La-La land
When it comes to what we all now call wellness,
LA is the mother ship; the fiery crucible in which the best new crazes are forged. Here are three that have caught our eye.
MICRO-HIIT
This could be of particular interest right now. The original HIIT recommended time was 20 minutes three times a week, rather than the hour-plus we’d all previously been blocking off for the gym. Now, there’s a vogue for two-to-three-minute sessions, to be fitted in anywhere — while waiting for your toast to pop or someone to return your call. The benefits, apparently, are: the healthy stress your body undergoes during intense exercise triggers autophagy, which rids the body of cellular debris and stimulates the production of stem cells. And the more stem cells you have, the better you are able to induce super autophagy.
As for what to do for your micro-HIIT, we’re loving skipping, but racing up and down stairs will work too. Apparently Chris Hemsworth, pictured above, is a fan.
NEXT-GEN MEDITATION PODS
Here’s another we like the sound of. For all those who find the switching-off part of meditation difficult (all of us?), these pods, which are now popping up all over and have taken quantum leaps forward in their use of smart tech, are a kind of cocoon using LED lights to help regulate the nervous system and the production of melatonin and cortisol. Guided meditation sessions are paired with a special soundtrack using binaural beats in varying frequencies to help direct the mind into the kind of brain state usually only achieved by master meditators.
EAR SEEDS
You might need a leap of faith for this one. The latest reflexology trend to hit LA is the placing of delicate dots of pure gold onto strategic parts of the ear, something that will apparently positively affect kidney function, energy levels, sleep, anxiety and general mood.
These gold-plated ion seeds are left on for up to a week, and come with a diagram indicating which parts of the ear correspond to which areas of your body.
The idea is you choose, depending on what problem you want to address and which part of your nervous system you’d like to stimulate. The recommendation is that you see a trained acupuncturist for a proper consultation first. Easy-to-use, pain-free — no needles, just sticky patches — Gywneth was apparently an early adopter. They may not change your life, but they are kind of cute-looking.