March 17, 2019 at 01:25PM by CWC A few weeks ago I started a new morning routine. Since I primarily work from home and can set my own hours on most days, I decided to live the (self-care) dream with my ideal morning routine. The idea was to do it for a month, and narrow down from there. Let me say up front: I had been compiling ideas for a long time. So it was kind of a ridiculously long list. But in the spirit of experimentation, I fully I believed I would be able to do all of them for a solid month, since I’d gotten good results from all of them individually. Spoiler: It lasted eight days. And in that time I kind of wrecked my life—or at least my sleep schedule, which took a hit because I had to find time somewhere for all these extra to-do’s. This was my regimen: • Wake up and do a quick body-scan meditation. Do a “thank you” morning mantra, saying (out loud) everything I’m grateful for. 10 minutes. • Journal longhand for three pages, using The Artist’s Way method of writing “morning pages.” 20 minutes. • Clean up morning mouth by using a tongue scraper, then oil pulling with coconut oil for 15 minutes. Brush teeth. 10 minutes. • Drink 8–12 ounces of water and head out for a workout. 90 minutes. • Make the post-workout smoothie of my dreams: some kind of combo with greens, bananas, cacao, maca, and plant-based protein. 20
Category: 2019 Health
10 ways to get rid of negative energy attached to you
March 17, 2019 at 09:47AM by CWC While you’re not going to find a lot of double-blind peer-reviewed studies to chart “bad vibes,” it’s a concept that almost everyone understands. You walk into a room, and it feels off. You spend time with someone whose negativity seems like it’s created a dark cloud that follows you home. Or maybe you’re the one who needs to get rid of “negative energy” attached to you and you just want to lighten things up somehow—physically, mentally, and emotionally. It’s definitely possible, according to people who believe in an energetic fields—which is the basis of the chakra system in Ayurveda and the energy meridians that Traditional Chinese Medicine manipulates with techniques like acupuncture. “We all feel and respond, to each others’ vibrations, even if we’re not aware of it,” says Bridget Ambrose, an energy medicine healer who has studied reiki and craniosacral therapy. Both use light touch to reputedly help balance your energetic field to boost health and offer a feeling of well-being. According to Ambrose, “negative” energy is used to describe a lower, denser vibration—and it may feel like exhaustion, overwhelm, anger, helplessness, and even jealousy. It can also come in the form of addiction to worry, feelings of fear, suppressed anger, says Alyson Charles, a New York-based shaman and energy healer known as the “RockStar Shaman.” “When anger is continuously suppressed and not healthily expressed it can morph into deep resentments, unconscious sabotaging behaviors, etc., like when someone is trying to manipulate you
These 50 genius outfit ideas are the antidote to end-of-winter wardrobe boredom
March 17, 2019 at 06:00AM by CWC Remember back in September, when we all could not wait to cozy up in our fall boots and chunky sweaters? That memory seems so naive now that we’re almost six months deep into cold weather—and on the 89th rotation of our favorite sweatpants. Yes, it’s officially that time of the season when you realize your well of new, cute outfit ideas is bone dry. Tempting as it may be, you don’t have to rush out and buy a bunch of new things to beat the boredom. As Ashley, the YouTuber known as bestdressed, demonstrates in this brilliant video, a few strategic styling tricks are all you need to refresh your closet. (And safeguard your tax refund.) In fact, she managed to create 50 killer outfits from pieces she already had—sustainability FTW! Do the math and you’ll realize those are enough options to get you into mid-May without having to repeat a look. Here are a few of the key takeaways from the video, which are worth bearing in mind next time you’re about to send an “I have nothing to wear…” SOS to your group text chain. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCOo8AW4oI0] 1. To get more wear out of your going-out dresses, add a turtleneck “I’ve seen a ton of 15-year-olds on Instagram who are cooler than I’ll ever be layering a turtleneck under a graphic t-shirt,” says Ashley. “But honestly, I have no idea how the f*** to do that without looking like a Target employee during
The 3-move Bosu ball workout that will have your whole body burning
March 17, 2019 at 05:00AM by CWC Whenever I’m making my arounds in the gym, there are certain workout tools I see people using that always impresses me. There are battle ropes, which make you look like a badass prepping for a superhero movie. Assault bikes, which just seem really advanced and intimidating. And then there’s the ubiquitous yet mysterious Bosu balls. I’m sure you’ve seen them around—they look like those big bouncy balls that you do crunches on, but chopped in half and attached to a flat base. If you’re like me, though, you just kind of gape at them as if they’ve been implanted into the gym by aliens… and then proceed to ignore them. This is a mistake: Trainers strongly advise getting to know them, because Bosu balls can be your new stability-building BFF. “The Bosu ball is a piece of fitness equipment that’s used for balance and stability training,” explains Tiffani Hendin, obé fitness instructor. “I love it because it can be added to so many simple exercises to make them even more challenging and effective.” It’s all about stability training, which is essential in a robust workout routine. “Stability is a very important part of a strong, healthy body, and the Bosu ball allows that to be incorporated in so many different ways,” says Hendin. “Working with an unstable surface [like a Bosu ball] is incredibly effective by recruiting more muscles and leveling up moves that your body has possibly gotten used to. Balancing works
Why this week’s supermoon could bring about sudden, major change
March 17, 2019 at 04:17AM by CWC Intro tktk So, New Year’s Day was January 1. Lunar New Year kicked off February 4. But we’re not done with new beginnings yet! The astrological new year (when we start Aries season, the first sign in the zodiac) is coming up. And in honor of this fresh start, we’ve given Cosmic Health a bit of a makeover—to reflect the fact that astrology is not only crazy popular, it is creating increasingly sophisticated readers who can talk retrogrades and a rising suns with the best of them. Here, astrologer Jennifer Racioppi gives you an extra in-depth look at the whole week rather than day-by-day guidance, delving deeper into the cosmic conditions shaping the next few days (and giving you lots of fodder for celestial chats with your astro-obsessed pals). Mercury is in retrograde until March 28, and as trickster Mercury continues to retrace its steps in Pisces this week, depths of old emotions are being drudged up—asking you to release that which you no longer need (perhaps through yet another cathartic cry). On March 20 at 5:58 p.m. Eastern, the sun exits the sign of the fish, entering into Aries. Yes! With the sun moving into a cardinal fire sign, initiating a new season and kicking off a fresh zodiacal start, the length of day and night equalize. From an astrological perspective, the sun’s entrance into Aries reignites the zodiac. Ironically though, this year, it also happens to coincide with the sun and moon opposing one
How I survived a hair-destroying “chemical cut”—and how to make sure you never get one
March 16, 2019 at 12:00PM by CWC When you move to New York City, there are a lot of sticker-shock moments, the top three being rent, rent, and rent. Number four, of course, is: broker’s fee. (Non-New Yorkers, Google it and weep for us.) But for me, the most surprising torpedo to my wallet was hair care. For a highlights-and-haircut combo in any half-decent place, it cost nearly twice what I was paying back home in Dallas at one of the best salons in the city. So when I moved my home base upstate to the Catskills a couple years ago, I was really excited to get that sweet, sweet budget balayage again. And at first, it was everything I hoped. But in the last few months I noticed the top of my hair, where most of the highlights were, seemed thinner than the hair underneath—and those top sections had ends that tended to frizz out no matter how I styled it. I didn’t recognize it, because in 20 years of getting highlights this had never happened to me, but these were classic signs of hair breakage. As in, when your locks just break off at random spots because they’ve gotten so damaged. (Gasp.) I was alerted to the problem by a NYC colorist who fit me in while I was blizzard-bound in the city a few weeks ago (and desperately in need of roots help). I pointed out what I naively thought were “baby hairs” growing in (oh the
See ya, plastic—your faux-leather look is getting an earth-friendly upgrade
March 16, 2019 at 10:00AM by CWC My best friend was diagnosed with celiac disease when we were in high school, about six or seven years before gluten-free became mainstream. As her best friend, I had the distinct joy of trying out the (small amount of) gluten-free baked goods that were available at the time, and they were terrible. Flash forward, and TBH you can find some gluten-free goods that taste better than their wheat-based counterparts. I’m reminded of this as I try to put into words the trajectory of vegan leather. Before “sustainable fashion” became more mainstream, some of the only real leather alternatives you had were made out of new plastic. The first vegan leather jacket I purchased was, unfortunately, made out of 100 percent plastic. So, not only was it not great for the environment, it was also squeaky if I even slightly moved my arms. It also made me super sweaty because—surprise—plastic is not very breathable. In the many years since then, I’ve become a much more conscious consumer. So while leather is bad for the environment, just because a fabric is vegan doesn’t necessarily mean it’s environmentally friendly. Luckily, there has been innovation in recent years in leather alternative fabrics—they look like leather and feel like leather, but aren’t leather. They’re also better for the environment than leather and leather alternatives like plastic. They’re like the amazing gluten-free mini cake I had yesterday versus the cardboard-y gluten free bagel of 13 years ago. Only, you
If a good cry is healthy, the new season of “Queer Eye” has gotta be a cure-all
March 16, 2019 at 07:00AM by CWC What does a perfect day look like for you? Maybe it includes an epic meal, jet-setting adventures, romantic moments that make Call Me By Your Name seem gray and boring, and of course: cathartic sobbing. (Just me?) Any great day for me can be made better by getting at least a little teary, because the high from that release is the quickest stress-buster I know. Medical experts agree that letting those tears flow, even if they come up at unexpected moments (like yoga class, during movies, and even, yikes, post-orgasm), is really good for you. So if you judge Queer Eye seasons purely on sob factor (again, just me?), let me give the third outing for the Fab Five, which dropped yesterday on Netflix, a hearty two (Kleenex-covered) thumbs up. When the Netflix series debuted in early 2018 (God, was it only a year ago?), the crying was the point. Call it must-sob TV. Watching Queer Eye is like a beautiful detox to cleanse your tear ducts, your eyes, your lymphatic system, and your very soul. Or at least it feels that way. When the Netflix series debuted in early 2018 (God, was it only a year ago?), the crying was the point. Call it must-sob TV. It was a cultural moment where America took a break from its red state-blue state stalemate for some seriously therapeutic hugs. ( Oh, A.J…I hope you and your stepmom are okay.) And this season, as it strays further from
Strike burpees from the TDL: Trainers hate them as much as you do
March 16, 2019 at 05:00AM by CWC I try to refrain from groaning aloud in group fitness classes. Grunting, cheering, gasping for breath—all of those I do regularly. But I’ve never been the type to outwardly “boo” when an instructor announces what’s coming up next in the workout. Except, that is, when I’m asked to do burpees. The notoriously difficult move can be done in a bunch of different ways, but the most common involves the following steps: squatting down, kicking your legs behind you so you’re in a plank, a push-up, jumping your feet back in, and jumping explosively up. But burpees don’t come in sets of just one. I’ve been asked to do thirty burpees in a row, work through a ladder count of burpees, and, somehow hardest of all, do burpees for the entire length of Demi Lovato’s “Sorry Not Sorry.” Even though I’ve never exactly enjoyed flinging myself onto the ground only to jump back up, I’ve always justified the move with the fact that it’s a favorite of so many trainers. Burpees just feel hardcore. But Ben Bruno, celebrity trainer who works with clients like Kate Upton and Chelsea Handler, is here to change my (and hopefully some of my trainers’) minds. In fact, he recently shared an anti-burpee manifesto on Insta. In an all-text Instagram post titled “Why I Don’t Like Burpees,” Bruno shared some of the downsides of the popular exercise. Some of his qualms lie within the move itself: “High-impact exercise puts undo
7 super-attainable habits Halle Berry swears by to stay healthy
March 16, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC If you follow Berry on Instagram, you know the 50-something actress (how is that possible?) is super into fitness. The Oscar winner-turned-action hero—who’s still the only black woman to win an Academy Award for best actress, BTW—frequently posts tips and hardcore workouts with her trainer Peter Lee Thomas. And yes, Berry is just as much of a buff badass in real life as she is on screen. And on top of that, she’s a regular pro when it comes to healthy eating and making self-care a priority. And best of all: She’s generous with advice! (Which is great, because who doesn’t want to get Halle-healthy?) With a fierce wellness résumé like that, she’s got a lot to share—and these are the seven health habits the ageless superstar relies on year in, year out. 1. She trains with Bulgarian bags You know, the super-heavy sand-filled bags that are commonly used by Olympic athletes and wrestlers. No big deal. After her trainer introduced them to her, she was instantly hooked and uses them for strength training, cardio, and plyometrics. Even five minutes swinging or carrying around one of them—which can weigh up to 50 pounds—will leave you sore for days. 2. She improvises her workouts As a huge lover of all things fitness, Berry isn’t going to let a day go by without moving her body in some way. Case in point? Transforming a gallon jug of water in her fridge into a kettlebell for a sweat-inducing series of