Blog

Slowing down for restorative yoga

Blog, Fitness, Wellness

Half French, half Chinese and fully Canadian, Flex’s yoga instructor Heloise has been leading a number of restorative yoga classes since she joined back in June. Her combination flow-restorative Recharge & Restore classes have a dual offering of yoga workout and yoga rest, while Yoga Bliss is gentle yoga stretches, restoring the mind and body and including light massage and aromatherapy. For more peace and balance in your daily life, mentally and spiritually as well as physically, explore restorative yoga in one of Heloise’s classes.

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5 Tips for Practicing Arm Balances

Blog

Confession: I have an aversion to arm balances. Aversion (dvesha) according to the sutras, is just another flavor of attachment and one of the ways we create suffering in our lives. While I don’t think it’s necessary to practice headstand or handstand to be a “real” yogi, I do believe that real yoga means practicing equanimity. Confronting our aversions may reveal lessons about acquiring balance in our lives—but we have to start by greeting the challenge.
To approach arm balances, the first thing I needed to change, obviously, was my attitude.

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Coconut Butter Spreads

Blog, Nutrition

When I tell people I make coconut butter, many people say, “That’s great, I love coconut oil.” Coconut oils have become very popular recently, especially for those looking for weight loss, as well as pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. But while coconut oil is an extract taken from the coconut seed, coconut butter is ground sun dried coconut, and retains the sweetness and creaminess of the coconut.
Coconut butter is packed with benefits: lauric acid to boost the immunity, metabolism and energy, as well as amino acids, calcium and magnesium.

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Support the Oceans

Blog, Fitness, Wellness

This year the Jax Sheko Challenge celebrates its ninth year on July 11th and Flex is sponsoring! With the largest amount of pre-registered participants in the competition’s history, the 2015 open water swimming, ridge running and ocean paddling ‘trisolothon’ will be simultaneously highlighting the importance of preserving the world’s oceans more strongly than ever before. “Hong Kong’s biggest natural asset is the ocean, yet for years we have not treated it in that manner,” says Doug Woodring, race director and Director and Co-founder of Ocean Recovery Alliance.

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VIE ACTIVE’s Beach Workout

Blog, Lifestyle

VIE Active is one of our favorite apparel brands here at Flex. The mix of high performance fitness fabrics and the gorgeous, fashionable Bondi-cool look is a sure-fire winner. The apparel brand’s co-founder Noa Ries walks, or rather runs, jumps and leaps the talk, and here her beach workout session is taken from her blog.
There’s nothing like a beach session with your besties to motivate you to workout! VIE Active co-founder Noa, takes us through her favorite beach workout on the sand.

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How Pilates Helped Me Be A Better Opera Singer

Blog, Fitness

Joyce Wah-Sheung Wong has been living in Hong Kong for seven years since relocating back here from the US. A professional opera singer for over eight years, she is a regular freelance singer and often works with Opera Hong Kong. She is currently playing the part of Extra Nun in the cast of The Sound of Music, which is playing until 21st June, and will be singing the role of Despina in the upcoming performance of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte on August 30th at City Hall.

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Summer Eating the Smart Way

Blog, Nutrition, Wellness

A Canadian trained registered dietitian working in nutrition for over 15 years, Denise Fair has lived in Hong Kong for seven years. She works in all areas of nutrition from weight loss, eating disorders and behavioral eating, to child nutrition, diabetes and sports nutrition.
“The best approach to eating smart is to start paying attention to the food choices you are making every day and reduce the processed foods and toxins you are putting into your body from the get go.”

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TOP 10 TIPS FOR SUMMER TRAVELING

Blog, Lifestyle

Most of us have a summer vacation planned, whether it’s a staycation, road trip, or vacation to the beach. Vacations and traveling can be tricky. If you’re not prepared it’s easy to veer off track with the healthy habits we’ve integrated into our normal daily living. The first step to take when traveling is planning. Just as you would plan ahead to get a hotel, a car, or book activities, apply the same planning to your nutrition and exercise while on the road.

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Drop weight… Just by breathing

Blog, Wellness

Not many people are aware of this, but pranayama is one of yoga’s most powerful practices. From the Sanskrit ‘prana’ meaning life force and ‘yama’ meaning control, controlling our breathing ensures we keep feeding our prana (qi, life force) with oxygen, making a significant impact on the wellbeing of our body, mind and spirit. “In terms of yoga techniques, asanas don’t have nearly as much of an impact on your health and mental wellbeing as Pranayama,” says Michelle Ricaille, yoga and pranayama instructor at Flex.

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