June 09, 2019 at 06:00AM Pain, pain, go away. Continue Reading… Author Ray Bass | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC
Category: Yoga
8 natural ways to keep your energy up without resorting to coffee
June 07, 2019 at 05:00AM by CWC So you’ve decided to give up caffeine—good for you (and godspeed). There are a ton of reasons why people give up coffee and other forms of caffeine, whether it’s to help with anxiety symptoms or to stop feeling such a crash in the afternoon. But whatever your reason, there’s no doubt that the first few days of caffeine withdrawal can be R-O-U-G-H. (Hello, caffeine headache, lethargy, and crankiness.) But now if you’re left wondering how to stay awake without caffeine, don’t worry—it’s totally possible. We talked to nutrition and sleep experts to nab their best tips for staying alert and awake during the day when coffee is just not an option for you. No selling your soul required! 1. Prioritize eating for energy Eat a healthy, balanced meal, recommends Amy Shapiro, RD, founder and director of New York City-based Real Nutrition. “If you go long without food, you’re going to get tired,” she says. She suggests reaching for a snack or meal every three to four hours, making sure that you include a mix of complex carbs, lean protein, and a healthy fat—say, a salad with chicken, avocado, and vegetables, or a quinoa bowl with roasted veggies and salmon. (You can find some other afternoon snack ideas here.) “This will balance your blood sugar and keep your energy up,” she adds. 2. Sniff on some citrus “There’s some evidence that citrus—such as eating an orange or having some lemon in your water—can help
This woman is challenging some big yoga assumptions
June 07, 2019 at 03:30AM by CWC Well+Good presents Wellness in Color, a new series highlighting prominent wellness practitioners of color who are doing healing work in their communities. Featuring conversations led by Latham Thomas, a Well+Good Council member and the founder of Mama Glow, these stories shine a spotlight on energy workers, nutrition experts, sexuality doulas, and other wellness luminaries. Here, Sinikiwe Dhliwayo, the founder of Naaya Wellness—which creates yoga and mindfulness programming for people of color—explains why she’s so passionate about her mission. Photo: Joel Arbaje Latham Thomas: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the work you do with Naaya Wellness? Sinikiwe Dhliwayo: I was born in Zimbabwe and left when I was about two. After I was injured while training for the New York City Marathon, my physical therapist suggested doing yoga. I kept going back to the practice because I was working in an environment that wasn’t very supportive, and yoga became a respite. Then I worked with Bent On Learning, a nonprofit that puts yoga in public schools for kids. With Naaya, I’m working on an accessible teacher training program, and I’m always thinking of ways to push a visual narrative of what wellness looks like. Despite the fact that there are teachers of color in yoga or meditation, there is no visibility. To me, it’s important to change the conversation visually as well. What inspired you to do this work? Working with kids and seeing how they were benefiting from
This woman is challenging some big yoga assumptions
June 07, 2019 at 03:30AM by CWC Well+Good presents Wellness in Color, a new series highlighting prominent wellness practitioners of color who are doing healing work in their communities. Featuring conversations led by Latham Thomas, a Well+Good Council member and the founder of Mama Glow, these stories shine a spotlight on energy workers, nutrition experts, sexuality doulas, and other wellness luminaries. Here, Sinikiwe Dhliwayo, the founder of Naaya Wellness—which creates yoga and mindfulness programming for people of color—explains why she’s so passionate about her mission. Photo: Joel Arbaje Latham Thomas: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the work you do with Naaya Wellness? Sinikiwe Dhliwayo: I was born in Zimbabwe and left when I was about two. After I was injured while training for the New York City Marathon, my physical therapist suggested doing yoga. I kept going back to the practice because I was working in an environment that wasn’t very supportive, and yoga became a respite. Then I worked with Bent On Learning, a nonprofit that puts yoga in public schools for kids. With Naaya, I’m working on an accessible teacher training program, and I’m always thinking of ways to push a visual narrative of what wellness looks like. Despite the fact that there are teachers of color in yoga or meditation, there is no visibility. To me, it’s important to change the conversation visually as well. What inspired you to do this work? Working with kids and seeing how they were benefiting from
This morning yoga routine is more energizing than a cup of coffee
June 06, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC Getting up in the morning is hard (coming from a dedicated snooze button hitter), but getting up in the morning to work out is exponentially more difficult. I’ve tried almost every exercise out there to get my bod going for the day, from boot camp to running and SLT (which is a killer), but finally I’ve discovered the one a.m. workout that I actually look forward to: my morning yoga routine. Yoga in particular is a wise workout of choice because not only are you getting its regular multitude of benefits—more space in your body, enhanced flexibility, and better balance—but practicing it in the morning can help with your sleep and mood. Seriously. “One of the major benefits of practicing yoga in the morning is better sleep,” says Kelly Clifton Turner, director of education for YogaSix. “Once you make your morning yoga flow a habit, your body will get used to waking up at that specific time. And this will help to regulate your circadian sleep cycles, which we often throw out of whack by varying when we go to sleep and wake up.” Working through some vinyasa first thing is also key for getting your body moving on the inside. “Incorporating a few twists into your morning yoga flow will also help stimulate your digestive system, which helps to get rid of any bloating from last night’s dinner and essentially setting you up to feel great,” she adds. Looking to cut back on
This morning yoga routine is more energizing than a cup of coffee
June 06, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC Getting up in the morning is hard (coming from a dedicated snooze button hitter), but getting up in the morning to work out is exponentially more difficult. I’ve tried almost every exercise out there to get my bod going for the day, from boot camp to running and SLT (which is a killer), but finally I’ve discovered the one a.m. workout that I actually look forward to: my morning yoga routine. Yoga in particular is a wise workout of choice because not only are you getting its regular multitude of benefits—more space in your body, enhanced flexibility, and better balance—but practicing it in the morning can help with your sleep and mood. Seriously. “One of the major benefits of practicing yoga in the morning is better sleep,” says Kelly Clifton Turner, director of education for YogaSix. “Once you make your morning yoga flow a habit, your body will get used to waking up at that specific time. And this will help to regulate your circadian sleep cycles, which we often throw out of whack by varying when we go to sleep and wake up.” Working through some vinyasa first thing is also key for getting your body moving on the inside. “Incorporating a few twists into your morning yoga flow will also help stimulate your digestive system, which helps to get rid of any bloating from last night’s dinner and essentially setting you up to feel great,” she adds. Looking to cut back on
The best (and absolute worst) ‘As Seen On TV’ ab exercise equipment, according to trainers
June 05, 2019 at 08:36AM by CWC We’ve all seen the feature film-length infomercials about exercise gizmos that promise “chiseled” abs to rival Michelangelo’s David. And a quick Google search of “As Seen On TV exercise equipment” returns a staggering number of results. I asked three trainers to cut through the clever slogans, rebates, and “if you call in the next 30 minutes” deals to determine which products actually deliver and which are total BS. While no two items in the “As Seen On TV” market are quite the same, Maillard Howell, owner of CrossFit Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, points out that they all share at least one thing in common: “They’re pretty genius on the level of super-laziness,” he says. There’s no judgement here. Laziness at the gym can be an asset. It can prompt us to make our workouts efficient and smart instead of aimless. But wait, there’s more! When our sloth-like tendencies are being commodified, we all need to make sure we’re informed shoppers so all of our living rooms don’t wind up looking like the Island of Misfit Training Modalities. Take a deep breath before calling 1-800-GET-BUFF and read the fine print. The best of the best (and the worst of the worst) “As Seen On TV” exercise equipment for working your abs Photo: Getty Images/Thanakorn Phanthura Best: Ab Roller Wheel, $13 “Ab rollouts are an advanced core exercise that prevents extension at the lumbar spine (lower back). Most people who complain of low back issues are
The best (and absolute worst) ‘As Seen On TV’ ab exercise equipment, according to trainers
June 05, 2019 at 08:36AM by CWC We’ve all seen the feature film-length infomercials about exercise gizmos that promise “chiseled” abs to rival Michelangelo’s David. And a quick Google search of “As Seen On TV exercise equipment” returns a staggering number of results. I asked three trainers to cut through the clever slogans, rebates, and “if you call in the next 30 minutes” deals to determine which products actually deliver and which are total BS. While no two items in the “As Seen On TV” market are quite the same, Maillard Howell, owner of CrossFit Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, points out that they all share at least one thing in common: “They’re pretty genius on the level of super-laziness,” he says. There’s no judgement here. Laziness at the gym can be an asset. It can prompt us to make our workouts efficient and smart instead of aimless. But wait, there’s more! When our sloth-like tendencies are being commodified, we all need to make sure we’re informed shoppers so all of our living rooms don’t wind up looking like the Island of Misfit Training Modalities. Take a deep breath before calling 1-800-GET-BUFF and read the fine print. The best of the best (and the worst of the worst) “As Seen On TV” exercise equipment for working your abs Photo: Getty Images/Thanakorn Phanthura Best: Ab Roller Wheel, $13 “Ab rollouts are an advanced core exercise that prevents extension at the lumbar spine (lower back). Most people who complain of low back issues are
Dealing with shin splints? Here’s what a physical therapist wants you to know.
June 05, 2019 at 05:00AM by CWC Have you ever been walking, running, or just laying down in bed and suddenly felt a shooting pain in from the top of your foot to your knee? Kind of like you had a toothache… but… in your leg? Yeah, then you’ve experienced shin splints. If you’re not familiar (and therefore extremely, extremely lucky), shin splints are a very common problem in your lower leg, and it all stems from inflammation. “Shin splints is a layperson term for inflammation of the fascia and covering of the tibialis anterior muscle,” says Lara Heimann, physical therapist and yoga guru. “It covers the front part of the shin, but goes more to the right from the midline over. If you lift your toes up in dorsiflexion, you’ll see this muscle kind of bulge there—that’s the tibialis anterior. So it’s more on that lateral side of the shin.” I’ve never realized this before, but that area of your shin is actually quite thin, in terms of muscle to bone… which is precisely why inflammation in the area hurts like hell. “In that area, you can see that it doesn’t have a lot of space for inflammation to go,” says Heimann. “It’s a compartment—so all of that irritation and swelling is kind of stuck in that anterior compartment.” The inflammation for shin splints typically stems from running or high impact walking. Your shin area is responsible for literally lifting your toes up to clear the ground, so when
Well+Good TALKS: One-Stop Wellness Is Putting Your Healthy Life Under One Roof
June 04, 2019 at 12:07PM by CWC Living your best life should NOT mean you spend your precious self-care time and energy zig-zagging all over town to go to the gym, the acupuncturist, the health coach, the beauty bar, the meditation studio, and healthy cafe. Phew! Now, both newcomers and bold-face brands are capturing the stress-reducing brilliance of a one-stop-shop approach by housing multiple aspects of your wellness routine under one roof. Less commuting, more wellness. EVENT DETAILS Wednesday, June 19, 2019 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Location: Made by We | 902 Broadway, New York, NY 10010 THE PANEL Melisse Gelula | Co-Founder of Well+Good Melisse is the Co-Founder of Well+Good, an award-winning media company, which reaches an audience of 12 million monthly, and an internationally recognized wellness expert. Recently Melisse spearheaded the curation of the first-ever Well+Good cookbook, Well+Good: 100 Healthy Recipes + Expert Advice for Better Living (Clarkson Potter, April 2019), which features the go-to recipes of 100 healthy luminaries from Venus Williams and Gabrielle Bernstein to Dr. Mark Hyman. Kate Flannery | Head of Community + Partnerships at Athleta Kate is a marketing and communications expert of 20+ years who leads Community and Partnerships at Athleta. She connects Athleta with the people and brands that embody Athleta’s mission to ignite a community of active, healthy, confident women and girls who uplift one another to reach their limitless potential. As part of the team that launched Wellness Collective, Kate is driven by Athleta’s ability to make wellness