Photo Credits: Health Yoga Life: Mae Hogan; Sleepbox: Peter Chambers
Mindfulness is the wellness watchword of the day, but that wasn’t the case when the four Bielkus sisters were growing up. “We were raised by a mom who meditated before it was very popular,” Vyda Bielkus recalls. “It was not something most people had heard of. I remember very specifically, my friends would be over, and I’d be like: “Shhh, my mom’s meditating!” Mom Ryma taught Vyda and her sisters Aida, Siga and Zara to meditate as teens, and today the five women continue to rely on their meditation practice as the founders of five-year-old Beacon Hill yoga studio Health Yoga Life. “As we started to have more busy lives, we really used meditation as an anchor to help us manage stress,” Vyda explains. “We see it as such a valuable tool.” So when their second studio opens this month inside the new Novartis building near MIT, it will offer not only a fleet of yoga classes, but also drop-in meditation classes catering to the area’s biotech researchers and innovation-minded entrepreneurs. “When you have a very high-stress career—and in this area of the city, people are really moving and shaking and working in this high-tech innovative space, working tons of hours—you need a way to reduce your stress levels,” Vyda says. “Instead of taking a coffee break, you can take a meditation break.” It’s an idea that’s gained traction in LA and New York, where meditation studios like Unplug and MNDFL have popped up. The Bielkus crew, who plan to offer one or two half-hour meditation classes a day to start, are excited to offer an accessible entry point in this busy corner of Cambridge. “It’s a great way to start a meditation practice, to be in a class where you can be with a teacher who can give you some guidance about any questions that come up before or after and to really have a sense of ‘OK, I’m taking this time and making this commitment to have a meditation practice in my life.’ ”
Meanwhile, the techies at CIC Boston and Somerville’s Canopy Workspace will also soon have a new spot to take a meditation break—or even catch a catnap. The co-working spaces are slated to be the first in the U.S. to welcome Sleepbox, a 45-square-foot soundproof “napping cabin.” The units have been used for several capsule hotels in Europe, but in moving to the American market, the startup is setting its sights on offices. “We’ve seen that with more open workspaces, people lose the opportunity to step away from the desk to rest or recharge, have some time to themselves so they can focus and get some work done or just block out some of the other distractions,” says Sleepbox co-founder Peter Chambers, who hopes Arianna Huffington’s book The Sleep Revolution and research on the important of rest to productivity may lead some employers to see an upside to sleeping on the job.
New Year, New You
Wellness Trends to Watch in 2017
By Improper Staff Jan. 13, 2017
(Re)Treat Yourself
The practice of yoga has long been described as transporting, and yogis have been taking that concept literally, inviting disciples to join them on trips to exotic locales for intensive yoga retreats. Last spring, boho-chic lifestyle brand Free People launched FP Escapes, a new travel/wellness offshoot that’s led retreats to Nicaragua, Mexico and, in our neck of the woods, the Berkshires. Local yogis are taking that cue too. Take Karen “Shanti” Caiazzo of JP-based Shanti Yoga Boston, who’ll be leading a yoga retreat in Panama on March 18-25. “Prana de Panama” will offer twice-daily yoga classes, morning meditation, restorative massages, fresh cuisine prepared by a local chef and plenty of time for beachside reflection. A June retreat to the Colorado Rockies (dates TBA) promises fresh vegetarian and vegan meals, twice-daily Asana yoga classes and mountain hikes followed by dips in an onsite hot tub. Or you could get a taste of the pura vida with Afro Flow Yoga, which is hosting two weeklong retreats to Costa Rica this winter at Omega’s Blue Spirit center in Nosara (Jan. 28-Feb. 4) and the Vista Ballena Hotel in Uvita (Feb. 5-11). The former will feature daily workshops by internationally recognized wellness teachers, the latter a week of meditation and reflection bolstered by work with therapeutic vocals and percussion. Yoga lovers who’d like to pair their Zen with a bit of culture can look to Boston Yoga School founder Ame Wren, who, among other trips, will co-lead a weeklong retreat (June 10-17) to the southwestern countryside of Dordogne in France. Attendees will enjoy farm-to-table meals, morning and evening yoga sessions, day trips to local medieval villages and, naturally, wine tasting and winemaking. Those who’d like to renew their spirit without renewing their passport can stick closer to home when Back Bay’s Balans debuts its first retreats this spring and summer at Arcadia River House in the woods of Hope Valley, Rhode Island. Hosted and led by Balans founder Marie Aspling, the two retreats (dates TBA) are set to include yoga, meditation, healthy home-cooked meals, hiking and more.
By Improper Staff
The Sound Check at Catalyst
Zero-Proof Potables
Health-conscious locals looking to cut out or cut down on the booze are in luck: It’s a fine time to be a teetotaler, with more menus offering mocktails as tasty and celebratory as their high-proof neighbors. “It was important for us to have thought-out drinks for people who are choosing not to drink alcohol because we want them to have fun too!” says Ryan Lotz, beverage director at the South End’s Bar Mezzana. “We wanted to be able to put that menu down in front of our guests and feel like we had well-balanced drinks that were interesting; too often the request for a mocktail ends up being some sort of soda-cranberry-lime concoction that is delicious, but everywhere.” So principal bartender Jenna Rycroft put together a list of options like the Bramble Berry Spritz, featuring ginger, blackberry, lemon and Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic. “It’s spicy and refreshing, with a bitter edge from the tonic,” Lotz explains. “It’s nice to have something with a little bitterness on the mocktail list because it’s so often a flavor you don’t get to enjoy in beverages if you’re abstaining from alcohol.” Meanwhile in Cambridge, the bar team at Catalyst, having noticed an uptick in regulars on the wagon for Dry January, just debuted a trio of nonalcoholic tipples, including the Sound Check, made with carrot juice, coriander seed soda, lemon and fresh coriander. “I came up with the idea for the Sound Check while making an Indian carrot dish and thought, ‘This would be great as a drink!’ ” says bar manager Curtis Hancock. And over in Concord, Woods Hill Table beverage director Andrew Rich is offering a maple and pine soda, featuring house-made syrups crafted with ingredients foraged from the restaurant’s namesake New Hampshire farm. Not that thoughtful nonalcoholic concoctions are entirely new of course: Craigie on Main has long devoted menu space to selections such as Hi Honey, I’m Home! (hibiscus, lemon, crystallized ginger-infused agave nectar and mint), Island Creek Oyster Bar to the likes of Abigail’s Delight (a soda of pineapple and housemade orgeat). And the pastry team at L’Espalier has been squeezing juice alternatives to wine pairings, like lychee mint lemonade and Concord grape ginger, for more than 35 years.
By Improper Staff
Putting R&R to Work
Photo Credits: Health Yoga Life: Mae Hogan; Sleepbox: Peter Chambers
Mindfulness is the wellness watchword of the day, but that wasn’t the case when the four Bielkus sisters were growing up. “We were raised by a mom who meditated before it was very popular,” Vyda Bielkus recalls. “It was not something most people had heard of. I remember very specifically, my friends would be over, and I’d be like: “Shhh, my mom’s meditating!” Mom Ryma taught Vyda and her sisters Aida, Siga and Zara to meditate as teens, and today the five women continue to rely on their meditation practice as the founders of five-year-old Beacon Hill yoga studio Health Yoga Life. “As we started to have more busy lives, we really used meditation as an anchor to help us manage stress,” Vyda explains. “We see it as such a valuable tool.” So when their second studio opens this month inside the new Novartis building near MIT, it will offer not only a fleet of yoga classes, but also drop-in meditation classes catering to the area’s biotech researchers and innovation-minded entrepreneurs. “When you have a very high-stress career—and in this area of the city, people are really moving and shaking and working in this high-tech innovative space, working tons of hours—you need a way to reduce your stress levels,” Vyda says. “Instead of taking a coffee break, you can take a meditation break.” It’s an idea that’s gained traction in LA and New York, where meditation studios like Unplug and MNDFL have popped up. The Bielkus crew, who plan to offer one or two half-hour meditation classes a day to start, are excited to offer an accessible entry point in this busy corner of Cambridge. “It’s a great way to start a meditation practice, to be in a class where you can be with a teacher who can give you some guidance about any questions that come up before or after and to really have a sense of ‘OK, I’m taking this time and making this commitment to have a meditation practice in my life.’ ”
Meanwhile, the techies at CIC Boston and Somerville’s Canopy Workspace will also soon have a new spot to take a meditation break—or even catch a catnap. The co-working spaces are slated to be the first in the U.S. to welcome Sleepbox, a 45-square-foot soundproof “napping cabin.” The units have been used for several capsule hotels in Europe, but in moving to the American market, the startup is setting its sights on offices. “We’ve seen that with more open workspaces, people lose the opportunity to step away from the desk to rest or recharge, have some time to themselves so they can focus and get some work done or just block out some of the other distractions,” says Sleepbox co-founder Peter Chambers, who hopes Arianna Huffington’s book The Sleep Revolution and research on the important of rest to productivity may lead some employers to see an upside to sleeping on the job.
By Improper Staff
App-y Days
There’s no need to bemoan the resolution rookies who have arrived at gyms en masse this month, overtaking coveted front-row class spots. MoveWith, the popular Boston- and San Francisco-based platform used by instructors to advertise workout classes, has debuted an audio class series called MoveWith Now that records bootcamp, meditation, barre, Pilates and yoga classes for users to play on their phones.
Currently available in beta, the service officially launches in February, when the public will have full access to instructors from across the country, including Boston’s own David Magone, Rich Downing and Naomi Rotstein. “Audio classes give movers more opportunities to work out with the teachers they love and discover new incredible teachers who aren’t necessarily near them,” says MoveWith’s Charlotte Winthrop. “MoveWith Now connects you with authentic, passionate teachers who are creating high-quality audio classes that you can do on your own terms.”
But before you even work up a sweat, you can also use your phone to start chipping away at those extra post-holiday pounds with Snap It, a beta release from Boston-based food-tracking app Lose It! that (unlike your Instagram followers) encourages you to upload pictures of your breakfast. Snap It analyzes the photo, generating the name and quantity of each item on the plate. “The holy grail is a system which can automatically recognize the specific foods, nutritional values and quantities in a photo,” says Lose It!’s Elyse Winer, explaining that the more users upload pics, the more likely an ID of “sushi” will one day be refined to “six-piece spicy salmon avocado roll.” And with users reporting twice the weight loss results as those who don’t use the Snap It feature, you may soon be ready for your own close-up.
By Improper Staff
Power Plants
Meat eaters may finally have met their match. Come late February, chef and cookbook author Chloe Coscarelli will bring the first Massachusetts outpost of her fast-casual restaurant by CHLOE. to the PricewaterhouseCoopers building at 101 Seaport Blvd., followed by a second spot in the Fenway neighborhood. Coscarelli will be serving her signature sweets—which made her the first vegan chef to win Food Network’s Cupcake Wars—in addition to a stable of plant-based brunch, lunch and dinner dishes. The Seaport’s 48-seat space will sport the brand’s colorfully kitschy and Instagram-worthy interiors, but you can expect a few things not found in the New York flagship. Says by CHLOE. co-founder and creative director Samantha Wasser, “We are working with one of our talented contributing chefs, Candice Hutchings, the Edgy Veg, to create playful vegan twists on a few iconic Boston beloved dishes.” As for Wasser’s personal favorite dish, she currently leans toward the newly debuted Nicoise salad with chickpea “tuna.” But she suggests those new to vegan fare start with the guac burger, a black bean, quinoa and sweet potato patty that’s topped with corn salsa and chipotle aioli. Adds Wasser, “Order it with a side of our air-baked French fries, and we can promise you won’t miss the meat.” Pass the beet ketchup, please!
Prefer to eat in? Needham meal kit company Purple Carrot just teamed up with Forks Over Knives, the brand born of the 2011 documentary that delved into T. Colin Campbell’s China Study and inspired Purple Carrot founder and CEO Andy Levitt to leave behind his pharmaceutical career. While the subscription service has always been plant-based, it’s now offering recipes that follow Forks Over Knives’ dietary guidelines, including a focus on whole foods and excluding added oils, bleached flours and other refined foods. The first installment debuts Jan. 16 with tweaked options like an Ethiopian platter with berbere lentils and beet pickles as well as “fabcakes” made with chickpeas and hearts of palm and served with collard slaw and Old Bay aioli.
By Improper Staff
Mall Rats, Meet Gym Rats
Photo Credit: Yogaworks: Sasha Juliard
To think that speedwalking seniors were once the only ones getting a workout at the mall. FIT on the Garden brought free yoga and Pilates classes to the Pru during the summer. Come spring, Somerville’s Assembly Row will open FitRow, a 15,000-square-foot home for five boutique fitness studios, including Title Boxing Club, which offers both boxing and kickboxing classes, and Orangetheory Fitness, which delivers heart-rate-monitored, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) via treadmills, row machines and floor exercises. Three other tenants are still TBD, but a Squeeze Juice Company bar will be pressing produce from an onsite garden maintained by Green City Growers. Meanwhile, Chestnut Hill’s The Street is about to welcome a YogaWorks location, soon to be joined by outposts of Btone Fitness—whose workouts are performed on the Megaformer machines favored by Hollywood physiques—as well as Barry’s Bootcamp, another HIIT hub that alternates treadmill time with strength training. And less than a mile away, the bygone Atrium mall is being transformed into the Life Time Center, which will house medical offices and Life Time Athletic, the company’s third and largest Massachusetts location at 129,000 square feet. Slated to open in the spring, the facility will include seven studios for yoga, cycling, Pilates, barre and other group fitness classes, along with an LT Medical department offering chiropractic and physical therapy services, a spa, a cafe and 400 cardio and resistance machines lit by the same skylights that once greeted shoppers.
By Improper Staff
That’s Hot
Yogis have long had the hots for 100-degree sweat sessions, but now local studios are heating up off-the-mat alternatives. At Studio U, a 50-minute barre class held in a 95-degree room proved so successful when it debuted in the Boston studio last year that they’re hoping to offer the class in the Newton location as well this winter. “We found that our students love the heat, especially during the cold winter months,” says executive director Katie Flanagan. “Students love to sweat and love that detox-type feeling, similar to what they get in a heated yoga class. The heat makes students feel like they are working harder and getting a little more of that cardio feel to their workout.” The same thinking applies downtown at B/SPOKE, where you can hop on a bike for a 45-minute HOT R/DE spin class in a dimly lit 84-degree room. The hill-heavy workout prioritizes resistance over speed, loosening muscles and increasing fat burn. T-shirts are optional, so use that extra room in your gym bag for a spare water bottle…or three.
By Improper Staff
Ready to Wear
Wearable tech continues to take off as more wrists are wrapped in trackers like the WHOOP Strap, a Boston-born device tracking data on sleep, strain and recovery that launched consumer sales in November after gaining ground among pro, college and Olympic athletes. And in February, Boston-based New Balance’s Digital Sport Division will launch its inaugural wearable, the RunIQ smartwatch. But a new local startup, Tyme, is taking a different tack, working on smart apparel equipped with chest and abdomen sensors that track your breathing, sending data to your phone for feedback on factors like rate, volume and chest vs. belly technique. “We’ve learned that long-term yoga practitioners breathe in a fundamentally different way than normal people, and that people new to yoga take years to get to that level,” says co-founder Arnar Larusson, who’s been pilot-testing the first production batch of machine-washable tank tops at some local yoga studios. “The hypothesis that we’re testing now with our studio partners is, can a technology like ours accelerate the process toward improved breathing in someone’s practice?” Time will tell.
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