7 Useful Sleeping Apps To Help You Sleep Better

A good sleeping pattern delivers a lot of benefits. It helps to keep you looking and feeling young while protecting you from illness and disease. Sleep also improves your mood, making stress and anxiety easier to handle. However, many of us struggle to get our recommended 7-9 hours each night, check out this article from Sleep.Report about fixing your sleep schedule. If you’re one of the many people struggling with sleep right now, there could be a solution.

While you might assume that your phone should be the last thing you use before bed, sleep apps are becoming increasingly popular. These tools improve your sleeping patterns, boost relaxation and even encourage less stress. Let’s look at 7 of the best options.

Feb122019

Returning to Meditation

I used to be really into meditation. I did it daily. I even taught a class on it back in the day. It was one of my daily habits, but somewhere along the last year, it’s kind of dropped out of sight. There are so many benefits to meditating. It can help clear stress, focus your mind, and generally get a better hold on mental health. I think it strengthens willpower, mental fortitude, and gives me tools to get through high-stress situations. It’s finding a safe rock through violent storms, a moment of quiet in a crowded room. The benefits are endless and can be different for each person. So why did I stop? Life, laziness, lack of priorities. At the very least, I’ve become aware of my failing habit and I’ve set a course to correct it. One of my annual goals is to meditate 4x/week and I’ve been semi doing okay on that goal.

Jun282017

How Does Exercise Impact Sleep?

Being in the fitness industry, we know how important sleep is for the body. Getting fit doesn’t just happen in the gym, it also happens at home in your bed. Recovery is a huge part of fitness and if you just work out with no recovery, you can only get so far. Your body needs to recover, rebuild muscle proteins, and get proper rest. Good recovery tools include foam rolling sore muscles, icing and heating, proper nutrition intake, massage, and SLEEP. Want to build muscle? Get a good night’s rest. Exercise and sleep affect each other.

We would like to share an awesome resource and article with you guys to underline our point of how sleep can help you get fitter. The scientists behind the Casper mattress created a sleep blog called Van Winkle’s to share their science, health, and cultural discoveries with health communities like ours. If you haven’t already heard of Van Winkle’s, you should check them out here. They recently posted this article “7 Things to Know About the Sleep-Exercise Connection.” Did you know the reason “why” you workout also contributes to your sleep quality? Who would have thunk it? See below. Check out the article and tell us if any of these points resonate with you. And as always, stay hungry and fit!

“In one study, participants who got the best sleep reported getting (a lot of) exercise from leisure activities. People who were active for other reasons, e.g., due to occupational demands, reported worse sleep, as did people who didn’t exercise at all.”

May082017

Our Weekend in Pics

Got some workouts in

Feb142017

Valentine’s Day Meditation

This day is all about looooove, so what better way to practice love than to meditate?! Meditation is a huge self-love tool because it helps our mind find some peace and space. However, it can also be a powerful tool to focus on your love for someone else. Having a special someone in mind while you meditate gives your meditation a deeper purpose and meaning–it will help you focus. So, pick someone to focus on (it could be yourself or even your dog) and let’s meditate!

Dec222015

Can’t Face Your Healthy New Year’s Resolutions? Meditate!

This post was written by Holly Ashby, who works for Will Williams Meditation, a meditation centre who provide classes on meditation in London.

So, it’s that time of year again where the shops stop encouraging you to eat and drink like there is no tomorrow, and are suddenly rolling out all their “January detox” ranges. We are often encouraged on cycles of feast and famine, rather than simply taking joy in both food and exercise and living life happily.

There’s no reason not to get a little healthier as the New Year kicks in. Just remember to do it at your own pace, for your own personal goals rather than other people’s expectations, and in a way that makes you as happy as you are healthy. There’s also no need to set impossible goals – just to exercise a little more, and eat a little healthier after enjoying the holiday excesses.

Aug042013

5 Benefits of Meditating after Workout

So you just worked out. You’re hot, sweaty, and feel that euphoric sense of exhaustion. Your endorphins have just released and you feel great. You’re ready to go get something to eat to fuel your body back to what it needs. But wait! Don’t go anywhere yet! Meditating after a workout can be one of the most wonderful things. Here’s why:

1. Working out can help clear your mind. You’re exhausted, but through that exhaustion and endorphin-release, you can now focus easier. You may not believe me, but meditation after a workout is something I strive for every day. I’m sure you’ve heard of how working out can improve the mind’s function. Well, here it is. You workout, your mind is working more sharply, allowing you to focus more easily and delve into meditation more deeply.

2. You can find happiness faster. Sounds like a strange phrase, but meditation often brings a sense of deep joy and happiness from finding peace. Because of those lovely endorphins that were released during your workout, your mind and body are already feeling great. Which then means in your meditation, you can find that happiness faster than normal. You will find yourself smiling as you meditate, really absorbing the joy that comes from the workout.

3. You are more in tune with your body. One way of meditating is doing an internal scan of your body—feeling what’s tight, loose, imbalanced. After doing a workout, which obviously uses your body, you are so much more in tune with your body. You can feel your heart beat strong, your muscles tingling, and your skin sweating. I know it sounds weird, but it’s a marvelous feeling to meditate after a workout just for that reason. You feel your body invigorated and alive and it’s wonderful to be able to tap into that.

4. It allows for reflection of your workout. Often we drive or walk home after a workout thinking, “Oh I could’ve gone deeper on those squats” or “that HIIT killed me, but I killed it too.” Imagine doing a meditation right after you’ve done these things. Diving into your mind and body for a true reflection, feeling your muscles and your mind connect as you think about these things. You can meditate on what to improve on or what you’re proud of. It’s truly one of the best times to reflect.

5. It allows for a deeper meditation. Because of all the reasons above, you are able to go deeper into meditation faster than normal. Due to your body’s work, that focus is highly-tuned so that you can concentrate better and focus on your breath. The normal annoying distractions fade away because of the supercharged feeling of your body. It’s so much easier to slip into meditation, and feel your breath coming in and out until you find peace.

Still not convinced? Just try it, I promise, you’ll find something amazing. Even if you are new to meditation, this could be the best place to start. Your body is alive with all of its functions which allows you to hone in on them more. It’s one of the most peaceful meditations you can attain and your body will feel stronger and refreshed coming out of it. Practice meditation after working out to stay hungry and fit!

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