December 08, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC Technically, winter doesn’t arrive until December 21. But let’s be real—it’s already in full-force. And with the freezing temps and snowy days comes a constant battle to keep your feet warm. If you struggle with keeping your feet warm, you can do a handful of different things to ensure your toes stay cozy until it’s time to bust out your favorite pair of sandals again. I don’t know about you, but going to bed with icy digits every night that scare you awake every five minutes is no way to live. With a few swaps, some upgrades, and a little help from technology, these are the best ways to fight off agonizingly cold feet. How to keep your feet warm like a pro 1. Invest in super-warm boots Don’t skimp out on getting quality winter boots. While the warmest options might not be as cute as your black booties, they’re key in keeping your feet cozy. Miguel Cunha, DPM, New York City-based podiatrist and founder of Gotham Footcare, says to make sure your boots and shoes have a thick sole, like Kamik Women’s Momentum Snow Boot ($90), which has more than 1,900 ratings and 4.4/5 stars. They’re waterproof, are insulated, and can keep your feet warm in freezing temps. For even better results, Dr. Cunha says you can also add an insole to keep your feet further from the ground. “More heat is lost from your feet simply by standing on cold surfaces
Category: Fashion
Meet hypno-reiki, an all-in-one energy-healing therapy
December 07, 2019 at 01:00AM by CWC I’ve been familiar with the practices of both hypnotherapy and reiki for quite some time. Both are spiritual healing practices, led by specialized practitioners, meant to facilitate a greater sense of mindfulness. What I hadn’t heard of, though, is hypno-reiki. So, a few months ago, when I was invited to an introductory group session at the Magnolia Wellness center in Costa Mesa, California, I was intrigued. The hypno-reiki session was for a small group of women, and led by hypnotherapist Andrea Fagenholz and reiki master Jessica Stone. As we were guided into a visualization meditation, we simultaneously received reiki, from practitioners Andrea Fagenholz and Jessica Stone. My experience was so surreal, I booked a private session so I could dive deeper into this form of mental, physical, and spiritual healing. Below, learn what happened when I tried a private hypo-reiki healing session. (Plus, get a quick refresher on the backstory of both hypnotherapy and reiki.) What is hypnotherapy? Hypnosis is a mindfulness practice that differs from other types of meditation mostly due to a difference in goal. “Meditation clears the mind to encourage the stillness,” says Fagenholz. “Hypnosis is intention-based; we want the mind to play and communicate back with us via images, colors, symbols, feelings, and so much more.” While in a state of hypnosis, you’re more open to suggestions, which can make striking real progress and change more conceivable. “You have more direct access to your subconscious mind, which is otherwise
The 5 basic Pilates moves that *everyone* should incorporate in their workouts for better mobility
December 06, 2019 at 12:00AM by CWC If you’re not a Pilates fan, you might brush off the fitness modality’s entire catalogue of core-centric moves. But this is a mistake, because, everyone—no matter what their sweat mode of choice is—can benefit from certain basic Pilates exercises. The workout, at its (ahem) core, is about better overall mobility, which we could all use a little more of. “With Pilates, we do our work eccentrically, which is a fancy way of saying, ‘working in length,’” says Amy Jordan, founder of Wundabar Pilates. “In Pilates, you elongate your muscles as you sculpt them.” With this type of workout, you’re recruiting your stabilizer muscles as opposed to your more-commonly engaged “primary mover” muscles, like your biceps, quads, and glutes. This is universally beneficial for how you move in general, and boosts your performance in other workouts. “You can think of ‘mover muscles’ as muscles you can activate with thought, like turning on a light switch,” explains Jordan. “The ‘stabilizers’ that Pilates focuses on, like the transverse abdominus [a deep core muscle] or multifidus [in the spine] are like a dimmer switch, because it takes a little time and focus to light them up.” These “dimmer switch” moves, she says, can help people protect their bodies from injury, and teach them to use their stabilizing muscles to carry out larger movements. One example, plucked straight from Jordan’s Pilates class? Using your inner thigh to lift your heel off the floor (rather than just picking up the
How self-care became a commodity in the modern era of wellness
December 04, 2019 at 11:00PM by CWC These days, you’d be hard-pressed to scroll on Instagram without seeing someone eating something delicious, or wearing something cozy, or jet-setting somewhere exotic, all in the name of #selfcare, a term that’s been hashtagged 21.3 million times on Instagram (and counting). But the concept far pre-dates the fall of 2016, which is when Google searches for it picked up steam and the idea metamorphosed into a full-blown lifestyle philosophy of prioritizing the self in the name of health. Decades earlier, Slate reports, self care was used to describe a form of political resistance that involved looking inward in the midst of external chaos. Usage saw peaks in the ’60s and ’70s during the women’s liberation and civil rights movements. Its 2016 resurgence makes sense, then, given its ascent alongside that year’s presidential election, the results of which left many Americans feeling stressed and looking for avenues to feel better. “Self care is knowing yourself and knowing that at different times and different seasons and parts of your life, you will need support differently,” says wellness expert and reiki master Kelsey Patel. And while the original definition of self care—care for your body, mind, and spirit—still holds true in its modern iteration, there is a component of it that’s new to this decade. Now, the internal reflection that facilitates caring for oneself often comes to fruition with the assistance of products and brands—or, as coined in a 2011 episode of Parks and Recreation, the “treat
The rise (and rise) of black leggings over the past 10 years
December 04, 2019 at 06:00PM by CWC Black leggings are a nearly ubiquitous staple in women’s wardrobes today, but that hasn’t always been the case. Throughout the past decade, leggings have been a stretchy symbol of the rise of athleisure—and, by the same measure, the fall of getting “dressed up” for anything but the most formal occasions—and an increasingly massive moneymaker for brands. In the ’70s, leggings shimmied onto our fashion radar after Olivia Newton-John donned her shiny pair in Grease‘s final scene (a look that later inspired American Apparel’s ultra-popular Disco Pant), and it soon became a staple of ’80s aerobic culture and a key component of Madonna’s boundary-pushing, Like A Virgin-era style. In the aughts, women began to layer leggings under dresses, skirts, and tunics (so many tunics), sometimes accompanied by a vest and low-slung belt. By contrast, in the 2010s, leggings made from sleek technical fabrics that include mesh and seaming details have taken center stage—in recent years, often paired with a bare midriff and coordinating crop top. What would have looked out of place outside a gym not so long ago is now akin to a power suit for the wellness era. With the boundaries between work and leisure becoming blurrier by the year (a consequence, in part, of the smartphone’s ubiquity), women are demanding more comfort and performance from their everyday attire—a need that leggings, and by extension, athleisure, have promised to fill. Brands ride the leggings boom to the bank Lululemon is a pioneer in
A financial therapist’s take on the guilt you feel after making impulse purchases
December 03, 2019 at 09:00PM by CWC As of late, my road to happiness seems to be paved with impulse buys. Between velvet dresses, festive earrings, and a million-ish lavender lattes, I can’t seem to escape a single day without frivolously swiping my card. This streak of retail therapy isn’t sending me into a spiral of crushing debt, yet I still often feel a sense of guilt linger in the aftermath of my impulse buys. But why is it such a common experience to punish ourselves for choosing to spend any amount of money on products for ourselves that we want but definitely don’t need? “We might feel guilt and shame around these types of purchases because we see ourselves putting our money toward more impulsive desires, leaving long-term goals undermined and shortchanged,” says financial therapist Amanda Clayman. “In the calculus of life happiness, we believe that we would be happier—or at least less anxious—if we had more money in savings or invested for the future.” The other side of this is that our shame often reflects a sense of discomfort with facing the emotional needs we aim to satisfy in the present with our purchases. “But the truth is, being too restrictive and too judgmental of our needs and feelings can actually make us more inclined to act impulsively and with less self-control,” Clayman says. “For example, I use the concept of a ‘dissociative splurge’ to explain to clients what’s happening when they go into a spending experience and
Reebok is launching a plant-based running shoe, and I can’t wait
December 03, 2019 at 05:34PM by CWC Words I did not expect to type today: plant-based running shoe. And yet, Reebok just announced the arrival of their Forever Floatride GLOW, which you guessed it, comes from plant-based matter. Sure, when you tell your mom that you want “plant-based running shoes,” she might tease you about being “so L.A.” like she did with your collection of crystals or your favorite farm-to-table pizza (who’s keeping tabs?!), but I can assure you that it will be well worth the initial reaction. Reebok set out to create a sustainable version of their Forever Floatride Energy shoe, as part of a larger initiative to create products from natural or recycled materials. For example, in 2018, the brand launched vegan sneakers made of cotton and corn, but the Forever Floatride GLOW will be their first foray into plant-based performance running shoes. “The biggest challenge in making a shoe like this was developing plant-based materials that could meet the high performance needs of real runners,” says Bill McInnis, Vice President of Reebok Future. And so, the brand spent three years developing the shoe, which will launch next fall. The upper is made from sustainably sourced, biodegradable eucalyptus tree, and the outsole is made from real rubber from rubber trees—versus petroleum-based rubber—that is also sustainably sourced. The midsole, AKA the part of the running shoe that cushions and absorbs shock, is made from sustainably grown castor beans, a unique material that was exclusively developed by Reebok with the
The death of the ‘bikini body’ is the best thing to happen to fitness in the past decade
December 03, 2019 at 03:00PM by CWC In the days before you could order both groceries and magazine subscriptions online, it was damn near impossible to walk through a supermarket checkout line without seeing the term “bikini body” plastered on glossies at the newsstand. By today’s standards, strapping two pieces of material onto any body fits the bill, but a decade ago, the term was still reserved for only those with six-pack abs and not an inch of perceived bodily “imperfection” in sight. The definition was so narrow, the ideal so unattainable, that when actress and runway model Kate Upton appeared in a bikini on her first Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover in 2012, people straight-up called her fat. Fast forward five years to when she appeared on the magazine’s cover again in 2017—a year after Ashley Graham became the first curve model to cover the issue—and that same body was criticized for not being “diverse enough,” proving just how much our definition of the “bikini body” has changed for the better over the last 10 years. Sports Illustrated isn’t alone in broadening the loaded term’s definition: Major magazines have banned it (for what it’s worth, at Well+Good we’ve never used it unless the words “every body is a” were out in front), the Victoria Secret fashion show is dead, and heck, even Barbie got a body-positive reboot. “It was a ridiculous notion that you couldn’t be considered beach-worthy or ‘bathing suit-worthy’ or beautiful in general because you didn’t fit into
What to know about acupuncture-adjacent ear seeds and how they work
December 02, 2019 at 10:31PM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmKyTPk_NtQ] Ever wonder what ear seeds are all about? Watch the video to find out, here. Raise your hand if you’ve ever done a double take while admiring someone’s earrings only to notice that they’re not studs but ear seeds. These almost earrings have been adorning the ears of wellness enthusiasts and acupuncture acolytes lately—but what the heck are they, exactly? In our latest episode of What the Wellness, Well+Good’s YouTube series in which we investigate the most out-there treatments in the wellness world to find out if they’re worth it (subscribe if you haven’t yet), senior video producer Ella Dove experiences the ear seeding trend for herself during a visit to Vie Healing spa in Los Angeles. Although they look like teeny-tiny gold studs, ear seeds are actually seeds (or sometimes they’re metal balls) that are strategically placed on pressure points within the ear, and they’re meant to help you relax and chill out. “We place [ear seeds] on pressure points that send signals to the reflex centers of the brain to relax the nervous system,” says Mona Dan, acupuncturist and founder of Vie Healing. Dan then applies the seeds to Dove’s ear (the spa sells gold ones for $34 per 20-pack). And then Dove tries it for herself on her other ear, placing them on five key areas that Dan says they can help the body find balance. Watch the full video to see how easy it is to apply ear seeds
Black Friday is officially *the* time to snag a Peloton Bike
December 02, 2019 at 03:30PM by CWC You take your commitment to fitness seriously (kudos to you!) but sometimes making it across town to your favorite studio just isn’t in the cards with your jam-packed schedule. Don’t skip your sweat sesh—just bring it home with you. The Peloton Bike (AKA the ultimate at-home workout upgrade) is here to help with a game-changing Black Friday deal, Peloton’s best offer of the year. When you buy the Peloton Bike over Black Friday weekend, you’ll get “The Works”—Peloton cycling shoes, weights, headphones, heart rate monitor, and bike mat—for free (FYI, that’s $229 worth of goods). And the bike itself has major perks: With crystal-clear streaming on a high-def touchscreen, you have thousands of live and on-demand workouts at your fingertips. Since you can work out whenever it fits your schedule (and not have to worry about your fave instructor’s class being waitlisted), you’ll feel that much more motivated to give it your all. Plus, the new financing plan makes owning a Peloton Bike the equivalent of taking just three studio classes a month. #Score. Click here to snag the Black Friday deal of your fitness dreams. But there are other spin bikes offering serious deals over this shopping holiday, too. Keep scrolling for other home gym options to jump on. Photo: Car.o.l. CAR.O.L. AI HIIT Bike, $2700 This bike uses artificial intelligence to push you to your limit. That means you’re working for a shorter amount of time, but you’re getting a full-on cardio sesh that’s personalized to your body’s capabilities.