What better way to celebrate the holidays than enjoying yourself outdoors? Get out of the winter blues and SAD this winter season and explore how to celebrate a festival of winter walks. Enjoy a sense of freedom and the benefits of being outdoors Take this holiday season to enjoy the wonders of nature and get together with family and friends. Winter walks bring individuals and groups together to enjoy walking and are a great way to be active. Did you know walking is the most popular exercise in the United States? The average walking speed is 3.1 miles per hour. The average distance a person walks is about 75,000 miles during their lifetime. Walking helps boost your mood by increasing blood flow to the brain. Walking ten miles per week, instead of traveling by vehicle, would save 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year! Winter walk adventures The holidays can be overwhelming and stressful! Walking has immense healing powers and is so great for you. Take this opportunity to walk more. Winter walks offer a break from the hustle and bustle. If you want to be more involved in fitness, create a challenge, such as walking a certain distance or number of days each week and include a downloadable tracker. Most smartwatches include outdoor walking apps that track elevation, speed and distance. If you prefer to walk solo, embrace the silence and have a reflective winter walk for the soul. The unique tranquility of winter walking can inspire introspection. Walking in the quiet stillness of winter reduces anxiety and enhances focus. While walking, do some mindfulness exercises such as deep breathing and connecting with the surroundings, such as focusing on the crunch of snow underfoot. Bring a small notebook and jot down thoughts...

Online fitness classes can be a lot of fun. As a yoga teacher, I can personally attest that online classes have helped people stay active through the ups and downs of recent months. One thing that students miss during online classes, though, is the ability to work out with friends. Burnalong solves this problem, and Yardi employees in North America can enroll for free! What is Burnalong? Burnalong is an online wellness platform with an array of health and fitness classes. There are 45 categories including popular favorites such as yoga, boxing, Pilates, self-defense and barre. There are also general categories like financial wellbeing, stress management and life coaching to help you feel your best. Explore thousands of videos by hundreds of unique instructors. I really appreciate the inclusive class formatting in Burnalong. Users can filter class by special considerations such as diabetes, Fit Over 50, arthritis and adaptive workouts. The model students represent the spectrum of the population, which is rare among fitness platforms. (Some classes don’t have model students at all which is also great option.) Get fit together even when you’re miles apart Another thing that makes Burnalong unique is that it encourages participants to invite others to join in. Together, you can stream the class in sync and see one another. Exercise together and cheer for one another–or more realistically, you can build camaraderie by trash talking and encouraging healthy competition. Yardi employees in North America can also add up to four family members at not cost. A family that shreds together, smiles together! Getting started Yardi employees in North American can register for a lunch and learn to get more information. When you’re ready to dive in, simply register online using your Yardi email (but not your Yardi...

Ever wondered how fit your city is? The American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM) has. Since 2008 the ACSM takes a look at the health and fitness of the nations’ top 50 metropolitan areas, compiling a comprehensive ranking on community fitness to assess city strengths and identify areas in need of improvement. Dubbed the American Fitness Index (AFI), the report scores cities in a plethora of categories, such as walkability, residents’ proximity to public parks, chronic health problems, dietary preferences, recreational facilities and policy for school P.E. 2015’s recently released AFI report uncovered a number of encouraging results, with nine cities jumping up five spots in the ranks compared to last year. Some, such as Las Vegas, did so thanks to local action taken as a result of prior years’ results. An unsurprising result of the report is California’s love for healthy lifestyles. Of the six California MSAs on the AFI, four ranked in the top ten and none in the bottom fifteen. In fact the top five was dominated by California with Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego ranking fifth, fourth and third. Minneapolis, the USA’s most bike-friendly city, was named runner-up to the country’s fittest city: Washington, DC. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC –VA-MD-WV Topping the American Fitness Index, the Washington, DC area seems to be doing everything right. The city excels at the number of people walking, biking or using public transport to work, the number of farmers’ markets, park units, dog parks, swimming pools, rec centers and tennis courts and park-related expenditures per capita, with a high percentage of the population being within a 10-minute walk to a park. Washington’s fitness-consciousness is perfectly reflected in the Bozzuto Group-managed Flats 130 at Constitution Square and Flats at Atlas. Built in 2011 and 2013, the...