RelaxLah Wellness

18/09/2025

Out of curiosity, I went and got some laser “toning” on my face. To make sure my skin heals well I can’t exert myself too much. And I look hideous, so no gym for me. 😩

But I can’t not workout either! So here’s my slightly heart rate raising routine that has gotten me through the past couple of days. Works great as a travel/hotel room routine too if there’s no gym. 💓

NO EQUIPMENT NEEDED.
“DANCE” MUSIC RECOMMENDED.

Note: If the descriptions sound cheesy it’s because I’m testing out AI 🫣

11/09/2025

Here’s an interesting study on how high intensity exercise can save your life!

Exercise may not only help prevent cancer but also could fight it at a cellular level.

01/09/2025

This past year in Korea, I’ve been studying both Eastern and Western exercise science material relating to perimenopause/menopause.

The etiology of one of the symptoms, hot flashes, is still a mystery. But most researchers agree that estrogen decline contributes most significantly to vasomotor symptoms.

Western medicine prescribes hormonal drug interventions and both aerobic and resistance exercise, with compelling findings that resistance exercise is the best treatment.

Eastern medicine treats menopause-related symptoms a little more holistically, by viewing an individual’s yin or yang deficiencies, mainly in the kidneys. Qi being the primary source of life, one exercise prescription for hot flashes is the practice of qigong.

Armed with this info, I plan to pursue a combination of both approaches in an experiment to see which works better. Or perhaps, the answer lies in a combination of the two.

I’ll keep you posted!

27/03/2025

I stumbled upon this article in IG and thought it was worth sharing. Not everyone can be a marathon runner at any age really, but I loved one thing that she said.

“… she added that she regularly runs with friends who are 40-50 years old. “I forget how old I am, because physically, I can keep up with that,” she said.”

Aside from her amazing VO2Max and other factors, this is probably one of the strongest explanations for her remarkable ability - the refusal to accept that “aging” means giving up or not trying hard at exercising because we’re “too old”!

Rice, who ran a world record in the marathon in the 75-79 age group last year, has an incredibly high V02 max.

20/03/2025

Judging by the number of elderly folk who shove me aside vigorously on the subway train, I totally believe this study! 😏🫣🤭

(Half) Kidding aside, evidence of this healthy aging appears everywhere in Seoul - the elderly are walking quickly up subway stairs and/or hiking briskly up mountains; they cook and eat fresh vegetables bought from the traditional markets, and get rid of their stress by just speaking their minds. I often see them at the gym too.

What would it take for the many older folks elsewhere who are sedentary to start moving more?

The physical health of Koreans in their 70s in 2023 was similar to that of people in their mid-60s 12 years ago, according to a study by a Korean medical expert released Tuesday. Lee Yun-hwan, a professor of preventive medicine and public health at Ajou University School of Medicine, presented his s...

10/03/2025

On International Women’s Day, I heard and read a few laments from women around my age about the difficulty of weight loss. We exercise, eat well, but nothing budges on that scale.

⏸️ Indeed, anyone going through perimenopause or menopause knows of these weighty struggles. 😏

⚠️ But maybe we need to think a bit more about WHY we want this weight loss.

❓Is it so that we can look better? Or feel healthier?

✅ If the latter, then we should be working on building our overall physical and mental strength.

💡Because once you start becoming healthier, you WILL begin to look better.

🔎 Some questions to ask ourselves:
* Are you really eating enough protein?
* When counting your calories from carbs, are you including those from alcoholic beverages?
* Are you getting enough sleep?
* Are you feeling stressed out all the time?
* Are you getting in at least either 90 mins of vigorous exercise or 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week?

➕➖ALL these factors and many more affect our “weight” (and of course genetics but that’s out of our control).

💗 Mindfully ask yourself these questions each week. And take care. As the Koreans say, Hwaiting! 💪🏽

01/02/2025

❗️The path to Gujo Hachiman Castle (Japan) was a winding uphill trail that was preceded by a lot of stone stairs. We had 10 minutes to complete a normally 20-minute hike. Thanks to having consistent cardio workouts, I was able to jog up that hill and not die 😂

✅ Once again, it really hit home the importance of keeping up with regular cardiorespiratory exercise!

⏯️ I know I haven’t been too active here but I’ll be posting more soon. It’s been challenging trying to figure out the next move while living in Seoul, but I’m looking forward to enjoying a fun, active 2025 with you! Happy Lunar/Lunisolar New Year!