Biohacking Guide to Upgrading Your Body and Mind

What is biohacking? And does it work? From simple to extreme measures, learning how to read your body and boost its performance is certainly an appealing practice. Luckily, you don’t have to go to extreme measures to reap the benefits of biohacking at home. Biohacking can be as simple as getting enough sleep and drinking coffee – things you are likely already doing but can enhance to benefit you even further. Discover more about the trend that allows you to tap into your mind and body to boost physical and cognitive performance below.

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What is Biohacking?

Biohacking, sometimes also referred to as do-it-yourself biology, is the practice of making small changes to your lifestyle to create incremental improvements to your overall well-being. From enhanced brain function and increased energy to weight loss and allergy control, biohacking can help accomplish a multitude of health goals. The term “biohacking” is a broad one and can range from something as simple as tracking fitness to something as extreme as genetic engineering.

Of course, the more extreme approach is riskier and should only be done with the guidance and supervision of a medical professional. However, there are plenty of biohacking products and techniques you can practice at home safely. The main goal of biohacking is to listen to your body and figure out what works best for it to perform optimally. Once you find what works for you, there are plenty of biohacking benefits that will follow.

 

Biohacking Products & Techniques to Try at Home

 

Sleep

Read any health advice, and sleep is usually right there at the top of the list – and for good reason. A great night of sleep can help you maintain a healthy weight, improve your mood, boost your productivity, and much more. Because of this, sleep is one of the easiest biohacking techniques to try. Start off by tracking your sleep with an app to assess the quality of your sleep. Once you find your baseline, figure out how you can improve your sleep. Reducing blue light exposure, having a bedtime ritual, using a weighted blanket, and sleeping in a cool room are easy ways to improve sleep.

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Red Light Therapy

The body responds incredibly well to red and near-infrared wavelengths, which are easily absorbed by the skin. It’s a good thing for that, too, as red light therapy provides a host of benefits perfect for biohacking. Red light technology affects mitochondrial function, which improves cellular energy and activates the nervous system and metabolic processes. This activity has been shown to relieve pain, rejuvenate skin, regenerate tissue, recover muscles, boost testosterone, reduce inflammation, and much more. Red light technologies are the ultimate biohacking products.

 

Meditation

One of the main goals of biohacking is creating awareness for your body and how to better yourself from within. Meditation is one of the best and easiest biohacking techniques, because you can practice it anywhere and at any time. When you meditate, you allow yourself to reconnect with your mind and body, which can help with concentration, mood management, productivity, and even heart rate. Incorporating daily meditation sessions into your routine can train you to be more mindful and aware of your state of mind, which affects your overall health.

 

Inversion Therapy

How’s it hanging? Inversion tables are wonderful biohacking products to try. Hanging upside down is a wonderful biohack for enhancing brain function by strengthening brain capillaries and delivering more oxygen to your brain. When you practice inversion regularly, your body also improves how it regulates blood pressure. Inversion tables are a quick and easy way to not only jumpstart your brain, they also bring relief to any lower back tension your body builds up during the day by relieving spinal disk compression.

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Intermittent Fasting

This is one diet that isn’t just a fad and has real benefits behind it. Intermittent fasting is the practice of setting periods of fasted and non-fasted times. For example, one might have an 8-hour window to eat between 10am to 6pm with a 16-hour fasting period the remaining hours of the day. Or, one might alternate full days between eating and fasting. Intermittent fasting helps you manage daily calorie intake, lower insulin levels, burn fat more efficiently, repair damaged tissue, and more. Use a fasting tracker to make things easier, and consult a doctor if doing more extreme fasting.

 

Functional Music

Brain activity can be measured in a wave-like pattern and determines if you feel alert, sleepy, relaxed or stressed. One of the most reliable ways to change your brainwaves is through a consistent sound wave. Audio entrainment, a form of musical biohacking, uses binaural beats and tones to synchronize with your brain waves and induce a meditative, relaxed state. You can access programs developed specifically for your own brain and the activities you want to accomplish, or simply queue up your favorite playlist and listening while you work out, cook breakfast, or commute to work.

 

Elimination Diet

An elimination diet is exactly what it sounds like. With an elimination diet, you’ll get rid of something from your diet and then slowly reintroduce it to see how it affects your body. This is a popular option if you think you’re allergic to a food or are concerned that a food may be causing inflammation, such as dairy, red meat, or processed sugar. After eliminating a food item, wait about two weeks then reintroduce the eliminated foods slowly back into your diet. During the second, or reintroduction, phase, keep a close eye on any symptoms that appear that may indicate an allergy to a food source.

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Caffeine

Caffeine is well-known as a productivity booster. If you don’t use it already, start with an 8-ounce serving of black coffee, green tea, or caffeinated foods like dark chocolate. Have your caffeine at the same time every day and keep a journal of how it makes you feel in the minutes or hours afterward. Try experimenting with the dose of caffeine until you find the amount that works best for your goal. There’s even a coffee with biohacking in mind known as bulletproof coffee. The coffee contains compounds like medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) oil, known as an energy booster and weight-loss tool.

 

Biohacking Supplements

Nootropics, or “smart drugs,” are substances used to increase your brain’s performance to help you remember more, learn better, concentrate more fully, stay productive, and function more efficiently. You can also always boost your mental performance with simple biohacking supplements and nutrients, such as magnesium for improved cognitive function, vitamin D for protection from free radicals, krill oil for improved nervous system performance, turmeric for antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and vitamin B to decrease brain shrinkage.

If you are interested in trying biohacking on your own, be sure to consult with your doctor if you have any existing health concerns. Biohacking is a wonderful way to get to know your body and mind so you can optimize your health.

Smart Home Tech to Upgrade Your Wellness at Home

From smart refrigerators to mirrors that assist with workouts, there are plenty of health and wellness gadgets you can add to your home. Everything is becoming more and more connected, so why not connect the comfort of your home with the importance of your health? Find some of our favorite smart home tech below to transform your house into a true wellness sanctuary.

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Home Health and Wellness Gadgets

 

Air Purifier

One thing you may not think about often, but plays a huge role in your health and wellness at home, is the quality of air in your house. Smart air purifiers have been upgraded to not only clean your air more thoroughly and efficiently, but they now connect easily to your WiFi as well. This connectivity allows you to use voice assistants for easy voice commands. It also allows you to monitor air quality stats from your phone, check filter status, and adjust timers, fan speeds, and more.

 

Bluetooth Scale

Weighing yourself at home has never been so engaging. A bluetooth scale is a great smart home tech addition for anyone looking for a more comprehensive look into their health, especially if you are tracking multiple measurements. Smart scales connect to your phone via Bluetooth to automatically track stats such as weight BMI, bone mass density, body water percentage, and body fat percentage in an app. Some apps also allow you to set and track goals.

 

Electric Toothbrush

A toothbrush might not be the most exciting of the health and wellness gadgets on this list, but it is definitely a good one to have. Regular toothbrushes aren’t as efficient as electric ones, and electric toothbrushes only get better when you add in smart tech. Along with a 2-minute timer, smart toothbrushes also include apps that guide you on where to brush and for how long based on the cleanliness of your mouth for a more efficient and effective cleaning.

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Source: Mirror

 

Fitness Mirror

With so much fitness tech on the market, it’s always refreshing to see something a little out of the ordinary. A fitness mirror is a full-length mirror with a built-in display to watch your form while watching workouts on the mirror itself. The screen is controlled by an app on your phone to access classes from the class membership that comes at an extra cost. While the tech is on the pricey side, it’s a perfect smart home piece for those looking for enhanced workouts at home.

 

Float Tank

This item certainly tops the list in terms of price and extravagance, but if you have the budget and space, a personal float tank is the way to go. Float tanks have been one of the biggest health and wellness trends in the last couple of years. Having this technology in your home will allow you to feel the benefits of floating in a sensory deprivation tank – such as stress relief, increased healing, and improved mental state – whenever you please.

 

Food Analyzer

Whether you have a food allergy or are just looking to track how your body reacts to certain foods, smart food analyzers are becoming more prevalent on the market. These health and wellness gadgets are helpful both in and out of the house. By using gases in your breath after eating, food analyzers can detect if a recently-eaten food contains peanuts or gluten, if it affects your keto diet, and if it will be easily digested or not.

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Source: Elephant Journal

 

Infrared Sauna

One of the best ways to practice wellness at home is with an infrared sauna. When a daily 20-minute session brings health benefits like reduced stress, detoxification, weight loss, and pain relief, infrared sauna use is an easy and effective way to improve your health. On top of the regular health benefits, you can boost your infrared experience with enhancements such as chromotherapyhalotherapy, and LEDlight therapy to make your house a true sanctuary.

 

Programmable Shower

Taking the perfect shower can be one of the most amazing feelings. Programmable showers allow you to perfect your shower experience. From setting the ideal temperature to getting a warning that you are getting close to a shower time limit, these showers are great for both the user and the environment. Some smart shower systems even allow you to control the shower vian an app to ensure the water is just right before you step in.

 

Sleep Sensor

Chances are, you aren’t getting enough sleep. Even if you’re getting the hours in, many people suffer from irregular or interrupted sleep patterns that lead to low-quality sleep. If you’re looking for a more restful sleep, a sensor might be what you need. Sleep sensors are placed on or under your bed to track the movement and sound that take place in your sleep. Data is then recorded in an app to track sleep quality and indicate factors that may be contributing to sleep issues.

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Source: Samsung

 

Smart Refrigerator

Many people spend a good amount of time in the kitchen, from cooking to spending time together. With so much time spent in this room of your house, it only makes sense to have some of your smart home tech in the kitchen as well. New smart refrigerators hitting the market have been upgraded to become a hub for home life. You can now control voice assistants, check the doorbell, and even see what’s inside your fridge at any time to easily take inventory.

 

Touchscreen Treadmill

As mentioned above, smart fitness tech has been on the rise. Many people are starting to build up their home gym filled with smart home tech that allows them to have personalized classes in the comfort of their home. From stationary bikes to treadmills, there are plenty of options on the market. Smart treadmills take indoor running to the next level, changing the stationary run into a more exciting one with programmable training routes such as running the Boston Marathon.

 

Voice Assistant

Voice assistants are the classic smart home tech. So many different devices connect to voice assistants, from your air purifier to your programmable shower. Because of this, voice assistants are one of the most important gadgets for health and wellness. On top of creating a connected household, the automation from these devices gives us time back into our days, and even just a little time back means for less stress and increased happiness.

 

Start creating the house of your dreams that allows you to improve your wellness at home with smart home tech. Not only does it simplify your life, it also helps you create a happier and healthier lifestyle. Investing in your health means investing in your future, and these health and wellness gadgets are a great way to start.

20 Best Health and Wellness Podcasts and Blogs for 2020

Listening to podcasts and reading blogs are both wonderful ways to explore and learn new information on the go. There are plenty of publications out there, but finding the right one for you doesn’t have to be difficult. Whether you’re looking for workout motivation, meditation, or facts about health, these podcasts will keep you happy, healthy, and refreshed going into the new year.

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Best Health and Wellness Podcasts

 

10% Happier with Dan Harris

Dan Harris, an ABC newsman who had a panic attack on Good Morning America, used his experience to take up the practice of meditation in search of becoming 10% happier. This podcast interviews guests and aims to answer the question: Can you be an ambitious person and still strive for enlightenment (whatever that means)?

 

Ben Greenfield Fitness

This podcast covers fitness, nutrition, biohacking, fat loss, anti-aging and cutting-edge health advice from America’s top personal trainer, Ben Greenfield. This podcast features the latest research on health and wellness topics, how to optimize mind-body-spirit, and interviews with exercise, diet, and medical professionals to give a full picture of health.

 

Bulletproof Radio

The Bulletproof Radio podcast was started by Dave Asprey, the founder of Bulletproof Coffee. His podcast distills the knowledge of world-class MDs, biochemists, Olympic nutritionists, meditation experts in order to help listeners learn how to take control and improve your biochemistry, your body, and your mind so they work in unison.

 

The Doctor’s Kitchen Podcast

Covering a range of topics from the principles of healthy eating to how to prevent and treat illness, Dr. Rupy and his panel of experts draw on the latest research to give listeners actionable tips to help supercharge their health. This podcast is great for those wanting to learn more about how diet affects overall health.

 

Feel Better, Live More

Hosted by Dr. Chatterjee, this podcast aims to inspire, empower and transform the way we feel. Tune in to hear stories from leading health experts and exciting personalities who offer easy health life-hacks, give expert advice, and debunk common health myths giving listeners the tools needed to revolutionize how to eat, sleep, move, and relax.

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The Goop Podcast

Gwyneth Paltrow and goop’s Chief Content Officer Elise Loehnen chat with a wide range of special guests – from doctors to creatives, CEOs to spiritual healers – about shifting old paradigms and starting new conversations. Listen to this podcast to learn about holistic and alternative approaches to medicine, fitness, nutrition, spirituality, and more.

 

The Rich Roll Podcast

Ultra-athlete, wellness evangelist, and world’s fittest vegan Rich Roll uses his master-class skills in personal and professional development to educate, inspire and empower listeners to unleash their best, most authentic self. Interviews with guests include topics in fitness, veganism, cooking, nutrition, and everything in between.

 

Sleep With Me: The Podcast

Sleep is integral to overall health, and this podcast aims to bore you to it. These bedtime stories for adults progressively becoming more boring to help calm the mind and wander off to sleep. Expect to find boring renditions of some of your favorite pop culture events, such as slow recaps of the recent episodes of current shows.

 

TEDTalks Health

From medical breakthroughs in cancer treatments and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy to tips on what to ask your doctor and how to make healthy decisions, doctors and researchers share their discoveries about medicine and well-being. These podcast episodes are pulled from onstage TED conferences, TEDx events, and other global events.

 

Yogaland

Host Andrea Ferretti talks to insightful guests about yoga and the path of self-awareness. Her topics include how yoga is used in schools, how it rewires our brains, the nitty-gritty anatomy advice, the simple ways yoga helps us navigate emotions, and more. Yogaland provides weekly inspiration focusing on creating a happy, healthy, and meaningful life.

Best Health and Wellness Blogs

 

The Art of Healthy Living

Author Becky Stafferton provides a great resource for all things food, health, fitness, and beauty. From natural hair care to learning how to use water sustainably, Becky’s blog dives deeply into how to better your life from the inside out. Be sure to check out her food and product reviews to get real, honest takes on her experiences.

 

Clearlight Infrared Saunas Blog

From natural remedies to mental wellness tips, along with some helpful information on how infrared sauna use can improve your health. Backed by research and expert advice, our blogs aim to educate and entertain readers to a happier, healthier, and more natural life. Check in twice a month to find new health and wellness topics for the season.

 

Everyday Health

This blog is one of the most comprehensive and well-trusted sites for medical information. Helpful tools such as meal planners, symptom checkers, and calorie counters are offered alongside expert review of medical news and industry insights from writers who are in active clinical practice. Articles range from flu reports to healthy recipes.

 

Fit Foodie Finds

While the title of this blog may seem like it’s all about food, this site offers much more than that. CEO and founder Lee Funke has created an impressive catalogue of healthy recipes and has supplemented her message of balance with workout tips, travel and style guides, and wellness trends for a well-rounded and engaging health blog.

 

Healthline

Search for something health-related online, and you’re likely to see a Healthline blog show up in the results. Over 125 million visitors visit this blog every month for tips on medication, lifestyle, and general health news. Everything is written by health experts, meaning readers can feel confident in the information they are receiving.

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MindBodyGreen

The founders of MindBodyGreen, Jason and Colleen Wachob, started this health and wellness blog as a way to document their journey toward living an organic and healthy life. After over a decade of producing content and building their brand, MindBodyGreen is a hub for all things related to holistic health, from natural beauty products to spirituality tips.

 

Mommypotamus

Traditional wisdom and modern research for smart, naturally-minded mamas – that’s the mantra of Mommypotamus. Heather Dessinger is behind this blog, and she makes sure to make her content applicable to both mamas and non-mamas. Stick around for her tips on beauty, health, natural home products, and more for a healthier life.

 

Naturally Savvy

This health and wellness blog focuses on how nutrition impacts many aspects in your life. From education on what you eat and which supplements you take to how to use natural ingredients as remedies for illness, Naturally Savvy stresses the importance of knowing how outside elements affect your body, and what you can do to counteract the negatives.

 

Well+Good

Well+Good does just as the blog name implies, it gives tips on wellness and how to experience good sweat, good looks, good advice, good food, good travel, and a good home. Writers Alexia Brue and Melisse Gelula continue to grow their site to provide readers with tips and insights into recent health and wellness trends.

 

Wellness Mama

Similarly to Mommypotamus, Wellness Mama is geared toward mothers and families looking to live a life of health and wellness. Of course, these blogs can be used by anyone – mama or not. Founder Katie Wells aims to educate readers about the importance of natural living through the support of a team of researchers and medical advisors.

 

Be sure to download and subscribe to these health and wellness podcasts and blogs to stay up-to-date with trends, tips, and other exciting content. The wellness space is constantly growing and evolving, so having a list of the best health and wellness blogs and podcasts to follow will help keep you informed throughout the year to help you stay on top of your wellbeing.

How Infrared Saunas Help with Healthy New Year’s Resolutions

It’s no secret that infrared saunas have plenty of health benefits. It’s also no secret that New Year’s resolutions are easy to make but difficult to keep. This year, learn how to stick to your resolutions and kick off a healthier year! Read on to see how using an infrared sauna can help you achieve your healthy New Year’s resolutions, whether your goals are to “practice self care” or “lose weight.”

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How to Keep New Year’s Resolutions with an Infrared Sauna

 

Lose Weight

The Benefit: Holiday dinners and sitting inside to avoid the cold are both contributors to feeling a little sluggish at the start of the new year. Having a goal to lose weight should be a long-term goal to ensure success and avoid disappointment from fad dieting. When you keep that mindset, you can begin to have healthy relationships with food and exercise to kick off your year of health and weight loss.

How an Infrared Sauna Helps: According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, regular use of a sauna imparts a similar boost on the cardiovascular system as running. As you relax in the gentle infrared heat, your body is hard at work producing sweat, pumping blood and burning calories. As your body increases sweat production to cool itself, your heart works harder to pump blood at a greater rate to boost circulation. This increase in your metabolism will burn calories.

 

Get in Shape

The Benefit: Getting in shape is one of the most popular healthy New Year’s resolutions, right after losing weight. This resolution is a great motivator, especially after a season of indulging. To keep up with this resolution, be sure to ease yourself into fitness and avoid burning out. Slowly increasing your activity will ensure you have a long-lasting resolution that you can actually stick to.

How an Infrared Sauna Helps: Using a sauna enhances the muscle recovery process after working out by increasing blood circulation and carrying oxygen-rich blood to oxygen-depleted muscle. Heat also allows muscles to relax better, thus relieving muscle tension. Saunas boost your cardiovascular, immune, and lymphatic systems to help detox the body for a better workout and speed up the process for getting in shape.

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Meditate

The Benefit: Meditating is like your brain’s virus checker, detecting toxic stress and blocking its effects on your physical and emotional health. A 2013 study found that adults who were taught the basics of mindful meditation had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Meditation also allows you to connect more deeply with yourself emotionally.

How an Infrared Sauna Helps: The extreme heat that saunas promote relax your body. Making your sore muscles feel better. The sauna also gives you a moment in time where you can relax and do nothing. You just sit there and let your mind go off into whatever direction you want it to go. Since this naturally happens when you’re in a sauna, it makes it really easy to meditate.

 

Practice Self Care

The Benefit: When not making time for yourself, it is easier to become stressed and lose yourself. The importance of self care is focusing on bettering yourself from within by reducing stress, avoiding burnout, refocusing on tasks, boosting energy, decreasing physical ailments, recharging your mind, and balancing your emotions.

How an Infrared Sauna Helps: If you have an infrared sauna at home, have a 20-minute session to decompress. While going to a spa may be more expensive, the act of leaving the house feels like you are making time for yourself more than if you were to stay home. Spas offer services like massages and facials along with amenities such as saunas and steam rooms for the ultimate day of relaxation.

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Detoxify

The Benefit: If you feel like you may have indulged a little too much over the holidays, detoxification is a great, healthy New Year’s resolution to set for yourself. Whether you are detoxifying from a large meal, want to cut back on drinking, or are looking to quit smoking, detoxification can help your body be better suited for a lifetime of health.

How an Infrared Sauna Helps: Daily sauna sweating can help detoxify your body as it rids itself of accumulated highly toxic metals (lead, mercury, nickel, and cadmium) as well as alcohol, nicotine, sulfuric acid, and other organic and inorganic compounds.

 

Reduce Stress

The Benefit: A little pressure now and again won’t kill us; in fact, short bouts of stress give us an energy boost. But if stress is chronic, it can increase your risk of—or worsen— insomnia, depression, obesity, heart disease, and more. Reducing stress not only makes you happier in the short term, it also makes you healthier in the long term.

How an Infrared Sauna Helps: Just a few minutes in the gentle warmth of an infrared sauna will help you feel relaxed, rejuvenated, and renewed. Infrared Saunas have also been shown to affect the autonomic nervous system putting you in the parasympathetic (rest and digest) state allowing your body to heal and relax.

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Get More Sleep

The Benefit: Getting an appropriate amount of sleep every night can help you in a variety of ways, such as reducing anxiety and depression, improving cognitive function, increasing motor functions, and preventing mood swings. It also aids in weight management.

How an Infrared Sauna Helps: The ability of your body to maintain and regulate its temperature is crucial to our daily life and the biological processes we depend on. From a sleep perspective, thermoregulation is affected when our melatonin production kicks in and plays a key role in regulating our sleep/wake cycles. By warming up in a sauna then exiting, the resulting cooling-off process tricks your brain into producing more melatonin and puts your body into sleep mode.

 

Keeping your healthy New Year’s resolutions won’t be difficult with these tips. All it takes for success is setting small and attainable goals that won’t burn you out – and adding in an infrared sauna to make the results just that much better! At the very least, resolutions or not, these tips will help keep you on your path toward a happier and healthier year.

10 Healthy Holiday Tips for Physical and Mental Health

Though it’s the most wonderful time of the year, the holidays can bring about a lot of unhealthy things, from over-the-top meals to stress. Luckily, balancing holiday happenings and your health only requires setting some time aside to focus on yourself and wellbeing. Read below to learn how to find a healthy balance this holiday season with these tips to maintain your physical and mental health.

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Health Holiday Tips for Physical Health

 

Detoxify

One of the most useful healthy holiday tips is detoxification. There are many benefits of detoxification, such as the elimination of toxins and chemicals, ease of muscle soreness, and general relaxation. Sweating is one of the main forms of detoxification. Either hit the gym or use an infrared sauna for a deep sweat session that will leave you feeling healthier this holiday season. An infrared sauna will take your detox to the next level with a slew of other health benefits.

Eat Well

Pumpkin pie, hot chocolate, turkey, mashed potatoes, mulled wine… the list can go on for all the delicious treats associated with the holidays. This holiday season, indulge with moderation. Try to keep the decadent treats to a minimum and save up for the big holiday meals. Between the big meals, eat healthy foods as the main part of your diet and make sure you have plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables to get your daily dose of vitamins.

Exercise

Keep yourself warm this holiday season by exercising. Apart from the warmth, exercise is one of the top ways to stay healthy regardless of the season. With large, indulgent meals and the desire to just sit in front of the fire, it’s easy to fall off the workout wagon. Get active for 30 minutes every day, whether that means taking a stroll outside or hitting the gym. This way, you can work off those extra holiday calories and get your blood pumping.

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Get Rest

Rest is one of the most important healthy holiday tips. This season, take time to rest and relax to recharge your body. Whether it’s an hour to read your favorite book or ensuring you get the proper amount of hours of sleep every night, rest is important for brain function, mood, and even cardiovascular health. Between work, social engagements, and general life things, it is important to make time for yourself and take it easy to let your body heal and recuperate.

Prevent Sickness

The holiday season means colder temperatures, which often lead to sickness if proper precautions aren’t taken. Cold weather facilitates the spreading of germs and lowers your immune system. While you may still get a winter cold, there are measures you can take to reduce your chances of catching anything. Do the above and rest, eat well, take vitamins, stay active, and drink water to keep your body in top health. If you do get a cold, try natural cold remedies to help it pass.

Health Holiday Tips for Mental Health

 

Budget

The financial strain of the holidays can unfortunately be quite wearing on the holiday cheer you’re supposed to feel. From gift-buying and decorating to hosting large dinners and paying the heating bill, holiday spending easily adds up. Alleviate some of the financial stress by creating a budget for the holidays. Plan your expenses wisely so you can buy the things you need while still having some extra funds to relax and enjoy the holiday season without worry.

Meditate

Quieting your mind may seem like a difficult task when the holidays are a whirlwind of holiday parties, gift planning, and family travel, but taking 10 minutes of your day to meditate can help significantly reduce your stress. Work meditation into your daily routine, whether it’s when you wake up or before bed. Take this time to center yourself and collect your thoughts. Meditation can be done anywhere, but we recommend in a sauna or in bed for ultimate relaxation.

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Plan

A little planning goes a long way during the holidays. Plan by creating a list of things that need to be done, then sort each item by priority. Not only does making a list help you organize your thoughts, it also helps you visualize the number of things that need to get done. By seeing everything, you have a better understanding of what needs to get done and by when. Running around in a last-minute tizzy to figure things out will only leave the holidays feeling rushed and stressful.

Set Boundaries

With holiday travels, parties, and other events, your planner may be booking up pretty quickly. An important tip for mentally staying healthy during holidays is learning how to set boundaries. Set these boundaries with yourself and be comfortable with saying no to plans that don’t work with your schedule. Overloading yourself with responsibilities will lead to stress and dread, when holiday events should be something you look forward to and enjoy.

Step Outside

Depending on where you are, the weather outside may be frightful, but the benefits of going outside are so delightful. Spending some time outside is linked to many benefits that may affect your mental health during the holidays, such as boosting creativity and concentration, fighting Seasonal Affective Disorder, improving your mood, reducing stress, and preventing cabin fever. Don’t get the winter blues stuck inside, bundle up and go outside for your mental health

This holiday season, take care of your mind and body with these healthy holiday tips. Investing in your own health is the best gift you can give and receive. All it takes is setting time aside every day to focus in on your thoughts and taking healthy precautions to make the holidays stress-free and healthy.

How to Create a Perfect Spa Day at Home

Going to the spa is a luxurious experience, but it isn’t always necessary to spend the money on spa treatments. A spa day is the ultimate way to decompress for parents. You can go to a physical spa or set up your own sanctuary at home. At home, claim the bathroom for an hour, draw a relaxing bath, light some candles, and surround yourself with sounds and scents that soothe you. If you have an infrared sauna at home, have a 20-minute session to decompress.

While going to a spa may be more expensive, the act of leaving the house feels like you are making time for yourself more than if you were to stay home. Spas offer services like massages and facials along with amenities such as saunas and steam rooms for the ultimate day of relaxation. Learn how to pamper yourself at home with your very own oasis. See our favorite products here for pampering without leaving the house!

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How to Pamper Yourself at Home

Set Time for Yourself

The first step to creating a perfect spa day at home is making sure you’ve set aside some time for yourself. Clear your schedule, whether it’s for an hour or for an entire weekend, so you can properly immerse yourself in the experience. Also, be sure you’ve completed anything urgent before your spa day. Nothing quite ruins the relaxing vibe like remembering the errands you forgot to run. You deserve the time to unwind and relax, so make sure you make time for yourself!

Stay Hydrated

Have you ever had the delicious water they serve at spas, usually infused with refreshing fruits and herbs? Not only is it a refreshing drink, but staying hydrated during a spa day is crucial to feeling healthy and rejuvenated at the end of the day. Whether you’re replenishing your electrolytes after sweating it out in a sauna or trying to flush out toxins after a massage, water should be a staple in your spa day at home. Some of our favorite spa water combos are:

  • Strawberry + Mint + Lime
  • Watermelon + Basil
  • Cucumber + Orange
  • Pineapple + Ginger + Mint
  • Peach + Basil
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Eat Healthy Meals

Just like staying hydrated is important, eating fresh fruits and vegetables can make your at-home spa day a healthy retreat. Eat lightly, don’t have large meals, and snack consistently throughout the day so you don’t suffer from any stomach discomfort while you are trying to relax. If you aren’t big on salads, try to find healthy alternatives to the foods you like. Spa days aren’t just meant to let you relax, they’re meant to nourish your mind and body wholly. Spa treatments on the outside, nourishing food on the inside!

Use an Infrared Sauna

Using an infrared sauna during your spa day at home is an incredible way to pamper yourself. Infrared heat therapy penetrates deep into your skin to help ease muscle aches, increase circulation, and detoxify your skin. This is a great first activity in your spa day, as it helps put your body into relaxation mode for the rest of the day. The detoxification process also helps open the pores, making it easier for your skin to absorb any products you may apply during your spa day. Infrared sauna use also helps reduce stress and affects the autonomic nervous system to help put you in the rest and digest state for proper healing.

You can also incorporate aromatherapy, chromotherapy, halotherapy, and red light therapy to enhance your home spa day even further. If you enjoy yoga, do a restorative hot yoga session in your sauna to stretch and meditate.

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Take a Bath or Shower

After using the sauna, it is incredibly important to rinse off with cool water to avoid clogging your pores. Rinse off with a quick shower first, then relax in either a hot shower or bath to get back into relaxation mode. If showering, do an exfoliating body scrub and some aromatherapy with the shower steam to make a truly luxurious experience. In the bath, make it special with bubbles or a bath bomb. Remember to moisturize after a bath or shower to keep your skin healthy.

Indulge in Spa Treatments

You can’t have a spa day at home without some sort of spa treatment! This part can be as simple or complex as you would like, whether you make a DIY face mask or splurge on expensive home spa products. If you’re on the DIY track, there are plenty of treatments to choose from such as face masks, body scrubs, and hair masks. If going shopping for your spa products, items can range from $2 sheet masks to $400 serums. Whatever you choose, make sure there are no ingredients that may cause you irritation. Other than that, apply your at-home spa treatments and enjoy!

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Light Candles

This tip may seem simple, but sometimes those simple actions can be all you need to get into a relaxed mindset. In today’s world, we are constantly in front of screens and bright lights. At the end of your day of pampering, take your spa day at home to a softer level my lighting candles and taking time to slow down. Avoid using scents that are too strong, and try putting your phone away and reading while surrounded by the ambiance of candles for a grounding and calming experience.

Learning how to pamper yourself at home is a valuable life skill, as it teaches you how to tune in to your body and give it the time it needs to relax and restore. It is very easy to get caught up in life and forget to slow down, so start off with rewarding yourself with an hour of uninterrupted self-care a week. As mentioned earlier, a spa day at home doesn’t have to be a full day, it can be an hour or even a full weekend. Whenever your schedule allows, take time for yourself with these tips for a perfect spa day at home.

TIPS FOR ATHLETE RECOVERY & INTERVIEW WITH SKIER MO LEBEL

Being an athlete requires skill and a strong focus on keeping your body in top shape. Unfortunately, even the most cautious can face injury. Amateur and professional athletes alike are prone to injury, and having the right process for recovery is important for staying in top shape and getting back into action. Read below for an interview with skier Mo Lebel on her inspirational recovery journey. Additionally, find athlete recovery tips on what tools to use and which exercises to try for injury prevention and reduction to stay safe and healthy!

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Interview with Mo Lebel & Her Athlete Recovery Experience

We have had the pleasure of speaking with 2018 U.S. National Downhill Champion Mo Lebel on her experience with the athlete recovery process. 21-year old Maureen Lebel, also known as Mo, has had an impressive ski career. Essentially raised on the slopes, Mo has proved to have skiing in her blood. Today, she is now a member of the U.S. National Training Group (NTG) and was crowned the 2018 U.S. National Champion in downhill. Suffering an injury in early 2018 obviously hasn’t held her back from achieving big dreams.

Read below for Mo’s take on athlete injury and how she found success in recovery:

How long have you been skiing? Were you involved in athletics before then?

My whole life! I started skiing before I was two years old and have never looked back!

What are your biggest successes and motivators in your sport?

My biggest successes would be representing the United States at the Junior World Championships and  becoming the 2018 U.S National Downhill Champion.

My motivation is my love for the sport. Whether it’s ski racing or just skiing, I love being out there on the snow. In a lot of ways, ski racing is addicting and everyday that makes me want to be better and better. I meet people who will be in my life forever, go places I could only dream of going, and have learned life lessons that carry me through my day to day life. It’s pretty cool how ski racing has shaped me!

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In all of your time in athletics, is injury a common occurrence?

Generally, yes. Ski racing is a high risk sport and injury is not uncommon among a lot of ski racers. Almost every ski race I compete in, an athlete will injure themselves. Luckily, I’ve only had two season-ending injuries (both within the same year). Us ski racers work tremendously hard in the gym to become as strong as possible to prevent these injuries.

What are the biggest setbacks that come with being an injured athlete?

The inability to continue to fulfill your passion!

The setback is not only personal, your support crew feels it too. This can be added stress, but also added motivation. So much hard work goes into any sport and when all of a sudden it’s ripped away from an athlete, it can feel as if  your whole life is put on hold. In reality it’s just a bump in a very long road. Negativity, sadness, and anger are pretty common. What really matters is how fast an athlete can put those thoughts behind them and move forward in a positive way. The biggest setback for any athlete is the limitations of their own mindset. It’s all a learning proces,s and developing resilience is the lesson we learn.

How do you work through your injuries, and why is recovery process important to you?

I have found that staying as positive as I possibly can has helped me heal the fastest and get through my injuries. When I get down on myself I lose sight of what I’m working towards and what I have already accomplished in my career. Personally, sticking to a routine is mandatory. I work through my injuries by establishing a recovery process that includes eating right, exercising as much as possible without pushing it too hard (which is very difficult as a ski racer), spending as much time in my infrared sauna as possible, getting LOTS of sleep and remembering to never take myself too seriously!

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How has using infrared technology helped in your recovery process?

I am so impressed with my infrared sauna! It has helped my muscles recover exceptionally fast. Currently, I have a lot of muscle strength to gain back on one leg and spending time in my sauna allows me to strengthen my leg everyday versus every other day. Rarely do I need a “recovery day”. My blood circulation has improved tremendously and I haven’t had swelling in my broken leg for about two months. I broke it three and a half months ago.

I can tell my healing process has been expedited. My infrared sauna has also been great in lowering my stress and mental fatigue during my recovery process. I believe that the infrared sauna heals on all levels, from incision sights and scars, to deep tissue and bone and the benefit of mental stress reduction. It is a fascinating  recovery tool. I can foresee this technology becoming a standard for recovery and maintenance for all.

Do you have any advice for athletes currently going through recovery?

To any recovering athlete, consider finding access to an infrared sauna or investing in one. My recovery is moving in such a positive way, so fast. I can’t imagine this process without infrared technology. I am feeling so great physically and psychologically and I know how crucial that is for athletes. The healing progression is noticeably superior with the incorporation of infrared technology.

Never forget the reasons why you’re recovering! No matter where you are in life, always bring your best!

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Athlete Recovery Equipment

Infrared Sauna

After working out, you’re sure to feel sore in the muscles you’ve worked. During exercise, your muscles are worked harder than they are accustomed to, which causes them to form microscopic tears. These tears cause inflammation and can result in muscle soreness, tightness, cramps, and sensitivity. Your body then heals these tears to make your muscles stronger. Using a sauna enhances the muscle recovery process by increasing blood circulation and carrying oxygen-rich blood to oxygen-depleted muscle. Heat also allows muscles to relax better, thus relieving muscle tension.

Inversion Table

Inversion therapy is a pretty simple concept. It uses gravity to relieve pressure, increase blood flow, and reset important bodily functions – all of which are vital to the recovery process. Triathletes and other athletes with punishing workout schedules have seen incredible improvements in their overall health as a result of inversion therapy. Inversion therapy helps improve joint health, increase core strength, ease stress, and boost circulation.

Recovery Boots

By using recovery boots in your daily workout, you can speed up the recovery process that your body’s lymphatic and vascular systems perform naturally over a longer period of time. Pneumatic compression increases blood circulation and helps your body get rid of accumulated waste in your muscles faster and more efficiently than your body normally can. The result is that your muscles heal and recover faster.

Athlete Recovery Tips

One of the most frustrating parts of being an injured athlete is the feeling of being inactive. While you may be tempted to jump right back in to your regular routine once you start to feel better, getting back into fitness after an injury must be done slowly and carefully to prevent delayed healing and avoid any further injury. Before getting started with any intensive actions, do these few things:

  1. Explore different physical therapies to find relief such as compression, inversion, and infrared therapies
  2. Prepare yourself mentally, understand that you won’t be performing at your optimal levels
  3. If you suffered a serious injury, consult with your doctor before starting any strenuous activities
  4. Listen to your body and stop or slow down if needed, do not push yourself to unbearable discomfort
  5. Diversify your workouts with cross-training, focusing on non-injured parts of your body to keep moving

Once you are ready to get active, try low-impact athlete recovery exercises to ease you moving in a safe and healthy manner so you can be back to full-form in no time.

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Athlete Recovery Exercises

Back Injury Recovery

Properly recovering from a back injury is critical to your spinal health. It ensures you maintain your mobility, posture and muscle strength so you can protect your spine. The key to recovering from a back injury is your core. If you’re returning to exercise after an injury to your back, try these core strengthening pelvic tilts and bird dogs.

Shoulder Injury Recovery

Shoulder injuries such as bursitis or tendonitis can be chronic and take a long time to heal. They can cause severe pain and impact your quality of life, making it difficult to perform movements such as reaching, pulling or pushing. Once you’ve been cleared to begin using it again, shoulder injury rehab is the next step. You can rehabilitate and strengthen your shoulder muscles with the pendulum and crossover arm stretches.

Hamstring Injury Recovery

Hamstring strains can be incredibly painful and debilitating. Like shoulder injuries, if a hamstring injury isn’t properly rehabilitated, it can become a chronic or recurring problem. To properly rehabilitate your hamstring, it’s important to find ways to continue to use it without straining it even more. To start your rehabilitation, try single-leg bridges and hamstring curls.

Groin Injury Recovery

Groin injuries can be caused by pulled or strained groin muscles (adductors). These injuries typically affect athletes and can recur if not properly treated. After resting and icing a groin injury, you may decide to return to physical activity with some groin injury rehab exercises such as the adductor squeeze and the side-lying leg lifts with crossover.

Knee Injury Recovery

Knee injuries are very common as it’s one of the most used joints in the body—and the most susceptible to wear and tear. Initially following a knee injury, you’ll want to work on getting your range of motion back, and it’s advisable to work with a physiotherapist for this. To help rehabilitate, try straight leg raises and step-ups.

Suffering from an injury as an athlete may feel restrictive, but with patience and good recovery practices, you are sure to set yourself up for a successful healing period and prevent further injury. As Mo Lebel proves, even major injuries are merely road bumps, and they don’t have to require a full-stop. Follow these athlete recovery tips to get back on track and reach your goals!

HEALTHY TRAVEL TIPS FOR STAYING FIT ON VACATION

If you’ve spent the last months getting in shape for summer, you probably want to maintain your efforts and stay healthy while on vacation. From indulgent meals to not having time to hit the gym, it may seem difficult to maintain your health and fitness goals while taking a trip. Luckily, there are plenty of opportunities for staying healthy on vacation. These suggestions will cover healthy travel tips such as exercises, eating tips, and healthy travel practices to do on-the-go.

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General Healthy Travel Tips

  1. Stay Hydrated: From walking all day to hot temperatures to indulging at the local bar, going on vacation opens up plenty of possibilities for dehydration. Be sure to stay hydrated on your trip to avoid feeling run down. Keep in mind that many countries do not offer water free of charge at restaurants, so pack a reusable water bottle.
  2. Don’t Forget Sunscreen: Practicing proper skin care while on vacation is often an overlooked aspect of healthy traveling. Travel typically means spending a lot of time outside and exploring, and your skin deserves to have a vacation too! On top of protecting your skin with sunscreen, pack your cleanser and moisturizer as well.
  3. Pack Appropriately: You know that, “I’m forgetting something…” feeling? Avoid that with a packing list. Take a close look at your vacation itinerary to see what kind of activities are planned and pack accordingly. Not much is worse than getting to your destination realizing you packed only sandals when you needed sneakers.
  4. Get Enough Rest: It’s easy to be constantly on the go when enjoying a new place. While going nonstop may seem like the best way to fit every activity in, you will soon find that burnout is inevitable. Take breaks when needed and aim to get plenty of sleep every night to keep your body fueled and happy for your vacation.
  5. Follow a Routine: One good way to throw off your vacation is by throwing off your routine. Sure, vacation life is different from everyday life, but staying healthy on vacation is much easier when your body isn’t throw off from what its used to. Keep sleep, meal times, and medication schedules similar to keep your body feeling familiar.
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Practicing Mental Health on Vacation

Be Prepared

A healthy vacation starts with healthy planning. Your vacation mental health begins even before you arrive at your destination. Making sure everything at home is squared away and putting together a schedule and general plan for your trip helps reduce vacation fatigue and stress while on your trip meant for relaxation.

Take it Slow

Even though we have suggested planning a schedule for your trip, be wary of over-planning. Having a strict schedule can lead to added stress, especially when the inevitable unexpected plan change happens. Take your vacation time to relax and take it slow instead of worrying about meticulously planning every minute.

Treat Yourself

While on your trip, keep your vacation mental health on track by treating yourself to some luxuries you might not usually indulge in. Book a spa day filled with massage therapy, facials, and relaxing your body and mind in an infrared sauna. Even simply laying by the pool and reading your favorite book can give you that pampered, relaxed feeling.

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Exercising on Vacation

Find a Hotel Gym

Hotel gyms aren’t equipped quite as well as a full gym, but they can be a key component to staying fit on vacation. Most hotel gyms have the basics – some weights, treadmills, ellipticals, and an exercise ball. That being said, you never know just what your hotel will have, so bring your own mat if you can and be prepared for bodyweight exercises.

Do a Hotel Room Workout

When you’re on vacation, making it to the gym might not be high on your list of to-dos. If you still want to workout on vacation, you can easily fit in a quick hotel room workout before heading out for daily activities. Working out in your hotel room means no equipment, making it easy to stay healthy on vacation and get your blood flowing.

Make it Fun

Staying in a gym or hotel room sound like a boring way to spend your vacation? Incorporate exercise into your travels to make them fun and enjoyable. Whether you choose to explore and walk 5 miles, go on a local hike for views off the beaten path, or getting adventurous with snorkeling, you probably won’t even know you’re exercising on vacation.

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Eating Healthy on Vacation

Don’t Skip Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, especially when you’re eating healthy on vacation. Many hotels offer free breakfast, which saves you money and provides fuel for a day full of activities. Being full in the morning prevents the urge for unhealthy snacks later in the day. Even if it is a small breakfast, aim for a good balance of protein and carbs.

Eat Fresh When Possible

Depending on where you go, eating healthy on vacation can be as simple as trying the local produce. Look for local items on menus that indicate fresh, unprocessed ingredients. Fresh, local produce is healthier, more delicious, and more authentic than any pre-packaged food you will find on vacation. Be open to trying new foods you might not find at home!

Practice Moderation

Staying fit on vacation doesn’t mean you have to give up on all the delicacies your destination has to offer. Vacations are meant to be enjoyed, and if you want to eat something, eat it! Just be wary of portion sizes and be sure to find a balance between indulging and eating healthy. Overindulging and under-indulging can both lead to post-vacation blues.

Going on a trip doesn’t have to mean losing track of your health and fitness. By following thee healthy travel tips, you can easily maintain your mental health, workouts, and healthy eating on vacation while having the trip of your life!

What is Hot Yoga? Hot Yoga Benefits & More

International Day of Yoga is June 21, so what better way to celebrate than learning about a new form of yoga? You have probably heard of hot yoga, but might be wary to commit to such a seemingly intense practice. Hot yoga has been around for years and has been a beneficial tool for physical, mental, and spiritual connection. Learn about hot yoga health benefits, poses, and tips to make this a regular part of your practice!

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What is Hot Yoga?

As the name implies, hot yoga is the practice of yoga in a heated setting. Hot yoga sessions are typically more vigorous and intense than the average yoga practice. There are many ways to experience hot yoga, whether you are attending a class of practicing on your own at home. Many use hot yoga as a way to connect with their bodies physically, mentally, or spiritually.

Bikram Yoga is the most common way to practice, where rooms are heated to 105°F (40°C) with 40% humidity. In this practice, 26 hot yoga poses are performed to activate muscles and increase blood circulation throughout the body.

Outside of a class, you can easily practice hot yoga on your own. Either in a heated room or in a home sauna, solo hot yoga is a wonderful way to connect with your body and learn its limits without pushing it too far.

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Benefits of Hot Yoga

Aided Weight Loss

Just like with infrared saunas, the heat of hot yoga boosts heart rate, and therefore increases metabolic rate to burn more calories. Increased calorie burn teamed up with water weight loss from sweating result in higher weight loss.

Decreased Stress

Applied heat helps relax muscles and reduce pain, and hot yoga promotes a focus on proper breathing technique. These help calm both your body and mind to reduce stress. Serotonin levels are also boosted by hot yoga to improve mood.

Eliminated Toxins

Just like with infrared sauna detoxification, hot yoga helps detoxify the body through sweat. As heat is increased, sweat glands are stimulated and your body eliminates toxins and other harmful buildup that has accumulated over time.

Enhanced Lung Capacity

Because hot yoga places such a large emphasis on deep breathing techniques that expand lungs, your lungs can be trained to take in more air. Deep breathing and enhanced lung capacity allow your body to take in more oxygen, as well.

Improved Circulation

Being active in yoga increases your circulation, and adding in the element of heat increases it even more. During your hot yoga sessions, your heart rate should be between 60-80% of your maximum heart rate to feel cardiovascular benefits.

Increased Flexibility

Even if you don’t consider yourself particularly flexible, hot yoga can help. The heat helps warm up muscles and joints to make mobility and flexibility easier. The slow and deep stretches in hot yoga also help increase flexibility over time.

Minimized Injury

Similarly to increased flexibility, the heat during hot yoga helps lessen tension in muscles and joints to reduce the chance of injury. On top of that, the increased blood flow aids in healing injuries quicker in the event of an injury.

Strengthened Immune System

Yoga can increase immune cell counts and antibodies. Added with heat that increases the body’s immune response and a reduction of cortisol, a stress hormone that weakens the immune system, hot yoga can help prevent and reduce illness.

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Hot Yoga Tips

Be Mindful of Your Body’s Limits

As mentioned earlier, practicing hot yoga poses can increase your flexibility. While it might feel great in the moment, keep in mind just how far your body can realistically go and how it will feel once the effects of heat wear off.

Bring Extra Towels

Chances are, you’ll sweat a lot during your hot yoga session. Be prepared for the extra moisture by bringing towels to keep yourself and equipment dry. Working on a slippery yoga mat can be uncomfortable and a safety hazard during class.

Do Hot Yoga in a Sauna

Boost the benefits of hot yoga by practicing in an infrared sauna. Both infrared saunas and hot yoga offer the health benefits of detoxification, weight loss, flexibility, and reduced stress. Doing hot yoga in a sauna is the perfect scenario!

Eat Light

Because hot yoga poses are more involved and vigorous than your average yoga class, it’s important to fuel your body before your hot yoga session. Eat a healthy meal about 2-4 hours before your session to avoid cramps, nausea, or fatigue.

Practice Breathing

One of the main focuses of hot yoga is honing in on your breath. Breathing exercises help bring you to a state of mindfulness and concentration, which can help you push through the heat of your hot yoga session and get comfortable.

Stay Hydrated

Sweating is great for purging toxins, but can be dangerous if you don’t hydrate before and after practicing hot yoga. Drink water, replenish your electrolytes, and put moisturizer on your skin to ensure your body doesn’t lose any hydration.

Use High-Quality Equipment

From the clothes you wear and the yoga mat you use to the space you’re practicing in, making sure you use the proper equipment and high-quality materials is important for your safety and comfort during any hot yoga session.

For this year’s International Day of Yoga, expand your practice by adding in a hot yoga session or two. Whether you practice in a class or on your own, you’ll experience the many benefits of hot yoga and find a new way to connect with yourself mindfully, spiritually, and physically.

HEALTHY RESOLUTIONS CHECK-IN FOR WELLNESS IN THE NEW YEAR

2019 has kicked off, and New Year’s resolutions are in full swing! January is always the most active month for healthy resolutions, but now is when people tend to fall off and revert back to their old ways. We’ve put together a list of our favorite healthy resolutions that are easy to maintain after the hype of the start of the year is over.

So are you on track with your healthy New Year’s resolutions? Read below to see what you can do to keep them up, and maybe add a few new healthy resolutions to your list for wellness in the new year!

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Health & Wellness Resolutions

Be Kind to Yourself & Others

It has been found that negative thinking is linked to increased stress, lower self-esteem, and even increased risk of death. Make it a goal in 2019 to spread positivity. Remind yourself of your successes and capabilities, and help others on their positivity journey by being kind to those around you. A smile or compliment goes a long way!

Cook at Home

Start cooking more of your meals at home this year, whether it’s through meal prep for the week or by having a few date nights at home. Studies show that people who cook at home consume fewer calories than those who don’t – both at home and while out. Cooking at home also allows you to use healthier and fresher ingredients.

Declutter Your Life

Cleaning up your home and organizing your life is the “in” thing to do right now, and it’s something we can get behind. Get a head start on spring cleaning this year by decluttering your home, organizing files, and keeping things tidy. Decluttering has been shown to decrease anxiety, reduce allergens, increase productivity, and more.

Disconnect for a Bit

In this day, our phones are always around. Make one of your healthy resolutions for the remainder of the year to disconnect from time to time. Whether you do a 24-hour phone detox or simply make an effort to not use technology 30 minutes before bed, unplugging can give you time to connect and be present in life on a new level.

Do a Quarterly Detox Diet

Sticking to a new diet plan that is too rigorous can lead to you losing steam, which can cause you to cut the diet short. Instead, stick to making small lifestyle changes with your diet that are manageable for long-term success, and do a quarterly detox to get a fresh start every few months. Less of a time commitment and more success!

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Drink to Your Health

What you drink can make a huge impact on your health. For the remainder of the year, be mindful of what you have in your glass. The goal: Drink more water; drink less soda, alcohol, and sugary juices. Staying hydrated has a number of health benefits like muscle cramp prevention, detoxification, better skin, and better brain function.

Get More Sleep

This tip is imperative for wellness in the new year. Maybe January was busy with getting the year started, but now you have the rest of the year to get your sleep schedule on track. Getting ample sleep helps reduce stress, improve cardiovascular health, and boost your immune system. All you need to do is catch some Zs!

Improve Your Posture

We’ll bet you just sat a little straighter or stood a little taller after reading that, didn’t you? Being conscious of your posture is a simple and effective wellness fix, as good posture has many health benefits such as reduced back pain, increased energy levels, boosted confidence, improved workouts, and more. It only takes a second.

Join a Fitness Class

“Join the gym” is probably one of the most-used New Year’s resolutions around. Now that the first month of the year is over, gyms empty out as people burn out on their resolutions. Avoid burnout the remainder of the year by finding fitness you enjoy and keeps you moving, whether that’s yoga, spin, a running club, or something else.

Learn How to Say “No”

This might be one of the most difficult healthy resolutions, as it requires unlearning a lifetime of saying yes. In 2019, tend to your mental health by learning how to set boundaries for yourself by saying no to things that do not add value to your life. Simply be firm and kind, and know that you come first for your own mental health.

Pick Up a New Life Skill

Take the rest of the year to develop a new life skill! Have you been wanting to learn a new language? Or maybe you’re ready to learn how to master the kitchen? Whatever you choose, make this your year to learn and become a better-rounded person. As the saying goes, a year from now, you’ll wish you started it today.

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Plan a Vacation

In 2017, it was reported that 52% of employees in the United States had unused vacation days. While working is necessary, so is taking a break! You have 11 months left to use up those days, so start planning your vacations! Not only will you get a well-deserved time to relax, you also have something to look forward to over the year.

Spend Time Outside

There’s nothing like some fresh air to keep you feeling fresh. When weather permits, opt for a stroll instead of a short drive. Read a book or have your morning coffee on the patio when you have time to relax, or plan a full day of hiking. Whatever you choose, you’ll increase your Vitamin D, feel happier, and get more exercise.

Try New Health Practices

Been interested in trying some new health practices? This year is your time to try something new. Depending on your desired health benefits, there are plenty of great practices to look in to. Some of our favorite health practices are detoxifying in an infrared saunachilling out with cryotherapy, releasing tension with acupuncture.

Visit Your Doctor Regularly

Forgetting to book your regular appointments can be easy with the hustle and bustle of everyday life. This year, make it a priority to get your routine checkups with your doctor and dentist, and don’t be shy to make appointments when feeling sick. It’s better to maintain health than to only tend to it once you’re already sick.

Maintaining your healthy resolutions doesn’t have to be a New Year’s activity that fades away after the excitement of January. Use these tips to make sure your health New Year’s resolutions last throughout the whole year! Your mind and body will be on the right road toward total wellness in the new year and beyond.