Detoxifying Bedtime Yoga Flow

Well, I promised long ago to post my favorite bedtime detoxing yoga flow, and here it is! The yoga flow takes  about 15-20 minutes to complete and will leave you feeling fresh, loosened, and ready to get some serious zzz's.

What I love most about this flow is the detoxifying effects. During the night our bodies have a rejuvenation process that happens all the way from our vital organs to our skin. This is one of the key reasons sleep is so important for a healthy body, happy mind, and great looking skin! When we detoxify our bodies before starting the rejuvenation process, we are keeping everything in better working order. This flow will help work out some of those kinks we can get in our digestion along with doing some good for our spine, blood flow, and the oxygen absorption within the body.

If you are really wanting to make this workout stick, I would recommend drinking a cup or two of water both before and after the yoga flow. Be sure not to skimp on the Shivasana either! It may seem odd to rest before you rest, but a good Shivasana before bed can help take away all the day's stress and give you a better night's sleep.

Thank you Casper Mattresses for teaming up with me to make a super simple and highly effective yoga flow for better sleep and a better body :)

Enjoy!

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5 Ways to Make Your Bedroom More Like a Hotel Room

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The hubs and I get to travel quite a bit which means that we see plenty of relaxing, clean, and wonderfully smelling hotel rooms. Although I love being at home, it took some understanding and prep for me to like our bedroom as much as a hotel bedroom. No, we do not get ours cleaned once a day by wonderful maids. And no, ours does not have a balcony that overlooks the Pacific (or any) Ocean. But, ours does have five simple things that make it less like the usual bedroom and more like a zen hotel room.

1. Keep It Minimal

No matter where we stay, every hotel room we stay in keeps things minimal. There are not fifty frilly pillows covering the bed or tons of furniture/decor pieces. This is partially because cleaning all that everyday would be such a nightmare, and partially because sleep scientists have found minimal spaces to be more inviting for sleep. Keeping six or less pillows on the bed, minimal things on a nightstand, and a dresser that has space for extra things is a great way to de-clutter our rooms and minds before hitting that pillow.

2. Light Colors

Thinking back, I cannot remember of one hotel I have stayed in that did not have white sheets. white sheets make bleaching possible (which I am all for in hotel rooms) and it also keeps things light. If having white sheets, pillows, and duvets worries you like it did me, try an off white variant like sky blue or linen that still feels fresh. I also super wanted a pattern for our duvet and picked this simple (and light) design from Restoration Hardware for our duvet. Sure, it was a bit more pricey than Target, but our duvet is one of my favorite parts of the room.

3. Good Smells

One of my favorite things about sleeping in a hotel bed is how wonderful they smell. It's not like our bed smells super bad or anything, it just did not smell as warm and inviting and crisp and clean as some nicer hotels we stay in. That is, until I found a wonderful little thing called linen spray.

There are all types of linen sprays running the gambit of prices and scents. Right now we are using this crisp cilantro scent from Tommy Bahama but we have also used simple lavender scents when relaxation and sleep is vital. Keep it in your bedside table and use spritz a bit whenever you make the bed. Best. Thing. Ever.

4. The Bedside Table

It may sound odd, but what we keep on our bedside table can make a difference on how relaxed we feel in our bedroom. I am one of those who gets easily stressed in a messy house, so my bedside table stays quite minimal. Emily Henderson recommends keeping bedside tables simple with a light, something to hold jewelry, storage drawers or baskets underneath, a piece of art you like, and flowers. No matter how big or small our bedside tables are, these few things are all we keep on it.

5. Air Purifier and/or a Humidifier

This is the one thing our bedroom has on any hotel room and I wish every hotel room had. No matter where we live, things our in our air that we do not want in our lungs. If you wake up with a stuffy nose or sticky eyes, it's not you, it's the air. Humidifiers also help keep skin moisturized and our sinus passages clear... You can even put yummy oils in a humidifier that help with the whole room smelling like heaven bit!

Since we live in Florida, a humidifier is not exactly needed, but we use and love this air purifier. Now, if they will create a travel version I will be the happiest little traveler ever!

This Week in Workouts: New Things

This week was, yet again, centered around yoga and a few new workouts that I have never done before. We were staying with our Grandma this week, so almost every workout had to be something I could do without equipment or gym. It ended up being a really great week for workouts; I was  complete some workouts and classes that I have never done before and definitely push way farther than was originally planned.

I also did two days this week without any starches. That's a pretty big deal considering that I could eat a loaf of bread in the time it takes most people to butter one slice. For reals. We were able to do a low country boil this weekend, which was fantastic. And I also made the hubs new favorite meal on one of our/my starch free days... It was so good that I did not even miss the bread!

Monday: 1-mile warm-up run followed by Ali K's Yoga for Beginners Workout. I don't care if the title says it is for beginners, this sequence works up a sweat every time! Then practice for compass pose (I got to the intermediate/advance position!!!) and headstands- 15 seconds FTW!

Tuesday: 3-mile run and this yoga sequence by Tara Stiles before bed.

Wednesday: Rest Day

Thursday: 60-minute Power Hot Yoga class at my favorite hot yoga studio in town. This was my first time trying a hot power yoga class and having my form complimented by a hot yoga instructor. Yea, Thursday was a good day!

Friday: Ballet Workout followed by Tara Stiles Yoga for Sleep flow. Then, more headstands. My arms were super sore from Thursday's flow so everything was leg centered for pain relief...

Saturday: First this workout, then this one by Tracy Anderson. Yes, I did them in reverse order, but it was still great. These were directly followed by the core workout from Tara Stiles. By the end of these three I was dripping with sweat. Arms still sore from Thursday- must make chaturanga arm workout!