FitSugar

Partner Yoga Pose: Massage Table

FitSugar — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

If your back is feeling sore or tight, you need to find someone to lean on and I mean that literally. Find a willing partner and give this double yoga pose a try. To be honest, when I first saw this pose, I thought it looked boring, but trust me – it feels amazing. Your spine and the muscles in your back will thank you.

There's much more to this pose than you think so for the details

How to Speak Up During a Beauty Treatment

Allure — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:39:00 PDT

We're excited to present this story from our friends at Allure:

Last week, I found myself in an uncomfortable situation while getting eyelash extensions. It wasn't the pads and glue stuck to my face, sealing my eyes shut; it was the complimentary leg rub that almost had me squirming off the table.

For someone with extremely ticklish knees, the rubdown was more grueling than soothing. Having endured a few unpleasant beauty treatments in my time at Allure, I always try to remember beauty news editor Heather Muir's advice: "If you're uncomfortable, speak up!" But sometimes on that massage table it's a little hard to express your discomfort without feeling rude or awkward. We asked experts from Bliss and Red Door Spa how to avoid suffering in silence. To see their advice, just keep reading.

How to Gift Experiences to Newlyweds

Tara Sharp — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:53:07 PDT

We asked our Facebook fans what you'd like to receive as an experience gift in lieu of a traditional wedding registry gift, and you gave some great ideas. While the gift of "eternal happiness" may be out of reach (although nice idea, Sarah!), we can at least provide newlyweds with some momentary romantic bliss with these presents that are more about making memories than making dinner in the kitchen. With our Facebook fans' help we came up with these tips for experience wedding gifts.

The honeymoon - I loved these ideas from Facebook fan Rebecca: "I would LOVE to have different 'experiences' bought for us for our honeymoon like a special dinner under the stars, or a couples massage on the beach . . . the cheesy kinds of things that we could never or would never get ourselves because we're too practical." On sites like Traveler's Joy and Honey Fund, guests can not only put money toward paying for the couple's honeymoon, they can also buy honeymoon activities like snorkeling, spa days, and tours.
Daredevil date - You know how in every Bachelor and Bachelorette season there are a handful of adventurous dates that result in the couple bonding over the experience and learning how to trust each other? Well, you can make that happen for a newly hitched twosome! One site that specializes in these types of excursions is Cloud 9 Living, which offers everything from hot balloon rides to sky diving to race car driving.
Museum membership - Talk about the gift that keeps on giving. On sites like NewlyWish, you can give a couple the gift of art for a whole year with a membership to their local museum. Many museums, like our neighborhood San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, offer gift memberships on their sites.

Keep reading for more experience gift ideas.

Relax Already: Try Reiki

FitSugar — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:30:36 PDT

After being laid off and collecting unemployment for a few weeks, an amazing career opportunity has just fallen into your lap, and you have a job interview tomorrow. Needless to say, you're anxious and stressed, and it's nothing a hot bath or cup of tea can handle. A Reiki session could be just the thing to calm your nerves and release tension from your tight muscles. Reiki is a type of Japanese healing therapy. The word Reiki translates to "spiritually guided life force energy." It's based on the idea that life force energy flows through us and around us (our aura), and it's what nourishes our organs and cells. When the flow of energy is disrupted, that's when emotional and physical issues arise.

A Reiki treatment feels somewhat like getting a massage, although there is minimal touching if any at all. As you lie on a comfy table, the practitioner will place her hands on various areas of your body, but often holds the hands a few centimeters above the body. The hands are kept still for a few minutes before moving to the next position, usually involving the head, front and back of the torso, knees and feet. A session usually lasts about an hour or an hour and a half.

I know it doesn't seem like much is going on, but Reiki practitioners are believed to have the ability and intuition to balance a person's life force energy. Not only does a Reiki session completely relax you (like you've just slept for 12 hours straight), but it can also be used to heal the body. I've experienced Reiki when I broke my thumb, and I swear, it helped relieve my pain.

Have any of you ever tried Reiki?

Wikipedia

iPhone as Vibrator - Love It or Leave It?

TresSugar — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:00:00 PDT

MyVibe is a free and easy-to-use application that spices up the iPhone's built-in vibrator mode. In other words, it turns you iPhone into a vibrator.

The makers of the app must think that clients will also use it for more innocent massage purposes, considering they instruct people to use it "at your desk, on your couch, on the kitchen table (OK, not so innocent), in the car when you're stuck in traffic, at the movies (really?), when your kids are watching TV - and not you, or anywhere else you want a little massage with some targeted stimulation."

There are 100 different vibrating speeds and it comes with an iPhone icon that "doesn't scream vibrator."

Are you ready to pick up your phone and dial into some pleasure?