Kristen Geil

After the whirling, overindulgent carousel of Thanksgiving, holiday parties, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve, it’s no wonder that January has become a month dedicated to eschewing alcohol in favor of non-alcoholic mocktail recipes. In fact, it’s estimated that around 3.1 million Brits started Dry January on January 1 this year — and judging by my social media feeds, I’d say that’s a lowball estimate for the number of Americans participating too.

In 2017, being a cynic was the status quo. Whether you were on Twitter, reading headline news or chatting with your cubicle mate, people bemoaned the state of the world as if dementors were clouding overhead at that very moment. As the saying goes, misery loves company.
And I get it — it’s usually way easier to be pessimistic than to be optimistic, or to moan and groan about something rather than search for a silver lining. When faced with a difficult or inconvenient situation (currently: stu...

When I joined the rest of the aSweatLife crew in studying for the NASM personal training exam, I already knew that my interests lay more towards the group fitness end of the spectrum, rather than personal training. I knew that (at least in the beginning) I’d want the support of a group training community and easy access to trainers who’d been in the biz for awhile, without worrying about selling myself and booking one-on-one sessions.
And thanks to the helpful tip of an aSweatLife ambassador ...

File this one under “things you don’t want to hear while recording a podcast entitled #WeGotGoals”:
We’ve actually stopped using the word “goal” at The Junto Institute.
“Cool, cool,” I thought to myself, as I mentally face-palmed during my interview with Raman Chadha of The Junto Institute. “This is fine. Everything is fine.”
Chuckling a little at my dismay, Chadha went on to explain that his team had shifted towards using the word “priority” in place of goal. They’d found that their apprenti...

When you hear the phrase “children’s health,” the first things that probably come to mind are all physical: childhood obesity, Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” movement and the sniffles, sneezes and uncovered mouths that make adults reflexively cringe during cold season.
But over the past few years, as adults have expanded the definition of “health” to include mental and emotional wellbeing, a similar movement also started in preschools and elementary schools across the country: mindfulness tec...

Nearly a year ago, we started the #WeGotGoals movement as a series of blog posts (and a few months later, a podcast) by asking some of our favorite go-getters two simple questions: what’s a goal you’ve achieved in the past that you’re proud of, and what’s a goal you’re working towards in the future?

With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror, it’s officially the start of holiday season. Shopping, parties, wrapping, gift exchanges and more are filling up your calendar, and with it, an unfortunate reality: holiday cheer ain’t cheap.

Adorableness aside, elephants are intelligent, social and caring animals that we could all stand to emulate a little bit.

Let’s get one thing straight: I’m definitely not an exhibitionist. Crop tops aren’t really my style, and I feel uncomfortable just thinking about posting a bikini picture on Instagram. In yoga classes, I wobble in tree pose, silently in awe of the yogis confident enough to practice in only their strappy sports bras and patterned leggings.
So working out shirtless? Yeah, not my immediate instinct.
But when a broken AC turned my high-intensity training studio into a veritable sauna, I got despe...

Along with falling leaves and first snowfalls, there’s another annual occurrence that helps me mark the changing of the seasons: the first time I brush my hair in the morning, only for it to float to a staticky cloud above my shoulders.

Sometimes it’s okay to talk out loud to your shoes.

It was my last day of vacation, and after a week of nightly wine, rich foods and much less activity than I’m used to, I was doing what any self-respecting health nut would do: signing up for classes in a near-frenzy, planning a full week’s worth of workouts before my phone had to be turned to airplane mode.

I’m fidgeting at my desk, my fingers twitching as they almost unconsciously click through each of the 17 open tabs on my laptop. Beside me, a textbook is open to page 312 and has been for the last 20 minutes and a pile of flashcards remains unsifted through. One of the tabs stays open during my entire procrastination session: a practice quiz for the NASM personal training certification exam, which I’m planning on taking for real next month … if I can focus long enough to learn all the stages ...