Well+Good NYC

Back-to-school healthy care packages

Well+Good — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:04:53 +0000

For late-night study marathons, spicy cashews will give students a boost.

College students can put away food like the pros at a Coney Island hot dog eating contest. And they’re not known for binging on kale, cashews, or granola. They’ve got the salty, sugary food groups covered, so how do you send a fun care package that’s still healthy?

One Lucky Duck and its back-to-school College Care Pack stuffed with raw, organic snacks. Satisfy Dorito cravings with Cheese-y Quackers made from almonds, flax and a blend of spices. Spicy Cashews are a high fiber, high protein alternative to nachos.

Cinnamon Crispies and Honey Bunches Grawola make a perfect healthy on-the-run breakfast when late night studying keeps your student from the dining hall. There are even classic treats like chocolate chip cookies, which are raw and free of butter, white flour, and white sugar.

One Lucky Duck even throws in a hint to get the gym in the form of a stainless steel BPA-free water bottle. With care packages like this, the Freshman 15 doesn’t stand a chance. —Lisa Elaine Held

College Care Pack, $85, order via One Lucky Duck

Investigating Reiki, one of the spa menu’s most mysterious treatments

Well+Good — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:08:09 +0000

Heather Alexander used to be a BBC foreign correspondent before she became a Reiki Master, the name for the most senior level teacher of this form of energy work. Reporting on the Bush administration and its wars took a toll on her well-being, and Alexander embarked on a healing journey that sounds a lot like a Buddhist’s path. Now she’s a leading New York City practitioner.

Reiki had a similarly transformational role for Open Center instructor Joanna Crespo, who’s also an ambassador for the Japanese-based healing method. She takes issue with the “flakey Reiki” characterization, reminding people that it was created by a Buddhist monk in the 1920s. For Crespo, Reiki is about “physical healing, but ultimately it’s more about getting in touch with your own truth.”

Heather Alexander, Reiki Master and former foreign correspondent for the BBC

For a lot of people that sounds more like the Landmark Forum than a massage treatment. Which it’s not. A massage therapist works on your muscles, while a Reiki practitioner works on your energy body—that ineffable part of ourselves that we feel most when, well, on the subway when some crazy guy is staring at us. Alexander sees energy as something that comprises us entirely, so when she’s working on clients, she’s just facilitating a flow of openness. Crespo says the client “draws the Reiki, or spiritual energy, through the practitioner.”

Moving your energy doesn’t require muscle-kneading massage, warm lavender oil, or any physical contact whatsoever. In the session, the completely passive and reclined client is doing the work, says Alexander. “I’m the battery charger, but you’re the battery,” she says while holding her hands over my head, on my shoulders, and at my feet. I suppose the analogy’s fitting: I usually do feel recharged after a session.

A stand-alone Reiki treatment (about $100) feels a bit like a guided meditation—only no words are used. I find it’s really satisfying when it’s paired with treatments like skin-calming facials where downtime can be used to de-stress or as part of a holistic spa ritual. (I’ve had great Reiki therapists do this in Australia and Arizona.) And if I were working toward a personal goal to get cleaner eating, fitness, and spiritual habits, I could see how a weekly session of Reiki would help with that.

Joanna Crespo teaches Reiki at the Open Center

Chi or energy knows what it’s doing. “You don’t tell your white blood cells to rush to a wound,” Alexander says, about our effort to control our difficulties. “As in Buddhism, thinking is form of disconnecting. The goal is to be as much energy as possible.” In other words, clearing yourself of negative habits, like worry, fix-it-ness, ruminating thoughts—all just energetic junk food—makes you feel calmer, makes things simpler, and possibly healthier. (Though Alexander does not believe in diagnosing.)

Reiki might be for best for those inclined to self-exploration—or rigid Type-A control freaks that are looking for ways to learn to be more open. (Hillary Clinton is a prime candidate for energy work.) “If you want to get to the point of being in the now, Reiki’s a supportive route for that,” says Alexander. “It’s widely used to support the body’s healing practice—mind and body.” That’s probably why Reiki currently has its strongest foothold in the palliative care and hospital settings.

As for its place on spa menus, the esoteric and super subtle practice probably won’t be replacing a Swedish massage anytime soon. Even if it could do a world of good.—Melisse Gelula and Alexia Brue

To take a Reiki course or book a Reiki session with Heather Alexander, visit www.brooklynreiki.com. To take a course with Joanna Crespo, visit www.opencenter.org, or to book a session contact her directly at joanna_crespo@westlb.com.

Kombucha migrates from beverage to beauty aisle

Well+Good — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:30:50 +0000

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It may have been banned from the Whole Foods beverage aisle because of a kerfuffle over its alcohol content this summer. But now kombucha is cropping up in the beauty aisle as the latest tonic for healthy skin.

Just what can kombucha, a fermented beverage made with black tea, sugar, and a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts, do for your skin?

It’s an antioxidant (like many teas), a skin firmer (that’s thanks to the yeast), and a skin brightener (that’s the sugar). And many proponents of the probiotic beverage say it’s good for creating an alkaline (read: healthy) pH.

Here are three natural brands making use of the health tonic for your mug. More good news: none has the drink’s signature skunky smell.

Juara (www.juaraskincare.com), a natural line inspired by Indonesian beauty rituals and ingredients, has long used the fermented sweet black tea as an anti-aging ingredient in its skin-care products like the Juara Sweet Black Tea Eye Cream. It tightens skin and reduces the appearance of lines and wrinkles, say the founders, who also brew their own ‘buch. (It’s not used for the products, however. Just guzzled by them.)

Marie Veronique Organics (www.mvorganics.com), a seriously lovely apothecary-style skin-care line, uses kombucha extract in many of its anti-aging products like the Moisture Serum. That’s because kombucha may help boost the skin’s hyaluronic acid levels. (Hyaluronic acid plays a role in skin hydration and plumpness.) So kombucha helps keeps skin smooth and healthy looking.

Emergin C (www.emerginc.com), a spa brand that kicked off with a focus on vitamin C, now favors kombucha as a key ingredient. The health tonic appears in EmerginC Scientific Organics Kombucha Cleanser, part of the new Scientifics Organics range that includes smoothie-worthy ingredients like spirulina and goji berry.
— Melisse Gelula

Waitlisted natural beauty product creates serious buzz

Well+Good — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:39:23 +0000

A waitlist for a new and ever-popular La Mer skin-care serum wouldn’t faze me. But I did a double-take the other day in C.O. Bigelow when I saw a woman adding her name to the list for the launch of a totally natural beauty product. Viva la revolucion!

Natural beauty brands tend to play up their great ingredients (taking the moral high ground approach to marketing?). But the anticipation brewing around the new serum by Nude, a London-based line that touts the power of probiotics—yes, the live bacteria cultures found in yogurt—feels like the approach of a big-deal department store brand. It’s too soon to say if my press sample is pulling this off, but the ingredient list looks promising.

In fact, Nude’s new Nude Advanced Cellular Renewal Serum ($92) kind of reminds me of Estee Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair (only without the chemicals). Both are designed for use at night during the skin’s natural cycle of repair and renewal, and tout the presence of hyaluronic acid, a super-hydrating ingredient. And both put the price tag at upwards of $100.

The buzz-generating waitlist for Nude's new night-time serum, at C.O. Bigelow

I might be the only one who sees it this way, but I’m glad to see a beautifully packaged all-natural line take a department-store marketing tactic. When there are high-quality natural and organic substitutes for traditional beauty products getting the attention of a bigger audience, it’ll make the choice perfectly clear. Or in this case, naked.

Nude Advanced Cellular Renewal Serum, $92, launches on Sunday, September 12th, 1pm – 4 pm at Barney’s New York, Madison and 60th Street, Lower Level. Attendees can receive a mini Nude facial and meet Nude’s co-founders (Ali Hewson, of the organic fashion label Edun, and Bryan Meehan, of the UK organic grocer Fresh & Wild).

Can a 20-minute workout be effective?

Well+Good — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:41:54 +0000

The TRX system makes for an intense and effective 20-minute workout

I know you’re not ready to think about how busy you’re about to be this fall. But Geralyn Coopersmith has some good news for time-starved New Yorkers—sometimes 20 minutes is all you need for a good workout.

In fact, says Coopersmith, it’s becoming a more and more popular way of training, even for the very fit who typically dedicate more time to their workouts. Coopersmith, who holds a master’s degree in exercise physiology and six fitness certifications, is Equinox’s Major General of Fitness, responsible for all of the gym’s trainers. She’s also the author of Fit + Female: The Perfect Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type.

Last spring, Coopersmith enlightened us on the relationship between workouts and sleep. We caught up with her again to talk about the effectiveness of 20-minute fitness crams. Although we’re not suggesting you forgo your hour-long Brooklyn Bridge Boot Camp or 90-minute yoga classes, we bring you these three tips for those long days at the office when 20 minutes to workout is simply all you’ve got.

1. Make short workouts high in intensity.

Intensity and duration should always be inverse to each other, Coopersmith says. Just like you wouldn’t sprint for an hour, a light jog for 20 minutes won’t be very effective. A short workout should combine cardio and resistance training, and rest intervals should be almost nonexistent. “These 20-minute high-intensity workouts are not only efficient, they also really stoke the metabolic furnace,” she says. Meaning you’ll burn calories more quickly, even at rest.

Geralyn Coopersmith, the trainer's trainer.

2. Train with tools like kettlebells and TRX.

Training tools can make short-intensity workouts easy, Coopersmith says, who likes kettlebells and loves TRX suspension training. “I love the TRX because it attaches to a door frame, and you can work your whole body in a metabolic circuit.” In fact, when I spoke to her, Coopersmith was on her way to the Jersey Shore for the long weekend, with her TRX riding shotgun. Not going to invest in a fitness system? Coopersmith suggests using a jump rope, free weights, or a step. (Any secure step in your apartment building or outside will do.)

3. Don’t go it alone.

There are a ton of video resources available to help you focus. TRX comes with videos for a all kinds of time frames. Coopersmith suggests using Youtube for 20-minute workouts to accompany kettlebells and other intervals. “Just check that the person in the video has good credentials or some indication of certification,” she says. In other words, not a celebrity. —Lisa Elaine Held

Doga during the Dog Days of summer

Well+Good — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:01:36 +0000

We couldn’t resist. The hot, sultry Dog Days of summer make us think of doga, or yoga for your canine BFF. Both adorable and ridiculous, doga pictures are irresistible. So check out these shots of canine chaturanga and puppy pigeon pose. Namas-dawg!

Seated spinal twist

"You said that use of props is fine."

Teacher to student: "In happy baby pose, you need reach up and grab onto your own feet."

Getting an assist for handstand.

Pet as prop: Twisting triangle

Super active legs in plank pose

Kula Yoga Project brings its killer classes to Brooklyn

Well+Good — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:30:55 +0000

Schyuler Grant, founder of Kula Yoga Project

Kula Yoga Project, known for its ass-kicking classes and seriously intelligent teachers, is opening a second studio. Come September 16th, Nikki Vilella, a long-time teacher at the popular Tribeca studio, will partner with Kula-founder Schuyler Grant in heading up Kula Yoga Project Williamsburg. That’s big news for a tiny studio—and great news for half the Kula faculty, which pretty much resides in the hipster hood.

It’s not a franchise, clarifies Vilella, a Columbia economics grad who’s always wanted to run a studio. “It definitely feels very much like Kula. Teachers are the same. The cramped changing rooms are still the same,” she jokes, before divulging what will set it apart:

Nikki Vilella, co-owner of the new Williamsburg studio

Kula Williamsburg has showers (one per change room)—“sometimes you want to go out after your vigorous yoga practice,” says Vilella—as well as a sauna, which evokes that communal yoga retreat feeling.

And while Kula Tribeca has a more of a Moroccan vibe, Kula Williamsburg pulls from a Catskills country house aesthetic. Literally. To add reclaimed wood floors to the bare concrete space, Grant and Vilella bought a farmhouse slated for demolition. They ended up hauling back a giant barn door that now separates one of the two practice studios from the lobby, as well as beautiful banister, carriage lights, and a circular stained glass window.

The new studio will also have a small Hyde Yoga shop, the first for the NYC yoga clothing line, and a vegetarian café and juice bar called the Shanti Shack. “Creating a place to hang out after class was definitely a goal,” says Vilella, which is why the Chelsea-Market-type location in the Old Mill Building at North 3rd Street was chosen. “It’s not just about practicing next to other people. For a lot of yogis, the purple fuzzy couch in Tribeca studio has become a hangout. We wanted to build out the community hangout options here.”

A window reclaimed from a Catskills farmhouse gives the new studio its country-house, yoga-retreat vibe

The new studio has come along in just two months and is news to a lot of New York City yogis. Even those practicing at Kula, like Andrea Aguilar. “I only just learned the news. And it came as a very nice surprise,” says Aguilar. “I’m completely hooked on Kula and have happily crossed the river to take classes. Now, to know that I will only have to cross a couple of blocks, makes me very happy.”

Kula’s not been purposefully closed lipped about it, says Vilella, who’s been nose to the management grindstone, trying to create the new studio class schedule with 17 yoga teachers. But Kula’s expansion into Brooklyn isn’t the only news, it seems: Word is that the Wanderlust Festival, co-created by Grant, is also expanding. (And we hope to bring you early intel on that, too. Stay tuned!) —Melisse Gelula

Kula Yoga Project Williamsburg, 85 N. 3rd St., between Berry and Wythe, opens on September 16. Attend free classes all day long and stick around for a party. For more information, visit www.kulayoga.com

Mind-body dream team combines life coaching and yoga. And you get $10 off!

Well+Good — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:20:22 +0000

Elena Brower

When it comes to figuring out what you want in life and how to make it happen, sometimes two heads are better than one.

That’s why Elena Brower, the passionate founder of Virayoga, and Laurie Gerber, president of Handel Group coaching, whose clients include creative, spiritual and business types, have put their master minds together for Design Your Life from the Inside Out.

The September 12th workshop is intended to provide “an exceptional life coaching experience and a revolutionary physical and spiritual practice”—in other words, the recipe for figuring out what your dreams are—and the tools for getting you there.

Laurie Gerber

We’re so intrigued by this mind-body pairing that we’re attending. The duo promise no tough meaning-of-life questions while in wheel pose.

Cost for the 3-hour workshop is $50, or just $40 for Well+Good subscribers. Download more information about Design Your Life here, and reserve your spot with Virayoga. Remember to mention Well+Good to get the discount.

Wear your yoga clothes, bring a mat, and a notebook and pen, and we’ll see you there!

Design Your Life from the Inside Out
Date: Sunday, September 12th, 12:45-3:45 pm
Location: Virayoga, 580 Broadway (b/w Prince & Houston), Ste. 205
Cost: $50, non-refundable; $40 for Well+Good subscribers. Register in advance (space is limited) with Virayoga 212-334-9960 or staff@virayoga.com

3 ways to hold onto your summer bliss

Well+Good — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:10:54 +0000

Jill Satterfield, founder of Vajra Yoga, the brand-new School for Compassionate Action, and a fixture at the Tibet House, gives Well+Good three tips for holding onto what summer sanity and sense of relaxation we’ve acquired. So come fall craziness, we’ll all have a few of the tricks that accomplished yogis and meditators and the Dalai Lama have at the ready. Be them, now.

1. Savor, don’t gulp, a piece of summer fruit.

Take a bite of summer fruit, like a peach or a melon, and chew it slowly, allowing it to almost dissolve in your mouth. Normally, we eat so quickly. But if we take our time, we can really be transported into an awareness of taste, the sense of taste. Plus it’s way of pausing to enjoy last bits of what summer’s given us.

2. Hug a tree (just a little).

Go outside and find a tree. Put your hand on the trunk, and then stretch your arm out, so you get a nice stretch across your chest. Then, while you’re stretching the next arm, take a look up at the green leaves while we still have them. You’re creating a healing connection with nature, which is far easier to do in the summer than it is in the winter.

3. Meditatively walk to the subway.

Before everything gets revved up in the fall, slow your pace and really take notice of where you are, rather than just going from point A to point B. (Or gabbing on your phone.) While it’s still warm, slow down, because before we know it, we’ll be huddling indoors and back to rushing from place to place. —Lisa Elaine Held

Lady Gaga focuses on eating healthy

Well+Good — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:20:08 +0000

We're hoping Gaga's new diet does not include Miracle Whip

Lady Gaga may be replacing her post-workout brewski with a VitaCoco, according to People.com’s report that she is newly focused on eating healthy.

Gaga’s choreographer, LaurieAnn Gibson, told People.com that the mega-star’s diet is centered around “salsa with grain chips, tofu, turkey slices, hummus and coconut water.”

Now all she needs is a new stimulant to replace her occasional use of cocaine, a tiny not-so-healthy behavior the popstar recently disclosed to Vanity Fair. May we suggest a yerba mate? Or heck, a latte?