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Day: September 22, 2019

City Fashion You and your body

Just a quarter of 2019 remains—and this week’s equinox and new moon are a double-whammy reminder

5 min read

September 22, 2019 at 11:00PM by CWC Monday, September 23, marks the autumnal equinox of 2019 as the sun moves from Virgo into Libra. What can you expect to experience as a result of this quadruplicity shift from mutable earth to cardinal air? First consider that Libra, the scales sign driven toward justice and fairness, popularly represents balance. At its core, though, the sign focuses on the ability to understand oneself by relating to others, so it invites us to interact harmoniously with the world and more peacefully with ourselves. Libra season also facilitates symmetry. It brings opposites together, as evidenced by day and night coming into perfect balance with one another via the equinox, and it splits the difference between the solstices, meaning the light of the sun in the north continues to wane toward the darkest day of the year—the winter solstice—happening three months from now. With three-fourths of 2019 now complete, you’d be wise to use this sacred, holy time of symmetry to reflect on how the year has gone for you to this point, and consider what you plan to do with the time that remains. Now is also the harvest time in the northern hemisphere, both literally in terms of abundant, local food, and metaphorically, as the harvest of our own lives, too. Consider what you are personally cultivating, tending to, and shedding. The sun’s balanced entrance into Libra combined with the moon’s waning light provides the ideal opportunity to surrender what you no longer

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You and your body

5 spices that can help protect your gut *and* help you poop

4 min read

September 22, 2019 at 10:00PM by CWC My IBS-y friend and I have a running joke. Whenever one of us (not saying who) indulges in an eccentric spice-filled feast, we text the other the movie poster for the fictional South Park universe film Terrence and Phillip: Asses of Fire.  I was thinking on that joke when I went to Butt Con the other month (what is my life) and tapped functional medicine doctor Mark Hyman, MD to ask about the perceived link between spicy food and my digestive woes. Because honestly, I’m sick of getting literally burned by my love for Sri Lankan food. However, I learned that while spicy food can cause problems for people with IBS (like my friend), in general they’re pretty good for your digestive health. “Spices can really be helpful for your gut because they help protect your gut flora,” Dr. Hyman says. “They help fertilize the good bugs; they kill the bad bugs.” “I love spicy food for the taste, but I also love its effects for the GI tract,” agrees gastroentologist Niket Sonpal, MD.  “One of the biggest misconceptions of spicy food is it gives people reflux or ulcers. Just because it burns a little bit on the way in doesn’t mean it causes any other burning.” Not only that, but I learned that certain spices go the extra mile when it comes to better gut health and um, healthy and reasonable BMs. Read on to find which spices will Do The Most

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Yoga You and your body

The sleep issue each dosha struggles to hit snooze on

4 min read

September 22, 2019 at 08:06PM by CWC Here are two things that are old as dirt: the constant quest for a good night’s sleep, and Ayurveda, a 5,000-year-old holistic healing tradition that originated in India. Luckily, you’re able to use the latter to aid the former: using Ayurveda for sleep is all about identifying your dosha. In Ayurveda we have a certain mind-body composite, made up of a combination of three doshas. Your most dominant dosha is a reflection of everything from how you sleep to how you respond to your stress. The idea is that you want your doshas to be balanced, but if something’s a little kilter, that means you’re being pulled energetically pulled one way or another. And just so you don’t fear you’re going to have to learn a whole new zodiac wheel of personalities, there’s only three doshas that determine your energy: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Knowing what dosha (and yes, like a rank amateur I find mine out from a what dosha are you quiz, I’m a Vata) can give you a more personalized wellness map of sorts. And if you’re in the timeless struggle of tossing-and-turning, we have some insight from Oriental medicine specialist and founder of Juhi Center in New York, Juhi Singh, LAc. Vata Studies tend to show that those who align with Vata have plenty of trouble getting a good night’s rest. Like, perpetual eye baggages is kind of Our Look, and Singh confirms that we struggle the hardest of

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City You and your body

Yale’s happiness expert says embracing ‘time affluence’ can maximize vacation happiness

3 min read

September 22, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC Radical suggestion for your next vacation: Toss your travel itinerary, delete your friend’s email full of suggestions, and unfollow that “All Who Wander Are Not Lost” Pinterest board. Why? According to psychologist Laurie Santos, PhD, striving for max idle time, which she calls time affluence, is the key to really, truly enjoying your time away. And she would know; the Yale Professor teaches the happiness-maximizing course “Psychology and the Good Life” and hosts the newly launched podcast The Happiness Lab. But uh, wait: What is time affluence, anyway? It’s basically as it sounds: deriving value and joy from an abundance of unscheduled idle time. And, better yet, this idle time is noted to bring about great joy. In fact, studies consistently demonstrate that not only do we value time over money, but being able to have that empty, mindful time can being hugely beneficial to your psychological well being. And for all you naysayers quick to point out that this sounds equal parts nice and impossible given long days and social-obligation-laden weekends, I do hear you. Like financial affluence, there’s a level of privilege tied to achieving this sacred free time on a regular basis. But, when we’re talking about vacation, what’s your excuse? Though you may have trouble abiding by your own OOO message, you ostensibly do have more control over how you’re spending your time and mental energy when you’re away. The best way to start? Turn off your push notifications, and consider

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You and your body

We found the lazy girl’s alternative to foam rolling, and it has our muscles saying “ahhh!”

3 min read

September 22, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC A rolling pin is something I have stashed away in my kitchen, mainly ignored (much like my cheese grater and my blender). What can I say—I don’t like pie, and whenever I want pizza, I dial up the closest spot in my hood rather than roll it out from scratch on my own, but I may have found another use for the trusty kitchen tool. While in a discussion during a panel at Aqua Studio in New York on lymphatic health—in which different pros spoke on how you can better your own lymphatic drainage system for better overall wellness—I discovered that the rolling pin can be used as a lazy way to foam roll. (Excuse me as I squeal with delight.) “A rolling pin will stimulate the lymph to move, like a pump,” explains Chloe Cofresi, a body work specialist who works with HigherDose. “The lymphatic system is like your body’s circulation system, but without an internal pump, like the heart, so you need to manually stimulate the flow of the lymph so it can drain.” (It can do this on its own, but sometimes it’s slower than we’d like). So instead of rolling out some dough, you’re helping to roll out the lymph and fascia underneath your skin. Also? Not only is this massage boosting your lymphatic drainage, but it’s also multitasking on your fascia—the connective tissue that connects and stabilizes your muscles at the same time, which helps with muscle soreness. “If

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