A non comprehensive list of healthy habits that I keep repeating and perhaps you should too.
Scrapeth thy tongue. I always joke with my husband if he never married me he might have gone an entire lifetime without scraping his tongue. He gives me a squeamish contorted face as he imagines what that would be like now that he’s adopted the habit and embraces all of its benefits. This centuries old practice was brought into his world when we met in 2016. We decided after a month of dating to move in together into my home on River Oaks and sell his home in a neighboring town. Our first night going through our bedtime routines together as very much in love strangers, I explained it’s an Ayurvedic practice that is less common in the United States but you should really order one. He watches as I speedily finish brushing my teeth and swipe a silver blade across my tongue repeatedly rinsing the white, saliva residual off the blade. I can see he’s trying not make this a big deal because we just fell madly in love but his face reads, this is bizarre. While conversely, I’m thinking it’s bizarre that people don’t scrape their tongues. He explains he’s never met anyone that’s scraped…their…tongue, hesitating in between each word because even the phrase is foreign to him. I simply insist he try it. And the more I think about it I say… actually, if you don’t take up this habit the amount in which we make-out will drastically drop now that I know you don’t scrape your tongue. I quipped with a chuckle but with a serious undertone, and we did kiss a little less that night. His tongue scraper arrived from Amazon prime the next day. The first package addressed with his name to our new address on 4410 River Oaks Drive was a stainless steel tongue scraper-two pack with travel case. 1
“Tongue scraping is the process of using a curve-shaped tool, typically crafted in stainless steel to remove buildup and unwanted bacteria from the tongue’s surface.” 2 Tongue scraping has been practiced in India and South America for centuries. In early days, tools were crafted from materials including whalebone and tortoiseshell. Tongue scraping has experienced a resurgence thanks to the influence of WellnessTok and the heightened focus of self-care in the past decade. Another thing that I love is there’s virtually NO risks to tongue scraping. You can’t remove too much bad bacteria from your mouth that causes teeth decay and bad breath. Not to mention, watching the removal of that white film of bad bacteria on to the curved blade rinsed down the drain is darn satisfying. Five star experience once your gag reflex becomes muted and you can swipe it with ease without any thought or negative response.
As I was grabbing the link for the tongue scrapers we’ve purchased in the past off Amazon, I discovered this two pack has been ordered 7 times. Which means I have gifted 12 other people the gift of this mouth cleansing habit in the last five years, mainly family and friends and that one acquaintance on IG that responded to my stories and I impulsed purchased a set for them. I also remember adding them to Christmas stockings one year. 😜 Here’s the link to the stainless steel two-pack: Happy Scraping!!
Don’t just up’ your water intake; Add Electrolytes. A rule of thumb for recommended water intake is to divide your weight in pounds by 2, to estimate how much water you should drink. For example, I weigh 170lbs. I should drink about 85 ounces of water per day. I found that on days I would reach this recommended intake I would still not feel hydrated. My go-to electrolyte packets I’ve found is a brand called Hydralyte. Purchased so often, I have two different flavors added to our subscribe and save on amazon; the sparkling and the regular. The sparkling packets I also use for mocktails that I mention if you choose to keep reading. The packets consist of: 250mg of sodium, as well as 180mg of potassium and 367mg of chloride. Many electrolyte powders only focus on a high concentrations of sodium. I love these packets for the balance of the other vital electrolyte ingredients potassium and chloride. This brand also utilizes beet powder for coloring instead of artificial dyes like Red40 unlike the common electrolyte drink Gatorade. I never try to let my family run out and we carry emergency packets in our first aide kits, 72 hr go packs, vehicle, and my purse.
Mocktail > Cocktail. I still probably don’t know how truly beneficial this change was for my health but it’s a habit here to stay. Instead of drinking alcohol on a weekly basis (if not multiple times a week) I drink alcohol more on a yearly basis. There are a lot of reasons I made this decision but the primary reason is simply, alcohol made me feel bad. The inflammation and bloating it caused in my body was always apparent the following day. In 2022, I finally took a large step back and examined why it was something I still chose to ingest. Here’s an extensive video that I’ve listened to twice now that discusses the physiological effects that drinking alcohol has on the brain and body. Huberman Lab Podcast | Listen Here It’s 2 hours long so fair warning, it’s not a light listen but I’ve learned something new each time and the video now has 6.6 million views on YouTube. If you’d thought about “cutting back” and don’t know where to start, I’d try making yourself a mocktail and just see how it goes. My go to Mocktail is a sparkling Hydralyte packet, mixed in restructured water, over ice with a sugared rim. I add an orange wedge or grapefruit slice for fresh aesthetic. I’ve tried very complex mocktail recipes from Pinterest that were all tasty, but an electrolyte packet in water with some fresh fruit cues my brain the same way with way less prep. Cheers to making a drink that looks like alcohol that cues the brain to relax but without the inflammation and anxiety hangover the next day.3
Dry brushing: As I type this I’m still surprised this made the list and if you are reading this… it made it past all edits. I really enjoy dry brushing! It’s now a big part of my shower routine. I’ve been doing it long enough I have muscle memory of the directional strokes I take across my body to support proper lymph drainage. It’s a quick pre shower habit that I find myself repeating and I feel has helped my health; so it goes on the list. I started this routine with the goal to improve the circulation in my legs and for lymph drainage but it has also made a visible difference in my skin and cellulite. I have hesitation with sharing the cellulite fact because I don’t want to identify with any societal expectation that cellulite is bad. I also don’t want to even highlight that diminishing appearance of cellulite is a possible benefit. Cellulite is normal and my goal was not to try to diminish the appearance of the cellulite on my upper thighs when I began dry bushing a little under a year ago. But surprisingly this routine has made my legs appear more tone and the cellulite is less defined in many areas. I like the way my skin feels and my circulation in my legs have drastically improved. I participate in this habit so regularly now I have even recently upgraded my dry brush to one that has copper bristles. The copper bristles is definitely not for beginners and I encourage you to start with a handheld round one and just see how you feel about it after a few trials. You may be surprised like I was with how much you enjoy it.
Breathwork. 4 “Breathwork refers to a wide variety of breathing exercises and techniques that are done for the purpose of breath control.” Practicing breathwork regularly can help improve physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. I first found breathwork a few years ago when I found myself breathing really shallow when I would scroll on social media platforms. I even found certain content was causing me to hold my breath for periods of time. Shallow breathing can lead to something called: Sympathetic Nervous System Dominance or Sympathetic Dominance.
I have experienced all of these symptoms, many of which I directly credit to the sympathetic dominate state social media has caused my body to go into at times. Many of us have become shallow breathers, especially if you catch yourself in the middle of a “doom scroll”. Shallow breathing over time can lead to more stress and can result in you going into fight or flight more easily.
Breathwork can help us correct our breathing, allow us to be more conscious of our patterns and empower us to take deeper breaths; which signals our body that we are safe. It has become a tool I use to reset this sympathetic leading state. Breathwork has been scientifically proven to positively contribute to various health factors including but not limited to:
Lowers blood pressure
Improves lung function
Boosts immune system
Improves circulation
Helps manage pain
Boosts metabolism
Improves digestion
Releases toxins and CO2
Once I became aware of my own shallow breathing while viewing social media; I decided to add reminders throughout my content to prompt followers to breathe. I decided if I was adding to the surplus of content on my platforms with 250-450 people viewing my stories on a daily basis between Instagram and Facebook, they were going to at least be told to breathe on my accounts.
I would upload reminders like this to embed amongst my stories and the positive feedback was a flood of dm’s telling me things like: “ugh, I love when you do this.” “Wow, I really needed that reminder!” “I feel like I don’t hardly breathe all day until I see this and it really makes me stop and take the deepest breathe.” “Thank you for this please don’t ever stop reminding me to breathe.”
I’m thankful for how breathwork has brought healing into my life and I’m learning new things about this practice everyday. If you aren’t sure where to start, try taking 10 deeper breaths a few times a day when you notice your breathing is shallow or you experience a panicky, rushed, unsettled feeling. It can be the reset you need to activate your parasympathetic nervous system that is responsible for your body’s relaxation response. Ten intentional breaths over a consistent period of days can transcend your body from fight or flight to calm, centered and safe. Obviously this health habit is worth repeating and I have a lot more to share on this in the future.
Breathe in… Breathe out gently.
BeckA 🎠
Instant future husband credibility. Green flag baby.
Why is everyone Suddenly into Tongue Scraping? Article in the Word of Mouth Allure newsletter: https://www.allure.com/story/what-is-tongue-scraping
A screenshot from my “Sober is sexy” instagram highlight bubble with a response from one of my followers understanding the purpose of a mocktail is still to help cue your brain to relax.
Science of Breathwork: How it works + Top 14 benefits https://www.othership.us/resources/science-of-breathwork
You're going to be my tonge scraping inspiration (that sounds weird but I'm not sorry about it).
Interesting read- I too am off to check out the art of tongue scraping. I just subscribed for more.