Feel Good Report: Boost Your Workout With Power Yoga

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Yoga That's More Than Just Yoga

Yoga is usually associated with peace and calm. From an exercise standpoint, it’s not typically associated with being very strenuous. But you can kick it up a notch. Try power yoga (aka Vinyasa Yoga). Many yoga studios offer power yoga classes that mix in movements designed to help with cardio and strength building. So, your yoga classes get the best of both worlds—the meditative feel of yoga with a more intensive workout. Power yoga classes differ, depending on the teacher, but do share some things in common. “You’re working your body in ways not usually worked,” says Debi Grilo of Green Monkey Yoga.

Expect the Worst, Get the Most out of Marriage?

So much of our happiness in a marriage is essentially determined by expectations. If you set high expectations—that your partner fulfills all of your needs while remaining happy—and the partnership falls short of them, then you end up feeling unsatisfied. Even if your initial expectations were unrealistic. So, should we just lower our expectations? A recent study says high standards can help improve a marriage, but you have to do some work to get there. As the researchers in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin say, communication, as always, is the key. Being direct and up front about discussing challenges in the marriage (rather than being passive-aggressive) can help achieve those high expectations. Ultimately, if those expectations aren’t met through good communication, then it may be time to ratchet down those standards.

Can’t Do Two Things at Once? Try Going for a Jog

A study in Frontiers in Aging and Neuroscience shows that cardiovascular exercise may help improve your ability to multitask.

Finish Your Broccoli, Just like Mom Said

Amazing how study after study leads back to the same refrain that haunted your childhood: “Eat your veggies.” The vast majority of Americans don’t eat the recommended 2 to 3 cups per day of vegetables, despite evidence that it can work wonders for your health. The latest: a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showing that men and women who primarily ate veggies weighed less compared to those with a meat-heavy (or carb-heavy) diet. The researchers hypothesized this is because veggies tend to be more filling and have high doses of weight-loss inducing fiber and antioxidants. It’s not that hard: Eat your peas.

Go Cold Turkey to Stop Smoking

Don’t ease your way out of smoking. Just quit. A study in Annals of Internal Medicine indicated that quitting cold turkey was the best way to break the habit for good.

Stay Steady with These Exercises

Balance is one of the most important things to keep in mind as you’re aging. Staying steady can be one of the best ways to avoid falls leading to further injury. Think of balance like any other skill—you have to work at it. The New York Times recently had some advice about how to keep your balance up. One of the best exercises was tai chi. A study published in Clinics showed that older adults significantly improved their balance after tai chi routines. An interesting side note: Balance was also improved through ballroom dancing—though not as much as tai chi.

Age with Grace in the Future

The problems with living longer, as many people in developed nations are doing, are the ailments that make golden years, well, not very enjoyable. But a group of doctors are trying to discover a new way to combat the challenges of aging. In the recently published book Aging: The Longevity Dividend, the doctors propose focusing on battling chronic disease related to old age, such as cellular degradation or decline in functional stem cells. This would be getting to the root of the problem rather than taking on each disease as it arrives, they argue. Work has started on studying how this could be achieved through medication. Yes, another pill that could end up being the fountain of youth.

Reduce Stress, Ease Your Headaches

With stress come headaches. But it may not be the obvious stress that’s doing you in. Major life events—job loss, death, divorce—can be extremely stressful. But those typically aren’t the triggers of headaches, according to the Mayo Clinic. Instead, it’s the little things. Traffic jams. Annoying work meetings. That too-loud conversation in Starbucks when all you want to do is sit and read the paper. Once you start feeling your muscles tense, your shoulders stiffen, that’s when the headaches come on. Those things can be impossible to avoid. But you can manage your stress through a variety of ways—exercise, good sleep, humor—and, ultimately, manage your headaches.

Need Cheering Up? Avoid Rats

People who saw unwanted rats tended to have higher levels of depression and anxiety, even when all other factors were equal, according to a Johns Hopkins study.