Actionable steps to elevate your well-being.
1. Strengthen your pelvic floor.
Your pelvic floor muscles play significant roles in your body’s functioning, but they’re difficult to pinpoint if you’ve never learned how to activate them. Strengthen your pelvic floor and gain confidence with Equinox’s Pilates Rise, a contemporary Pilates class that also requires and builds a high level of athleticism. “What we were chasing was the intensity of a [Megaformer] class but in a way that still stayed super loyal to the classical Pilates foundations, where you're talking about a mind-body connection. You're talking alignment. You are talking about beautiful form, super technical,” says Chelsea DeLay, a certified Pilates instructor and personal trainer in New York City. READ MORE
2. Lift your mood with music.
One scientific paper that took into account 14 different studies about music and mental health found that listening to classical music lowers cortisol and overall feelings of anxiety more than sitting in silence. Researchers also found that people who listened to happy or relaxing music after a stressful situation reported being able to manage the stressful event better than people who didn’t listen to any music. “Listening to music is something passive that can really lift our spirits,” says composer and breathwork expert Chad Lawson. READ MORE
3. Breathe with intention.
Focusing on the inhales and exhales of your breath helps ground you in the present moment. A 2023 study found that implementing a slow breathing practice for 12 weeks significantly reduced psychological stress in participants. Targeted techniques like diaphragmatic breathing and box breathing can also enhance strength, endurance, and clarity. READ MORE
4. Prioritize movement all day, every day.
Challenge yourself to incorporate movement snacks: quick, semi-planned bursts of exercise and mindfulness throughout the day to break the habit of staying in one position. They only need to last two to six minutes to give you mental and physical benefits. Beyond fighting off adaptive shortening, quick bouts of exercise trigger autophagy, notes Pamela Peeke, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. The process rids your body of cellular debris and stimulates the production of stem cells, the primary regenerative cells in your body. READ MORE
5. Train for firmer skin.
You probably know by now that strength training is essential for improving muscle and bone health, plus enhancing cognitive function. But there’s another under-the-radar reason you should pick up a set of weights: Resistance training is linked to strengthening skin. READ MORE
6. Dance to destress.
“You’ll not only see a boost in feel-good endorphins from moving your body, but you’ll also reap the benefits of expressing yourself freely and with vulnerability,” writes Michael Gervais, the Senior Director of Group Fitness Programming at Equinox. “Because it happens in real-time, there is a feeling of immediacy and presence, fostering a deeper connection with the flow of life. READ MORE
7. Boost recovery with fascia training.
“Fascia training consists of myofascial massage, stretching, elasticity, and proprioception [or the sense of self-movement],” says Ali H. Mesiwala, M.D., a board-certified, fellowship-trained neurosurgeon at DISC Sports & Spine Center (a partner of Red Bull Athlete Performance Center). “Through these methods, one can improve movement, reduce pain, and increase flexibility. Fascial training can also help to reduce injuries by making tissue more elastic and less stiff. We utilize these principles with many patients post-surgery as part of their physical therapy and rehabilitation.” READ MORE