Month: April 2019

April 27, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC In my never-ending quest to chill the eff out, I’m forever trying to make my tiny home feel a little more like my favorite wellness spaces—think pothos plants by every window, faux sheepskins draped over the chairs, and as many cream-colored elements as possible, from the sofa to the shelving to the walls. (Yes, I have pets, which means I basically keep the stain remover and lint roller markets afloat.) White walls are especially key to this aesthetic, IMO. When executed correctly, they can make an entire space feel brighter, more open, and more tranquil. But it’s definitely possible to do them the wrong way, as I discovered at a house I lived in a few years ago. Initially, I was drawn in by the sharp contrast between the ultra-white walls and the dark hardwood floors, but once I moved in and had mirrors installed, I realized the shade of white was way too bright—like, it made me look as washed-out as a Victorian-era child with cholera. So when I started thinking about painting my current kitchen cabinets to match my oat milk, I turned to Serena Mitnik-Miller and Mason St. Peter, co-founders of the General Store lifestyle boutiques in San Francisco and Los Angeles. As evidenced in their new book, Abode: Thoughtful Living With Less, clean white surfaces are an integral part of their design signature, along with natural materials, vintage furnishings, and hand-made curios. “Serena’s unofficial mantra is: The only option

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April 27, 2019 at 11:00AM by CWC A good night’s sleep is a luxury. Because, really, is there anything better than waking up feeling well rested? And on the other side of the mattress coin, is there anything worse than tossing and turning until 4 a.m. and then spending your day in a total zombie fog? Well, I’ve got good news: According to new research, the secret to the luxury of sleep is something everyone can afford (because it costs zero dollars)—all we’ve gotta do is move more. Scientists from the Sleep Research Society conducted a study of 75,074 post-menopausal women, and found that the more physical activity you get during the day, the better you’ll sleep at night. Women who were getting 7.5 to 17.5 hours of activity per week were more likely to sleep more than six hours, and those who were getting more than 7.5 hours a week of activity were 7 to 15 percent less likely to have restless sleep. It’s important to note that while more activity didn’t necessarily equate with more hours of sleep, it did help to improve the quality of those precious hours. So think: six hours of tossing and turning versus six unflinching hours deep into the REM cycle. And just as the hours the women spent moving affected their sleep, so too did the hours they spent sitting. If they were sedentary for more than six hours and sitting for more than 10 hours a day, they were likely to spend less

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April 27, 2019 at 07:00AM by CWC Give me a series of arm, ab, or ass sculpting moves, and nine times out of ten I’ll be able to (very sweatily) power my way through them. But the minute a trainer mentions that it’s time to target obliques, I am out.  IMHO, there is no muscle group more difficult to sculpt—less than 15 seconds into a side plank, and my entire body is quaking. So if I am going to suffer through the motions of strengthening my obliques, I want to make sure I’m doing it as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to keep the time I have to spend on the moves as minimal as possible. To find out how to get the most bang for my oblique-work buck, I consulted SLT trainer Ian Richardson, who regularly puts my side body through the absolute ringer in his Megaformer classes. “Proper form is essential when it comes to any exercise being effective,” he explains. “Proper form, whether you modify or advance the exercise, will allow the muscle to become stronger, thus reaping the benefit of the exercise itself. When it comes to working your oblique, be cognizant of how your feet are placed, the alignment of the hips in relation to the rest of your body, and the placement and alignment of the elbow and shoulder.” As straight-up awful as oblique exercises can be, Richardson notes that they really are important—and not just for the sake of having those

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