are a lot of benefits that have been identified,” he continues. If a pregnant person chooses not to get vaccinated, it’s especially important for them to do everything else they can to stay safe, including social distancing and wearing a face covering when in public.

The vaccines carry some known side effects for the general public, including a fever, fatigue, headaches, and swelling at the injection site — similar to the effects of the flu vaccine. This week, the CDC released an analysis of nearly 2 million doses that showed just how uncommon more severe allergic reactions to the vaccine are: There were just 11.1 cases per a million administered doses. “At this point, we’ve had tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of people worldwide who have received the vaccines that are currently begin administered in the U.S,” Dr. Gonsenhauser says. “They’ve been shown again and again to be safe and effective.”

In the end, it’s every individual’s choice to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or not, and if you’re concerned, talk to a reputable doctor about your own personal risk. But as the CDC states, we know that it can protect you from getting the virus and can help stop the pandemic in its tracks — and with reports of a new, very contagious COVID-19 super strain landing in the U.S., there’s plenty of reason to want to halt the spread of the life-threatening virus as quickly as possible.

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According to the Global Wellness Institute, the wellness industry is valued at $4.5 trillion — and it’s been steadily growing now for quite some time. Each year, we see certain wellness trends take off: wellness tourism, sleep health, even “well fashion.” But the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the face of the wellness industry in less than a year.

Changed, but not diminished. “[Wellness] is one of the bright spots of the economy right now,” Beth McGroarty, Vice President of Research at the Global Wellness Institute, tells Refinery29. While there are plenty of wellness trends we’re itching to leave behind in 2020 (detoxes, fad diets, and anti-masking, to name a few), there are some that have cropped up that we’re more than happy to keep around. Here, McGroarty gives us insight into the top wellness trends you can expect to see gaining steam in 2021.

Virtual Wellness

Surprise! Online, at-home wellness is going to continue to be a major trend in 2021, which you probably already saw coming. “It’s almost a cliché, but anything that was digitally delivered has just taken off,” McGroarty says. “Whether it’s telemedicine, virtual therapy, meditation apps, digital fitness platforms — even reiki classes are moving online. As soon as the pandemic hit, we saw an immediate, exponential explosion of people doing some kind of class online.” Fitness equipment sales have also gone up 170% during COVID-19, as those of us with the space and the means turned our homes into makeshift gyms.

Though the move to virtual platforms that allowed us to bring wellness practices into our homes was driven by necessity, it had a very positive trick-down effect: Virtual wellness makes services much more accessible to everyone, including those who may live in areas where certain classes or practices aren’t offered. “We’ll see a return to classes someday, but most people predict that there will be a very strong digital component or mixed digital, in-person component,” McGroarty says. For almost a year, people have become very comfortable taking fitness, yoga, meditation – you name it – classes at home; this is permanent behavioral and cultural change.

Preventive Treatments

Traditional Western medicine has typically had a solutions-oriented approach to wellbeing. Meaning: It focuses on treating health problems after they crop up. But recently, consumers have been pushing back, demanding a more preventive approach. We want to know how to stay healthy to prevent problems in the first place. And the pandemic accelerated that shift. “It immediately strengthened the case for what I would call responsible, preventative wellness,” McGroarty told Refinery29. By that she means an emphasis on exercise, healthy food, sleep, and stress reduction, which she refers to as “the pillars of wellness, which have this huge evidence-based impact on preventing underlying conditions.” So, less powders and potions that vaguely claim to “boost immunity” and more science-backed strategies that support your body’s individual needs.

As McGroarty says, “I think the healthcare industry needs to wake up to the fact that we need a heck of a lot more preventative wellness if we want to survive things like this pandemic.”

Radical Self-Care

This is another trend born out of necessity. After a year filled with trauma, our mental health has been threatened. “There’s a lot more anxiety [because of the pandemic],” Mary K. Alvord, PhD, a psychologist and the director of Alvord, Baker & Associates in Maryland, previously told Refinery29. “There was a wave of sadness — and I’m worried it’s turning into depression for a lot of people — as they are in their homes and can’t really go anywhere. And then there are family dynamics that create difficulty and added stress. On top of that, there’s economic stress.” Getting ourselves back on track will be top of mind as we head into 2021.

As a result, you’ll be hearing the term “radical self-care” a lot this year. The University of Indiana defines it as “the assertion that you have the responsibility to take care of yourself first before attempting to take care of others.” This goes beyond bubble baths. We’re talking about really, truly doing what you need to do to protect yourself and your mental health before exerting energy on others.

Radical self-care will look different for different people — not everyone is able to take a mental health day from work or visit a therapist, for instance. You may notice a renewed interest in spiritual practices this year, everything from meditation to manifestation to traditional religious activities. One study found that Google searches for “prayer” has spiked amid the pandemic.

Drug-Based Therapies

In 2020, Oregon legalized and Washington D.C. decriminalized psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. Experts are expecting that these moves will further legitimize the burgeoning field of drug-based therapies: Ketamine is already gaining ground on a possible option for treatment-resistant depression, for instance.

This is a trend that may not impact your life directly right away. You won’t be buying shrooms over the counter anytime soon, for example. But decriminalizing or legalizing ingredients like psilocybin helps open the door for more research into the compound, which will help us figure out all the potential uses. Be on the lookout!

Dying Well

This trend has quietly been gaining steam for a while. Back in 2019, the Global Wellness Institute launched what they called a “Dying Well” Initiative, which was intended to open up more conversations about death, and the pandemic has brought the topic back to the surface, due to the overwhelming amount of loss we’ve experienced this year.

Talking openly about death with loved ways may feel uncomfortable at first, but it can ultimately reduce stress. Joel Rowe, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Mount Sinai in New York City, wrote a piece for The Atlantic this past summer about the way we talk about dying, and thought back on his own mother’s death due to liver disease six years ago. He had already had conversations with her about how she wished to end her time on Earth — comfortably, and not on life support. “For the rest of my life, I’ll live in gratitude for her last, invaluable gift —readying us both for her death before it happened,” he wrote.

More of us may be having conversations about death in the coming year, and we may start to see tools that are designed to help us do so. “There’s a lot of innovation going on in how people are trying to help people navigate death and their fear of death,” McGroarty says. “These new advanced-care planning companies, often started by women, are seeing so much more activity.” Death doulas seem to be becoming more common too.

Respiratory Wellness

Although early in the pandemic there was a lot of attention being paid to surface cleanliness — so much so that hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes were in short supply — the revelation that COVID-19 is airborne turned our attention to air purification measures. “A lot of people have been buying very sophisticated air purification technology, or air monitoring systems, whether it’s HVAC purification, HEPA filters throughout your house, UV air treatment within homes,” McGroarty says. “I mean, this is the most pressing health and wellness issue, period.”

Air cleanliness will likely become more important as people start to make their way back to work. Another reason respiratory wellness in general may be a hot topic this year: COVID-19 can cause lung complications, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Cough and shortness of breath are among the most common symptoms for the virus, and may stick around for weeks or even months after recovery. It’s no wonder people are more concerned than ever with air quality.

No one could have predicted all the ways COVID-19 would change wellness in 2020. Many of the innovations have the potential to be good — high-tech air purifiers, a return to the foundational pillars of wellness, products that help make wellness more accessible at home, a focus on radical self-care. But if we take one thing from 2020, it’s the importance of keeping an open mind. Anything can happen.

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We all have goals for 2021. We may have pledged to secure a promotion, pick up a profitable side hustle, read more books, balance our chakras — or, perhaps, heat up our love lives. That last one is where Venus, the Planet of Love, comes in. The hot planet is shifting into focused Capricorn from January 8 to February 1, and the move could mean wonders for your relationships.

During this transit, love and dating in general will take on a quieter and more grounded tone, according to Narayana Montúfar, senior astrologer for Astrology.com. Venus was previously in adventurous Sagittarius, and we’ll definitely notice the change when she moves to Cap — the warm, fun, holiday energy we’d been enjoying will settle into a more practical, down-to-earth approach, Montúfar says. “Instead of feeling flirty and wanting to explore all our options, we now care more about how enduring, reliable, and faithful our connections are.”

That may not sound all that exciting, and to be sure, we know that Venus in Capricorn isn’t the sexiest transit. But it’s definitely bringing some necessary, useful energy into our journey to find and nourish real partnerships. Montúfar says this is a period that’s good for long-term commitment. “Ruled by Saturn, the Planet of Time, Capricorn lends Venus the opportunity to be more practical and focused on building the kind of love that can last.” Although we relish the fire and desire a new love interest can bring into our lives, long-lasting relationships are built on authenticity and realness — the qualities this transit is bringing us. This could mean it’s finally time to DTR, too.

Which is exactly what astrologer Lisa Stardust says — she notes that the relationships we have or are pursuing will become more real and practical during this time. “This means that people will only be committing to those who they can build a future with,” she says. This is pretty good news for those entering into 2021 with the goal of dating more or strengthening their existing relationships. Take advantage of these commitment-focused vibes and put yourself out there in your pursuits or in your partnerships. You’ll likely find yourself having more practical and logical discussions about your relationships with your lovers during this time.

Leslie Hale, psychic astrologer at Keen.com, agrees. “Our focus may shift to a more traditional outlook and concerns,” she says. For those of us already in committed relationships, Hale points out that certain conversations may arise, such as moving in together (“Where would we live and how do we pay for it?) or even marriage (“Are we ready for it? What would a ceremony look like?”). Things are about to get intense!

Mark your calendars for January 23, Stardust says. This is the day when Venus and Neptune, the Planet of Dreams, connect. This energy will inspire us to take a leap of faith in love. Montúfar even calls it one of “the most romantic days of the month.” But, there’s a catch. “The minor frustration Venus will share the same day with the North Node of Destiny will make it hard to get these romantic sentiments moving,” Stardust explains. As with any budding romance, the key here is patience. Your grand gesture of love may be slightly thwarted, but keeping your cool in a frustrating situation will only make your partner (or prospective partner) fawn over you even more.

Then, on January 28, Stardust says that Venus and Pluto will align — meaning that relationships can transform and deepen. Here’s a pro tip: Plan an intimate, romantic date night for your boo that has all of their favorite things (if my boyfriend is reading this, I like flowers and pasta). Any small act of service of expression of affection will go a long way on this day.

So while Venus’s journey through Capricorn isn’t necessarily about butterflies and fireworks, it’s a necessary, eye-opening time. And those moments are just as important in any relationship than the fiery, spark-filled ones anyway.

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After a year as unpredictable and collectively hated as 2020, we're all looking forward to ushering in 2021. But before we can do that, we could really use some guidance on exactly how we can go about making this upcoming year less of a dumpster fire. That's where tarot comes in.

Tarot is a form of divination that uses a pack of playing cards to provide a sense of direction. Practitioners believe that readings can help us figure out how we can best cope with the world around us. And while personalized readings can offer individual insight into the things going on in your life, practitioners can also practice "collective pulls" that offer more general insight, similar to how astrologers can give insight into the a particular planetary transit might have on everyone, in addition to specific signs. So why not use the cards to see what 2021 might have in store for us?

We sat down with Sarah Potter, a tarot reader, professional witch, and color magic practitioner based in New York City, for a collective 2021 tarot reading to help guide you into the new year and beyond. Click through to see what lies ahead.

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Happy New Year to us, and to the planet of drive, motivation, and action — aka Mars. On January 6, the Red Planet is leaving its home sign of fiery Aries, where it’s been for the past six months, and entering Taurus, where it will reside until March 3. This is a transit that Stephanie Powell, head of content for Astrology.com, is calling “a sigh of relief” — even though Mars doesn’t fully thrive in the sign of the bull.

“This is a much-needed energetic shift that will allow us to slow down,” Powell tells Refinery29. “Mars wants us to take action, and Taurus likes to take its time.” Taurus wins: We’ll be pumping the breaks, and the change is definitely welcome. Mars in Aries made us feel impulsive and rushed, and ultimately led to us feeling on edge. Because of this, we may be burned out as we start off the New Year. So this new, relaxed Mars energy, combined with our hope for a brighter 2021, might be the shift we need to get out of our rut and move forward this year.

But like we said: Mars and Taurus are fundamentally at odds. Mars is all about doing, while Taurus is more reliable and careful. That clash has consequences. “We may find that it’s a little more difficult to take action or makes decisions,” Powell says. You may feel that the decisions you make during the next few months require some extra planning or thought. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but make sure you’re not losing out on valuable time by delaying a decision. Set up a schedule, create to-do lists, and take the steps needed to make effective choices.

Mars also rules our sex drives — and this transit may change the way you communicate with your partner. “Mars in Taurus has a strong sensuality and sexuality,” says astrologer Lisa Stardust says. “This placement can be a bit more lazy and passive.” On the one hand, that’s a good thing. “It means that arguments won’t become major dramas and projects may be slower to start,” Stardust says. But you may also feel that your partner isn’t giving you enough attention during this time, and you may be more likely to let resentment or anger slowly build up. “Holding on to anger can be a problem with Mars in Venus-ruled Taurus,” says Leslie Hale, psychic astrologer at Keen.com. “Many would rather try and keep the peace by holding onto things until they reach a boiling point — then they explode.” Stardust points out that while Mars in Taurus is slow to anger and passion, when it gets there, things can get pretty wild. Since a blowout fight prob isn’t your ideal way to start 2021, be intentional about letting yourself feel emotions during the next few months. Share your feelings as they arise, and think up solutions to resentments before they have a chance to grow.

As Mars moves its way through the sign of the bull, Powell points out that the Planet of Action will face off with Jupiter and Saturn, who both just entered into Aquarius. These placements can bring “frustrations, delays, or even over-exertion,” she says. Hale agrees, saying that during these run-ins “stubbornness and inability to bend may be a problem, and we could experience anger and frustration ourselves.”

Mars will also form an exact conjunction with Uranus in Taurus on January 20: the Planet of Anger meeting with the Planet of Surprises, Powell notes. “This can be quite a volatile aspect,” she says. “In the United States, this also happens to be Inauguration Day. To say there will be tension in the air is an understatement.” No surprise here — our current president, Donald Trump, has still refused to concede the election, and there’s no telling what he could do or say on January 20. Powell says that on this day, the energy can manifest in intense ways if we’re not patient, so remember to focus on self-care. Give yourself plenty of time and space to take breaks as needed.

Thankfully, things start to lighten up in February, Powell says. “Mars will form gentle aspects with spiritual Neptune and transformative Pluto, asking us to internalize some of the tougher lessons from January,” she says. “There will be room to grow from what we experience and the chance to embrace healing, too.”

The bottom line: Mars in Taurus offers us a much-needed chance to slow down. And though this transit may bring some challenges, we can get through the next several months with our happiness intact, as long as we remember to be patient, to stay calm, and to allow ourselves to take our time as we start off the brand-new year. After 2020, we’re all in need of a breather — the trick is to remind yourself that you deserve one, too.

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I firmly believe that Bloody Marys can cure almost anything: boredom, the Sunday scaries, an otherwise-mediocre brunch spread. The tomato juice cocktails also have a reputation for being excellent hangover cures — a classic “hair of the dog” remedy. The idea is that drinking a little more alcohol takes the edge off of the nausea and headache caused by over-imbibing the night before.

The term “hair of the dog” comes from the expression “the hair of the dog that bit you,” which referred to an old-time-y method of treating rabid dog bites, wherein people would put actual fur taken from the dog that bit you onto your wound, according to Dictionary.com. Which… gross. Eventually, the term evolved. Now, the rabid dog that bit you is alcohol. And the hair you’re stuffing into your wound — ie, your brutal hangover — is more alcohol.

People who swear by hair of the dog usually have some kind of pseudoscientific explanation for why it works. You might have heard a variation of this: You experience hangover symptoms as your blood alcohol level begins to drop and your body begins to break down the alcohol. If you drink a bit more, your blood alcohol levels will increase and you’ll no longer experience the intense symptoms associated with a hangover and alcohol withdrawal. Sounds kind of reasonable, right? Wrong.

Obviously your blood alcohol levels have got to come down sometime, and when they do, that hangover you’re trying to avoid will find you. “It could make you feel better in the short term, but it’s just prolonging the inevitable withdrawal,” Abisola Olulade, MD, a family medicine physician based in San Diego, tells Refinery29. In fact, pouring more alcohol into your system when it’s already taxed will only wind up making you more dehydrated and depleted, ultimately intensifying your hangover once the additional alcohol you’ve consumed wears off, Dr. Olulade points out.

Plus, drinking to offset the effects of a hangover can very easily become a habit, and that’s not a cycle you want to get into. All things considered, then, Bloody Marys probably aren’t the answer to your Sunday morning hangover.

As for what we can do to alleviate a hangover, Dr. Olulade says the only thing that works is to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Add in ample rest, too. “The two best cures are time and patience,” she says. So next time you wake up feeling rough, skip the boozy brunch and opt for some alone time with your bed, the back of your eyelids, and a 64 oz bottle of water instead. Your body will thank you later.

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