Month: February 2019

February 28, 2019 at 05:00AM by CWC You know that feeling when you’re in the middle of an hardcore yoga flow, and your focus is so intense that you can’t think about anything other than your movements? Then, all of a sudden an hour has gone by, and you’ve gotten a great workout without even realizing what was happening? Well, imagine taking that same mind/body connection and applying it to your strength-training sessions. Now introducing: Fit flows. According to trainer Kendall Roach, you not only can think about all of your workouts as “flows,” but actually, you should be. The results, he says, can make a major mental difference. “With an emphasis on the flow of moments, we are able to challenge our mental capacities,” he says. “This occurs through the strain or struggle that comes with the fatigue of classic functional based movement training. In short, it’s another way to help an individual deal with, master, and overcome the psychological trials of everyday life.” Roach teaches a number of classes at NYC’s Fithouse—including a strength training class called “Sculpt” and a trampoline-cardio class called “Bounce”—which follow these guidelines. Having taken both classes, I can say with full confidence that his theory on the power of flow checks out: Not only are they each you’ll-for-sure-feel-this-the-next-day hard, but you don’t even know what’s happening until it’s over. “When the vibe is right you can easily forget that you’re actually working out,” says Roach. “Until that physical fatigue comes calling, of course. In that case, the classic

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February 28, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC I like to keep things fresh, so here’s a reference from a 1992 episode of The Simpsons: Homer dodges church one Sunday and says, all snuggled in the sheets, “Aaah, I’m just a big toasty cinnamon bun. I never want to leave this bed.” He encapsulates a big mood of waking up in the winter months, when emerging from under the covers becomes nothing short of a Herculean task. But is there any reason why it’s so hard to get out of bed in the winter? You know, beyond brutally cold air, the hug of a perfect weighted blanket, and the enduring vibe of “I don’t wannaaaa.” Apparently, yes. (So phew, you’re not nuts—but yikes, the struggle is indeed quite real.) “There are physiological factors that make it harder to get out of bed: namely, melatonin,” says Janet K. Kennedy, PhD, clinical psychologist and founder of NYC Sleep Doctor. “Melatonin is the body’s sleep hormone, and it is more plentiful in winter months. Furthermore, exposure to light is what signals melatonin production to stop. So, if it’s still dark when you wake up, your melatonin shutoff will be sluggish, and you’ll have difficulty waking up.” Well, this explains a lot about my personal morning struggle. It isn’t just profoundly unfair to be up before the sun—it’s confusing on a physical level, as well. While our body clocks are yearning for a Say Yes to the Dress marathon, complete with the warm embrace of a gravity blanket, many of

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February 27, 2019 at 06:30PM by CWC You have your Dirty Dozen list saved for easy access mid-grocery store trip (because you can never remember if it’s spinach or cabbage that’s better to buy organic), but when it comes to skin care, things aren’t so clear-cut. Despite the absence of a similarly streamlined infographic for organic skin care ingredients, there is a simple premise to keep in mind next time you’re about to toss a new beauty product into your cart next to your organic apples. “It’s the same idea as buying organic ingredients that we ingest orally,” says Christine Walsh, lead esthetician and makeup artist at Dermstore. “If we aren’t willing to consume the toxins, then there’s no need to apply them topically with all the effective resources we have in skin care and beauty.”  To get to the bottom of how important using organic skin care really is, we joined forces with Dermstore, the online destination for holy-grail skin boosters since 1999, and tapped a glow pro to lay out all the benefits. Here goes. Scroll down for 3 benefits of using organic skin care for your head-to-toe routine. Photo: Unsplash/Kevin Laminto 1. You’ll lessen your overall chemical load “Although there is controversy about whether or not the penetration of products can travel all the way into the bloodstream, our skin, the largest organ on our body, is still absorbing anything that we apply topically,” Walsh explains. In fact, it’s been established that 60 percent or more of topicals

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