Could Rest be the Missing Piece of your Well-being Jigsaw?

• Try not to eat too late because digestion can interfere with sleep. 
• Avoid high intensity exercise late in the evening because it can be overstimulating for your body
• Ditch the devices around 30 minutes before bed.
• Have a bedtime routine.  This could include a little bit of self care like stretching or a skin care routine, or read that book that’s been gathering dust on your night stand. , 
• Dim your lights in the evening to switch your body into night time mode. 
• Try and hit the hay at the same time every night - even at weekends.  This will support your sleep body clock.  
• Keep your bedroom cool - between 60 -68 degree Fahrenheit increases melatonin, which is not only the vital sleep hormone but is also anti-aging. 
• Ditch anything that emits light when it’s time for bed - alarm clocks, your phone, the landing light, street lights outside will all interfere with you drifting off. 
• Avoid the booze because this just induces fake sleep, preventing the body from doing its detoxing magic. 

Social Media 

We often experience unconscious stress when we immerse ourselves in the Instagram lives of celebs, influencers or even our friends and family. Their lives can often seem a far cry from our own realities and the negative psychological impact may, at first, go unnoticed, but those feelings of comparison can often sneak up on us and have a detrimental impact on our well-being and self love. Your rational brain knows what you see online is not real and all the bits in between are omitted for good reason, but they still have the power to make us set unreasonable expectations of ourselves. So, do yourself a favour and ditch the social media every now and again and give yourself a break.  If you’re following people that have control over the way you feel, don’t be afraid to cull them! 

Cold Water Therapy

Not only does cold water therapy support in getting rid of those insulin spiking carb cravings that negatively impact your sleep, when you take the plunge you trigger the Mammalian Diving Reflex.  This makes you breathe in really sharply, kick starting your adrenaline and cortisol, making you feel super alert and improving your overall mood. Cold showers are an adaptogen in that they make you feel awake in the morning and sleepy at night.  Furthermore, giving in to the cold can also support your hormone balance, waves of endorphins, better circulation, weight loss, stress relief, pain relief, muscle healing, antidepressant, stress management, and it can give your immune system a boost. 

We know that plunging into Arctic temperatures is probably the least attractive of our hacks, but engaging in this technique 3 times a week will see your mood and energy skyrocket. 

The Wim Hof breathing technique has been proven to stave off viruses, disease and depression as it alters the body’s chemical imbalances using oxygen and CO2, which heals inflammation at a cellular level, as well as supporting relaxation. 

You can download his app for free but, in a nutshell, here’s how you breathe like Wim: 

• Take 30 deep breaths in through your mouth to a count of two and out for the count of one.  You’re trying to get as much oxygen into your bloodstream as possible - you might become a little light headed. 
• Once your blood is oxygenated, take a breath and hold it for as long as you can.  When you can’t hold it for any longer, breathe out and then pause with all the air in your lungs for ten seconds 

Heat is also your Friend 

Heat is restorative and maybe your way into embracing the cold. A hot bath can not only be so relaxing, they can have so many other beauty benefits.  Give these bath ideas a whirl: 

• Epsom salt bath - your body will absorb the natural magnesium, making you feel more relaxed
• Apple cider vinegar baths - brilliant for detoxing and relaxing your joints. You could add some essential oils to mask the vinegary smell. 
• Detox bath - add a cup of baking soda, a third of a cup of hydrogen peroxide and a cup of bentonite clay, which will draw out the impurities in your system 

If you grab yourself a pop up infrared sauna, you’re on to a winner.  A sauna can really help with those pesky cravings, improve your mood by lowering cortisol levels and increasing your serotonin, stimulate your lymph flow, get your bowels moving as the muscles in your abdomen relax, lessen fatigue, increase relaxation, reduce feelings of frustration and anxiety and stimulate your mitochondria, so you produce more energy. 

When you sweat, you not only eliminate toxins from your body, but it also supports weight loss; when fat breaks down, it is released into your bloodstream and expelled in your sweat. If you don’t sweat them out, they will simply be reabsorbed into your body and continue to cling on for dear life.  In a sauna, your heart rate increases, your blood vessels dilate and you begin to sweat more, which not only supports getting rid of fat, but also increases blood circulation. 

When you feel good in your skin, you’re less likely to engage in destructive behaviours that can be harmful to you.  Engaging in skin care can sometimes be the perfect way to give yourself a minute or a way of embedding and bedtime routine. 

• Increasing your intake of Vitamin C and replacing your decreasing collagen are the perfect ways to start taking better care of the largest organ in your body, your skin. In  addition, Astaxanthin supplements are great for improving blood pressure, cholesterol and preventing fine lines and wrinkles, as well as mitigating sun damage. 
• If you experience breakouts, mix some basic baking soda in water and rub it over your face to dry out your skin and the blemish.  Follow this up with a spritz of hydrogen peroxide (oxygenated water) until the baking soda starts to fizz a bit.  Finally, wash your face thoroughly and add a face oil or moisturiser.  Try to keep your products as natural as possible because anything you put on your face is going to be absorbed and processed by your liver; any undue stress that you put on your liver is only going to steal energy from you. 

It’s safe to say that sometimes getting some rest can feel completely impossible, but with these easy to embed hacks, it may feel a little less difficult. It’s time to rest up, Hackers!