Healthy Habits: Tongue Scraping

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I don’t know exactly when I learned about tongue scraping, I’m guessing when I first started learning about Ayurveda, around 2013 when I was training as a health coach. But I do know when I ordered my tongue scrapers off of Amazon–November 8, 2018! And the funniest part of that is that I lost them, never used them, and then just found them when we moved in January! Since then a lot has changed in my life, but one of the few things that have truly been consistent in my life is perpetual problems at the dentist. Ever since childhood, it has been a struggle. Then the dentist said it was too much sugar, now they blame it on the natural PH of my mouth, and being a coffee drinker. I’ve always been good about brushing well twice a day, and I am pretty good with flossing. I am not perfect, but I’m probably better than a large chunk of the population. I do know that there is still room for improvement, so I have taken it upon myself to uplevel the best I can because I’m fed up with it. It’s not only expensive, but I also wonder about the potential harm being done to my own healthy ecosystem by adding in fillings (thank goodness, all of the mercury ones are gone!) and also by needing root canals. The things I chose to address first are:

1. Start using an electric toothbrush (one with a “soft” setting that won’t upset my enamel further. I had been using the basic ones with just an on and off switch). The one I’m using here.

2. Start water flossing! Here is my flosser (so pretty!).

3. Switch toothpaste (my dentist had recommended Sensodyne—barf. But I learned about remineralization toothpaste, which is also sensitive and also will help restore my enamel, so I went with this one.

4. Try tongue scraping (this is mine!)

This is not a post on oral hygiene, but it was a key driver to inspire me to take up this habit!

Tongue Scraping From a western perspective

I recently was introduced to the Instagram account @askthedentist. I’ve personally done a deep dive into oral hygiene, but this is not the post for that- but it helped reaffirm the benefits of tongue scraping (vs just brushing your tongue, which just pushes bacteria around). It not only prevents cavities and bad breath but also prevents your body from reabsorbing the toxins it has already naturally expelled through the tongue. To read more of the benefits, Dr. Burhenne (@askthedentist) has a great article on it.

Tongue scraping From an Ayurvedic Perspective

I’m not 100% into all things Ayurveda, but I’m into a lot of the wellness habits derived from it. (My dosha is Pitta. I haven’t over-resonated with this aspect of myself, but from a coaching perspective, it’s really helped me understand my clients’ needs better. If you are wondering what your dosha is you can take a quiz here!) But it is a holistic system, where health and wellness depend on a delicate balance of mind, body, and spirit.

From an Ayurvedic perspective, the tongue is a key to understanding your bodily health. If you go to an Ayurvedic practitioner, they will ask you to NOT tongue scrape before coming so they can “read” your tongue for imbalances, etc.

The following are excerpts from a Chopra.com article on tongue scraping (I just couldn’t say it better myself!):

Also, many of the beneficial phytonutrients and “body signaling molecules” that your food contains are first interpreted by the mind-body upon contact with receptors on the tongue. Ayurveda acknowledges this intercommunication that is necessary for a properly functioning system. With this in mind, you would want to improve this communication between your food and your body by removing any coating that is interfering with that connection. Also, many herbs possess beneficial effects felt from the initial contact with receptors on the tongue. Hence, you need a clear tongue to receive this healthy information and relay signals to the rest of the body.

In the Charaka Samhita, an early Ayurvedic medical text, it says that by cleaning the tongue, “(this) removes foul smell, tastelessness … and by taking out dirt coated on the tongue, teeth and mouth brings relish immediately.”

Basically, it helps strengthen the connection between the body and food, with bad breath, tasting more fully, and removes toxins and bacteria build-up!

From a mind/spirit perspective, the Ayurvedic belief is that people who use tongue scrapers are more expressive and thoughtful, better public speakers, and more sincere and authoritative conversationalists. These are definitely things I want to work on, so I’m open to see any changes there.

Other Thoughts

I’ve also read that tongue scraping can help eliminate food cravings. If you have a particularly salty savory meal, you naturally will crave something sweet to balance it. If you scrape after the meal, theoretically, it clears your taste buds, so you won’t crave the sweet to balance it. I haven’t been scraping after meals, so I can’t speak to this in my own experience, but it is noted as a benefit from some sources.

How to Tongue Scrape

So I only started tongue scraping a few months ago. And since then, I’ve read lots of different takes on how often/when to tongue scrape. This is how I do it:

1. I do it first thing in the morning, before drinking water so I don’t reabsorb the toxins expelled by the tongue during the night. I don’t do it every day, probably about 5x/week.

2. I gently scrape around 7 times. (I’ve read the right amount is 5-7 or 7-14 times. I feel like 7 is the magic number!) I rinse off the scraper in between.

3. The key is not scraping too hard, or going too far back that you gag.

4. That’s it! Drink some water!

I’ve read that some people scrape after meals, but I’m a little apprehensive about overdoing it. Someone told me tongue scraping can lead to loss of taste buds, and from what I can find online I can’t find data to back that up– but I just haven’t wanted to risk it. Perhaps scraping too hard can do that? From the Ayurvedic perspective, you only do it in the morning, so that’s what I’m sticking to.

My Experience

In the past few months, I have noticed the days that I don’t tongue scrape my breath is less than pleasant (thank you mask-wearing for drawing this to my attention!). I can’t say I’ve noticed a difference in my taste buds or cravings (but hey, I’m pregnant. Lol). But I wasn’t doing it for those reasons anyway. Maybe I have been more expressive? Not sure! 😂 But I’m going to keep doing it because, in general, I think it is making a difference in my oral hygiene. It is a fast, easy new part of my routine. Why wouldn’t I continue with it?

What do you think about tongue scraping? Ready to give it a shot? Is it already apart of your routine? Let me know in the comments or on IG! -AHS

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Resources/Further reading

https://kripalu.org/resources/health-benefits-tongue-scraping-and-how-do-it

https://chopra.com/articles/the-benefits-of-tongue-scraping

https://askthedentist.com/tongue-scraping-6-reasons

Institute for Integrative Nutrition Education Handout

Honoring Life Seasons and a Glorious Mountain Getaway

Last year, on the ten year anniversary of backpacking through Europe, I was sitting on the couch, at home, with my newborn child. As I sat there, I thought about how that version of me looks nothing like this version of me. The version of me that boarded a ferry in southern Greece to travel through the night to southern Italy looks a lot different than the woman in gym shorts, holding a baby on the couch, still waiting for her body to heal.

And here's what's true: neither of those versions of myself are worth more or less than the other. The woman heating up leftovers is worth no less than the woman dining at sunset in a village that took a passport to get to. We are the same person in different places. Both are integral parts of who I am.

I share this for anyone who feels like the current version of themselves is less than another version. Maybe you used to travel a lot more than you do now and you're desperate to get back out there. Maybe you used to be in love with someone and you're no longer speaking and you can't help but wonder, "was I more charismatic or beautiful back then? Did I lose it?"

You didn't lose it. You're still beautiful. You're still worthy of love and a meaningful life, no matter what has changed. People change. Seasons change. Relationships change. But you are still you. You are not worth any less than your former self. Saying goodbye to a quote-on-quote "adventurous" life doesn't mean you're saying goodbye to yourself as a whole. Leaving behind a relationship or a place you used to love doesn't mean you're leaving love behind.

Whoever you are on this day, right here, right now, is more than enough to continue living a beautiful, meaningful life. You don't have to wait any longer.

There are some things you can only learn by traveling the world and this is also true: there are also some things you can only learn by staying in the same place for a decade. Traveling far away can be incredibly valuable but it doesn't mean it's the only way to learn.

It is definitely easier to get unstuck when you're able to go somewhere near and start something new, but it's not the only way. You are allowed to come alive right here, however that looks. Even when the days are blending together.

You may not be able to break out of the city like you want to, but perhaps you can still break out of old ways of seeing yourself. You can be curious and learn from who you are, right now, in this space.

There are times in life where leaving is the best thing you can do. And there are times where staying in a seemingly boring and uninteresting space can shape you. It's not the same for every person and every situation but what matters at the end of it all is: you don't have to shame yourself for feeling like you're stuck. You don't have to fear that there's no hope for who you are becoming because the present moment isn't what you hoped it would be. – Morgan Harper Nichols (original post here)

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My favorite modern-day poet/artist, Morgan Harper Nichols shared the most inspiring post on her Instagram a few weeks ago (full caption above). It was a beautiful reminder that we need to embrace and honor the season of life we are in. As we returned back to our home in the city after an extended hiatus, it made me realize that so much about what I have been missing, I had been missing since BEFORE COVID, and really began with mamahood, or even really, pregnancy. I have felt disconnected from my constructed sense of self. I always think of myself as an adventurous, ambitious, optimistic, free-spirited traveling soul. In pregnancy, I felt very far from those things. In general, I didn’t feel like myself and I hated it (and it had nothing to do with my body image either! Pure, hormonally-induced depression).  Post-pregnancy- I felt like myself again- but I also had no time to be me outside of being a mama. Not to mention the worry that comes with becoming a parent.  I’ve loved being this little dude’s mom, and at some points, I have been very happy to get “lost in motherhood”. And that is 100% okay. I want to honor the season of life I am currently in– because really this time is precious and is already flying by. It is totally fine to not be jet setting around or crushing it in my career right now. Sometimes that’s hard to process. But I am a woman outside of being a mother and I don’t want to lose sight of that either. 

We had been staying in Boulder for the past two weeks, and we didn’t want to be too far from the little man, so that narrowed down our search for night away. We debated hotels, spas, the works. But in the end we wanted to be close to nature, away from humans, someplace cozy, and someplace to take a good soak (or a “tubby” as Conor calls it! lol). We landed on an AirBnb- The Fall River Cabins. It was exactly what we were looking for. It was super cozy, rustic, and gave us access to an incredible hiking trail on the premises that lead into Rocky Mountain National Park.

This creek ran right behind our cabin. Just lovely!.'

Now my little bub is over 1 year old. I am ready to make time for more ME. Our little mountain getaway was the perfect remedy. I could’ve used a full weekend, I’ll be honest. But baby steps :) one night was hard enough (for this mama and James’s grandparents)! 

My brain needed the time away to have a moment to regroup. The time away gave my mind space to breathe, pause, take stock, and recalibrate. 

The time in nature (without worrying about bub) helped me feel like myself. It got me into my body and out of my head. It reminded me how strong I actually am.

Time alone with Conor gave us time to plot out our next moves as a family. It helped us align on what we wanted, and even more specifically, what I wanted to do next. Not to mention, much needed alone time!

I was able to walk away with an actual plan on how I wanted to go about accomplishing what I wanted. (Sure, can most people do that without getting away? Yes. Is it really hard to carve that space with a little bub hanging around all of the time? Also, yes.)

I was able to sleep. Fully. Deeply. With so much space around me. And completely uninterrupted. God bless. 

I was able to come back to my lil man restored and ready to give him my full attention. 

And while I have enjoyed every day since this little love was born–now I’m excited again about the future. And I feel like me again. The me that can do anything she puts her mind to. And that feels like the best! <3 -AHS

Taking a good tubby, helps me to reset and let my mind rest. Bonus points for fire gazing simultaneously.

Nothing like starting the morning with a coffee + soak!

5 Ways to Practise Self-Love from Bridal Coach, Georgina Lucy

Georgina Lucy. Photo by Ashley Kingsbury.

Today’s post is a special guest share from Mindful Bride Coach, Georgina Lucy! I love her thoughts on this topic. Please note I left the post written in her delightful British English. Enjoy! -AHS

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I get it, as a bride you want to look and feel your very best for your wedding day.  You’d be hard pushed to find a bride who doesn’t want this. With this being an important goal for so many brides it can also bring up challenges. By focusing on what you want to change about yourself it can lead to unhelpful and often quite punishing self-talk and that’s no fun!

I want to help you turn this on its head and practise some self-love during your engagement, whilst staying committed to your goal of looking and feeling your best come the wedding day. I promise you, these two things are perfectly compatible.

1. See yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you

So often we are our own worst critics. We look in the mirror and see all our perceived flaws and fixate on them. We give ourselves a hard time when we make mistakes and put insane amounts of pressure on ourselves when we’re not ticking things off the ‘wedmin’ to-do list fast enough. It’s exhausting isn’t it?

Have a think about all the people in your life who love you. Hopefully you have a few special people to pick from. Take a moment to put yourself in their shoes. See yourself through their eyes.

What do they love about you? What little quirks make them smile? What parts of you do they adore the most? Really feel that love they feel for you. When we see ourselves through the eyes of someone who loves us it can feel a little more comfortable than looking in the mirror and chanting, ‘I love you’ (don’t get me wrong, there is a place for that too).  Hopefully this will allow you to see yourself in a loving way. Tap into this feeling next time you’re giving yourself a hard time.

2. Be careful what you consume

Do a social media audit. What’s dominating your newsfeed? Does it make you feel good? Often, we follow ‘aspirational’ accounts and people to give us something to aspire to but is this making you feel good? If it is, then great but really question the impact certain accounts are having on you. Do you notice a shift in energy when a particular person pops up on your feed? Really notice these shifts and don’t be afraid to hit ‘unfollow’ or ‘mute.’  Believe me, it can feel very empowering!

By consuming content that lifts you up and nurtures you you’re being kind to yourself and this is a huge act of self-love. What podcasts make you smile and make you feel good about yourself? Listen to more of them. We have a lot of ‘dead time’ in life – travelling, loading and unloading the dishwasher, sorting laundry. Use this time to absorb anything that makes you feel good about yourself. Some of my go-to feel-good podcasts are, Oprah’s Super-Soul Conversations, Project Love and Wobble.

3. Be Obsessively Grateful

As I said before, we tend to fixate on what we don’t like about ourselves don’t we? What about fixating on what we love about ourselves instead?

Think of just one thing that you’re grateful for about your body. For me, it’s my long legs. I used to hate being tall and felt like a freak when I was head and shoulders above my school friends but now, I’m so grateful for my long legs. They carry me through my day, get me from A to B, and often rather speedily! Not everyone can say that. Maybe you have incredible skin, beautiful long eyelashes, strong arms. Believe me, you have multiple parts of yourself you can feel gratitude towards, if you let yourself.

Really focus on that feeling of gratitude. Notice how it feels and sit with it a while. Simply the act of noticing things to be grateful for shifts your mindset and sooner or later, when you look in that mirror, your mind will go to the good bits first.

4. Let yourself off the hook

When you’re planning a wedding, it can become ALL about the wedding, ALL of the time. If this creates feelings of pressure and overwhelm rather than feelings of excitement give yourself permission to take a break.

One of the brides inside my Facebook community, The Mindful Bride Tribe was feeling totally behind and overwhelmed. The solution wasn’t to work out how to fit yet more tasks into every ounce of spare time she had, it was the opposite. She let herself off the hook and had a weekend off.

When we’re not doing what we think we should be doing, we can beat ourselves up can’t we? Just like your mobile phone, you need a recharge once in a while. How about a wedding free weekend? A date night free from wedding chat?  Time spent doing things that light you up? I bet when you come back to it you’ll have a new lease of life to tackle that to-do list like a boss!

It all starts with giving yourself permission to do what feels good for you. Listen to your body and if there’s signs of stress, that’s a clue you need a break and letting yourself off the hook is such a wonderful way to show yourself some love.

5. Write a love letter to yourself

Get quiet, put on some lovely music, get a pen and a notebook and write a love letter to yourself. If you find yourself staring blankly at a page then think about how you’d support a friend who needs some words of wisdom? Treat yourself as you treat those you love.

If you’re stressed, anxious or under confident give yourself advice about what steps you could take to ease that pressure. Don’t give too much thought to what you’re writing. Just let it flow out of you. It may feel hard at first but persevere. This is just for you. There is no judgment and you may just find you have some real breakthroughs.

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Find out more about Georgina and how she is supporting brides with their wedding wellbeing by visiting her website georginalucy.com, or joining The Mindful Bride Tribe Community on Instagram or Facebook.

The Glow Up

Hello beauties! First and foremost: this is your reminder that you are amazing and perfect just as you are. Right this very second! Are you feeling your fabulous selves today? Do a lil shimmy! Okay, now we’re ready!

I created Shed for the Wed because I wanted to help brides feel good! Planning a wedding whether for 500 people or just an intimate occasion with just your nearest and dearest can be stressful. It can bring up a lot of different emotions and can be downright exhausting! I want you to feel* full of life, love, and energy during your engagement. And I want to help you glow on the big day. There are many ways to accomplish this task, but the foundations of achieving this are the 3 Ss: Sustenance, Sweat, and Spirit. These are the basics that I want you to make sure you prioritizing in your pre-wedding routine. I will dive into each of the three Ss more in later posts- but I wanted to lay the foundation for the wedding glow up!

Sustenance

It is so, so critical to fuel your body with foods that provide nutritional value. Make sure you are “eating the rainbow” and getting your vitamins and minerals through whole food sources that are accessible for your body to process. Eating this way (and eliminating foods that may hinder it) give you ample energy and make your skin glow from the inside out.

Beyond that, have you ever noticed when you haven’t been eating healthy foods and perhaps have been drinking too much alcohol, you tend to feel more anxious or sad? This is not unusual, but you may not have made the correlation before. Healthy foods and water galore help not just your glow, but your mind too! All of this was taken into consideration when creating the Shed for the Wed Nutrition Programs! You can have piece of mind that you are fueling you glow and not adding to your pre-wedding nerves!

Sweat

Getting your sweat on is the most obvious place people start when #sheddingforthewedding - which is actually why I don’t focus on it that much. I’m sure you already know there are serious benefits to exercise. Ranging from good heart health, increased bone density, all the way to relief from depression and anxiety– it really is fantastic. I find that when I have a good sweat routine, I know I’m taking care of my body, and I automatically just feel better about myself. When you build physical strength, you also build mental strength. I include it in the glow up list mostly because it’s an awesome way to boost your confidence. Just don’t overdo it- if you focus too much on sweating for the wedding, it can actually end up doing more harm then good.

Spirit

Spirit is the hardest to define, because we are have different essences to our beings and our souls and what satisfies my spirit may be very different to yours. But it is maybe the most important part of the glow up. You should be LIT about your life. I blather on about “self-care” quite a bit. But really any of the things on the following list could fall into that category. Do things that you love every single day.

Here are some ideas to help you get started:

Connection

• Going on date night with your boo (*ahem* I mean almost spouse)

• Belly laughs with friends

• Spending time with loved ones

• Volunteering

• Cooking for loved ones

Nature

• Swimming in the sea

• Sunshine

• Hiking (also counts as sweating!)

• Gardening

Mindset

• Gratitude journaling

• Meditating

• Taking alone time

• Crushing your goals

• Reading self improvement books

Spirituality

• Praying

• Going to church (or temple, mosque, whatever your affiliation)

• Meditating (again)

Creativity

• Making music

• Writing

• Painting

• Drawing

• Blogging

• Cooking

Other

• Traveling

• Participating in activism

• Snuggle time with a pet

• Taking a social media hiatus

• Whatever you consider fun!

My spirit is flying high on this one! Hiking, sunshine, nature, travel, all with my favorite person- doesn’t get much better than that! <3

The 3 Ss are the perfect trifecta to maximize your glow up for the big day. Which one are you going to begin to focus on first? Leave me a note in the comments or on Instagram or FB!

Happy glowing!

-AHS

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*It’s okay to feel any emotion during this time, but I’m assuming you want to feel your best, thus I want to help you get there! Have a read of this post if you are feeling less than stellar mentally during your engagement.

It's okay to not feel amazing when you get engaged

I have something to talk about that is not often discussed in the wedding industry. In fact, it's very rare to read or hear about it at all. I'm bringing it up, because I think it is important for brides to be to hear and I want to be a voice to help you stay grounded during your engagement. You ready?

It's okay to not feel absolutely wonderful every day of your engagement. In fact, it's even okay to feel sad! 

I've talked to enough women to know that while we want our engagement periods to be one of sheer bliss - there are moments that are harder to deal with. And I'm not just talking about wedding planning stress, although that doesn't make it any easier!

I think there is this stigma about talking about other emotions when you are getting married. Like somehow if you are not swooning with affection for your fiancé/e every day, you love them less, or even worse, that you shouldn't be getting married.

I need to debunk this. There are so so so many reasons that you could be feeling anything but happy during your wedding "season". 

You could feel sad about not being your parents little girl any longer. You could feel weird because everyone says "you just know" and you didn't know. Or maybe your nervous because your parents were divorced and you know you don't want that fate for yourself. Or maybe you are overwhelmed because there are a lot of life changes happening at once. Maybe you're sad about the loss of your single life. Maybe you're sad about having to split holidays. Maybe you're sad that your life as you knew it is changing forever. Maybe it's that you have been dreaming of your wedding your whole life and you aren't ready for the dream to be over. Maybe it's every one of those things or none of them. 

It is possible to feel joy, love, and excitement–and also sadness, loss, and anxiety during your engagement.

Getting married is one of the biggest life events you will experience. Sometimes it's a huge adjustment, sometimes it's just a formality. What I want you to walk away with, is that it is okay to feel any of these emotions during this time. Make space for yourself to process your emotions. Feel how you feel, and don't be ashamed or scared about feeling more than just joy during this time in your life.

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Have you felt like this at all during your engagement? If you feel this way it can be incredibly isolating. I know this is a sensitive topic, but I want you to know I am here for you if you need to talk about this with someone. If you want to talk about it, please, send me a message on social media or drop me an email in the form below and I will get back to you shortly. This is not an email sign up, just an opportunity to chat with an unbiased party. :)

If talking isn't up your alley. Be sure to check out some of the other posts to help keep you "Zen for the Wed." Xx - AHS