The handy

guide ToBetter Sleep

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Table of Contents

7 Ways Sleep Deprivation Wrecks Your Brain1

Circadian Rhythm:

What It Is & How to Fix Your Internal Clock2

7 Natural DIY Drinks to Help You Sleep3

The 10-Minute Yoga Routine For Perfect Sleep4

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7 Ways Sleep Deprivation Wrecks Your Brain

Not getting enough sleep can have serious consequences on your health, including impaired memory, increased stressed and can even shrink your brain. Here’s what happens to your brain when you’re sleep deprived. The yawing. The bleary eyes. The constant trips to the coffee pot, as well as counting down the minutes until you can leave work, go home, and melt on the couch.

All of us have been sleep deprived at some point. Sleep deprivation makes trying to power through work and life’s other obligations feel like a chore.

Sure, you know the effects on your body all too well. But how does sleep deprivation affect your brain?

The insights from the latest research are startling.

Sleep Deprivation Affects Millions

Scientists debate the purpose and benefits of sleep, but there’s one thing they can all agree on: sleep deprivation is absolutely terrible for a whole lot of reasons. One study found that sleeping fewer than six hours a night for just one week caused changes to more than 700 different genes (1)!

Most of us need between seven and nine hours of sleep each night (2). Unfortunately, at least 30 percent of us (probably more) aren’t getting nearly enough (3). Millions of people are putting their health at risk.

There isn’t a universal definition of “sleep deprivation” because everyone needs slightly different amounts. But it’s usually considered to be whenever you get less sleep than you need to feel awake and alert. If you’ve ever worked a few double shifts in a row or pulled an all-nighter, you know sleep deprivation when you feel it.

Sleep Deprivation Effects on Your Brain

We’re all well aware of the physical symptoms of fatigue that arise when we don’t sleep enough. But the effects on our brain are much deeper. It’s complicated, and researchers are still in the early stages of figuring out exactly how it all works, but our understanding has increased exponentially from a few decades back.

The more we learn about these effects, the more essential sleep seems. If we’re used to powering through the week on less than we need, the serious impact on our brains

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should give us reason to pause and reflect.

Through the use of brain imaging technology, like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), scientists are able to visually compare the brains of people who are sleep deprived with people who aren’t, and pinpoint the differences.

These symptoms can appear in as little as 16 hours without sleep and escalate rapidly with time (4). Here are some of the most important ways sleep deprivation affects your brain:

Sleep deprivation impairs Memory

Sleep is essential for consolidating memories. While the exact mech-anisms of how the process works are still a mystery, researchers have pegged the hippocampus, amygdala, and neocortex as especially important for memory consolidation. All of these areas in the brain are “in a highly activated state” during sleep (5).

Getting enough sleep is even more crucial after learning new skills. Post-learning sleep reactivates new information and consolidates it into long-term storage, where it’s integrated with your past experiences. This is important whether you’re learning verbally or learning a procedural skill; it is even important with emotional memory and spatial navigation (6).

Researchers from the University of Bristol in England discovered just how devastating

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the effects of sleep deprivation can be. In a study of flight attendants who worked long international flights, they found that the flight attendants with less time off had increased cortisol (the stress hormone) levels. With time, the massive cortisol burst actually shrunk the temporal lobe in the attendants’ brains – a region crucial to memory (7).

Anyone who doesn’t get enough sleep is exposed to this risk, but people who have their sleep disrupted often (emergency workers, new parents, etc.) are especially vulnerable.

Sleep deprivation Makes you More emotional (and Less emotionally intelligent)

You’ve probably felt cranky after those all-nighters or red-eye flights, and with good reason. Sleep deprivation can actually impair your emotional ability to cope with life’s challenges – and even degrade your emotional intelligence.

A 2007 study from Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley, explored the neurological connections. Researchers used fMRI and found that the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain, was about 60 percent more active in sleep deprived people than those who had enough sleep (8). According to Dr. Matthew Walker, the lead author, “It’s almost as though, without sleep, the brain had reverted back to more primitive patterns of activity, in that it was unable to put emotional experiences into context and produce controlled, appropriate responses.” (9).

When the amygdala goes into overdrive, the prefrontal cortex (which controls logical reasoning) isn’t able to calm down the fight-or-flight response. Instead, sleep deprived amygdalas connect to the locus coeruleus, an ancient part of the brain that releases noradrenalin to handle threats to survival.

Even stranger, sleep deprivation can destroy emotional intelligence. One study showed participants a series of images: neutral and negative. The well-rested group’s amygdalas only fired when they saw a negative image. But the sleep deprived group had their amygdalas activate when they saw every image (10). In other words, you lose the ability to understand what’s truly important. Everything seems like a big deal!

Sleep deprivation destroys your ability to Focus

Your ability to focus is one of the first things to go when you don’t get enough sleep. You find yourself zoning out during meetings, or not being able to get through mentally challenging tasks like you usually do.

Why?

It comes down to decreased brain activity in the thalamus (a structure involved with alertness and attention), as well as the prefrontal cortex (which also influences alertness, attention, and higher order cognitive processes). A study published in the

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Journal of Sleep Research used positron emission tomography and a chemical marker to measure the metabolic rate in the brain and neuron synaptic activity (11).

The researchers had sleep deprived people perform serial addition/subtraction tasks and measured their cognitive performance. Just 24 hours without sleep led to significant decreases in the cerebral metabolic rate, particularly in the thalamus and prefrontal cortex. In other words, their brains literally slowed down.

When the same researchers used the same methods to study even longer sleep deprivation times (48 and 72 hours), things got even worse. Activity in the thalamus and prefrontal cortex continued to drop off, and so did the participants’ alertness and cognitive performance (12).

Making a few more typos or zoning out during a meeting might not seem like a huge deal. But it can turn get dangerous if you get behind the wheel of a car or take on other activities that require your full attention.

Sleep deprivation Causes you to overlook Risk

Sleep deprivation doesn’t just make you feel like garbage. It can also influence you to make decisions you wouldn’t normally make – choices that make things even worse.

Duke University researchers had a group of sleep deprived adults perform a bunch of economic decision making tasks twice (13). The first time, the subjects did the tests after a normal night’s sleep. But in the second, they did them after staying up all night.

The Duke researchers used MRI during both tests. They found increased activity in the ventromedial prefrontal region (which assesses positive outcomes) and decreased activity in the anterior insula (which assesses losses) (14).

When the subjects were sleep deprived, they became much less sensitive to losses and made riskier decisions to pursue gains. You can see why staying up gambling in a casino might not be such a great idea (15).

Not sleeping enough leads to increased caloric intake, portion sizes, impulsiveness in response to food cravings, and weight gain (16, 17). Researchers have attributed this to increased brain activity in the reward centers – the putamen, nucleus accumbens, thalamus, insula, and prefrontal cortex (18).

Sleep deprivation Slows your Cognition

We already covered how not sleeping enough destroys your ability to focus. But even when you do manage to pay attention, you aren’t as effective because your cognition suffers.

Your working memory is the part of your short-term memory concerned with immediate

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perceptual and linguistic processing. You need it to make decisions and solve problems to get through the day.

Unfortunately, working memory takes a big hit when you’re sleep deprived. Numerous studies found that sleep deprivation led to less accuracy, speed, or both when performing cognitive tasks (19). When fatigued people are forced to make a trade-off between speed and accuracy, the effect is devastating.

Researchers have linked impaired working memory to decreased activity in the parietal lobe (20). This explain why every mundane task seems a little harder – and slower – than normal when you’re tired. Minor decisions (which outfit to wear, what to eat, etc.) become more stressful. You end up even more tired than before, creating a vicious cycle.

Sleep deprivation deteriorates Conversational Skill

Not sleeping enough even makes just getting through a conversation difficult. While you usually charm people with your wit and effortlessly switch between topics, now it becomes a chore to express yourself.

Our conversations rely heavily on divergent thinking, the ability to flow between ideas and change directions accordingly. Scientists have been interested in how this deteriorates after a lack of sleep for a long time now.

Recent research reveals just how the process works. Study participants performed the “Alternate Uses Task,” where they listed as many uses for a common object they could think of. They did this twice: once well rested, and the other sleep deprived. Researchers used fMRI both times, and found increased activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus when the subjects were sleep deprived (21).

Because divergent thinking is demanding on the prefrontal cortex, and activating the inferior frontal gyrus interferes with some of the processes there, we lose our quick wit and conversational fluency.

giving Sleep the attention it deserves

Not getting enough sleep is torture, physically and mentally. You have to wonder why so many of us keep doing it to ourselves!

It’s time to give sleep the attention it deserves – just like our Paleo ancestors did. Getting enough shuteye will help you think clearly, tackle challenges, and learn (and remember) plenty of cool new stuff along the way. With that and a proper diet, you can seize every minute and live life to the fullest.

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Circadian Rhythm What It Is & How to Fix Your Internal Clock

Even if we exercise and follow a healthy diet, most of us could sleep better. A lot better. We’d kill for just one night of good sleep. But we’re tossing and turning instead, stressing about work and scrolling through our Facebook feeds in the wee hours.

The culprit responsible for so much of the exhaustion: a broken circadian rhythm. Once you understand how it works and the importance of light exposure, you can take action to sleep better and wake up more energetic than ever.

What Is Your Circadian Rhythm?

Most of us have heard the term “circadian rhythm.” We know it has something to do with sleep, but we might not be sure exactly what.

It’s complicated; scientists still don’t fully understand the nuances of how everything works. In the simplest terms, your circadian rhythm acts as your body’s internal clock. This clock tells you when it’s time to wake up and feel alert, or relax and prepare for sleep.

Your internal clock is actually a group of nerve cells located in the hypothalamus. These nerve cells are called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), and control the timing of your sleep-wake cycle (1).

Several biological mechanisms work together to alert the body that it’s time to wake up or start winding down, secreting the hormone melatonin when it’s time to rest and blocking production when it’s time to be alert (2).

Light plays a key role here. Photoreceptors in the retinas receive information about how much light is around. That information is then transmitted to multiple parts of the brain (including the pineal gland) responsible for secreting melatonin (3).

When your circadian rhythm works properly, you wake up when you need to with plenty of energy. If something goes wrong, you end up with restless nights, fatigue, or maybe even insomnia or another serious health issue. More on those in just a second.

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Multiple factors affect circadian rhythm function. It comes down to a combination of:

The foundations of a Paleo lifestyle (eating well, physical activity, and managing stress) will help prime your behavior and internal cues for better sleep. But you can’t afford to overlook light exposure, which we’ll focus on in this post.

Modern Life: A Circadian Nightmare

Evolution wired us to be awake and alert when it’s light out, and start to get sleepy after sunset. For practically all of our existence (until the last few centuries), we lived and worked – and slept – closely aligned with that pattern.

But the way we live today looks nothing like that.

It all started with electric lighting and exploded from there. Now, practically everything in modern society – things like night shifts, light pollution, screen time and international flights – encourages us to create our own daylight and disrupt the natural pattern at will.

Bright lights from TV screens, computers, and other electronic devices trick our bodies into thinking it’s still daytime. So your body doesn’t secrete the melatonin needed to fall asleep. Your internal clock suffers.

Ideally, we’d rise with the sun and wind down when it got dark, going to bed shortly after and waking up around dawn. But, for many of us, once we factor in the reality of work and other obligations, that becomes impractical.

Even if you’re disciplined about limiting your light exposure after sunset, avoiding it completely is sometimes impossible. Or you might have the opposite problem. You might live somewhere where you get to work before sunrise, stay in a dark office all day, and don’t leave until after the sun goes down!

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The end result: an unstable circadian rhythm.

Why a Disrupted Circadian Rhythm Is So Dangerous

Feeling cranky after a rough night of sleep is one thing. If your circadian rhythm is disrupted for too long, though, you can end up with a host of problems, including:

There’s also something else to think about: money. Being so sleepy at work every day that you can barely function is not exactly the fast track to productivity. The quality of your work – and your chances of getting a raise or promotion – might suffer.

How to Reboot Your Circadian Rhythm

Waking up exhausted every day is torture. The good news is there are plenty of things you can do to reboot your circadian rhythm naturally and get better sleep .

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Minimize Screen Time at night

All those screens before bed might be ruining your sleep.

In a fascinating study published in the journal Applied Ergonomics, researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute tested melatonin levels on participants after they used an iPad for two hours before bed.

Each participant ran through the study in three different scenarios: 1) tablets set at the highest brightness; 2) tablets set at a moderate brightness; and 3) tablets viewed through orange-tinted glasses (the control). The researchers found a significant suppression in melatonin secretion that lasted for several hours in both the first and second scenarios (11).

The brightness of the screen, exposure time, and the wavelength (blue light is especially harmful) all have an effect. The ideal solution is to stay away from screens completely for a few hours before bed. But if you keep using them, limit your exposure time and make sure the screen isn’t too bright.

Fortunately, some device manufacturers are catching on to the dangers of blue light and now offer options to limit it before bed. Check out the nighttime modes on your iPhone and Kindle. You can also download the free program f.lux to remove blue light from your computer display.

If you live in a city or somewhere with a lot of light pollution, consider investing in blackout curtains. They’ll keep your bedroom nice and dark to boost melatonin production.

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Practice Bright Light Therapy

Your circadian rhythm registers the amount of light in your immediate surroundings to figure out where you are in the sleep-wake cycle. So if you have to wake up before the sun regularly, you’re going to have a heck of a time doing it. Even if you slept long enough.

Just like you can minimize light exposure at night to promote sleep, in the mornings you can do the opposite. Intentionally exposing yourself to bright light can help you feel more energetic and alert.

A study published in the journal PLOS One compared the effects of blue light and caffeine on participants’ alertness and cognitive function. The researchers found that both blue light and caffeine improved accuracy in a visual reaction test. Blue light performed better than caffeine when the researchers introduced congruent and incongruent distractions to the test (12).

This means we can use modern technology to our advantage. A little Candy Crush on the train to work might not be such a bad idea! You could also invest in a wake-up light designed to gradually brighten the room before you plan to get up.

And don’t forget the “low-tech” options either. Open the curtains as soon as you get out of bed. Fill the bathroom with bright lights while you get ready. Better yet: wake up a few minutes early and take a short walk.

If you’re dragging in the afternoon, get out if you can and soak up some sun.

get outside and Camp

What better way to reboot your circadian rhythm than take a cue from our Paleo ancestors?

Camping for a few nights – far away from artificial light sources – can help. University of Colorado researchers ran a few experiments and published the findings in the journal Current Biology.

In the first experiment, they compared the sleep quantity and melatonin secretion of nine people who went on a weekend summer camping trip with five people who stayed at home. They found that the campers fell asleep significantly earlier – up to 1.8 hours earlier – and woke up earlier than the non-campers. The campers shifted their circadian rhythm in a matter of two nights just by avoiding artificial light sources (13).

The results were even more dramatic in the second experiment – a week-long camping trip overlapping the winter solstice. There, campers started to secrete melatonin a full

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2.5 hours earlier than before they left.

Camping is fun, relaxing, and a great way to appreciate nature. At the very least, consider scheduling an electronics getaway to chill out and reset your internal clock.

Fast

Scientists are still working hard to unravel the complexity that is sleep and circadian rhythms. Light exposure is certainly a key player. But a group of researchers from Harvard University pinpointed another factor: eating time.

In a study published in the journal Science, researchers discovered a food-related internal clock that can, in certain situations, trump the light-based clock within the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) (14).

Researchers experimented on mice by altering their feeding periods and studying the effect on circadian rhythm. They discovered that the mice could adapt their circadian rhythms to avoid starvation. The “food clock” could override other factors (like light exposure) to keep the mice awake during times when they were most likely to find food.

The researchers found that just a single fasting cycle before eating reset the internal clock.

You can try this experiment on yourself. If you’ve been exhausted lately and think your circadian rhythm is off, fast for about 16 hours before the time when you want to wake up each morning. Then eat a healthy breakfast and carry on with your day.

This could also work on long international flights with huge time zone differences. If you’re flying halfway around the world, try fasting and eating right when you get there to recover faster from jet lag (15).

The study focused on mice, but because all mammals have similar circadian clocks, the results could very well reveal the process taking place in human brains after a fasting period.

get Back to the Basics

Besides trying the tips above, you can set yourself up for better sleep by remembering the basics.

Here’s how you can lay a healthy foundation:

● Avoid caffeine after noon. You might not feel it, but it can still disrupt your sleep up to six hours after you ingest it (16).

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● Eat a balanced diet of high-quality produce, meat, nuts and seeds. ● Get some structure. Try going to bed and waking up at the same time, even on

weekends, if you’re struggling to reboot your circadian rhythm. ● Proactively manage your stress. ● Start a relaxing bedtime routine. Try to wind down the same way every night. A

warm shower, cup of tea, and a fiction book do it for me. This sends an important psychological cue to your body that it’s time to sleep.

The Path to Better Sleep

With all the trappings of modern life – insane work schedules, electronics everywhere you look, and marathon international flights – it’s easier than ever for your sleep to get disrupted.

But if you’re exhausted and stressed out, there’s a solution. It starts with respecting your circadian rhythm. Then you can use the tips above to give it a reboot. Don’t spend another second settling for inadequate, low-quality sleep.

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7 Natural DIY Drinks to Help You Sleep

Trouble falling asleep? While you know the importance of sleeping, it can be easier said than done. Here are natural DIY drinks to help you achieve quality sleep to help you feel energized in the morning. A lack of restful sleep is the number one reason for feeling grumpy, irritated and unmotivated, but quality sleep is also needed for healthy digestion, detoxification and maintaining a healthy weight. If you’re part of the ⅓ of the adult population that suffers from poor sleep, these natural DIY drinks will help you fall into a happy slumber to improve your overall health (1).

1. Valerian Root Tea

Valerian is known for being used in herbal medicine as a sleep aid and to help relieve stress and anxiety.

Valerian extract can be found in tinctures and capsules, and, of course, sleepy-time teas. While some people swear by the sedative effect of this little pink flower, studies remain inconclusive as to whether or not valerian truly improves sleep quality (2). Some studies suggest valerian is most powerful when taken for at least 28 days, while others experience better sleep right away (3).

What we do know, however, is that valerian is safe and gentle to use, has few side effects, and has a calming effect on the nervous system (4).

How to Drink It:

To make valerian root tea, all you need is 1 teaspoon of loose leaf dried valerian root, a kettle and boiling water. You can also use an infusion device, such as a tea ball, to put the loose herbs in.

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Add valerian root to your mug and cover with boiling water. Steep for 10-15 minutes and remove the tea ball, or if you used loose leaf valerian in your cup, strain it and discard. Valerian has a strong, bitter taste, so you may want to add a touch of Manuka honey or coconut sugar to sweeten it. Some recommend drinking valerian root in the evenings, approximately 30 minutes before bed if you’re using it to help you sleep.

2. golden Milk

What was once only used as a healing remedy by Ayurvedic doctors, golden milk is now on the menus of most health food stores for its anti-inflammatory and digestive health benefits. Since golden milk is said to improve digestion function (and therefore the absorption of essential nutrients that help promote restful sleep, such as calcium and magnesium), sipping on a warm, soothing mug of golden milk before bedtime may help you rest easier.

Few studies back up the specific health claims of turmeric and golden milk, but there is evidence of curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, having anti-inflammatory properties (5). Since chronic inflammation can promote sleep loss, getting extra anti-inflammatory nutrients in your diet is never a bad idea (6).

How to Drink It:

You can make golden milk at home by boiling a non-dairy milk with coconut oil, ground ginger, black pepper, turmeric and cinnamon.

For simple step-by-step instructions, here’s our recipe to make a Golden Turmeric Latte (it includes all of the same ingredients as golden milk).

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3. Tart Cherry Juice

Tart cherry juice is said to be rich in antioxidants such as anthocyanin, which can help protect against cancer and cardiovascular disease, but it may also be effective for relieving insomnia (7).

One study showed that tart Montmorency Cherries contain high levels of melatonin, which helps regulate your sleep and wake cycle (8). The study measured sleep improvement in healthy adults after drinking tart cherry juice concentrate for 7 days, and found that total sleep time and sleep quality were enhanced compared to those in the placebo group.

How to Drink It:

If you have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, you may want to start sipping on some tart cherry juice before bed, or try blending it into a smoothie to make a natural nighttime drink. To make tart cherry juice, simply add 20 pitted cherries, 2 tsp makuna honey, and 1/4 cup of water to a blender. Blend together and strain into a glass to remove cherry chunks. If you like pulp, however, feel free to leave the cherry skins in the drink for added benefits.

4. Coconut Water

Coconut water is more than a post-workout or summer’s day hydration drink: it may also help you fall asleep easier. This is because coconut water is high in magnesium, the mineral that helps relax your muscles and ease tension throughout your body (9).

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How to Drink It:

Coconut water is low in sugar, so it’s safe to sip on before bed without experiencing a blood sugar spike and crash. To give it a boost, add dried hibiscus flower, chill overnight, and strain out the flower before drinking. Hibiscus has been shown to reduce anxiety and have natural sedative effects. (10)

5. Banana Carob Powder Smoothie

If you haven’t tried carob before, carob powder is like raw cacao’s cousin. It has a mild caramel, chocolate-y taste and pairs well with Paleo-friendly desserts and smoothies.

While it’s known for being rich in antioxidants, it also contains high levels of calcium, which is a mineral that acts as a natural sleep aid on its own (11).

How to Drink It:

When it comes to making a natural drink for falling asleep with carob powder, I recommend blending it with ½ frozen banana, almond milk, and cinnamon to make a creamy, satiating smoothie. Bananas can also help promote better quality sleep because they contain the amino acid l-tryptophan, which gets converted to serotonin and melatonin (12).

6. Warm glass of Coconut Milk

Granny was onto something when she gave you that warm glass of milk before bed. Traditionally, dairy milk was the nighttime beverage of choice because it contains the amino acid tryptophan to help promote sleep. But using a dairy-free milk such as

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coconut milk and almond milk can still be effective as a natural drink for falling asleep. As mentioned above, coconut contains minerals such as magnesium, while almonds are rich in calcium, so both options can still promote a sense of calm and relaxation (especially when warmed up in a cozy mug).

Cardamom is a spice with a strong, ginger-like taste, and is said to have been used in Ayurveda to help cure insomnia for thousands of years.

How to Drink It:

Cardamom and warm milk is a traditional Ayurvedic beverage recommended to those who have trouble falling and staying asleep. A teaspoon of raw honey will add a touch of sweetness to your warm milk and cardamom—and some people even swear by having honey before bed to wake up feeling rested (however, there are no reputable studies at this time linking honey to insomnia).

7. Sleepy-Time elixir

Many herbs, such as lavender and chamomile, have soothing effects and can act as mild sedatives (13). You can make your own sleepy-time tea by purchasing a variety of loose leaf herbs in bulk at your local health food store. Here are a few suggestions for the most popular herbs recommended to support the nervous system, relieve stress and anxiety and improve sleep quality:

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How to Drink It:

To make a sleepy-time tea, steep equal parts of each herb (approximately 1 teaspoon each) in boiling water (you may also want to use a tea infuser). Strain or remove herbs and add a touch of honey or cinnamon to sweeten. Enjoy!

Final Tips

If you have trouble falling asleep, you may also want to consider adding other calming, sleep-inducing activities to your bedtime routine, such as free journaling, meditation, restorative yoga, or a brisk nature walk after dinner. Creating a sleep sanctuary in your room (a cozy, comfortable environment that’s only used for sleeping) can also help improve your quality and length of sleep—and, therefore, your health and happiness.

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The 10-Minute Yoga Routine For Perfect Sleep

Do you ever have a hard time falling asleep? In today’s society, you’re probably not alone.

With the constant feeling of “go, go, go,” it makes us anxious even as we are preparing for bed. It can be very challenging to fall asleep and get a restful night’s sleep with a constant feeling of anxiety and stress. Yoga can be a great way to destress and unwind as you get ready to hit the hay.

WIDE LEg FoRWARD FoLD

CHILD’S PoSE

CAT & CoW PoSE

SuPINE BouND ANgLE PoSE

SEATED FoRWARD FoLD

SuPINE SPINAL TWIST

SINgLE LEg HAPPY BABY

LEgS uP THE WALL PoSE

SHAvASANA

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Start on all fours, with your hands under your shoulders and knees under hips. Inhale as your lengthen through your spine, arching your back, reaching the crown of your head and tailbone together, and drawing your shoulder blades down into a Cow pose.

Exhale as you bring your spine back to neutral and round your spine up towards the ceiling to curl your chin to your chest and pulling your belly button into your spine, coming into Cat pose. Work through Cat and Cow pose a few times, stretching and lengthening the spine.

Instructions

CaT & CoW PoSE

1 2

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Once you finish working through Cat and Cow pose a few times, sit your hips back onto your heels, bringing your toes together, but keeping your knees apart. Keep the arms reaching forward to stretch through the shoulders. Take a few breaths in this position, and if you’d like, walk both hands over to the right for a few breaths, and then over to the left for a few breaths to stretch out the obliques.

Instructions

CHIlD'S PoSE

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Start by sitting on your mat with your legs extended straight in front of you. lengthen through your spine, sitting as tall as you can. Reach your arms in front of you to grab a hold of your feet or to place them in your shins.

lengthen through your spine as much as possible — instead of just collapsing down towards your legs. Bend your knees as much as necessary to keep your back flat. This pose is a great hamstring stretch, but don’t make it deep and intense now; your ultimate goal is gentle relaxation.

Stay in the same seated position with your legs extended in front of you, and allow your back to stretch gently over your legs. Stay folded forward for a few deep breaths, feeling the stretch along your spine.

Instructions

SEaTED FoRWaRD FolD

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Stand with your feet three to four feet apart, bringing your feet parallel to each other. Clasp your hands arms behind your back, pressing the heels of your palms together in a fist. Bend from your hips, folding forward, reaching the crown of your head and your hands toward the floor.

Relax your toes, and try to shift the weight into your toes. Stay here for a minute or two, allowing the crown of your head to keep reaching deeper to the floor.

Instructions

WIDE lEg FoRWaRD FolD

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Start by laying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the mat. Open your arms out to the side at about 45 degrees away from the body. let your knees drop out to the sides, bringing the bottoms of your feet together. allow gravity to pull your knees wider, opening up the hips. Stay here for at least two minutes, breathing deeply, and sinking deeper into the pose.

Instructions

SuPINE BouND aNglE PoSE

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laying on your back with your legs extended straight, pull your RIgHT knee in towards your chest. Hold the knee with your lEFT hand and guide it to cross over your body. Extend your RIgHT arm out to the side as if in a “T” position, and gaze out over your right hand. Hold for a minute or two, allowing the twist of your spine to increase with each exhale. Be sure to stretch the other side, as well.

Instructions

SuPINE SPINal TWIST

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again, start by laying on your back with your legs extended, and pull the RIgHT knee back into your chest. Hugging the knee in towards the chest, grab a hold of the arch of your foot with your RIGHT hand. Bring the sole of the foot about parallel to the floor and pull the knee in close towards your armpit.

as you press into the sole of the foot with your hand, also press against the hand with your foot to increase the stretch. Keep the lEFT leg as straight as possible and you may also feel a stretch in the front of the left hip. Hold for 30-60 seconds taking deep breaths. Repeat on the other side.

Instructions

SINglE lEg HaPPY BaBY

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again, start by laying on your back with your legs extended, and pull the RIgHT knee back into your chest. Hugging the knee in towards the chest, grab a hold of the arch of your foot with your RIGHT hand. Bring the sole of the foot about parallel to the floor and pull the knee in close towards your armpit.

as you press into the sole of the foot with your hand, also press against the hand with your foot to increase the stretch. Keep the lEFT leg as straight as possible and you may also feel a stretch in the front of the left hip. Hold for 30-60 seconds taking deep breaths. Repeat on the other side.

Instructions

lEgS uP THE Wall PoSE

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Before falling asleep, take advantage of a peaceful moment for a brief meditation. lay on your back with legs extended, slightly wider than hip distance apart, and your arms out at about 45 degrees. Breathe deeply and allow yourself to feel how relaxed you are after taking a few minutes to stretch and unwind after a long day. If you fall asleep in this pose, that’s alright, too!

Sweet dreams!

Instructions

SHavaSaNa

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With over 80 delicious chef-created Paleo recipes, you’ll always have a tasty meal at hand!

Get our hot-off-the-press hard-copy Paleo Sweets cookbook written by Nutritional Therapist & Paleo Baker

Kelsey Ale and get everything you need to:

● Bake ridiculously tasty, fat-burning Paleo cakes, pies, ice cream, brownies, and more...

● Enjoy recipes like Sexy Black Forest Cake, Honey Vanilla Ice Cream, Paleo Oreos, and Lemon Meringue Pie...

● Get the book shipped to your door for FREE - just pay shipping!

With over 70 delicious chef-created Paleo dessert recipes at your disposal, you’ll never run out of tasty meals!

get your copy here.

The Paleohacks Bone Broth Cookbook

Enjoy a variety of delicious, simple, and gourmet Paleo Bone Broth Recipes (created by our very own Casey

Thaler), which will help improve digestion, boost your immune system, and improve your hair, skin, and nails

Try delicious bone broth recipes like Fire Chili, The Ultimate Wellness Bone Broth, Ocean Stew, and

over 75 more ridiculously tasty broth recipes!

With over 80 delicious Paleo Bone Broth recipes, you’ll never run out of different ways to enjoy nature’s ultimate

superfood.

get your copy here.

Paleo SnacksEnjoy a variety of delicious, simple, and gourmet Paleo

snacks (created by our amazing team of chefs)

Eat meals like Pecan & Banana Mini Bars, No-Bake Hazelnut Brownies, Pomegranate Chicken Bites, and

over 75 more ridiculously tasty snack recipes!

With over 80 delicious chef-created Paleo snack recipes, you’ll never run out of tasty snacks for when

you’re at work, on the go, or traveling!

Paleo Breakfast BibleEnjoy a variety of delicious, QUICK Paleo Breakfast

Recipes (10 minutes or less!)

Give yourself an energy jump-start in the morning withPaleo alternatives to bagels, muffins, and pancakes

Don’t be stuck eating eggs and bacon everyday - try ourapple bread, zesty lemon scones or BBQ chicken egg

muffins.

With over 100 delicious breakfast recipes, you’ll neverrun out of tasty morning meals!

get your copy here.