September 12, 2019 at 09:25PM by CWC Taking a shower is the best $0 self-care method that there is. Think about it: A few minutes under the jet stream gives you an excuse to slather your body in fancy products while simultaneously washing away dirt/grime/stress/sins, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t feel better when they stepped out of a shower than they did when they stepped in. But one way to up your shower self-care game even more, aside from investing in a $22 body wash, is to turn it into a hydrotherapy session. Hydrotherapy—which is a fancy word for “hot/cold therapy”—does a whole slew of good things for your body, and has become a spa-scene fixture over the past few years. But according to board-certified dermatologic surgeon and specialist David Amron, MD, you actually don’t have to leave your bathroom (or even your shower) in order to experience it for yourself. He cites switching the water in your shower from hot to cold as one of the easiest (and free!) ways to activate your lymphatic system. “Hydrotherapy has many healing health benefits such as relieving sore achy muscles, relaxing for stress relief, and its overall cleansing ability to detoxify,” confirms Tina Tsan, a licensed acupuncturist, adding that it also helps reduce swelling by improving your lymphatic function. When you alternate between hot and cold water in the shower, it helps get the fluid in your lymphatic system moving, otherwise known as lymphangiomotorcity (… try saying that three times
Month: September 2019
True or False: Stretching actually makes you taller
September 12, 2019 at 07:16PM by CWC Standing at 5 feet 5 inches tall, I’m pretty happy with my height. That said, if I was offered the chance to grow a few inches to make my #legsfordays dreams a reality, I’d most certainly take it. Sadly, there’s really no way to increase your height aside from those platform sneakers in your closet. Still, some people insist that regular stretching does the trick. But is there any merit to that claim? Does stretching make you taller? Stretching can help to improve mobility, boosting energy, fight off aches and pains, and prevent injury. When it comes to making you taller, on the other hand, you’re out of luck I’m afraid. “Stretching will not make you taller—that’s determined by your bone structure, among other factors,” says physical therapist Katie Sun Worrall. There is some good news, though: If you’re a chronic sloucher (like me!), stretching could make you appear to be taller. “If you slouch when standing or sitting, your trunk muscles may be in a constant shortened state. Stretching can help improve your posture and allow you to stand up straighter, effectively making you appear taller,” says Worall. “If you sit hunched over at a desk all day, the muscles you should stretch to help improve your posture—and stand up straighter!—are your pecs. I would also recommend any exercise that will help lengthen your spine, like yoga.” Also cool: Putting a focus on lengthening and stretching your muscles while you’re young can help
This color-correcting serum nixes my rosacea redness better than any concealer
September 12, 2019 at 07:01PM by CWC Rosacea is an extremely rude and disrespectful skin condition. I say this with authority because my diagnosis last year cleared up any confusion about my skin. So that’s why I get weird whitehead-looking breakouts if I’m out in the sun for too long. (Fun fact: rosacea can manifest as tiny pimples.) It’s also the reason why I turn beet red after a workout class or getting a facial, and why my makeup-free skin resembles a ripened heirloom tomato. My dermatologist has helped me overhaul my skin-care routine to avoid certain problematic ingredients that cause irritation, adding in some topical prescription treatments that have majorly improved the overall quality and health of my skin. But when it inevitably flares up, I often feel powerless to do anything about it. I’ve historically had very little luck with nearly every so-called “redness-reducing” product on the planet. Yes, I know that green technically cancels out red on the color wheel, but green concealers and creams and serums just leave me looking like the Grinch mid-blush. Not cute. After listening to my struggles (and seeing them written in red all over my face), beauty editor Zoe Weiner handed me a bottle of the Dr. Jart Cicapair Tiger Grass Camo Drops ($46). It’s a hybrid between a color-corrector and a serum to help reduce redness and soothe angry skin. “My sister has rosacea, too, and she loves this whole line,” Weiner told me. But my built-in trust issues with
Is Your Sleep Position Disrupting Your Sleep Quality?
September 12, 2019 at 08:00AM How your sleep position affects the quality of your sleep Continue Reading… Author Ko Im, M.S. | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC
Unresponsive To Antidepressants? Check Your Inflammation Levels
September 12, 2019 at 06:00PM An entirely new and exciting reason to increase our intake of turmeric and green tea. Continue Reading… Author Jamie Schneider | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC
8 trainers share the best moves for working your obliques—and there’s not a side plank in sight
September 12, 2019 at 05:52PM by CWC There are so many exercises you can use to work your core. Crunches, sit-ups, leg raises… the list is never-ending. Located on the sides of the abdominals muscles, the obliques can be particularly tricky to isolate. And since no one wants to do side planks for the rest of their life, I asked a crew of top trainers to lend some advice. If you want super-strong abs, you need to target the internal and external obliques to help you bend and twist, support your back, and keep your posture in check. The best oblique exercises, according to top trainers 1. Oblique marches “Oblique marches not only fire up your obliques. The total-body move also challenges your balance and recruits other muscles as well.” —Gerren Liles, Hyperwear athlete and Equinox master trainer How to do it: Hold one medium or heavy dumbbell in your right hand, with elbows locked, and the weight about a hand-length away from your hip. Start to march in place, driving your knees up to hip level, without allowing your center of gravity to shift as you’re raising your legs. Stay as upright as possible. March for about 30 to 45 secs and then switch sides. Repeat for 3 to 5 sets. 2. Pallof press “The Pallof press is not just one of my favorite oblique exercises, but it’s one of the best exercises for the core, period. This movement targets overall core stability and also activates the glutes and
Meet ‘enjoyment anxiety,’ the reason you feel pressured to have the best. time. ever.
September 12, 2019 at 05:44PM by CWC Last month, I took two weeks off to vacation in Bali—and I don’t mean “vacation” in the 2019 sense, whereby a person is physically out of office but still checking in on emails, fielding client texts, and being quasi available. Rather, I tried the best way I knew how to stop stress and intentionally disconnected from everything related to work for the first time in more than a decade. I fantasized about this trip for months before I left, imagining how breezy I’d feel traipsing through rice paddies and sipping on fresh coconut water without the usual cloud of deadline stress hanging over my head. But once I crossed the Pacific Ocean, my worries shifted to a different subject. See, as a freelancer, I don’t get paid vacation time, meaning my savings account would surely take a pretty sizable hit from this trip. Beyond spending money on hotels and restaurants, I was also missing out on half of my monthly income. For the first few days, as I wandered jet-lagged through the traffic- and tourist-clogged streets of Ubud, a troubling thought kept entering my mind: Is this really going to be worth it? I’ve come to know this sensation as enjoyment anxiety, and as it turns out, I’m not alone in feeling it. A few days after I returned, a colleague admitted that she felt the same way whenever she was faced with a high-stakes experience—like buying tickets to an expensive show or
Why suicide rates among women and girls are increasing faster than in men and boys
September 12, 2019 at 05:00PM by CWC Suicide takes the lives of 45,000 people every year—and that stat seems likely to get even more concerning. Because it is growing, and at a more rapid rate for women and girls than for men and boys. The ratio of male suicide rates to female suicide rates narrowed from 4.4 in 2000 to 3.6 in 2016, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). (By 2016, the number of male suicide deaths per 100,000 people increased from 17.7 to 21.4, while in women, it increased from four to six.) The trend, for lack of a better word, is more acute when looking at suicide in young people. Since 2007, rates in suicide amongst female youth aged 10 to 14 years increased 12.7 percent every year (compared to a still-alarming increase of 7.1 percent per year among boys of the same age group), according to a study published in May in JAMA Network Open. Experts aren’t completely sure what’s behind the rising rates of women and girls completing suicide, but there are a few theories. “The risk factor that’s most likely is depression,” says Holly Wilcox, PhD, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. While not everyone who has depression feels suicidal, it’s a big risk factor for suicide, and women and girls experience depression at higher rates. Women are almost twice as likely as men to suffer from
9 of the best oil-free foundations that nix shine and stay put all day long
September 12, 2019 at 04:24PM by CWC When it comes to choosing a foundation, there are a lot of decisions to be made. What color do you want to use? What texture? Do you need to be grab one with skin-care benefits? And should you be opting for an oil-free foundation, or something else? While we can’t exactly shade match you from the Well+Good offices (sorry!), we can help you figure out the answer to that last one. To find out when you should be using a water-based, oil-free foundation, we chatted with the pros, who shared how to apply them and the best ones on the market right now. “People choose to wear oil-free foundation when they are tackling sensitive, acne-prone, or oily skin,” says makeup artist Jamie Greenberg, adding that it’s the best bet for these skin types, or for anyone who runs hot and sweats off their makeup. “If you have the above skin types, a foundation that contains oil can clog pores, move on the skin when you run hot, and won’t set as easily. Foundation with oil doesn’t always clog pores, but many people with sensitive skin complain of this issue. Oil-free foundation is a little lighter on the skin, will reduce natural oils from your face, and give you a natural finish.” According to Julia Dalton-Brush, veteran makeup artist and founder of B3 Balm, matching an oil-based foundation with oily skin can sometimes make your skin look greasy, and not in the “dewy, radiant” way
5 Weird Fall Veggies That You’re Not Eating But Should Be
September 12, 2019 at 03:00PM They offer tons of flavor and health benefits. Continue Reading… Author Liz Moody | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC