December 12, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC It’s zero percent unusual to turn to spiritual-healing methods to replenish your energy when you’re feeling down. Maybe whenever you need some guidance, you pull up your horoscope, or you might think to unblock your chakras and strike a stronger energy flow. What you may not have considered, though, is the power you can strike by calling upon chakra elements (pairing your zodiac sign’s element with its corresponding chakra) to achieve balance. As it turns out, it’s very possible to marry star signs with chakras, and Jess Holzworth, a yoga and meditation practitioner at Miravel Arizona, finds this holistic approach to be a sound method in living well. “Ayurveda believes the body is made up of the five Earth elements, so just as the Earth feeds off the elements, so do we,” she says. To break down her thought a bit further, of the seven chakras, five have nature-related elements (with the two exceptions being the third-eye chakra and the crown chakra). “Root chakra is Earth, home to your safety, security and stability,” says Holzworth. “Sacral chakra is water, home to your creativity, passion, emotions, sexuality, sensuality, and pleasure. Solar plexus chakra is fire, home to your power and vitality. And heart chakra is air, home to compassion, gratitude, love, joy, and serenity.” While the throat chakra is space, which is a nature-related element, the focus on the first four is of special note because those mimic the four astrological elements, or triplicities:
Tag: Well+Good
Can switching to organic bedding really change your life? I tried it to find out
December 12, 2019 at 04:30AM by CWC When you imagine your perfectly comfortable dream bed, what does it feel like? For me, it’s plush and cloud-like, while not being so squishy it feels like I’m sinking into a bottomless foam pit when I lie down—and covered with sheets that feel like a (not too hot) hug. The mattress I’ve had for the last several years covered off on all those points… when I first got it. After many nights of snoozing, it’s started to lose some of its plushness, and an imprint of my body has worked its way into the pillow-top to the point that I automatically roll to the middle whenever I get into bed. And my sheets? Let’s just say they haven’t held up too well after countless washes. As I began looking into replacements, I realized I might want to be as cognizant of the ingredients in my mattress (and sheets, pillows, etc.) as I am of the ingredients I stock in my fridge—you know, considering that I face-plant on it every single day. I might want to be as cognizant of the ingredients in my mattress as I am of the ingredients I stock in my fridge. Here’s the deal: Conventional mattresses are often treated with chemical flame-retardants and made from materials that can emit volatile organic compounds—AKA not things I want in my bedroom, especially considering the average person spends a third of their life sleeping (and with a strict 9 p.m. bedtime, I
The wearable metric you should always check before leaving the gym
December 12, 2019 at 02:00AM by CWC Your calendar may not always leave you a whole lot of breathing room. But if you’re scheduling your first meeting 15 minutes after you finish your morning workout, Joshua Clay, trainer and founder of Woke Coaching Systems, wants you to take one crucial step before exiting the gym or workout studio. When the trainer answered the question of what to do after working out (as in, the moment you finish stretching), he suggested checking the heart rate function on your wearable. “Taking the time post-workout to reduce my heart rate to near resting levels allows me to kickstart the recovery process instead of walking out the door with an elevated heart rate,” he wrote on Instagram. “Most of us spend all day on the ‘gas,’ ensure you’re using a proper cool down to press the ‘brake’ pedal.” Your resting heart rate (RHR) is “the number of times your heart beats per minute when you’re at rest,” explains the American Heart Association (AHA). People in “excellent physical condition” have resting heart rates between 50 to 70 beats per minute, says Jennifer Haythe, MD, director of cardio-obstetrics and internist at NYPH/Columbia. Let’s say yours is 63 BPM. You can measure the effectiveness of you cool-down by how close you come to lowering your heart rate back to that resting state. If you’re close—off with you! Move on with your life. If you do your heart rate check and find that your body’s still reeling from your
Your attachment style can impact how you handle a breakup—here’s how
December 12, 2019 at 01:00AM by CWC Ever wondered why you take quite awhile to get over a breakup while your ex jumps into something new pretty much immediately? And maybe you envy your friend who—even though you can tell she’s sad—seems to process her feelings in a rational way you could only dream of accomplishing for yourself? It turns out that one big factor at play for navigating the roller coaster of breakups is relationship attachment styles. There are four major attachment styles—secure, anxious, fearful-avoidant, and dismissive-avoidant—which are essentially part of your subconscious makeup. They can inform how a person forms interpersonal relationships and deals with conflict, intimacy, breakups, and everything that comes with the complicated mess of romance. Once you know your attachment style (you can take an online quiz like this one to find out), you can stand to understand more about why you react the way you do when relationships come to an end. Secure Secure individuals generally know how to cope with their emotions in a healthy way. “Essentially, secure attachment styles use breakups as an opportunity to understand what they need in a relationship in order to be happy,” says relationship expert Monica Parikh, who adds the these learnings can inform what these people do and don’t want in future partnerships. “Secure attachment styles use breakups as an opportunity to understand what they need in a relationship to be happy.” —relationship expert Monica Parikh Of course, this doesn’t exclude grieving from the process—breakups are hard
Your derm-approved guide to creating the perfect skin-care routine for acne
December 12, 2019 at 12:00AM by CWC If you’ve ever had to look your complexion in the mirror and call a truce, you’re not alone. At the first sign of a pimple, acne-prone skin can flare up with inflammation or additional reactionary breakouts. This is why crafting a skin care routine for acne is an art that takes plenty of research on which beauty ingredients are your skin’s friends and which are best left on the shelves. “It’s important to know which products to use [if you have acne],” says Michele Green, MD, a New York-based board-certified cosmetic dermatologist. Although the enormous selection of beauty products and buzzy skin-care ingredients is tempting, you can’t just slather any old ingredient on acne-prone skin and call it a day. First of all, Dr. Green says it’s important to make sure the product label says oil-free and non-comedogenic. “Non-comedogenic products are formulated in a way that avoids breakouts or clogs pores,” she says. That should be your baseline when shopping. As for what else to avoid? Anything aggressive. “Harsh or abrasive products such as exfoliating beads should be avoided if you have acne,” says Dr. Green. These, she explains, would be those that contain extra-drying ingredients, like sulfates—which, she says, “can damage your skin’s natural protective barrier and result in severe irritation.” Those with acne-prone skin should also steer clear of oil-based products, artificial fragrances, dyes, and alcohol-based products. Dr. Green points to coconut oil, almond oil, shea butter, and mineral oil as
There’s only one month a year when it’s acceptable to drink eggnog—here’s how to do it vegan, dairy-free, and delicious
December 11, 2019 at 11:00PM by CWC Even if you’re the type of person who likes listening to Christmas music year-round, even if you put your tree up when there are pumpkins on your porch, even if you don’t understand the backlash against Love Actually and are committed to defending it as the best movie of all-time, it’s still socially unacceptable to whip up a batch of eggnog in any month other than December. It just is. Could you imagine if someone offered you the velvety drink in the height of summer, when everyone else is drinking coconut juice cocktails? Or in February, as a Valentine’s Day after-dinner drink? There’s a reason why it’s restricted to the holidays: when else does warm milk sound appealing other than when the weather is outside is frightful? A glass of eggnog is delightful on a cold winter night whether spiked or spirit-free. Traditional eggnog is made with egg whites, egg yolks, heavy cream, whole milk, sugar, and an optional shot of brandy, whiskey, or rum —definitely not a combo that was crafted with vegan or dairy-free eaters in mind. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with rich and creamy vegan eggnog recipes. Dairy-free and vegan eggnog recipes that are rich and delicious Photo: Minimalist Baker 1. Coconut milk maple eggnog All it takes is 10 minutes and six ingredients to make a batch big enough to serve a dozen party guests when you follow this eggnog recipe from Minimalist Baker’s Dana Shultz.
The 9 healthy cookbooks of 2019 that inspire us to eat and live well
December 11, 2019 at 09:23PM by CWC A good cookbooks is one gift that never goes out of style. With hundreds of healthy cookbooks released each year, it’s hard to know where to start. I’ve done the legwork for you, paging through many of my favorites to find not just the best recipes, but the books that serve specific dietary needs with creative recipes and gorgeous photography. The books rounded up here are timeless, the best of the best, the ones bound to be the gifts that keep on giving for years to come. These are the best healthy cookbooks of 2019 1. Well+Good Cookbook by Alexia Brue and Melissa Gelula Did you know Well+Good has a cookbook? It has 100 amazing recipes by friends close to the brand. A very small sampling of what you’ll find tucked inside: Lea Michele’s shaved radicchio, Parmesan, and truffle pizza; Elle MacPherson’s chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries, and cacao nibs; and Well+Good co-founder Alexia Brue’s CBD strawberry smoothie. Pretty epic, right? 2. The Blue Zone Kitchen by Dan Buettner Take a literal page out of a book inspired by people who live to be over 100. Blue Zones expert Dan Buettner has been preaching their healthy lifestyle tips for years, but this is the very first time he’s releasing a cookbook. It hits shelves December 19, so there’s no chance the foodie on your gift list has it yet. 3. Whole Food Cooking Every Day by Amy Chaplin This elegant book has a
Lizzo is entertainer of the year, and she’s also my personal mental health hero
December 11, 2019 at 07:44PM by CWC I’ve listened to 14 hours worth of Lizzo songs this year. That number includes the all the times I blasted “Truth Hurts” when I knew sending a text to an ex was a bad idea, danced naked in front of my mirror to “Tempo,” cried on the subway platform to “‘Cuz I Love You,” and pumped myself up on my morning commute with a playlist that consisted of “Soulmate,” “Juice,” and “Good As Hell.” So it was no surprise to me—or, based on the Internet’s reaction, to anyone—that the fearless singer was named both Entertainment Weekly and Time Magazine‘s “Entertainer of the Year” on Wednesday morning. In addition to being my top Spotify artist, she copped eight Grammy nominations, landed on the covers of British Vogue, Elle, Essence, Billboard, Allure, and brought down the house with her performances (and outfits) throughout 2019. Culturally speaking, there is no denying that Lizzo is important: She’s made unapologetic waves “celebrating her black skin and ample curves” in a world that has traditionally been dominated by thin, white women, and has become a symbol of positivity in every sense of the word. There’s a reason that Instagram is replete with #LizzoIsMyTherapist memes, a sentiment that, for me, rings overwhelmingly true. Lizzo’s music has become a critical part of my mental health since I first heard “Good As Hell” in 2018, fresh off of a breakup and deep in dark thoughts. In the last two years, she’s taught me that it’s okay
A trainer shows us how to tell if your kettlebell is too heavy for your workout
December 11, 2019 at 06:48PM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsO6GM0DeWg] Choosing the right kettlebell can often feel like a Goldilocks-level feat: If you go too light, you wind up short-changing your workout; and if you go to heavy, you tap out before your desired number of reps… or worse, you hurt yourself. And so, it’s important to go jussst right with your weight. The best way to figure out what that is? The kettlebell rack. Racking a kettlebell involves picking up a kettlebell using one hand, and is the basis for pretty much every other move you’ll do with the weight. If you’re automatically doing it incorrectly, it’s a good sign that the kettlebell you’ve picked is too heavy for you. According to trainer Roxie Jones, there are three common mistakes that people make in their kettlebell racking that serve as clear indications that they need to go lighter: They need to use their other hand to assist in lifting it, their elbow is sticking way out to the side to support the weight, or the bell is swinging wildly over their shoulder. “Picking up your weight the right way is how you’re going to proceed with the rest of your workout, and if you’re not doing that correctly, you’re probably going to do the rest of your workout incorrectly,” says Jones. “And then you’re probably putting strain on your other muscles that you don’t need to be working.” Watch the video above to see the right way to rack a kettlebell,
The answers to Google’s 5 most-searched makeup questions of 2019
December 11, 2019 at 06:35PM by CWC A person’s search history can reveal a lot about them. Like, do they prefer hot yoga or classic vinyasa? Are they a 20-step chef or a 3-ingredients-or-less kind of person? In 2019, Googlers sought out “how-to” beauty tutorials from the world wide web, and I feel personally validated to report that we’re all very, very confused about how to apply makeup. The top beauty questions from Google’s year in search report (shared with Well+Good via email) reveals mystification surrounding the topics of primer, toner mascara, and more. Below, beauty experts break down the basics so that, come January 1, 2020, you’ll have a brain full of beauty knowledge. You asked, we answered—here’s how to apply makeup 1. The deal with toner According to Joshua Zeichner, MD, a board-certified dermatologist, you really only need toner if the water pressure in your shower is super hard. Otherwise, skip it! “Toners are liquid skin-care products that have a slightly acidic pH to balance the skin’s natural pH level,” Dr. Zeichner previously told Well+Good. “The outer skin layer, referred to as the acid mantle, has a pH of about 5.5. Harsh scrubs, true soaps, and even hard water can disrupt the outer skin layer, alter the pH, and cause inflammation.” To apply your toner, pour a small amount on a cotton round and apply it gently on freshly-washed skin. 2. Um, so do I need a primer? A primer is the base coat for your #lewk. While it’s