Monthly Archives

July 2021

July 30, 2021
3

DANGERS OF THE SUN

By | Beauty, Health, Travel | No Comments

 It’s once again a rainy weekend. You’re sitting at home and struggling to find an activity that you can do indoors. And then, all of a sudden, the sun starts to shine – the clouds went away to give you the evening you were so hoping for. You put on the summer dress that was lying in the closet for a long time and, without further due, go out to enjoy the sun. What can possibly go wrong?

Most of us tend to think about sunscreen only when it comes to vacation or tanning on a beach, when, in fact, we should be using it every single day ( yes, even when there’s no sun). It’s widely known that overexposure to the UV rays can lead to skin cancer, but not many consider this danger to be real. Moreover, many scientists suggest that excessive sunlight is damaging for acne prone skin as well. Let’s first dig deeper into the UV rays and what they do.

There’re two types of the radioactive UV rays – UVA and UVB. The former are your tan-producing rays, that penetrate the skin deeply and influence pigmentation. These are the rays you should fear, as, even a short exposure, can already lead to the first signs of the premature photoaging. The UVA rays damage the dermis, which causes collagen and elastin to shrink and form wrinkles on the surface of the skin.

The UVB rays do not have such a dramatic effect on the aging process, as they generally reach only the upper levels of the skin. These rays are the ones to blame for sunburns.

After all, yes, sunlight helps us produce the “happy hormone” serotonin and is vital in the vitamin D formation.  But it is important to remember that without an adequate protection you also get yourself exposed to the risks of skin cancer, photoaging and dry skin.

Using sunscreen as a part of your daily routine could help prevent the negative effects while still allowing for that vitamin and hormone production to happen. It can also happen that after a long sunny vacation, your tanned face feels dry and out of shape. Just one facial can suffice to reinforce the blood circulation and enrich the skin with vitamins. Be it our famous “Fingertip Facelift” from Eleftheria or “Therma Vital Mineral” facial from Andrei, we guarantee that you will shine from inside out after it.

Product tip: our partner Dermalogica has a line of spf products that not only protect you from the damaging UV rays, but also have antiaging and moisturising properties. Use our promocode glow5 to get a 5% DISCOUNT.

Stay Safe

Your Glow Concierge

July 24, 2021
3

WHICH YOGA TYPE IS BEST FOR ME?

By | Fitness, Food for thought | One Comment

Chakra, Ayurveda, Nidra, Vinyasa, Tridosha – unless you studied Sanskrit, you probably have no idea how to get your head around so many types of yoga.

If you don’t have time to try all of these yoga types for your own, read this article and discover which one will cater to your personal needs.

VINYASA

Vinyasa Yoga, also referred to as “flow yoga”, is one of the most common practices in the world. Some translate Vinyasa as “to place in a special way”, meaning that it requires conscious movements from each and every part of our bodies.

The Flow Yoga is all about calm and balanced movement. Together with your breath you flow from one posture into another, constantly changing and yet remaining still.

No Vinyasa practice is ever the same. This yoga type is so intuitive and different for each individual that you can even start doing it on your own after a while.

It is best suited for those working office jobs or with the low-activity lifestyles. Vinyasa Yoga brings you back to movement while stretching all the limbs and bones of the body.

CHAKRA

In ancient Sanskrit Chakra means a spinning wheel. According to the yogic belief there are 7 of these wheels surrounding our physical body. They are responsible for the flow of life and energy through us.

Every Chakra is of special significance and regulates the way we experience reality through the different emotions, aspirations or fears.

Therefore, if even one of the spinning wheels becomes blocked, the whole mechanism gets impaired. This can lead to anxiety, lethargy, digestive or other health issues. 

The focus of Chakra yoga is to locate the impaired or even blocked chakras and help you feel like yourself again. This is usually achieved by a combination of asanas, physical movements and meditation.

NIDRA

This practice is best suited for treating anxiety, insomnia and burnout symptoms, as it can be compared to a full 3hour sleep!

In Yoga Nidra you don’t need to freeze in uncomfortable poses for minutes, stretch, use muscle strenghth or do any kind of physical activity. You will start and finish the class lying on your mat.

The main goal of this session is to get you into a deep state of conscious sleep. Unlike meditation, where you normally observe your thoughts come and go, the yoga nidra sleep is the state of conscious dreaming while remaining awake.

Yoga nidra works with autonomic nervous system, which regulates the unconscious processes in our body, like heartbeat or breathing.

A recent study found that while both yoga nidra and meditation had the benefits of reducing stress, yoga nidra was more efficient in reducing anxiety.

AYURVEDA & TRIDOSHA

Practiced all over the world for more than 5000 years Ayurveda is one of the fundamental elements of the ancient Indian teachings. It literally translates as the science of life and well-being.

Ayurveda is based on the principle of three doshas – three pollutants in the human body. Each of these pollutants regulates our skin type, digestion patterns and many other aspects of who you are.

This practice recognizes that every individual has her/his own prevalent Dosha. The Ayurveda and Tridosha practitioners usually access the needs of their clients to develop a unique exercise routine.

This practice is somewhat similar to the flow yoga, with its continuous movements and breathing exercises, but is at the same time more personalized and directed at treating your own disbalances.

As you might have already noticed, yoga is not about getting your body into the perfect shape. Yoga is the science of mental and physical balance, of feeling who you are and what your body needs.

A personal class at your home is the perfect opportunity to dig in deeper into your feelings and discover the hidden imbalances within yourself.

July 17, 2021
3

LEARN BODY LOVE FROM CALLISTHENICS

By | Fashion, Fitness | No Comments

Callisthenics may sound like a fancy and complicated word but in reality, most of us are already doing it as a part of our workout routines. In short, callisthenics is a workout type oriented at working with your own bodyweight.

The name has Greek origins, where “Kàlos” means beauty and “Sthénos” means strength. Many callisthenics lovers suggest that this sport is the pure art of movement or the most natural exercise.

Callisthenics incorporates the elements of gymnastics but is mainly performed outdoors. It focuses on what your body can do rather than how it looks and the result – fit shape, defined muscles and a couple of gymnastic exercises you would never think you can do on top of that.  

If you ever found yourself saying “I would never be able to perform a handstand”, callisthenics might prove you wrong. This exercise routine is mainly based on helping you achieve your wildest fantasies about what your body can do.

PHYSICAL BENEFITS

Let’s take a handstand as an example. This exercise engages arms, shoulders, the core and glutes aka. the most wanted muscle groups!

Callisthenics teaches you to use your body as an integrated unit, instead of just viewing it as groups of isolated muscles. Being able to balance the weight from hands to legs requires not only strength, but also coordination and balance.

A study looked at the benefits of callisthenics on male participants over an 8 week period. The posture, strength and body composition accessed and measured through the before/after comparison of the participants’ abilities. In the end, the men demonstrated a significant body weight loss and posture improvement. They were also better at doing push-ups and pull-ups which indicated the increase in general body strengths.

MENTAL BENEFITS

Many people judge the success of their workout routine by their appearance, but as we already mentioned, callisthenics is not about that. Instead of having to look at your abs after every workout, you test your abilities with each exercise. For example, can you make the push-up better today compared to how you performed yesterday.

This kind of tracking can bring lots of fulfillment and motivation to work harder. And as soon as you master that handstand for the first time, you will get that enormous feeling of joy and would not want to stop for a second.

To sum up, callisthenics is a captivating art of working with your own body, feeling it and taking care of it. This workout teaches you patience, resilience and love for who you are.

With Dan you get a 50% discount on your first callisthenics session! Try it out, and you will not want to stop.

July 10, 2021
3

CUPPING IS ALWAYS IN FASHION

By | Fashion, Fitness, Massage | 2 Comments

Cupping is a massage technique that has been used by numerous celebrities over the years. How do we know? The marks.

The trend first started about a decade ago, when athletes at the Olympics and TV-stars started showing up in the public with colorful circles on their backs. Among the cupping therapy lovers are Victoria Beckham, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and many others.

So what is it about cupping that makes us put up with this colourful after effect. Cupping is an ancient massage therapy first used by the people of China and Egypt. Some suggest that it was used to suck out the venom of poisonous snakes, but it soon became clear that there are way more benefits behind it.

A traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner Ada Ooi in her interview to Vogue states that cupping “… brings in oxygen and nutrients, guides immune cells into the area to loosen tension, and enhances qi [life force] flow in order to aid recovery and healing”

This incredible therapy does not only bring so much good into the body, it also helps flush out toxins. Yes, our body does have its own mechanisms to eliminate the build up of waste. However, modern lifestyle makes it too much for our natural systems. That’s where cupping comes into action. According to Ooi, “It creates broken blood vessels just beneath the skin, breaking up adhesions that are blocking the flow of qi and nutrients to different parts of the body”.

So why has cupping become more popular than a regular deep tissue massage? Some suggest that it’s because of the immediate effects not just on the body but also on your psyche. The unblocked blood vessels and improved oxygen and nutrient flow works well to ensure your whole body feels well.

Glow Concierge has a few cupping gurus of its own. Eleftheria and Alexandra have many years experience in massage therapy and, on top of that, a calming, friendly personality.

Trying this incredible massage technique out has now become even easier. Open glowconcierge.ch in your browser, choose from Cupping or Facial Cupping from Eleftheria and wait for your provider to knock on your door.

July 3, 2021
3

WHY LOVE YOGA

By | Fitness, Food for thought, Health | One Comment

Most of us are well-informed about the benefits of yoga. We associate this activity with healthy lifestyle, flexibility and mental well-being. But sometimes it seems so hard to force ourselves to do it. If you are one of those people who think “Yoga is not for me”, here are some good news! YOGA IS FOR EVERYONE.

Let’s first reexamine some of the benefits in comparison to other physical exercises.

There’s a tremendous amount of research confirming that certain yoga types can improve health through down-regulation of hypothalamic– pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). These two systems are the main responders to stress in our bodies. Therefore, the more often there’s a need for them to work, the more disbalanced your body’s response to triggers gets. This dysfunction then leads to obesity, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, depression, substance abuse, and cardiovascular disease.

Yoga has immediate effects on stress hormones and increase of natural killer cells. Studies even suggest that it reverses the impact of stress on the immune system. Moreover, you can actually feel the change, as yoga has also been shown to decrease anxiety and increase feelings of emotional, social and spiritual well-being.

Many studies have compared the effects of yoga and other physical activities such as fitness, stretching, walking, running or dancing. And, while the results on blood sugar reduction were similarly positive, yoga has been shown to have much greater benefits on the psyche.

In most of these comparisons yoga has been shown to be as effective as or superior to exercise on nearly every outcome measured.

The research conducted on women in labor or experiencing menopause confirmed the ease of the symptoms as well. While the pregnant women practicing yoga experienced an increase in maternal comfort and shortened labor time, the occurrence of hot flashes for menopausal participants reduced significantly.

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT YOGA

Time Consuming

A lot of people who have never practiced yoga believe that it is really hard to choose a studio, yoga type, instructor or the time to start. However, they forget that the main focus of any yoga type is to bring balance to one’s life. It doesn’t matter if you start with Asana Yoga or Ayurveda, your instructor is going to focus on your specific needs.

Thus, all you need to do is click on “Book an Appointment” at glowconcierge.ch and your instructor will come straight to your door and care for a smooth start in your yoga journey.

Women’s thing

Surveys show that men can feel uncomfortable in yoga classes, either because they are surrounded by women or because they do not feel comfortable doing some exercises. Other than that, it is a common belief that if an exercise does not include weight lifting or enormous calorie burn, it is not worth doing.

But as we have mentioned earlier, yoga has many benefits on your general well-being. A skinny, exhausted figure is not a guarantee that you won’t get burned out the next day.

The bottom line is that everybody, men or women, want to stay healthy and yoga is an easy solution for that.

Doesn’t burn enough calories

Maybe yoga will not burn as many calories as an hour of running on a treadmill. But it has been shown that people who practice yoga tend to make healthier nutrition choices. Combine this fact with the lowered stress and blood sugar levels, and here you’ve got all the calories you would have burned doing something else.

Yoga is boring

This one is a classical fear of people willing to start yoga. They view it as standing in one position for 10 minutes without anything to do. However, yoga offers a huge variety of exercises oriented at different muscle groups at once. After all, in 3000 years of existence of yoga there must have been developed some exciting exercises.

To sum up, yoga does not only improve physical and  psychological conditions, but is also a great relaxation technique. It engages many muscle groups while keeping your mind at peace at all times. If you are suffering from lower back pain, cardiovascular disease or experiencing stress, yoga is exactly what you need.

We always test the providers before they start to work with us. So you can be 100% sure that the person who comes to your home has the friendliest personality and is well qualified. If you still haven’t fallen in love with yoga, let them help you make the first step.

Your Glow Concierge