By Micaela English, Senior Web Editor, Town & Country Magazine

True confession, I’m a bit of a “workout commitment-phobe”. I usually find a workout I love (in the past it’s been group tennis lessons, spinning, cardio-based yoga), practice it to death, spend TONS of money in gear/packages, then miss a few classes, and come to the conclusion that I haven’t seen enough results in my physique, and it’s on to something new. This has happened regularly in the 7 years that I’ve lived in New York City, with the occasional 6 month sprinkling of simply not working out. But the truth is, I need to workout, it helps my psyche, it gets my endorphins running, and it’s a great physical and emotional release for me.

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By: Jim Hunter, Payroll Coordinator, exhale

Here at exhale, we try to live healthy balanced lives in and out of the spa + studio. Jim is known around the corporate office for bringing delicious and nutritious lunches to work every day. We stepped over to his desk to get some tips on how to pack healthy lunches for the office.

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By Lauren Cardarelli

Get buffed! There’s no better time than the end of the summer to scrub away dry skin and revive your body’s full complexion. Dry brushing and other exfoliating techniques go beyond skin deep to rid your body of waste and help relieve stress! This month, exhale is making it easier than ever to get a scrub – for only $10, you can add on a scrub when you buy our Month of Mindfulness package (click to details.).

Body scrubs offer terrific benefits to body and mind, including:

remove pore-blocking, dead cells, which are often the culprits behind in-grown hairs, fine lines and wrinkles
increase circulation and stimulate the lymphatic system (your body’s waste elimination network) to decrease inflammation
increase collagen production to combat sun damage, free radicals and pollution.
zen out with the meditative movements of dry brushing

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By: Bergen Wheeler, HIIT 30 creator + exhale’s National Director of Core Fusion Talent Development

Only have 30 minutes? Great! I promise you that in half the amount of time this class will pack all the punch of your 60-minute class. Here’s what to expect from our newest class, HIIT 30:

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Microcurrent technology has been around for centuries, but it’s not until recently that it has made its way into the hands of lead estheticians as a way to not only reduce wrinkles and improve tone and texture, but to also educate facial muscles to lift saggy skin. Exhale’s Lift Facial utilizes this technology and is the perfect choice to achieve an immediate youthful glow before a big event or as a series to whip your skin into the best shape of its life! In the last few years, more and more celebrities from Jennifer Lopez to Kim Kardashian have been seen using microcurrent machines or are known to get electric facial for their red carpet treatments. But did you know that microcurrent came from less glamorous beginnings?

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In honor of September being National Yoga Month, we wanted to bring you a story about perseverance from one of our very own and very best yoga teachers, Edward Vilga. Edward’s story touched the hearts of the entire exhale team. We hope that you find as much affinity and encouragement from his story as we did. And hey, after your done, come try dropping back with Edward himself in your next exhale yoga class.

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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.

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In honor of National Women’s History Month, we are passing the mic over to Exhale’s powerhouse CEO/founder. Annbeth Eschbach is an industry pioneer, a bona fide leader and an inspiring example of where hard work and passion can take you.How do you feel Exhale inspires women? I hope Exhale inspires guests to make wellbeing a central part of everyday life.   Who inspires you? I am inspired every day by the leaders, teachers, technicians, and associates at Exhale. We get to hear an “enlightened friend” anecdote every month on our monthly leadership call. The stories of associates that have gone above and beyond to inspire our guests and one another — are one of the most rewarding moments in my work life. 

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  You’re working hard towards your fitness goals. You have a vision in sight, and the motivation to get there. You’ve tuned up your diet, built time into your day for exercise, and you’ve made the switch from soda to water. Great! But did you build rest into your routine?   A rest day is the one day of the week when you deliberately don’t work out or push yourself hard. Both awake and asleep, rest is important to your fitness goals because it allows your muscles and cardiovascular system to recover and rebuild. Working hard every day to reach your goals without rest may feel like the most productive path, however, it can actually lead to overtraining and injury. So, what should you do on your day off?   Active Rest Days If you’re the type of person that can’t sit still on a day off, you might want to consider planning a bit of active rest into your day. This will allow you to “clean” your muscles of any built-up lactic acid and get in tune with your body at a slower pace. Over time, as your fitness improves, you may even be able to incorporate more intense exercise on a rest day, because it will take more work to raise your heart rate. Keep the following in mind on your active rest days:   • Keep the pace low: You should be able to hold a conversation during active rest activities. A very light jog, hike, or bike ride are all great ideas.   • Watch your heart rate: Below 130 BPM is a normal target. Anything above that can trigger hormones to release which are associated with physical stress, canceling out your goal of recovery.  

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by Edward Vilga There’s an ancient parable about blind men encountering an elephant for the first time. Each feels a different part of the animal––tusk, side, legs, tail, etc.––and each has a completely different take on what he’s experienced. Depending on one’s version of the story, they either come to blows or remain baffled, each person convinced they’ve tasted the absolute truth, yet each confined to his limited experience. The same can be said about experiencing yoga for the first time — you may have heard a lot about its benefits — ranging from increased flexibility to sweaty calorie burning and strength building, to deepened serenity — but you aren’t quite sure where to begin. In fact, yoga classes at Exhale range from offering something deeply sweaty (like POWER), to emphasizing graceful and expansive movement (like FLOW), to exploring stillness and ease (CHILL). How is it that so much can fall under this very broad “Yoga Umbrella?” Indeed, it’s fascinating that something as rigorously demanding as Power (where students could be holding forearm plank for a minute or attempt a challenging push-up variation) to Chill (where 90% of the class is spent lying down and using props), can share the label of YOGA. And yet, oddly the distinctions seem to be relatively minor, given the stronger commonalities the classes share. First and foremost, in any yoga class, there’s a strong and continuous emphasis on BREATH. While in other Exhale classes such as Barre or HIIT, the breath might be mentioned, it’s not usually a continuous part of the instruction. In yoga, however, it’s absolutely central. In Flow and Power, I’m calling out “Inhale” and “Exhale” pretty much every moment, particularly in the sun salutation flow. In Chill, I’m continually bringing the breath into the class’ awareness while holding a deeply still pose or while offering a guided meditation. Blog_0415 Another hallmark of what “makes yoga, yoga” is obviously an emphasis on stretching and increased FLEXIBILITY, even though that can look quite different in each type of class. (One aside: by far, the most common objection I hear about someone NOT taking yoga is that they aren’t flexible enough; ironically, that’s EXACTLY the reason they should begin practicing. No matter what your starting point is — even if when bending over, your fingertips are in a different zip code than your toes — yoga will meet you where you are and allow you to expand and lengthen over time.)

Young woman doing Uttanasana exercise

Interestingly, increased flexibility can be obtained no matter the style of yoga practice. In POWER or FLOW, one warms the body up through movement, allowing for deeper stretching, particularly towards the end of a class. In CHILL,

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