Ladies, it's a new year! And it is time for us to get this wellness allllll the way together in 2021, m'kay? Whether we're riding down the Amalfi Coast on our Peloton bikes, hitting up a bikram yoga class, or simply going for a run, let's make it a point to always be doing something. Personally, I have taken on a HIIT accountability group which has kept me active, and thankfully, not bored with my daily workouts. But this also made me wonder, what new and trendy style of workouts are there? What others can I take on to keep me engaged?
Well, you know there's always a few, so I did some digging, and it didn't take me long to come across a few. And our girl, Vivica A. Fox put me on to one that intrigued me the most: kika stretching.
In a recent interview, she told Hello Beautiful:
"I really try to maintain a healthy diet with lean meats, proteins, vegetables, I drink a ton of water and lately I've taken up this thing called Kika Stretching. It is quite literally an hour of just stretching. It brought me back to the days of 'Kill Bill,' and for 'Kill Bill' we trained for like 6 to 7 hours a day. What people don't realize is that stretching is so vital because your muscles will tighten up on you if you don't stretch. I was just introduced to Kika Stretching about a month ago."
Oh, and guess what? It was created by a black woman.
Hakika Wise, founder and CEO of the Kika Stretch Studio franchise, created and patented "The Kika Method", which is a form of passive stretching in which an external force exerts upon the limb to move it into the new position. She opened her first studio in 2011, in Montclair, New Jersey, so she's been preaching the stretching word for almost a decade.
Below is a video to highlight the proper way to stretch using this method.
Virtual Stretch with Kika Stretch Studios
Of the method, Wise told us:
"The reason why you should always stretch is that even if you are flexible - stress, bills, husbands, wives, kids - stress you out. It builds tension in the body that cause negative effects. If you never remove that, your quality of life goes down. You should be able to walk through life without feeling anything in your body. Stretch to destress and get rid of those lumps so you can enjoy your life."
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Do you plan to try out kika stretching?
Feature image via Vivica A. Fox/Instagram