December 09, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC Before one recent Saturday, I’d never before participated in a sound bath, but having read about the ancient practice before, I’d been intrigued for quite some time. And, based on a colleague’s rave reviews, of her experiences, I decided I could certainly stand to try out the meditative ritual meant to facilitate a deep state of relaxation for stress relief and healing. Sound baths aim to put you on a different plane, away from the mile-a-minute stressors of everyday life. But as the patron saint of Those Who Suck at Meditation, I was worried about whether I’d be able to do it. And, perhaps more importantly, whether I’d be the same when I emerged. So, I sought to find out by signing up for a group session with Sara Auster, sound therapist, meditation practitioner, and author of Sound Bath: Meditate, Heal and Connect Through Listening. She wanted us to put our phones on airplane mode, be comfortable, and listen. So far, so good—I felt ready for the main event. But first, what exactly is a sound bath—and what happens, therapeutically, during it? No two people will necessarily experience the same thing—just like with any other meditative practice. Generally speaking, though, using a combination of singing bowls, tuning forks, gongs and other overtone-emitting instruments, your alpha and theta brain waves are stimulated. And this is what can lead to those good-for-you benefits. “These waves are associated with deep, meditative, and peaceful states that are highly
Category: Travel
Get ready for this week’s cosmic journey to take you from confusion to clarity within 7 days
December 08, 2019 at 08:00PM by CWC This week begins with a massive call for patience from the universe. But, not to worry—it’ll pay off. Confusion sets in with a set of planetary squares Starting on Sunday—when the sun in Sagittarius squares Neptune, while Jupiter in Capricorn squares Chiron in Aries—you can expect for things to feel extra confusing. As if you were driving in heavy fog, your impulse may be impulse may be to turn on your high light beams. But in this cosmic case of blurriness, taking an aggressive approach to rectify a lack of clarity will only make things less clear. Now’s not the time to press forward for answers, but instead, sit in the lack of knowing, and allow what needs to unfold to take its course. Yes, that can feel scary, but remember that there’s nothing you can to “force” a solution right now. Instead, take a step back and recommit to self care. Need help? Try using this mantra: “Everything is unfolding exactly as it must. I am guided and protected.” Then, Mercury in Sagittarius provides clarity Come Monday, when the quintessential messenger Mercury moves into bold and blunt Sagittarius, you may feel a burst of clarity hit you. Mercury just finished its long transit in Scorpio due to its retrograde, and the hardest degrees of this journey were the ones just cleared, at the tail end of that sign. In light of this, you’d be wise to take a moment to acclimate to
A physical therapist explains 2 easy ways to fix ‘pelvic tilt’
December 07, 2019 at 06:00PM by CWC “Neutralize your pelvis” is a common refrain among yoga instructors in poses like chair, Warrior II, and bridge. Over time, both posterior (forward) and anterior (backward) pelvic tilt can cause pain from your spine to your ankles. So we asked Lara Heimann, a physical therapist and founder of LYT yoga, to explain how to use your pelvis to protect your vinyasa-loving body. Your pelvis sits between your abdomen and your thighs and acts as a container for the intestines, bladder, and internal sex organs. “It’s a ball that’s sitting on a triangle,” explains Heimann. As we move throughout our days, the pelvis will naturally tilt in one direction or the other—even when we’re in yoga class. “If yoga teachers don’t queue the person in any degree, then they would have a misshape in all the different poses. In every pose that person will have some degree of tilt,” she explains. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to check in on your pelvis during your daily movement patterns (and on your mat, of course). “For one, if you’re coming into practice with that tilt, you’re going to have to bend your knees quite dramatically,” says the physical therapist. This will help you resist the urge to pull your pelvis forward in downward dog, forward folds, and more. “The second is using your hands,” adds Heimann. “Putting your hands on the front of your body and pulling up like you’re zipping up a zipper,
If you have no idea where to start with your skin care, these new kits make it dummy-proof
December 06, 2019 at 10:55PM by CWC Putting together a skin-care routine from scratch can be a daunting task. Usually, it involves a lot of scrolling through websites wondering where to begin. According to dermatologists, the basics of a good routine include a cleanser, an antioxidant serum, a retinol, a moisturizer, and a sunscreen. So if you’re looking to start fresh, those are all the elements you need. Even with that in mind, putting together a multi-step regimen can often feel overwhelming, especially if you’re new to the game. The good news? The holiday shopping season has brought along an entire haul of skin-care kits chock full of everything you need for a lot less than what you’d usually spend on crafting a regimen. From cleansers to serums to moisturizers, these babies have got it all—just add some sunscreen into the mix and you’ll be good to go, all with the single click of the “add to cart” button. Shop the best skin-care sets below, and get ready to make 2020 your most radiant year yet. These are the best skin-care sets for re-vamping your routine Photo: Glossier 1. Glossier The Skincare Edit, $50 Achieve the #topshelf of your dreams with this set, which puts mini versions of the brand’s cult faves into one place. You’ll get a Milky Jelly Cleanser, Priming Rich Moisturizer, Future Dew and Super Bounce Serums, and two Balm Dotcoms. Your Instagram feed (and your skin) will look lit. Photo: Sunday Riley 2. Sunday Riley Acid Appeal,
Rent the Runway’s Closet Concierge aims to make packing for vacation a thing of the past
December 05, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC I’m a big fan of the innovative packing tips evangelized by women who somehow effortlessly stock their suitcases for multi-city tours. However, I will never possess such impeccably orchestrated packing skills. Typically, I end up carting around everything in my closet just in case—or alternatively, having to buy all the things I failed to pack in an effort to streamline my travel wardrobe. Rent the Runway’s latest offering may save your next trip, sartorially-speaking, as well as your sanity. The clothing rental company has partnered with W Hotels on Closet Concierge, a service launching Thursday that allows you to order clothes directly to one of four W Hotels locations, including Aspen, South Beach, Hollywood, and Washington, D.C. For $69—or about the price of an overweight piece of luggage—you’ll get four styles sent to the hotel before your arrival. While Closet Concierge allows access to the site’s entire Unlimited Closet, customers will also be able to choose from customized collections curated for each destination based on trends, climate, and culture. These capsules are pretty clutch when visiting a city for which you’re not sure how to dress. (D.C.? No idea.) At the end of your trip, simply drop your worn clothing at the front desk to return—more or less the dream. In case you missed it, this isn’t the only big news to come out of the RTR offices this week. The company has added athleisure to its virtual racks, from brands like P.E.
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
SLT is debuting a megaformer-treadmill class that gives you planks with a side of sprinting
December 04, 2019 at 04:55PM by CWC Ask any boutique fitness connoisseur (including our three fitness editors) what the hardest workout in New York City is, and they’ll most likely tell you it’s SLT. Megaformer workouts are touted for their efficiency and results, and in a single 50-minute class, you’ll get cardio, strength, and flexibility training in one fell swoop. But for some cardio queens, the slow, controlled movements of the Pilates-inspired method aren’t fast-paced or sweaty enough. And so to make things even harder, founder Amanda Freeman decided to add treadmills into the mix. SLT Tread, which will open in New York City in January, 2020, combines the slow cardio benefits of a megaformer workout with heart-spiking sprints, the motto being: “tread fast, tone slow.” And so, in what truly sounds like the most-challenging workout of all time, you’ll spend 25 minutes working your muscles to exhaustion on the megaformer, followed by 25 minutes doing high intensity intervals on the treadmill. “While the SLT workout on its own is the perfect combination of strength training, low-impact cardio, and Pilates, we often see clients interspersing their SLT workouts with high-impact cardio workouts such as running and cycling,” says SLT founder Amanda Freeman. When most people think about “cardio,” their minds usually go to fast, sweaty workouts like running or spinning. But megaformer workouts, like the ones you’ve traditionally gotten at SLT, offer a different kind of cardio in which the slower you go the higher your heart rate spikes. With
Sorry sweatsuits—these sweater suits are the chicest way to wear your cozies everywhere this winter
December 03, 2019 at 10:30PM by CWC While some people refer to the months between November and March as “cuffing season,” I prefer to call it “the season in which I refuse to take my sweatpants off no matter what.” But as a professional woman who is also in the process of trying to find a boyfriend (if you know anyone, HMU), I can’t exactly walk around New York City looking like a schlub… which is why I’ve made it my recent life’s mission to figure out how to wear the comfiest clothes possible without having to sacrifice style. Enter: the sweater suit set. These matching cozy sets have all the benefits of their faithful cousin, the sweatsuit, but instead of being made of ratty sweatshirt material these babies are made of sumptuous fabrics like cashmere and wool. They give off chic grandmother vibes (versus the “it’s 1986 and I’m leaving the gym” ones that sweatsuits often do), and make you feel like you should be curled up on a white couch in front of bay windows at Grace & Frankie’s beach house. You can dress these suits up with chunky jewelry and a pair of slides, or way, way down with a blanket and some slippers. When I say you can wear them everywhere, I really do mean it…. and you can trust me on this, because I’ve personally tested the theory. The only issue with these dreamy cashmere sweater suits is that they’re kind of a pain to
Should you say something when you’re in a toxic work environment?
December 03, 2019 at 09:30PM by CWC There’s your garden variety toxic work environment and then there’s the nuclear power plant toxic work environment. That is to say that Gabrielle Union’s experience on the set of America’s Got Talent leans toward the latter. According to an exclusive report by Variety, Union was subjected to “a very specific critique—that her rotating hair styles were ‘too black’ for the audience of AGT, a note she received over half a dozen times,” among other alleged transgressions by guests, hosts, and other staff working on the show. When a workplace becomes a breeding ground for intolerant, discriminatory behavior, fighting the good fight for yourself and others is infinitely important and incredibly hard. Do you speak up? How do you speak up? Who do you speak up to? Not sure if you know this already, but we live in a country where such institutionalized discrimination is, well, an American institution. People fear their job security and reputation when deciding whether or not to come forward, worrying that their complaints will be rerouted or fall on deaf ears. “While on book tour, I traveled to 26 cities, and in every state, I heard stories of Black women being discriminated against due to their hairstyles to the simple usage of their government names,” Minda Harts, educator, consultant, and author of The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table, told raceAhead reports Fortune. “And whenever they tried speaking out on those workplace inequalities,