LADIES WHO LUNCH PowerWomen TAKE Hakkasan

Posted by Lisa C. on Aug 2, 2012 in BEAUTY, HEALTH & FITNESS | 0 comments

On July 19^th I had the pleasure and honor of being invited to share a table and lunch with fellow bloggers and some hard core accomplished women. The event was planned by Behrman Communications at top notch PR firm specializing in beauty, wellness, health and fashion located on Madison Avenue in New York City. http://www.behrmancommunications.com I interviewed with Behrman back in 2007 and ended up working for Cohn and Wolfe instead. If they ever want to start a Miami office I’m putting it out there… I want IN!! I’d work for them in 20 seconds and here’s why.

First, I get an e-mail inviting me to the event as I read the e-mail I learn that transportation will be provided to and from a lunch at Hakkasan at the Fontainbleau. Transportation to and from an event IN A TOWNCAR?? Whaaat?? This rarely happens in Miami. Transportation is reserved for celebrities and notables. In New York the streets are filled with Lincoln Towncars taking executives and anyone who prefers to travel via towncar as opposed to taxi. I had my own Korean towncar driver I’d use for rides to the airport for vacations and for late night in NY when I needed a ride home after a happy hour. But this is Miami and here we see Vespas and banged up Mitsubishi Gallants and of course Ferraris, Maseratis and Lamborghinis.

Oh wait, it gets better. The car service called me twice. Once to confirm and then when they arrived. AND it arrived on time. Ahhh this day was all that I long for, New York efficiency with palm trees and eternal summer. I missed New York and I missed working at PR firms that planned media events like this. It was like a military operation. Different women all over the city were being picked up all to meet at the same time to share a meal and get some inspiring amazing information.

When I stepped into the towncar I was offered cold bottled water. The car smelled like vanilla and leather and it was immaculate. The air conditioning was cold and perfect. We made our way to Hakkasan. There is a saying “It’s not the destination it’s the journey.” Well, I LOVED THE EVENT BEFORE I EVEN ARRIVED.

When I rolled up to the Fontainbleau,  it was buh bye New York and hello Miami. The staff at the front of the Fontainbleau was it’s typical disorganized mess so I just blew past them sauntered into the hotel and made my way up to Hakkasan which if you’ve never been, is a convoluted route of walking and elevators.

 

The second I walked into Hakkasan poof I was back in New York. I was greeted with “hello, you must be here for the luncheon.”  Yes yes. Thanks! I was escorted to a table where about 15 other women were seated. We would eat and then special guest speakers would introduce themselves and discuss what they do with tips and an open dialogue.

The guests at the table were Dr. Wendy Lee, Co-Director University of Miami Cosmetic Medicine and an assistant professor of ophthalmology is an oculoplastic surgeon. This means she is the lady you go to when you notice your eyes drooping and aging. She also is the lady to see if you slip fall while running with scissors.

She was at the table to speak about Dysport which is an injectable treatment for wrinkles is made from neurotoxin (botulinum toxin type A). Dysport (formally Reloxin) received the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as a wrinkle treatment in the spring of 2009, but it has been smoothing out facial folds and lines in Europe, South America, and elsewhere for several years. This injectable was originally developed in the 1990s to treat neuromuscular disorders. Now it is used to make women look either as if they were in a really bad windstorm or amazingly fabulous all aglow and wrinkle free. Dr. Wendy Lee is the kind of doctor who looks at bone structure and the overall look and function of a person’s eye area. She doesn’t believe in a one shot fits all approach to treatment.

Dr. Lee explained that Dysport is used for the frown lines or squint lines that form with age. For people who live in sunny places or spend loads of time skiing or breathing after age 35 they may find wrinkles around the brow area especially between them.

Prescription Dysport temporarily improves the look of your frown lines without changing the look of your whole face. Untreated facial muscles still work normally. Miami is a plastic surgery mecca. In New York it seems like it’s reserved for the socialites and people who have careers in the entertainment industry. Real worker bees in New York don’t seem to inject, pull and snip until they hit their 40’s and then they go away for a week and come back looking like madam or miss piggy.

With just 1 injection into each of 5 points between and over the eyebrows, Dysport blocks the signal from the nerve to the muscles, ultimately resulting in a reduction of muscle activity and temporarily preventing contraction of the muscles that cause frown lines. You should not be treated with Dysport more frequently than every 90 days.

Treatment with prescription Dysport can temporarily improve the look of your moderate to severe frown lines. Treatment generally takes just 10 to 20 minutes. To check out some more info and results on Dysport click here.

http://www.dysportusa.com/before_after/proven_results.aspx

Kino MacGregor is a hard core yogi here in South Beach who travels the world challenging people to bend and breathe their way to spiritual enlightenment. She is one of a select group of people to receive the Certification to teach Ashtanga Yoga by its founder Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India. She’s the youngest woman to hold this title,  Kino has completed the challenging Third Series and is now learning the Fourth Series. While at the table she explained that yoga found her. Her life was completely altered by it and I believe I was seated at that table for a reason. At the time of this post Kino enrolled me in a beginners session so I can start my own transformation through yoga. I was so inspired by her message about yoga as a spiritual path of total transformation that I knew LisaTakesYoga had to be a new addition to my blog repertoire. I hope to get to a point where I start my day with some breathing, poses and meditation and then end it with an ass kicking class at Equinox. I took a class at Equinox that required a lot of balance. The trainer said balance is more mental than it is physical. That spoke volumes. I’m out of whack. I need to get my head clear and silent so I can listen deep to divinity within there to guide me to all the good life has to offer.

As per her website bio: Without any background in movement training Kino MacGregor tried her first yoga class when she was nineteen. Three years later, she joined Govinda Kai’s Mysore-style classes in New York City and became a dedicated Ashtanga yoga practitioner. After seven months of traditional Ashtanga practice Kino traveled to Mysore, India to meet her true teacher, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (“Guruji”). Upon her return she began real self-practice by practicing alone and devoting herself entirely to the study and teaching of Ashtanga yoga. After seven years of consistent trips to Mysore, at the age of 29, she received from Guruji the Certification to teach Ashtanga yoga and has since worked to pass on the inspiration to practice to countless others.

After spending a major portion of her life actively engaged in personal growth work, Kino returned to Miami Beach to create a space dedicated to the integration of yoga, holistic health and consciousness. In 2006, she and her husband Tim Feldmann founded Miami Life Center, where they now teach daily classes, workshops and intensives together in addition to maintaining an international traveling and teaching schedule. Miami Life Center is a community built around yoga, holistic health and consciousness on Miami Beach www.miamilifecenter.com. She has produced three Ashtanga yoga DVDs (Kino MacGregor – A Journey, A Workshop; Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series; Ashtanga Yoga Intermediate Series), an Ashtanga yoga practice card and a podcast on yoga. She is currently working on one more DVDs and book about her personal experiences in yoga.

Her yoga center is called Miami Life Center (http://www.miamilifecenter.com) and we are located on South Beach on Sixth Street in between Euclid and Meridian Ave.

Krystle Poulin is currently a Make-Up Artist on the popular TV Police Drama Blue Bloods starring Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynihan, Jennifer Esposito and icon, Tom Selleck. She has been a professional make-up artist for nearly ten years. She studied esthetics at the Concord Esthetics Institute in 2001 & graduated as a certified esthetician in 2002 with a special focus on make-up. In 2007, she moved her focus to film & television make-up by studying special effects at the Make-Up Designery in Manhattan. Krystle has an artistic passion for make-up design & is particularly interested in natural & holistic skin care practices. She’s currently a member of The Local 798 Hair & Make-Up Union and does freelance make-up in the film & television industry.

Her skin advice was pretty simple…drink water. Keep your skin hydrated. She is a big fan of Dr. Hauschka products. Her drugstore pick is Neutrogena cleanser and make-up remover. She also said that powder sunscreen has less chemicals than the lotion kind. Finally Krystle urges women to sleep no less than 7 hours a night.

Krystle has worked with the likes of:

• James Earl Jones
• Kyra Sedgwick
• Johnny Knoxville
• Edie Falco
• James Gandolfini
• Tracy Morgan
• Vanessa Hudgens
• Brendan Fraser
• Patton Oswalt
• Vincent D’Onofrio
• Mayor Bloomburg
• Mayor Guliani

Andrea Beaman is a Natural Foods Chef, author, and television host dedicated to alternative healing and green, sustainable living. She was a featured contestant on Bravo’s hit reality TV show, TOP CHEF (season 1), is a food and health expert on CBS News, and has appeared on Barbara Walters, The View, Emeril Live and Whole Living on Martha Stewart Radio.

Andrea hosts the Award Nominated Fed UP! A cooking show that educates guests and viewers how to cook for, and cure, bodily ailments. Successfully healing her own “incurable” thyroid disease with health-promoting foods, exercise and other natural therapies was the catalyst that transformed Andrea’s life, health and profession, and she is passionate about sharing this information with others.

She is the author of The Whole Truth – How I Naturally Reclaimed My Health, and You Can Too! and The Eating and Recipe Guide – Better Food, Better Health, and Health is Wealth – Make a Delicious Investment in You!

Andrea teaches fun cooking classes and health seminars to a wide base of students at The Institute For Integrative Nutrition, The Natural Gourmet Institute, The James Beard House, New York Open Center, other schools around the country as well as a monthly contributor on ifoodtv.com. Andrea is also a certified Holistic Health Coach working with clients, one-on-one, to help them achieve their health goals.

http://www.andreabeaman.com/health/recipes/#.UBqrU6OcU0A

Andrea Beman had a serious thyroid condition and her doctor said she needed to radically change diet. She admitted that she used to eat crap and that eating was something she just did to stay alive but wasn’t something she really paid attention to. So she took the doctor’s advice and it put her on an entirely different path. She lost 18lbs without trying and noticed her skin, nails, hair, and eyes, were healthier and no more adult acne. Her doctor was amazed and Andrea and her thyroid were all better in 2 years.

Andrea believes food transforms body and life. In 2006 she was on the hit show Top Chef! The show led to partying, late nights and a slip in her diet and her thyroid went back to bad. She then got herself back on track again. She knew that all she needed to do was eat well and all would be fine. Today Andrea hosts a show called “Fed Up” which teaches people to cook to treat and prevent illness.

Andrea said that sugar and carbs are addicting!! An enzyme in our mouths when bypassed makes us want more. She suggests paying attention to smelling and chewing food. Alcohol isn’t bad for us but in moderation and drink water always. She explained that processed foods are the killer in America. In France they eat natural food yet here it is all chemicals. Another great tip was that having fat free milk defeats the point of drinking milk. The fat is needed to absorb the calcium. Kino chimed in and told us all to bless the food. Bless anything we eat because it connects you to the divine and the food then works for you.

Andrea took meat out of her diet, did macrobiotics, no more animal protein but only eats natural, organic. For more information on Andrea and to score some awesome recipes click here: http://www.andreabeaman.com/health/recipes/#.UBrYzaOcU0A

Sharing this table and listening to these women showed me a few important things:

1. START DOING YOGA
2. KEEP DRINKING WATER and KEEP DRINKING LIKE A PROFESSIONAL AND NOT A SLOPPY MESS
3. KEEP SLEEPING 7 – 8 HOURS A NIGHT
4. EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGGIES
5. GO SEE DR. LEE AND DON’T BE AFRAID OF NEEDLES TO THE FACE FOR THE SAKE OF BEAUTY. EEEK!

AND… things happen for a reason. There was a reason I was invited to this event. I’m on a path to betterment. What is good for me finds me, what isn’t doesn’t stick. I believe this. Do you?