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The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is celebrating National Bike Month in May 2025 with free rides for everyone on Thursday, May 15, as well as a number of bike-related promotions to encourage everyone to get outside, ride a bike and use Metro as a part of their journey.

L.A. METRO

To help riders ride more, drive less and feel good, Metro is offering the following deals and promotions during May:

Metro Bike Share

  • Metro’s shareable bikes are located at kiosks throughout LA County and will be discounted during the month. 30-Day Bike Share passes and Reduced Fare 30-Day passes will be available for just $1.00 during May with promo code BIKEMONTH25.
  • Beginning on May 12 and running through May 16, Bike Share will host a flash sale offering 50% off the full fare 365-Day Pass at $75 and $25 for Reduced Fare 365-Day passes with promocode BIKEANYWHERE25. Valid for new users and users who do not already have an active 365-Day Pass.
  • Metro Bike Share will offer free 30-minute rides on Bike Day, Thursday, May 15. All riders can redeem free 30-minute bike share rides by selecting ‘1-Ride’ at any Metro Bike Share kiosk, online or in the Metro Bike Share app and entering the promo code 051525. Rides longer than 30 minutes are just $1.75 for each additional half-hour.

Customers should always properly return a Metro Bike to a Metro Bike Share station to end your trip. Never leave a Metro Bike unattended during a trip. Riders will be charged penalty fees up to $2,500 for missing or improperly docked bikes.

Bike Hubs

  • Beginning this month, Metro Bike Hubs will permanently transition to a free-access model, allowing registered patrons to securely park their bicycles at no cost.
  • Metro Bike Hubs previously operated on a subscription model where patrons had to purchase a monthly subscription in order to access the hubs. We are changing this by making access to the hubs free, so that anyone can access the hubs at no cost if they register into the new program, which will require ID verification.
  • These actively monitored facilities include amenities designed to support cyclists on their commutes and will now be a part of the BikeLink program. Users will be required to use their own lock to secure their bike to a rack inside the hub.
  • To enhance security, Metro is also installing new bike lockers within the hubs. Learn more at metro.net/riding/bikes-on-metro.

Bike Lockers

  • Metro has added electronic bike lockers at 18 additional stations, including four locations that previously lacked secure bike parking.
  • New locations include Union Station, Atlantic, Soto, Mariachi Plaza, Arcadia, APU/Citrus, Harbor Gateway Transit Center, Reseda, Expo/Bundy, 17th St/SMC, El Segundo, Crenshaw, Norwalk, Wilshire/Vermont, Vermont/Santa Monica, Lakewood, La Cienega/Jefferson, and Florence.
  • These electronic lockers are available on demand and can be accessed via the BikeLink app or directly at the locker using a payment card.
  • In celebration of Bike Month, Metro and partner eLock Technologies are offering $5 in parking credits—load $5 onto your BikeLink account and use one of the new lockers to receive an automatic $5 credit. Learn more at bikelink.org.

Adopt a Bike

Each year hundreds of bikes are left behind on Metro property, including the bus and rail systems. These bikes are held at Metro’s lost and found for 90 days, after which, if they are not picked up, they are added to Metro’s Adopt a Bike program. Through the program, Metro works with Community-Based Organizations to distribute these bikes back into the community to people who cannot afford a personal bicycle, including resource-challenged communities and people experiencing homelessness. To date, more than 1,587 bikes have been distributed among several cities and communities in Los Angeles County including East Los Angeles, Long Beach, South Central Los Angeles, Culver City, Willowbrook and San Gabriel Valley. More information on Metro’s Adopt a Bike Program is available here.

For more information on all of Metro’s Bike Month activities and community events visit metro.net/bikemonth.

About Metro

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is building the most ambitious transportation infrastructure program in the United States and is working to greatly improve mobility through its Vision 2028 Plan. Metro is the lead transportation planning and funding agency for L.A. County and carries nearly 1 million boardings daily on six electric rail lines and 119 bus routes utilizing more than 2,200 low-emission buses.

 

psychologytoday.com

Online: Kaytee Gillis

Jessilyn slumped on the couch, eyes cast downward. "I heard from my mother last week," she said, her first time making eye contact since she had sat down 10 minutes before. I tried to hide my excitement at her willingness to go deep, instead trying to reflect a sense of neutrality and openness.

"We haven't talked in fifteen years. Maybe twenty," she began. "She left when I was about sixteen. My dad was violent, abusive really. He drank a lot. She couldn't handle it I guess, so she left. Last I knew she had remarried and had a couple other kids a few years back."

During this session with Jessilyn, she relayed a painful conversation with the mother who abandoned her when she needed her most:

I don't know why I opened this door. I knew it would upset me. But I asked her why she left so many years ago. I just came out and asked her. And do you know what she said to me? She said "you don't know how hard it was for me, Jessilyn. Living with that man. I just couldn't do it anymore.

Hard for her?! I thought. Like, she was an adult. She left a teenage girl who was barely able to drive, with this man who was so dangerous that she had to leave. What about me?!

But of course I didn't say this to her at first. I think I was in shock, honestly. She literally kept talking about how hard it was for her and how much better her life was once she got away, how much happier she is now... I couldn't even respond.

Most people would be able to see that Jessilyn's experience was traumatic. Being left with a parent who was abusive and violent, and being unable to escape, is unthinkable. Even though she was a teenager, and not a small child, this experience nonetheless changed - and completely traumatized- her. But still she spent years unable to see this experience for what it was. Instead internalizing the shame and self-blame in ways that she struggled to articulate. Her mother's refusal- or inability- to see her daughter's experiences as traumatic compounded her feelings of shame and reinforced the trauma she had experienced.

Eventually Jessilyn was able to ask her mom those terrifying three words: "what about me?" Her mom's response was that of shock and immediate denial. In her mother's eyes, she herself was the true (i.e. "only") victim of the violence and trauma within the home. During the very limited conversations that the mother and daughter had, Jessilyn's mother would say things such as "Your experience couldn't have been that bad, you turned out alright." or "You have no idea what I went through, you should be happy that I got out."

“She just won’t believe me! She can’t see what happened in my childhood and how that affects me today,” Jessilyn cried out from her spot across from me on the couch. “How do I move on if she can’t even understand the pain of my experiences, and how her leaving made it even worse for me?”

Many people come to me desperate to heal and move forward from their trauma history, yet struggling when it comes to convincing their caregivers what happened.

Sometimes, caregivers who also experienced trauma, such as in the case of Jessilyn's mother, are so stuck in their own experiences that they are unable to see the bigger picture.

In reality, Jessilyn's mother would not have to deny her own history in order to validate her daughter's. She could acknowledge her own experiences of abuse while recognizing that her daughter also experienced them- yet was powerless to leave due to being a child. However, mother was unable to focus on any reality other than her own.

Many of my clients get stuck trying to convince their caregivers of their pain because they believe they need that acknowledgement to heal. In truth, few will receive the validation they seek from their experiences this way.

This lack of validation can come from many sources, but it is often our caregivers’ own defense mechanisms keeping them in the denial stage—denial of their own actions (or inactions) but also denial of their own history of trauma that they unfortunately repeated. Shame comes in when confronted with the truth, and self-defenses take over in absence of self-esteem. They replace that shame with self-doubt, outward blame, and even rage.

This is where our own internal tools will need to take over and make up for that lack of external support and understanding from our caregivers so we can heal.

Remember, you do not need to convince others of your truth in order to move forward. No one has to acknowledge our mourning or grief for it to be authentic. Of course, this is easier said than done. Not being understood or believed comes with a feeling of invisibility, which compounds many survivors' trauma.

Instead, move towards self-validation. When working with clients with this experience, we focus on self-validation as a form of healing. Focus on acknowledging and validating your history. Whenever you feel the beginnings of denial or self-gaslighting creeping in, stop and say "no, I will not deny my history. What happened to me was traumatic, and I am allowed to feel this way." Validating your own history is a crucial part of the healing process.

Adapted, in part, from the book: Breaking the Cycle, the 6 Stages of Healing from Childhood Family Trauma.

PT.com Therapist Directory

Links:

psychologytoday/openness

psychologytoday/trauma

psychologytoday/adolescence

psychologytoday/embarrassment

psychologytoday.com/denial

psychologytoday/child-development

psychologytoday/defense-mechanisms

psychologytoday/self-esteem

psychologytoday/anger

psychologytoday/grief

psychologytoday.com/gaslighting

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submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

psychologytoday.com

Online: Harper Collins Author Profile

The foundation for verbal abuse in an adult-on-adult relationship is an imbalance of power; one person has it and is highly motivated to keep it and continue to control the relationship.

It’s important to remember that verbal abuse—whether it’s of the overt or covert variety—is highly motivated and goal-oriented as well as consistent, despite the fact there will likely be so-called “honeymoon” periods where the amount of abuse decreases or stops entirely.

While the person who is the target of the verbal abuse will likely believe that the respite reflects a change of heart on the abuser’s part, the sad truth is that it’s usually a tactic to keep the target emotionally confused and hopeful and, most important, fully committed to staying in the relationship.

Understanding the Imbalance of Power in an Abusive Relationship

While a healthy and satisfying adult relationship would be based on a partnership model, in verbally abusive relationships, one person seeks to maintain control. That’s made possible by certain factors such as these:

  • One person has a greater emotional investment in the relationship than the other.
  • The abuser exploits what he or she knows about the target’s insecurities and self-doubts to control the him or her.
  • One person has greater financial resources than the other or the target is financially dependent on the abuser; each affects both the decision to stay or to leave.
  • The abuser and the target have children and the target is concerned that any action of her/his part will involve the abuser’s retaliation and that the children will be hurt emotionally or psychologically.

Verbal Abuse can be Subtle or Covert to Maintain Control

The culture tends to picture verbal abuse as loud, involving yelling, put-downs, name-calling, and shaming; while verbal abuse certainly can and does take these forms, it’s the more subtle forms of verbal abuse that are more likely to entrap you and render you feeling powerless. That was certainly true for Casey, now 42:

“My ex-husband never raised his voice or called me a name; instead, he undermined me at every turn in subtle ways. Plans I’d made or initiated were always changed because he had a ‘better’ idea or solution that included everything from dinner reservations to renovating our kitchen and family vacations. He dismissed any complaints I had by telling me that I was ‘sensitive to rejection’ and that I was ‘emotionally over-reactive;’ it took me years to recognize that he was effectively shutting me up and shutting me down without ever saying so. There wasn’t a single domain in our lives where he didn’t insist on having the final say and, for a long time, I honestly believed that I had little or nothing of value to contribute to him or anyone. I went into therapy and when my counselor suggested I was being abused, I pushed back and denied it but it was the truth. When I tried to talk to him about it, he laughed at me and then refused to discuss it further. I was lucky, though. I ‘only’ wasted six years of my life with him.”

Among the more difficult-to-recognize forms of verbal abuse are:

  • Blame-shifting: The abuser exploits your own self-doubts or insecurities by making whatever has happened your fault; that leaves the abuser with zero responsibility and more control and often makes you feel that you should apologize. A true sleight-of-hand.
  • Brinksmanship: Threatening you with leaving or asking why you just don’t leave if you’re so unhappy. This is enabled by the abuser’s knowledge that you aren’t ready to give up on relationship and that you’re still hopeful a corner can be turned.
  • Stonewalling or ignoring that you’ve said anything. This will put you into a defensive crouch and perhaps feeling panicked; this often ends up with your being a peacemaker and apologizing for something you didn’t do.
  • Gaslighting: Telling you that your perceptions are dead wrong or that you’re projecting or making things up. Again, this preys on your insecurities as well as your hopefulness that things will get better somehow.

Will Your Abuser Ever Change?

Again, this comes down to motivation. We’ve seen how control is established through verbal abuse so the question becomes this: What’s in it for the abuser to stop?

If you find yourself in this situation, do speak to a counselor about strategies and what he or she thinks can happen given the nature of the relationship. Be cognizant of the possibility that confronting your verbal abuser may lead to escalation and remember that verbal abuse is always the foundation for physical abuse even if your relationship has never included it.

Do examine your expectations and ask yourself the following questions, answering as honestly as you can:

  • Is he/she willing to acknowledge the verbal abuse without resorting to defensiveness or blame-shifting?
  • Is he/she willing to hear you out thoughtfully without pushing back, dismissing your remarks, objecting, or starting a fight?
  • Will he/she accept your pointing out verbal abuse and instituting respectful boundaries?
  • Is he/she willing to go into counseling and commit to working on change?
  • Is he/she willing to work on new ways of communicating and resolving conflict?
  • Is he/she willing to commit to a partnership model of relationship?
  • Is he/she willing to commit to a series of steps you mutually decide on if he/she backslides into old behaviors?
  • If there are children involved and they have been targets, is he/she willing to apologize for past behaviors and willing to work on acquiring new parenting skills?

The truth is that if the answers to any of these questions is “no,” it will not be possible to repair or recover the relationship.

psychologytoday.com/therapy

Psychologytoday.com/forgiveness

Psychologytoday.com/gaslighting

Psychologytoday.com/motivation

Psychologytoday.com/parenting

 

www.psychologytoday.com

Intuition is the ability to understand something instinctively, without any need for conscious reasoning or an explanation. The use of intuition is sometimes referred to as responding to a "gut feeling" or "trusting your gut."

It's a phenomenon that many people experience, but its biological basis is still an area of ongoing research and exploration. Here, I will review some of the most relevant biological findings and address the question, "Can we really rely on intuition, or is it a counsel to failure?"

What the Research Says

Recent evidence from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, suggests that by 12 months, infants have an intuitive notion of probability that applies to never-experienced events and that they use it to predict subsequent events. The researchers suggest that extremely simple concepts of probability and causation, along with the concepts needed to form very basic epistemic (relating to knowledge or to the degree of its validation), statistical, and logical generalizations are present in very young children from an early age. It is this inborn ability to make inferences about things that are relevant to form accurate beliefs and retain new knowledge.

Rollin McCraty and his colleagues at the HeartMath Institute have performed experiments demonstrating how people respond to an emotionally arousing stimulus. The results were fascinating, showing that both the participants’ hearts and brains appeared to indicate receiving and responding to information about the emotional quality of pictures presented to them before a computer randomly selected them, as if they were responding to a future event.

Even more startling, perhaps, was data showing the heart received information before the brain. "It is first registered from the heart," Rollin McCraty explained, "then up to the brain (emotional and pre-frontal cortex), where we can logically relate what we are intuiting, then finally down to the gut (or where something stirs)."

The gut and the heart contain a significant amount of neural tissue and are connected to the brain by way of the vagus nerve, the so-called gut-brain and heart-brain axes. In addition, we know that neurotransmitters and hormones, such as dopamine and serotonin, can influence cognitive processes and emotions. These biochemical signals might also contribute to our intuitive responses.

Intuition relies on evolutionarily older, automatic, unconscious, and fast mental processing, primarily to save our brains time or energy. It also is prone to make mistakes, such as cognitive biases.

Intuition later in life arises from the accumulation of knowledge and experiences that are processed and stored in our brain's neural networks, as well as other cells and tissues in our bodies, allowing us to access this information quickly, often unconsciously.

Intuition is at the core of an epiphany; it is our own recognition and awareness of an idea or thought or vision for something that has yet to be discovered in the world. We all have access to that place, if we only learn to trust that internal voice.

Daniel Kahneman, who won a Nobel prize in economics for his work on human judgment and decision-making, theorizes that human beings are intuitive thinkers and that human intuition is imperfect, with the result that judgments and choices often deviate substantially from the predictions of normative statistical and economic models. Kahneman believes that intuitive thinking has both advantages and disadvantages: it is faster than a rational approach but more prone to error.

Kamila Malewska of the Poznán University of Economics and Business in Poland has studied intuition in real-world settings and concluded that people often apply a combination of strategies. When managers at a food company were asked how they use intuition in their everyday work, the majority of them said that, in addition to rational analyses, they relied on their gut feelings when making decisions. Interestingly, upper-level managers tended more toward intuition.

Malewska thinks that intuition is neither irrational nor the opposite of logic. Rather, it is a quicker and more automatic process that taps into the many deep resources of experience and knowledge that people have gathered over the course of their lives. Intuition, she believes, is an ability that can be trained and can play a constructive role in decision-making.

Intuition Essential Reads

Whether we rely on our intuition or turn to sensible analysis to make a decision will largely depend on our past experiences. Most cognitive scientists maintain that intuitive and analytic thinking should not be viewed as opposites. Studies indicate that our decision-making often works best when we blend both strategies.

Conclusion

Clearly, the biological basis of intuition is complex and likely involves a combination of factors. There is growing evidence suggesting that all humans are born with a basic ability for intuitive thinking and that, as we mature, as our links between the embodied mind, emotional processing, and intuitive thinking strengthen with experience, we may get better at it. Of course, if we fail to listen to this channel, like a muscle not exercised, our intuitive abilities will decline.

References

Cesana-Arlotti, N., Téglás, E., & Bonatti, L. L. (2012). The probable and the possible at 12 months: Intuitive reasoning about the uncertain future. Advances in child development and behavior, 43, 1-25.

Epstein, S. (2010). Demystifying intuition: What it is, what it does, and how it does it. Psychological Inquiry, 21(4), 295-312.

Fedyk, M., Kushnir, T., & Xu, F. (2019). Intuitive epistemology: Children’s theory of evidence. Advances in experimental philosophy of science, 122-43

Kahneman, Daniel (2017). Thinking, fast and slow.

Malewska, K. (2018). The profile of an intuitive decision maker and the use of intuition in decision-making practice. Management, 22(1).

McCraty, R., Atkinson, M., & Bradley, R. T. (2004). Electrophysiological evidence of intuition: Part 1. The surprising role of the heart. The Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 10(1), 133-143.

McCraty, R., Atkinson, M., & Bradley, R. T. (2004). Electrophysiological evidence of intuition: Part 2. A system-wide process?. The Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 10(2), 325-336.

 

lifehacker.com

For a seemingly humble cleaning supply, there has been a lot of discussion about sponges over the years; more specifically, how to clean or sanitize them. Various studies, like the one published in Nature’s Scientific Reports in 2017, found that kitchen sponges were teeming with bacteria—362 different types, to be exact—making them “the biggest reservoirs of active bacteria in the whole house,” including toilets.

But beyond the bacteria, sponges also tend to disintegrate and develop a foul odor with use. Fortunately, there’s a way to revive a worn-out sponge using a few pantry staples. Here’s what to know. How to revive old sponges with salt

So, why salt? Table salt is hygroscopic, which means it attracts moisture from the atmosphere, and is also the reason it can become damp and clog salt shakers in humid weather.

According to an article in House Digest, salt can also draw moisture from a sponge, reducing the dampness that bacteria need to thrive, and, in turn, preventing the growth of mildew and mold, as well as that foul odor kitchen sponges develop over time. And that’s not all: Salt can make the sponge more efficient, absorbing oils and making it easier to tackle stains.

There are two simple ways to put salt to work on your sponges:

  1. Saltwater soak

Rinse your sponge with warm water, then squeeze it out to get rid of any lingering crumbs or bits that may be sticking to it. Fill a container with warm water, and add 1/4 cup of salt (e.g. table salt, kosher salt, sea salt, etc). Stir the mixture until the salt is completely dissolved.

Next, place your sponge in the mixture, and make sure it’s fully submerged. Leave it there overnight, or at least for a few hours, then remove it, squeeze it out, and rinse it thoroughly with clean water.

  1. Add some vinegar

This process is the same as the one described above, except the mixture consists of 1 cup hot water, ½ cup white vinegar, and 3 tablespoons salt.

To clarify, the aim of these methods is to get rid of (or at least lessen) odors, and help get the sponge back to looking more like it did when it was new. We didn’t come across any research indicating that this would sterilize your sponge, so when you’re done, you may want to pop it in the microwave.

 

We’re a little more than a year away from the 2024 presidential election, and if you think things are ugly and crazy now, just wait a few months. We’re more ideologically divided nation than even before, and it’s partly by design. Fear and hatred are the keys to winning modern elections, so count on strategists and politicians to find exciting new ways to inject rhetorical poison directly into the cultural mainline.

If you chose to bring children into this world, you have a responsibility to help them contextualize and understand the disheartening political moment we are trapped within. Critical thinking and bullshit detection are no longer luxuries; they’re life-skills, and you should help your children develop them, if only to make the future electorate less batshit crazy. Below are some tips that might help you help your child understand what’s going on and not be driven too crazy by it. Be open to the conversation

For many, it’s easier to talk about sex with our children than it is to talk about politics. Kids can pick up on that reluctance and might not bring up their fears and concerns about current events, so you should make a conscious effort to broach the subject. Set aside some quiet time, and ask open questions like, “Who do you think should be president?” Then let them answer. Try not to steer the conversation toward your beliefs or argue. It really doesn’t matter what an 8-year-old thinks about politics—the point is for them to reflect and understand the world better. Keep things age-appropriate

Children at different ages understand the world in different ways. Younger children see the world in simplistic, absolute terms. They believe in rules, expectations, and are innocent enough to ask for justice instead of mercy. So you can explain an election by saying something like, “The person with the most votes wins, and that’s fair,” a reasonable explanation for a six year-old.

Older kids can (sometimes) grasp the nuances and contradictions in human endeavor. They can understand that compromise is necessary in public policy, and that no outcomes are going to be perfect. So you can explain an election by saying, “The person with the most electoral votes wins, and that’s not fair, but what are ya gonna do?” A reasonable explanation for a sixteen year-old. Be positive and reassuring

You might be freaking out about politics, but there’s nothing to be gained by scaring the children, so try to be comforting and positive, even if you’re not feeling that way. I’m not suggesting you lie, but both parenting and politics require message discipline. The goal is to raise a child who feels comfortable in the world, and filling them with your fears does not achieve that. So massage the truth a little. If your child says, “I’m worried that Trump will be re-elected,” don’t respond with, “Right? We’re all going to die!” Instead, say, “I’m a little worried too, but it’s only for four years.” Take a long view

When trying to contextualize current events for your child, it’s easy to fall into apocalyptic thinking—these are weird, ugly times after all—but remember that there have been weirder, uglier times. Like The Civil War. Or the Reconstruction. Or the period after The Reconstruction. Or the Great Depression. Or World War II, and on, and on. Our nation has been poised on the brink of collapse regularly, but it never quite topples over. And if the Jenga tower of American democracy really is about to hit the floor, your 9-year-old can’t do anything about it, so try to tie current events to historical events they’re learning about in History class. There’s something reassuring about the constancy of chaos in public life. Separate the signal from the noise

It’s easy to get stuck in the daily outrage of political coverage, but almost all of the culture-war rhetoric we engage with is less meaningful than laws that are passed nationally and locally. So steer conversations with kids toward public policy instead of politics. Discuss the broad strokes: Why we have the laws we have. Who made them. Who enforces them. Explain what voting is and how the government is structured and works. (You might need to do some research for this.) Don’t demonize people you disagree with

It’s good to let your children know how you feel about politics (in an age-appropriate way of course), but try to avoid demonizing people who disagree with you, especially if they’re relatives. How two decent people can have opposing views about politics can be baffling to children (and adults), but don’t explain it away by saying, “They’re just stupid.” (Even if they’re stupid.) Try something like “We don’t agree about everything” instead. Your brother-in-law who’s flying a Trump 2024 flag will still be at Thanksgiving, so try to model polite interaction despite ideological differences. Teach your children to think about media critically

If a political ad pops up on YouTube or TV, don’t immediately turn it off. Use it as a lesson on media literacy, and talk about the messages you’re receiving. Try to get them to think critically about what is behind it. Discuss who made it and why. Discuss the tactics used—is it trying to scare people? Inform them? Persuade them? Are the claims it makes true? The idea is to actively question propaganda, no matter its source, and create a person who doesn’t let media wash over them. Let your children see you engage in politics

If you want your child to grow up to be a good citizen, you have to model good citizen behavior. So engage in politics in a meaningful, positive way. If you really hate a guy running for mayor, volunteer to phone bank for the opposition instead of complaining. Put a sign on your lawn. Have family political discussions regularly. Discuss how your own value system lines up with your political views. Discuss how you came to hold the views you have and where your values come from.

 

When the weather gets hot, and you switch on the air conditioning in your car, you may find that in addition to the cool breeze, you’re also hit with a strong, musty smell. Fortunately, banishing that odor is a relatively straightforward task. Here’s what to know. Why your car’s air conditioning smells musty

So where is this musty odor coming from?

“What you’re probably smelling is the condensation that comes from the evaporator inside your heating and cooling system,” says Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ senior director of auto testing. “Basically, water collects in that area and, if it sits long enough, creates the musty smell.”

The stench may also be coming from built-up dust and bacteria in your cabin air filter. How to get rid of the musty smell

Here’s how to take care of that musty odor, according to automotive experts at Consumer Reports:

Open the windows of the vehicle.
Switch on the car’s interior fan, and put it on the low setting.
Remove your cabin air filter.
Spray Lysol or another type of household or automotive disinfectant into both sides of the air intake vent, which is located at the base of your car’s windshield, where the wipers are attached.
Leave the fan running and keep the windows open. This will give the disinfectant a chance to kill the bacteria causing the musty odor.
Take a look at your cabin air filter before you put it back in. If it looks dirty or dusty, this would be a good time to replace it with a new one. This previous Lifehacker post walks you through that process.

Once your vents are clean, you can help prevent the moisture from coming back by switching the AC off for the last few minutes of your trip, and turning the fan on instead.