Best Shady Chinese Massage Place in NYC

 Living in New York, I walk past Asian body work places all the time.  I find that they provide the perfect fix for a serious get-the-kinks-out massage after a stressful week and are a good in-between to the $150 hour-long massage at the luxurious spa of your choice and the 10 minute chair massage after your mani-pedi.  Granted, some places look totally shady, and in my opinion, are possibly more in the business of money laundering, human trafficking, or happy endings than reflexology and massage so you need to trust your gut.  I'll also put it out there that you shouldn't expect scented candles, plush robes, or ginger tea après massage either.  This is a service for when your back feels like a pretzel, and the only remedy is going to be a tiny Asian woman digging her elbow into your shoulder blade.

So after a healthy search on Yelp! for a highly rated body work place I came across Taiji Body Work in Greenwich Village.  Why not give it a whirl?  I was completely impressed with this place.  It was very clean and the staff was so incredibly friendly.  My treatment room (which had a movable curtain for couples massage) had nice little touches like hooks and hangers for me to put my clothes and a nice little side-table with lamp for some homey ambiance.  There was even spa music playing, though I could slightly hear some clubby music from next door, but whatevs.  So, for 30 minutes I was completely worked out by my gal.  This is definitely on the 'deep tissue' side of the spectrum as opposed to Swedish, and I am usually a little sore the next day but in my book that means we made some progress.  So, in a nutshell, I think this place is pretty legit, and I will definitely be going back!

Taiji Bodywork

Location: 45 West 8th Street between 6th Ave. and MacDougal

Hours: 10:30 - 12am

Special: $48 for 1-hour massage

PS - I chose the above image only because these places always seem to do the karate chops at the end of massages!  So funny! 

Tracy Anderson Arm Sequence

Hot of the presses from Goop: another Tracy Anderson workout gem.  This time it's a 5-minute arm sequence, and I love how it has a 'right now' song attached as opposed to a no-name 'workout video' song.  I normally do this sequence two or three times in a row (depending on how much time I have) after I do cardio.  You can't imagine how much burn you get by waving your arms around.  You can also feel it in your abs if you keep them actively contracted.  And, as an added bonus you can check out Tracy's new set of boobs.  Those were definitely not featured on the original dance cardio and mat DVD's I have.  Haha.  One of my favorite quotes by Tracy is that if you bulk your arms it just makes more skin to sag later in life, so put your weights down and get to swinging.

 

And, PS--the dance cardio and mat workout DVD's I purchased in January are awesome.  I am a true Tracy Anderson addict, and my junkie status is revived whenever I find a new sequence or video to use. 

Tracy Anderson Method: Day 1

I love running outside. I just do. I love going to the park, running around the neighborhoods, the obstacles of pedestrians, and red lights so I can catch my breath. But, I don't let myself run when it is below freezing...which means I have not run in about two months....which means I am getting mushy. Who better to deal with a mushy body than Tracy Anderson. I ordered both the Dance Cardio DVD and the mat workout and today is officially day 1.

I started with the Tracy Anderson Method Dance Cardio workout, and my plan is to alternate the cardio with the mat workout 5 days a week to achieve my potentially "tiny, dancer-like body" according to Tracy. This is quite exciting because I have never been tiny nor dancer-like in my life. I take that back...I was five pounds when I was born, and that was the last time I was tiny.

So, here is what happened for day 1 of my workout:

- I did the 45 minute tutorial on learning the eight (yes, eight) dance routines that one does during the normal workout. I thought the tutorial was a bit of a workout in itself, and since I am no dancer it is a truly humbling way to spend your morning. I am planning on doing the tutorial again later tonight to try to solidify the moves and improve foot coordination. I am very glad that you can watch the video looking at Tracy's back so you don't have to mirror, you only need to follow.

- I did the warm up section for my "cool down". After the tutorial (aka cardio sneak peak) I thought it a good idea to wind down the muscles.

- I then made the mistake of watching the first bit of the actual full-speed cardio workout. Sheer terror must have spread across my face, because she was doing moves I did not even remember learning at a tempo of some sort of dancer fembot on overload. I am sure dancer-like people look very cool doing this, but I will most likely look incredibly uncoordinated. And, now I know why Gwyneth and Madonna looked completely drenched in sweat apres workout.

- To delay the inevitable, I watched the Gwyneth Paltrow interview, and she said she was completely uncoordinated and had no booty shaking moves when she started (which made me feel much better). She went on to say that since she has been doing the workout for a year she gets it...OMG a year!

So, in twelve months I should look pretty great doing the moves, but I can brace myself for humiliation for the next eleven. It does look fun when Tracy is doing it, so let's hope I am a fast learner. Wish me luck! Will be updating as progress comes along.

Free Yoga in Bryant Park

Who needs to pay for Bikram yoga when you can just have class outside in the summer? Considering the combination of heat, humidity, and violent rain we have had this summer in NYC this is more like extreme yoga than relaxy-stretchy yoga. Check out the free yoga classes in Bryant Park through the end of August. For those of us who have that place to go to called work during the day, we can hit up the Thursday class from 6-7. Get your sun salutations in before the sun sets on the glorious days of summer.

Click here for a full schedule of yoga, tai chi, and knitting classes at Bryant Park

Best Brazilian in NYC

Yep, I am going there. Way down there. South of the equator. I have been to the famous J. Sisters and the way popular (but disappointing) Bliss Spa, and my go-to lady to take care of the hair down there is Mariola at Haven Spa in SoHo. Their Brazilian bikini wax is a very economical $41, and Mariola is really just the best. Enough said.

PS--They are running a special through June 15: Brazilian bikini wax for $25 Monday-Thursday until 4pm.

Haven Spa
Mercer between Houston and Prince
212-343-3515

Tracy Anderson: Fitness Goddess

I am newly obsessed with Tracy Anderson, and well, if you are the personal trainer of Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna you must be doing something that is effective and achieving results because those two have sick bods. Tracy is opening up a studio in TriBeCa this summer, but I heard memberships are $600 a month. Ya, not gonna happen. My three closest freinds and I could have all-access passes to Equinox for that hefty sum. So, I got a little creative and found a bunch of Tracy Anderson workouts, interviews, and meal plans by Googling her. Her goal is to get you to a combination of your tiniest and most toned body, and truthfully, who doesn't want that.

I have been mixing up these workout routines for about a month, and for the first time in 10 years I heard from a friend that I have a flat butt....and I equate flat to small as opposed to the junk in the trunk I was carting around before. I switch off toning exercises with 30 minutes of cardio every other day (who has two hours to work out a day?). Tracy's cardio philosophy is to keep mixing it up to confuse the body. This means not jogging at the same pace for 30 minutes, but combining running with sprinting, skipping, side sashays, etc. This is hard as hell and is a great cardio workout (Just try skipping for a minute! Killer.). I have tried this on both the treadmill and outside on the mean streets of the West Village, and I much prefer the street. I would rather look like an idiot sashaying down Hudson St. than become treadmill roadkill....try side-sashaying on a conveyor belt. I dare you.

Below are the workouts I found on YouTube and Gwyneth Paltrow's blog, Goop. Don't get scared when she says to work up to 100 reps of something. Start small and keep going. You will see results if you stick with it. Anyone can carve out 45 minutes a day to look and feel amazing. It's all about "stick-to-it-tiveness"!






Click here for another great legs and butt workout from Gwyneth's blog, Goop.

Yoga To The People!

With New Year's resolutions just around the corner, I thought I would spill the beans on my favorite hidden gem yoga studio, Yoga to the People on St. Marks Place. Part of me squirms at the thought of letting out my little secret, but it has been featured in Vogue and NY Magazine

It is completely disgusting that most yoga studios in NYC can get away with charging $20-25 for a 1-hour class. Hello--we are in a recession, and I can sit on my butt at the movies for 2 hours for an equally repulsive $12. That is a lot of coin to drop for a few hours of downward dog and corpse pose a week. Yoga to the People is a donation based studio. Notice I said donation...not free. Don't be a cheap ass and decide this is your gravy train to becoming a yogi on everyone else's dime. That's pretty shitty, but not very chic. Donation based means pay what you can, whether that is $5 or $25.

The classes are power vinyasa flow (whatever that means) and will kick your ass. There will be no doubt in your mind that you had an amazing workout by the time your hour is up. Also, calling all ladies and gay gentlemen--the shirtless NYU males are quite a site for sore eyes. I love that they leave the trippy dippy new age "yoga" music and waterfalls in the lobby to other more refined establishments. The soundtrack at YTTP ranges from The Beatles to John Mayer to Hotel Costes and each class finishes with these hypnotizing Tibetan singing bowls. I swear I had an out of body experience listening to them.

Sure, the neighborhood is a little on the grungy side, the studios are in an old townhouse type thing, and the classes are packed, but I love that they have a 9pm class for those of us chained to our desks. There is no reason not to add a little zen to your life in '09 AND a hot yoga body (hello Jennifer Aniston in Vogue).

Yoga to the People is located in NYC and Berkely, but just Google "donation based yoga" for studios across the country. YTTP also has audio podcasts available to download which are perfect for traveling...or if you are counting the days until your next paycheck.

Yoga to the People (how I originally found it) so at least I can't be driven out with pitch forks and torches if the classes are mobbed following my posting.