Prep Your Space for Deep Sleep

Sleep soundly, faster with these 6 nighttime aids.

Having trouble falling asleep? Optimizing your space and developing a before-bed ritual to calm your mind and body can help. Whether you're in need of lavender to prime your brain for sleep, tea to soothe and relax you, or epsom salts and gentle pressure to release tense muscles, these products can help. And if you’re still having trouble getting some much-needed shut-eye, try Yoga Journal’s Restore Your Sleep Summit, led by five renowned yoga teachers.

Savasana Now Eye Pillow

1. Savasana Now - Eye Pillow

The gentle pressure created when you place this flax seed-filled eye pillow over your eyes encourages the muscles in your face to relax, while its natural lavender scent calms your mind so you can drift off easier. Wrapped in a luxurious silk cover, the pillow is very comfortable and easy to use.

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Four Sigmatic Chill Reishi Elixir

2. Four Sigmatic - Chill Reishi Elixir

Wind down with an adaptogenic nightcap. 1500 mg of organic reishi mushrooms and rose hip extract boost your immune system while enhancing your body's ability to regulate stress, putting your mind and body at ease. This mix acts like you're drinking a hug, and the ritual of preparing your tea is a cue that it's time for bed.

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Bampure Organic Bamboo Bed Sheets

3. Bampure - Organic Bamboo Bed Sheets

Upgrade your sleep space with all-natural sheets crafted from 100% organic bamboo in a chemical-free environment. Bamboo is naturally cooling, breathable, and odor resistant, and the sheets are silky smooth. You'll be wrapped in a cozy, eco-friendly cocoon, helping you fall asleep.

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Cliganic Lavender Essential Oil

4. Cliganic - Lavender Essential Oil

Lavender essential oil is widely recognized as a natural sleep aid. Its scent increases the amount of slow-wave sleep that you have, which means you're getting more delta wave activity in your non-Rapid Eye Movement sleep (the stage right before you start dreaming). Diffusing lavender in your room before bed can prep your body for a relaxing night of rejuvenating rest. Learn more about Cliganic and their wide array of essential oils in our Health360 review.

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Anjou Essential Oil Diffuser

5. Anjou - Essential Oil Diffuser

You'll need an oil diffuser to fill your space with the calming scent of lavender, chamomile, or whichever scent you prefer, and Anjou has you covered. A single fill can last for up to 12 hours and the mist is expelled quietly so this device won't disturb your sleep. Plus, it instinctively turns off 5 seconds after the tank becomes empty so you can prime your room before bed and it will seamlessly turn off when you're in the middle of your slumber.

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Dr. Teal's Soothe and Sleep Soak

6. Dr. Teal's - Soothe and Sleep Soak

An epsom salt bath is a great way to relax your muscles before you fall asleep, and this blend is packed with minerals that will gently absorb through the skin, nourishing your body and preparing you for a deep slumber. The lavender perfumes will lull your mind into a relaxing state as well.

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Product Review: Cliganic 100% Organic Pure Lavender Oil

Feel calm and relaxed with this must-have essential oil

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Health 360 gives consumers the best available product information all in one place, through independent editorial and reader reviews, and verified consumer ratings. Brands pay a fee to be included in the Health 360 program but have no influence over the reviews or scores we publish. When you make a purchase through our site, we may earn a commission.

Price: $10.99

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Yoga Journal Review

There's a good reason that lavender oil is one of the most popular essential oils out there. A few drops in a diffuser or mixed into a carrier oil and rubbed onto the temples can help you relax, relive tension, and sleep better. What's more, studies show that inhaling the scent of the pretty purple plant can calm the nervous system, which may be why it's useful for alleviating stress, anxiety, depression, and fatigue.

Some lavender essential oils have been diluted with fillers and synthetic ingredients, which is why our testers appreciated that Cliganic lavender oil is 100 percent pure (not to mention cruelty-free, non-GMO, and USDA-certified organic). Cliganic uses oil from the plant Lavandula angustifolia, or French Lavender, which has a sweet, floral aroma that is especially calming, compared to varieties of the plant that have spicy or fruity notes.

Our testers liked adding a few drops of Cliganic lavender oil into a pre-bedtime bath to help them wind down for the day, or tucking a cotton ball with a few drops of the essential oil under the corner of their mat during a restorative practice. One tester mixed 10 drops of the lavender oil with ½ cup each of distilled water and white vinegar to make a mat cleaning spray.

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Consumer Scores from Around the Web

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Yoga Journal Reader Reviews

I am thrilled with my Cliganic essential lavender oil. I've kept it at my (shelter in place) workspace at home and find myself using at least three times a day. When I feel stress coming on, I dab a little on my wrists, take a deep breath, and immediately feel a sense of calmness. I have very sensitive skin and am relieved to find, though the essential oil is potent, it is very gentle on my skin, causing no irritation. - Chris L.

Learn How a Mentor Can Contribute to Your Career Longevity

You might have started your massage therapy career with high ideals and ambitious goals, but now feel adrift. Perhaps you feel alone in navigating client treatment situations or relationship challenges with business associates. Maybe you have ethical concerns — or you might long to renew your career enthusiasm, have a more robust income and receive […]

The post Learn How a Mentor Can Contribute to Your Career Longevity appeared first on MASSAGE Magazine.

Can You Actually Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor?

Here's the 411 on Kegels, and whether you should be practicing them.

For many of us, the word “Kegel” entered our lexicon when Samantha Jones proclaimed she was “doing [them] right now” on Sex and the City. But when it comes to your pelvic floor—the three layers of muscles that lie like a hammock from your pubic bone to your tailbone, supporting the function of your bladder, bowels, and genitals—keeping it in optimal shape goes far beyond the occasional squeeze at a stoplight.

“Just like you can strengthen your biceps, you can do exercises that work on your pelvic floor muscles,” says Alexandra DiGrado, DPT, a pelvic floor physical therapist in Boston. Such therapists work with clients who suffer from incontinence, constipation, pain, or muscle malfunction in the pelvic region, as well as postpartum musculoskeletal conditions. Beyond muscle strengthening, therapies include relaxation exercises, manual therapy, heat and cold therapies, diet changes, and electrical stimulation to help muscles contract.

While men aren’t immune to pelvic floor issues, women are overwhelmingly afflicted, with one in four reporting a pelvic floor disorder (a blanket term for conditions resulting from weak or damaged muscles, such as incontinence). Still, it’s not something you hear much about—the intimate nature of the issues tends to keep people from discussing them publicly or reaching out for help.

A few companies are trying to break the silence.

The Squeezy app ($4) tracks your symptoms and creates a schedule with Kegel instruction to combat common leakage (such as while laughing or exercising). Not sure if you’re doing it right? The Elvie Trainer—a small silicone gadget that’s used intravaginally—uses Bluetooth to sync with an app that lights up with your contractions so you can see your progress in real time. But don’t expect these tools to be a cure-all for everyone: Experts say anyone with more than occasional incontinence should seek professional care. “If you’re someone who has trouble initiating the stream of urine, has to strain to have a bowel movement, or has pain during sex, Kegels would not be the place to start,” DiGrado says.

To test your own muscle strength, “imagine you’re picking up a blueberry with your vagina,” DiGrado says: Lie down and place a finger on your perineum (the skin linking your genitals and anus) and contract the area between your pubic bone and tailbone, as if you’re holding back gas or stopping your stream mid-pee.

Count to 10, then release, feeling the muscles lengthen as you let go. You can also do a quick series of squeezes instead. (You should be able to feel the movement with your finger.) From that baseline, you can build up to doing the exercise while standing, eventually adding little leaps or jumps while you squeeze to train your muscles to contract while you’re in motion.

Doing Kegels sporadically isn’t going to help much, DiGrado says. In fact, not everyone even needs to strengthen their pelvic floor: Some folks need to learn how to slacken it. “Some people’s pelvic floor muscles are already so short and tight that they experience pain—maybe during sex, or in their sacrum or tailbone,” DiGrado says.

The bottom line? There’s a lot you can do to improve your pelvic floor function. “People live with [these issues] for years because they’re too embarrassed to talk about it,” DiGrado says. “But you can come to pelvic floor physical therapy and be completely cured.”

Combat the Effects of Excessive Sitting at the Computer with this Sequence

Feeling zapped from excessive sitting, social scrolling, and information overload? Try this sequence to activate an open heart in order to create spaciousness throughout your body and being.

This Kundalini Yoga-inspired sequence will help open and expand the energy of your heart center to fight fatigue, stress, and move old, stuck energy. An invigorating pranayama called Breath of Fire is used throughout the sequence. If you have the time, end with a long, restorative Savasana to reboot your body and circulate new energy.

See also A Sequence to Create and Hold Space

This year, Yoga Journal's annual ambassador road trip—the Live Be Yoga Tour—is going virtual. We are calling it The Decompression. Recently, we’ve all been asked to journey inward, to take moments of pause and stillness, and to slow down, rest, and prioritize the things we value. Follow the Live Be Yoga 2020 series here, stay connected with us at @livebeyoga on social, and join the movement to find beauty in stillness.

Just for the New Massage Therapist: 6 Points to Consider when Launching Your Career

Creating a plan on how to attract and keep clients will help you go much further, much faster, as a new massage therapist

The post Just for the New Massage Therapist: 6 Points to Consider when Launching Your Career appeared first on MASSAGE Magazine.

108-Second Interview With Amber Karnes

See how many questions about yoga, superpowers, and living in the moment the founder of Body Positive Yoga can answer in just 108 seconds.

Baltimore-based yoga teacher trainer and Body Positive Yoga founder Amber Karnes answers Yoga Journal's rapid-fire questions about daily habits, preferred practices, and her secret superpowers.

Hear more from Amber on tearing down oppressive systems on Yoga Journal's Yoga Show podcast, and read her Yoga Journal cover story: How Loving Yourself Can Be a Revolutionary Act.