Fitness & Wellness Blog

By Madison Wright, Core Fusion Teacher + Blog Coordinator Summer is here and the sun is bestowing its magnificent, vitamin D filled rays across all that is outdoors. For those of us living near and above the Mason Dixon Line after those brutally cold winter months, the summer sunshine feels as exciting and obligatory as a massive stack of gifts on Christmas morning when you’re six years old. You know it’s coming every year, but days feel like weeks and weeks feel like months and it just can't get here soon enough! Yes summer sun, we love you and we are thrilled you're here! As with all good things, we must

Here’s our guide to staying healthy during the busiest — ahem, we mean most wonderful —time of the year. THE WORKOUTS   A walk outdoors It’s pretty simple, but there’s nothing we love more than a fall or winter walk with friends and family. It’s a great way to fit in time to be active – even on holidays that seem to be all about the stuffing. Exhale On Demand Working out at home or on-the-go is a little bit easier when your favorite class is literally in your pocket. Hello, Exhale On Demand. Skiing We love skiing – and it burns serious calories, especially if you’re going cross-country. And believe it or not, your Barre practice helps

You know that feeling that nothing else matters? You know the one we’re talking about. It’s like when you’re midway through the thigh section and your quads are burning and you don’t think you can make it through another moment but there you are and you’re doing it, and you don’t notice until it’s over, but everything else that was so important five minutes ago, like the emails you haven’t responded to yet, all the things you’ve still got left to do, just isn’t as important anymore. Instead of worrying about the impression you’re making on others, you start to realize the impression you’re making on yourself. Yeah. That feeling.

By Quyen Ly, exhale esthetician + skincare extraordinaire You've seen it in magazines, social media, and it seems like the newbie on the beauty scene – but if you thought double cleansing was created to dupe you into buying more products, let us enlighten you. It’s quite the opposite, actually. The method is actually centuries-old, and has been popular in Japan, Korea and China for hundreds of years. Recently, it has grown popular here in the states. Double cleansing is exactly what you might have guessed. It means washing your face twice with two different types of cleansers: an oil cleanser or balm first, and next with a water-based cleanser. Usually,

As a positive psychology coach, I help people build flourishing lives by teaching and training the skills of wellbeing. Happiness is not easy because the human brain is hardwired to look for signs of potential threat, a process called the “negativity bias.” Left to its own devices, the untrained mind succumbs to worry, looking for everything that is wrong with ourselves, with our circumstances, and with what could go wrong in the future. Be assured, these negative thoughts are absolutely normal, the result of an evolved neurological imbalance we all must learn to work with! One of the most effective ways to interrupt the negativity bias of the brain is

By: Robert MacDonald, exhale’s rockstar acupuncturist and National Director of Healing Intention is everything. This Valentine’s Day, we think it’s time to give your inner sweetheart a little love. Perhaps it sounds a little corny, but hear me out: too often at this time of year, we are hyper-focused on having the “perfect” relationship – so focused that we lose sight of our own intention. But luckily, the sentiments of this little holiday can be turned into a meaningful tool to manifest the conscious "intention" of love into your own life, in a beautiful and meaningful way. So amid all the cupids, candy hearts and love notes, take a moment to

By Quyen Ly, exhale esthetician + skincare expert extraordinaire My skincare regimen started when I was very young. I think I’ll always remember my grandmother and aunts yelling and lecturing me about their precious face (which is actually my face, too.) In my youth, whenever I had a flare-up or a pimple, they always knew exactly what was wrong. They would either get me a product to treat it, or use acupressure or herbal soups. Here’s how they knew what to do: face mapping. It’s a popular method in ancient Chinese medicine that focuses on the different areas of your face and, judging by the location of the acne or flare-up, can

By: Laura Benge, exhale’s National Spa Director and wellbeing expert Is it just us, or is everyone a little worn out these days? As a new season approaches, we’re itching to rest, reset, and get glowing for spring. And after a cold winter under scratchy sweaters and cold wind, our skin (and our energy) could use a little boost. In just a few minutes a day, there’s an easy at-home practice can make you glow – it boosts circulation, sweeps away dead skin cells, stimulates the lymph nodes, improves digestion, improves the appearance of cellulite, and helps the cells and the body renew and remove waste. The practice? Dry brushing.

We’re all for salads and green juice… but it’s even better when a homemade dessert actually helps us sneak in the veggies. Enter: our Zucchini Lemon Bars. Zucchinis add fiber, vitamins, and anti-inflammatory goodness to this dessert. We also swapped in whole wheat flour and coconut sugar for a better glycemic index (read: no sugar-induced energy crash), and omega-3 rich grass-fed butter.The crust: 4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted grass-fed butter, softened 1/4 c. coconut sugar 1 c. whole wheat flour pinch of saltThe filling: 2 large eggs 1 egg white 3/4 c. coconut sugar 1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice Zest of 1 lemon 1 medium yellow zucchini, gratedDirections: In a medium bowl,

We’ve all heard it a million times: getting enough sleep helps you lose weight, manage stress, and combats the big bad guys like heart disease and depression. But it’s not always easy to get some solid shut-eye — that’s why we’re hoping this bedtime meditation from our resident mindfulness expert, Robert MacDonald, will do the trick.https://player.vimeo.com/video/193549204 Sleep Meditation by Robert MacDonald copyright © Exhale Enterprises 2016 All Licensing for added footage and music under Creative Commons.Running Waters by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Artist: Http://audionautix.com | Lengthened from original duration.Timescapes 001 - Sky, Sunsets, Storm, Moon - free Creative Commons time-lapse and slow raw footage.  CC by Debate FilmsBeachfront