Year: 2019

February 15, 2019 at 05:00AM by CWC Confession: For a long time, my go-to mantra was something to the effect of, “I literally can’t even.” So clearly, my method for self-soothing was less about healing and meditation than it was defeatist catchphrases. Clearly I could use a hearty dose of empowering, balancing, positivity—the pursuit of which led me to “om gam ganapataye namaha.” It’s a mantra you may have blindly repeated on the yoga mat without even knowing it. And with its aims to remove obstacles, negativity and fear, while ushering in new beginnings, perhaps you’d be wise to learn about it, too, so you can speak it with intention the next time you roll out your mat for a flow. Some background: Lord Ganesha is the elephant-headed Hindu God who is worshipped for his knowledge and wisdom. He’s a guardian of doors and temples, but most importantly, he’s known as the “breaker of obstacles.” Therefore, om gam ganapataye namaha is a kind of prayer or appeal to Ganesha. And hey, phonetically it still gives me “o-m-g” satisfaction of my less-healing uttering of mantras past. First, here’s what om gam ganapataye namaha means This mantra is related to replenishing our root chakra, and Ganesha is said to govern the root chakra. Broken down, “om” is that traditional meditative primordial sound that means “wake up.” “Gam” is the sound of Ganesha. “Ganapataye” is another word for Ganesha. And “nahama” means “I offer my salutations and bow to you.” So one full

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February 15, 2019 at 05:00AM by CWC Last night, the very first thing my facialist asked me after washing my face was: “Do you eat spicy food?” I’m gonna be real, here—I pretty much make every single thing I eat hot AF. I’m only enjoying my meal if I’m sniffling and sweating through it. And yet, I was absolutely stunned that this was completely evident to my facialist simply by looking at my skin. “How can you tell?” I asked esthetician Dovile Nisonova at Brooklyn’s new Rob Peetoom Salon. “You have broken capillaries around your nose,” she told me, much to my utter dismay. So, uh—is a spicy food habit taking a toll on your healthy complexion? “Although spicy foods are not a trigger for everyone, some people have a sensitivity to this type of food—among others—that cause an increase in inflammatory chemicals in their skin,” explains Rachel Nazarian, MD, a board-certified dermatologist with Schweiger Dermatology Group. “This pathway causes the blood vessels in their skin to dilate, makes their skin flush and turn red, and can cause broken capillaries with repeated exposure.” She notes that it essentially falls under a category of sensitive skin that’s diagnosed as rosacea. If you think about it, spicy food generates heat (obviously)—so it kinda makes sense that it can lead to redness or inflammation via dilated blood vessels. So what can you do? “I recommend avoidance of triggers, so unfortunately those spicy foods should be saved for special occasions,” says Dr. Nazarian, who

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February 15, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC Girl bosses. Boss ladies. Boss bitches. There are all kinds of terms for women who get. it. done. in the modern workplace, but there also seems to be a certain widely held caricature of who this ambitious lady really is. I mean, honestly: What image comes to mind when you think about those aforementioned “boss” terms? Probably not a quiet, mousy type who never uses her meek voice to speak up in meetings—even if her ideas are the best in the room. More likely, you conjure a no-nonsense, says-exactly-what’s-on-her-mind Type-A extrovert—right? But skewing shy or introverted doesn’t exempt you from happiness, success, or being a total badass at work. “Being shy isn’t a character flaw that you need to fix to find success,” says life and career coach Susan Jewkes Allen. In fact, tapping into your subtle sensibilities can work to your benefit. For example, says career coach Daisy Swan, introverts tend to process information (and listen) better, think problems through more thoroughly, and state their perspectives more clearly when they do speak up. “Just because you don’t like to speak up doesn’t mean you can’t find your voice.” —career expert Rita Friedman That said, if you, the shy powerhouse you are, find yourself struggling to get to where you want and need to be at work, certain tips and tools can help. “Just because you don’t like to speak up doesn’t mean you can’t find your voice,” says career expert Rita Friedman. So

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February 15, 2019 at 03:30AM by CWC There is truly nothing on this planet more unappealing than bad breath. Force me to sit through as many earwax pulling and pimple popping videos as there are on the Internet, but please for the love of all things good in this world, do not ever make me sit in a meeting with someone who’s just polished off a tuna fish sandwich and a cup of black coffee. Honestly, I’m gagging just typing that. There are a whole number of reasons why you might have bad breath, and crappy oral hygiene is just the tip of the minty-white iceberg. “Bad breath is generally caused by bacteria over growing in your mouth,” says celebrity dentist Victoria Veytsman, DDS. There are a lot of things that can make this happen, but a few of the biggies she called out include dry mouth, gastrointestinal issues, hormones, and the pH of your mouth. “It’s a whole body thing, not just your mouth,” she says. While we all have some sense of how to get rid of mouth stink (brush, floss, and don’t eat smelly foods), some of the traditional methods have used far more chemicals than I, personally, like to put in my mouth on a regular basis. Sure, you can swish some mouthwash or pop a mint and hope for the best, but if that sounds less-than-appealing, there are plenty of ways to treat bad breath that don’t involve dousing your mouth with something unbeknownst. Allow the

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