April 13, 2019 at 08:00AM by CWC Yoga can be quite a workout, especially when you go one-by-one through sweaty vinyasa after sweaty vinyasa. But just because you’re not standing up doesn’t mean you’re not doing your brain and body good. “Seated poses make it easier to get the great benefits of yoga at any point in your day,” says Jessica Matthews, PhD, assistant professor of integrative wellness at Point Loma Nazarene University and the author of Stretching to Stay Young. And it can be especially nice if you work a desk job where you spend the majority of your day hunched over typing (or, ahem, texting or Tweeting). Taking a couple-minute break for seated yoga works flexibility (which so many of us are lacking) and improves posture, says Matthews. What’s more, seated poses “are ideal for practicing in the middle of the day when you’re short on energy or focus. Some poses are mentally re-energizing,” she says. Think of them like a coffee break—minus the caffeine jitters. On the other hand, certain seated yoga poses can be quieting for the mind, says Jessica Bellofatto, director of JB Yoga, a holistic lifestyle and retreat company. “More often than not, what people need is the more meditative aspects of yoga. Seated and supine poses lower your center of gravity to help ground you,” she says. These can be done anytime, but may help relax you at night and keep your brain from spinning for better sleep ahead. Now that you’re ready
Category: Yoga
Jessamyn Stanley is launching an at-home yoga app—here’s why that’s important
April 04, 2019 at 01:20PM by CWC Jessamyn Stanley has long been walking, talking, forearm-standing proof that every damn body is a yoga body. Her Instagram feed is filled with photos of her contorting into pose after pose in her underwear. Her “fat, black, flexible body,” as she calls it, is a source of inspiration for those who have been traditionally underrepresented in yoga and fitness. Recently, she decided to further her mission by introducing a digital fitness app. Stanley tells me her followers would often reach out to say that they’d been inspired by her practice, but didn’t feel comfortable entering a studio. With today’s launch of The Underbelly, an app Stanley named after “the part [of your body] that you want to hide from other people, but is actually your strength,” she’s created an inclusive place for her community to come together to practice yoga. “Nothing has been about just pure, straight-up body-pos wellness. Not about, what is your body going to look like at the end of this process, but what’s going to happen to you on the inside.” —Jessamyn Stanley “I wanted to make a space that was totally different from all other digital yoga offerings, because I felt like everything up to this point was just so fitness-based,” Stanley tells me. “Nothing has been about just pure, straight-up body-pos wellness. Not about, what is your body going to look like at the end of this process, but what’s going to happen to you on the
Raise your vibe with this rose quartz-inspired yoga mat
March 27, 2019 at 10:16AM by CWC Yoga mat envy is real. Every time I take a class, I’m always amazed by all the different options. The basic colors get the job done, but vibrant designs are just asking for an Instagram photo shoot, especially those that are essentially pieces of art, with bold patterns fit for museum walls. Of all the yoga mats out there choices, one thing’s for sure: There’s nothing more high-vibe than this new crystal-inspired pick. Society6 partnered with the lifestyle brand How You Glow to create some of the prettiest special edition yoga mats in the world. The collection launches Wednesday, March 27, featuring two mats designed by artist Alja Horvat ($39). While one soothes with a stunning sunset design, the other was inspired by the rose quartz, a crystal that channels love and positive energy. Photo: Society6 If you’re not into bringing your rose quartz with you to your next yoga class, this mat is the next best thing. Every time you glance at it during downward dog, you’re sure to experience a burst of happiness. Anyone lucky enough to pose next to you is bound to feel it, too. Now that you have a brand-new yoga mat, you’ve gotta learn some new poses. First, try these free at-home workouts from the top yoga instructors on YouTube. Then, memorize these poses to help balance yourself out. Continue Reading… Author Tehrene Firman | Well and Good Selected by iversue
Deliciously Ella’s new app is a one-stop shop for on-demand yoga and healthy desserts—am I in heaven?
March 19, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC Upon first exploring plant-based food blog Deliciously Ella‘s newly minted app, I exclaimed, “My, oh, my! I can queue up an on-demand yoga class and learn how to make plant-based salted caramel sauce in the very same digital location.” The two major tabs of founder Ella Mills’ fresh creation are indeed “recipes” and “yoga.” Meaning, I could literally just eat salted caramel straight off the spoon while practicing camel pose. Casual. For $0.99 a month, users gain access to more than 400 recipes, many of which include tutorials (no more scratching your head if you need to “strain” cashews), and yoga sequences between 10 and 40 minutes in length. Mills plans to add new content each week. Scan through the app’s edible offerings, and you’ll find detailed instructions for peanut butter and raspberry porridge (“fly me to the moon”), butternut squash Wellington (“let me play among the stars”), and cacao mouse cake (“fill my heart with song”). Scan through the app’s edible offerings, and you’ll find detailed instructions for peanut butter and raspberry porridge (“fly me to the moon”), butternut squash Wellington (“let me play among the stars”), and cacao mouse cake (“fill my heart with song”). After drooling all over my phone and mentally pinning everything I want to make, I decided to hop on my yoga mat to try a quick 10-minute stretch to go along with my morning coffee. I chose one entitled “Wake Up Energy.” The instructor guides me through several
Work an office job? Memorize these yoga poses to balance yourself out
March 07, 2019 at 07:02AM by CWC Here’s a scary truth: Whether hunched over a laptop, trying to achieve inbox zero or double-tapping your Instagram feed at lightning speed, the average American adult spends *11 hours a day* staring at some sort of a screen. That’s almost double the amount of time they spend sleeping, and far, far more than on any other single activity in a given day. In addition to messing with our mental health, bedtime routines, and even our vision, all of those screen-front hours can have some seriously detrimental effects on our bodies. “When we spend a long time on the phone or computer, we tend to drop our neck, hunch our shoulders forward, and sink into our lower spine. Maintaining these bad postural habits throughout the day can cause prolonged neck pain, lower back pain, tight hips, shoulder pain and more,” says yoga instructor Claire Grieve. “Using technology constantly can also wreak havoc on our breathing patterns and mood, so it’s important to take breaks throughout the day to counterbalance all of this.” If you’ve been walking around for the better part of the past two years with some sort of crick in your shoulders or tweak in your lower back, your tech habits may be to blame. And while cute phrases like “text neck” have become part of the vernacular as a way to describe this phenomenon, there’s really nothing cute about it—especially if you, like me, are currently spending hundreds of dollars a month on
The 30-minute yoga flow that will turn anyone into a yogi, care of Adriene Mishler
February 26, 2019 at 06:00AM by CWC Adriene Mishler—or, as her 4.6 million YouTube followers know her, “Yoga With Adriene“—has a surprisingly simple approach to yoga: Find what feels good. She uttered those four words in her first-ever YouTube post in 2012, and recently released a line of TeeSpring merchandise emblazoned with the phrase. “It’s what inspired me to want to share yoga and now has become a multifaceted mantra that can help guide you to explore who you really are, practice moving in a way that serves your body, and ultimately lead you to find your own unique and meaningful contribution to society,” Mishler says of the provenance of the mantra. But what exactly does it mean to “find what feels good”? “One quiet mountain pose, one purposeful downward dog, one minute of dancing —to me it’s all about taking the moment and not worrying too much about what you’re doing (or not doing), but rather focusing on how you exist inside whatever you set out to do,” she explains. “Whether it’s a 15-minute flow, a 90-minute sweaty flow, or a light jog with the dog, ask yourself if it’s conscious. How are you moving and treating yourself each day? I always say that it is not often what we do, but how we do it. How you move matters.” If you’re an aspiring yogi struggling to make this happen for yourself, not to worry: There’s a flow for that. Mishler recommends the Movement Medicine series on her YouTube
8 pairs of hot yoga pants that stood up to our sweat test
February 25, 2019 at 12:16PM by CWC Heated studio classes, be they hot power yoga (my exercise of choice) or something similar, are unique when it comes to the needed uniform. I’m constantly seeking out leggings that have a rise just high enough to stay up, but just low enough to allow for optimal movement; styles that are as tight as a second skin, yet feel supportive at the same time. The prime requirement, though? Sweat-wicking power. Even when I think that I’ve found the next best thing, all too often I take them into a hot class and am disappointed by the way they handle the sweat that’s inevitably released from pores I didn’t even know existed. So, I put the newest crop of performance leggings through a personal sweat test. Below you’ll find eight pairs of hot yoga pants that were able to take the heat. 1. 90 Degree by Reflex Squat Proof Interlink Legging, $25 Photo: 90 Degree Reflex These leggings have accumulated more than 5,000 reviews on Amazon.com and still managed to remain at a solid 4.5 stars, so I had to try them out. Let me tell you, they are sleek, moisture-wicking, and perfect for the sweatiest of workouts. Honestly, the price point ($25!) might have been the initial draw for many, but it’s simply an added bonus—they work just as well as performance tights I’ve paid much more for. 2. Splits59 High Waisted Workout Shorts, $58 Photo: Splits59 While I personally gravitate toward bottoms of
Yoga pants made Lululemon founder Chip Wilson a billionaire—why isn’t he more grateful to the women who wear them?
February 17, 2019 at 07:00AM by CWC Chip Wilson; Photo: Andrea Mestrovic (Very Polite Agency) Chip Wilson is his own employee of the month. Right there on his website, you can see a portrait of his smiling face, set within a cheap wooden frame and festooned with a gold star bearing the accolade. But in his colorful new memoir, Little Black Stretchy Pants: The Unauthorized Story of Lululemon (LBSP), the controversial Lululemon Athletica founder makes clear that, beyond ostensibly putting himself above his actual employees, he also feels superior to many of the women who wear the brand’s hundred-dollar yoga pants that have made him a multibillionaire. LBSP is dripping with contempt for the “non-athletic, smoking, Diet-Coke drinking woman in a New Jersey shopping mall wearing an unflattering pink velour track suit” who may now reach for a pair of Lulus. As he tells it, the irreverent Wilson is the star of Lululemon’s success story. And by extension, he also sees himself as the victim of what he understands to be the athleisure company’s fall from greatness to mass-market mediocrity since he resigned as chairman in 2013. If newer employees continue to find the culture refreshing, Wilson explains, it’s only because “Lululemon is living on the fumes” of its former glory. In this way, Wilson’s 400-plus-page volume often reads like a screed. It’s worth your time, however, because for all Wilson’s outrage at what the innovative company he created has become (and there’s a lot of outrage), he is still Lululemon’s largest individual shareholder,
What to wear to hot yoga so you don’t overheat (or recreate your slip ‘n’ slide days)
February 17, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC I am a generally sweaty person. (BRB gonna go update my Bumble profile with that sexy line.) I don’t know why, exactly, this is. I just know that all it takes is one inchworm and I’m leaving sweaty handprints everywhere. So, naturally, hot yoga is a particularly damp affair (Wet? Moist? There aren’t really any non-gross synonyms for sweaty.) Even if you’re not prone to sweat theatrics like I am, being confined in a heated room and doing chaturangas is bound to make you perspire. A lot. If you’re not wearing the right attire, there are two general outcomes. One, you feel like you’re on a slip ‘n’ slide of your own sweat, which is a terrible but accurate visual. Two, you get so overheated that you feel the urge to, and I’m paraphrasing the poet Nelly here, take off all your clothes because it’s so hot in here. So what is the right attire for hot yoga? Here are the insider recs from instructors with serious sweat cred. Photo: Getty Images/PeopleImages 1. Leggings If you only take one thing away from this article, let it be that you need moisture-wicking clothing for hot yoga. Bonus points if it’s also antimicrobial. “If you’re dripping in sweat, you want your workout clothes to absorb the moisture which will reduce the chance of sweat stains, dry quickly and decrease odor,” Ava Johanna, an international yoga and meditation instructor and breathwork facilitator, says. She’s a fan
This yoga-based abs workout can super-charge your core power, in just 10 minutes a day
February 16, 2019 at 06:00AM by CWC If you want to run away whenever you get to the abs portion of your workouts, you’re not the only one. Core exercises can be pretty daunting—especially when there’s a seemingly never-ending list of bicycle crunches and sit-ups to check off. But it’s important—and no, not just for washboard abs. Upping your core strength can help with everything from lower back pain to bad posture, and you really only need to devote 10 minutes a day. Kajuan Douglas, founder of Merge New York, created a routine for the studio’s Integration class as a way to build up core strength in minimal time. And instead of doing hundreds of crunches, he uses a mix of yoga and Pilates moves to tighten and tone. “It’s not always about how long you do something, but the quality of time you spend doing it. The key to its success is precision.” —Kajuan Douglas, founder of Merge New York “I personally practiced this workout for about 10 minutes a day and it’s made me stronger, removed my distended belly—my wine pouch!—and stopped some minor lower back pain,” he says. “After 90 days in a row, it completely changed my body. It’s not always about how long you do something, but the quality of time you spend doing it. The key to its success is precision.” Even if you start slow, you can feel the positive effects. “I worked up to continuously doing these exercises without a break,” Douglas says. So