September 13, 2019 at 09:30PM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prYSOPVobeU] De-stress in minutes with this yoga breathing exercise—watch the video here. If you’ve taken any yoga class ever, you know that breathing is an essential part of the experience—yes, even that one dude in the back of the class who groans loudly on every exhale. “You’re likely practicing vinyasa yoga as we know it today,” yoga teacher Tess Koenig says in the latest episode of Good Moves. “And all that vinyasa really means is that you’re intentionally linking breath with your movement.” There’s a good reason why you feel infinitely more chill by the end of a yoga class—breathing correctly helps you take in more oxygen and has a calming effect on your body and mind. Thanks to Koenig, you can now replicate that feeling at home with this calming yoga flow that focuses on breath work and simple moves. Try this vinyasa yoga for beginners routine to feel calmer ASAP Ujjayi breathing: Stand at the top of your mat with your feet together, keeping your knees soft. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly, then close your eyes. Take a few natural breaths, and take this time to feel your feet on the ground, and your breath moving under your palms. Exhale completely, and take a deep breath in through your nose, then open your mouth, and breathe out. Repeat, but pause at the top of your inhale for a moment before breathing out. Do
Category: Yoga
Yep, you can mimic Swedish or deep tissue massages with just a ball
September 13, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC Some people come home to significant others who love and cherish them—and, like, that’s cool. Personally, I’m at the stage of my life where I’m most excited to walk through my front door and find my three sweethearts: my foam roller, lacrosse ball, and Theragun. We gather together on my yoga mat and work through my ultra-sore muscles until right before bed. They give me free massages without asking for anything in return. I’m smitten for each and every one of them, and once you know how to transform your own recovery tools into at-home masseuses, you’ll feel the same way. At the Wanderlust 108 festival in Brooklyn, Julie Wu—an instructor with RAD roller—taught me how to transform any recovery tool into a bodywork specialist equipped to give both a Swedish massage (which is usually lighter) or a deep-tissue massage (which is way more intense). According to Wu, the fastest way to switch up the pressure a tool applies to your muscles is to change the surface upon which you are rolling. If you sprawl out on hard wood, for instance, a lacrosse ball won’t have nearly as much of as a buffer as it would on say, turf or carpet. And thus, if you desire a massage that goes deep, deep, deep into your muscle tissues, you need only locate harder patch of ground. “When you use [a ball] on a hard surface, you get a little less compression out of the
This month’s super-emotional full moon is in Pisces—here’s what each sign can expect
September 13, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC Pull up Lana Del Rey’s new album and prepare to play it on repeat, because today is the day of the September full moon, and it’s happening in Pisces. So basically, get ready to feel all of your feelings. “This is the sign of spiritual insights, intuition, and supernatural phenomenon,” Rachel Lang, intuitive astrologer and healer, says. She adds that Pisces is counterbalanced by Virgo, “the sign of details, discernment, and order,” which is currently direct. This combo may have you finding a balance between spiritual and practical. “You could have profound insights and realizations. Then, you will need to find ways to ground those spiritual revelations in the very practical here and now,” she says. This is also a time when your decision-making processes may feel unclear, due to configuration between Jupiter, Mars, and Neptune. “You may not see things clearly. Balance hope with reason, faith with practicality.” So if you feel the urge to stay in and listen to really dramatic ’80s power ballads tonight while sitting on your floor feeling your feelings and doing a face mask, honor that. Lang says this is a full moon for self care, whatever that looks like for you. “The moon in Pisces urges you to heal some aspect of your life, physically, spiritually, or emotionally. Emotions could surface, but they should be sensed and felt—and not suppressed,” she says. The moon in Pisces also encourages you to access your creativity. “Creative outlets help
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
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
There are 4 unique stress ‘personalities’—and knowing yours can help you better combat it
September 12, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC I discovered something new about myself today: I am a “reluctant pacer.” If you’re thinking, “WTF does that mean?” you’d be forgiven as I, too, would have had no clue prior to a lengthy and fascinating deep dive into a new quiz launching today from NYC-based women’s wellness center Tia. It centers around a concept the company’s chief medical officer Stephanie McClellan, MD, has termed “stress signatures.” Based on a combination of bench research and clinical practice, Dr. McClellan has found that women tend to fall into one of four categories (or “stress signatures”) when it comes to how their brains and bodies respond to chronic stress: the vigilant sprinter, the vigilant pacer, the reluctant sprinter, and the reluctant pacer. The 82-question quiz, which feels similar to a Myers-Briggs test, presents a range of statements like, “I retain fluid when I’m stressed” or “I like to start my day with intense exercise,” and has you choose whether that is never, rarely, sometimes, usually, or almost always true for you. At the end, you are matched with your stress signature and sent via email recommendations on what that means and lifestyle things to help with it. The goal is to help women more effectively manage their stress, Dr. McClellan tells me. “The point of outlining the stress signatures is so that women can recognize these broad-stroke clinical guidelines and actually intervene in a way with intention, whether it’s the food they eat, or their sleep
What your doodles say about your personality (besides ‘I can’t draw’)
September 11, 2019 at 06:31PM by CWC During my yoga teacher training, I was enthralled with the “Om” symbol, my one and only doodling muse. I drew it everywhere—in the margins of my notebooks, on my hands, in the sand at the beach—but I never stopped to think too much about the motivation behind such a repetitious act. That is, until graphologist Tracey Russell explained how to decode the meaning of doodles and what each style says about your personality. “Doodling is proactive daydreaming, produced casually and unconsciously—often on auto-pilot—whilst the writer is busy focusing on something else at the same time,” says the handwriting expert. “Doodles are not intended for any particular recipient. This means that doodles are the complete free-flow of uninhibited symbols, ‘live and direct’ from the subconscious.” Each doodle is like a secret map to your psyche. While most will begin with basic, universal shapes like a circles, squares, and triangles, how they evolve from there can paint a pretty interesting picture of the goings-on between your ears. “For example, drawings may consist of single objects, mini scenes, childlike scribbles, shapes or even complex patterns,” says Russell. They may be precise or slapdash, big and invasive, or small and insignificant. Many are repetitive but rarely look like works of art.” At the end of the day, how you draw is as unique to you as your fingerprint or eye color. That said, Russell does have a few ideas for what certain doodling habits may say about
This is the absolute worst bag for your posture, according to a chiropractor
September 11, 2019 at 02:01PM by CWC In middle school, I thought that having one of those rolling backpacks was the epitome of coolness. (It wasn’t.) While everyone else schlepped around their canvas messenger bags, I proudly wheeled my rolling backpack through the hallways. Nowadays, I favor a leather tote to carry around my work supplies. But that is basically the worst thing I could be doing, according to Jonathan Leary, DC. (The chiropractor also tells me that a rolling bag is best for your back, but we’ll get to that in a moment.) “In this day and age, we spend a lot of time hunched over our computers typing, eating at our desks, texting, the list goes on. The problem here is that we are always contracting the body in a forward motion, which causes all of our postural problems to increase,” explains Dr. Leary. “The more our posture is affected, it will lead to lower back or neck pain.” You exacerbate this pain when your bag—like my aforementioned leather tote—isn’t balanced on your body. But the worst offense he sees is something I am also guilty of: choosing the biggest bag possible and carrying around you entire life in it. (How am I supposed to flirt with cute single guys at the coffee shop I work at if I don’t have a travel makeup bag, quarters for laundry, and the CVS receipts from my last 10 trips there on hand at all times?) “The bigger the bag, the
What it actually means to raise your vibrational energy—plus 12 ways to do it
September 11, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC If your first inclination upon hearing the phrase “vibrational energy” is to associate it with a mediative practice related to spirituality, well…you’re on the right track, but think way less woo-woo. The practice—which indeed does have a connection to the wellness world and cultivating a healthy mind—is rooted in physics. “Einstein taught us that everything is energy,” says Sharon Hart, certified professional coach who focuses on alignment. So because everything is made up of energy, every person, place, and thing vibrates at a different frequency. “High vibrational energy is energy that is good and strong,” says Marlene Vargas, co-founder of metaphysical shop House of Intuition. “This energy is pure, and it can come from whatever you want to call it—source energy, universe energy, God energy.” On the flip side, a low vibration energy is dark and dense and feels heavy, Vargas says. It’s often associated with negative emotions such as suffering, fear, and anger. Based on this intel, then, the term “raise your vibration,” reflects that you have a self-awareness of your thoughts and emotions, says Tracee Dunblazier, spiritual empath, and shaman. You’re able to recognize when you’re in a low vibration emotion (like jealousy or grief) and do something to shift yourself into a high-vibration emotional state (such as joy, gratitude, or peacefulness). But what is that “something” you can do to shift your vibrational energy from a low to high place? Check out 12 tips from the energy pros that you can
New to HIIT? Follow these 6 insider tips to slay your workouts
September 10, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC Different workout classes are scary for different reasons. Yoga’s intimidating because it can easily make you fart in public (sorry, but it’s true). I’m always afraid to clip into a spin bike because I don’t know how to clip back out. And if I rewind it back to before I started doing HIIT, I’ve gotta admit that the fast-paced intensity of boot camps and other high intensity interval training workouts was very, very intimidating. HIIT workouts are enticing for a lot of reasons—they’re short, they’re effective, and you can do them anywhere without equipment. So it pays off to eat that frog and at least give HIIT a whirl for the sake of sweat. HIIT workouts push you hard. “They bring your body to the point of exhaustion since they alternate between intense anaerobic periods followed by less intense, but working recovery periods, and on and on,” says Branko Teodorovic, FlexIt master trainer. But, not everyone’s at the same fitness level—so how do you ensure that you nail your first high intensity sweat sesh? “Intensity is different for everyone, so my HIIT workout as an advanced athlete will be completely different from someone who’s just starting out,” says Evan James Betts, founding trainer of GRIT BXNG. He also points out that HIIT doesn’t necessarily equate to complex movements, so you could still be doing basic exercises like squat jumps or tuck jumps to get a great workout. So that you feel the absolute most confident strolling