So I’ve been on this health and wellness journey for a long time. I’ve owned the gym for almost 9 years now. Like everything, it’s constantly evolving as I learn new things and want to test them out myself. I thought it might be fun to post about some of the more … out there things I do.
Here are 5 things I do to improve my overall health and wellness that are … kind of weird!
#1 – Acupressure
Acupressure is an ancient healing art that’s based on the traditional Chinese medicine practice of acupuncture. With acupressure, you put pressure on specific places on your body. These places are called acupoints. Pressing these points can help release muscle tension and promote blood circulation.
Denise got me an acupressure mat for my birthday. I’m about 3 weeks in and I LOVE IT.
My review:
I’ll stand on this bad boy with bare feet while at my stand up desk for like 30 minutes at a time, a couple times per day. It seriously makes me more awake than any amount of coffee or caffeine.
Which goes along with the reviews from their website:
100% of people had less fatigue
97% noticed less back pain
95% saw improved sleep
90% reported less stress
80% saw reduction in headaches and migraines
Full disclosure. This thing hurts. Yes, I stand and lie down on those thousand little spikey things. Standing on it I’ve built up a tolerance so I’m good with it right away, but sometimes I’ll lay down on the mat with no shirt and literally have to only focus on my breathing for 2 minutes in order to stay on the mat. But after those first few minutes, you get hit by a wave of euphoria when the endorphins kick in!
#2 Tongue Scraping
When I was first introduced to this, I was like WTF?! You want me to do what to my tongue?
But now that I’ve been doing it for months, I can’t imagine NOT doing it.
I’ll spare the details, but these are some of the benefits:
– Clearing toxins, bacteria, and dead cells from the tongue to prevent bad breath
– Enhancing the sense of taste
– Promoting overall oral and digestive health
– Gently stimulating the internal organs- Increasing your awareness of your state of health
The scraper is cheap enough, and just add this to your brushing routine for all the gains! Simple and easy!
#3 – Coffee + MCTs
To me, this ranks pretty mild on the “weird scale”, but that’s probably just because I’ve been doing it for so long.
When “a regulah” a Dunkin is 2 creamers and 2 sugars (or so I’ve been told), and many of the Starbucks special drinks sport 30g+ of sugar, black coffee + MCTs is kind of weird.
MCTs are healthy fat and have a ton of benefits. They give the coffee a kind of latte taste if blended properly which we quite enjoy.
Side note – we also do about 60% caffeine, 40% decaf blend. I grind the beans each night to about that ratio. Maybe our coffee is kind of weird 
but it’s also healthy AF and delicious.
#4 – Blue Light Blocking Glasses!
These bad boys cost about $10 and naturally look AMAZING, so they pack enormous value.
Blue light is emitted from almost all electronic devices. You may notice this on newer cell phones where it goes into “bedtime” mode and turns gray at a certain time of night. It’s trying to reduce the blue light, so it’s a good thing. The problem is, blue light disrupts your production of melatonin. In essence, it tricks your body into thinking the sun is still up. So if you are on your phone, computer, TV, or tablet after dinner, you’re sending signals that the sun is still up and therefor not time to get ready to sleep yet.
BUT! If you throw these bad boys on, it blocks the blue light, therefor allowing your body to think the sun has set, and to start secreting melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that helps you fall asleep.
So every night around 6pm I’ll throw these on and sleep like a baby!
#5 – Mouth Taping!
I learned about this from reading the book “Breath” and it’s been a game changer.
It’s as simple as it sounds. When you sleep, you SHOULD breathe through your nose. But most people mouth breathe. This causes a whole host of issues. Simple fix, use medical tape to tape your mouth shut! To the tune of $2/roll of tape that lasts a month, this health hack packs enormous value.
What can you expect?
– Reduce or even STOP snoring
– Increase Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
– Reduce likelihood of cavities and gum disease
– Sleep better, wake up more refreshed
– Strengthen your immune system
– Strengthen your diaphragm for stronger breathing ability
– Lowers blood pressure
– Reduced stress and anxiety
– Reduced bad breath
It looks ridiculous and feels ridiculous, but if you can get past that, it’s such an easy hack to improving your health.
Note – If you are a serious mouth breather, you may not be able to go more than a few minutes of mouth taping because your nostrils and diaphragm are so out of shape. You may need to work up to doing it all night.
