Wellness Hacks I Wish I Knew Sooner

but informative. Maybe you guys can look at this as an audio guide you can come back and reference at a later time. I don't know what to start off with, you, guys. Are a lot of things that I've tried throughout the years that have done wonders for me, and certain things that I've been doing lately that I'm absolutely in love with, and I was like, I need to share this with the world. You guys are my world, and I want

to share with you. Okay, So one of the things that I just recently started doing is oil pulling and tongue scraping. I don't know how in the world I did not know about this sooner. Because I want to go to the dentist every six months, you guys, for my cleaning. So the point is I've been doing it for the past I want to say, two months, and I am in love. Okay. So what is tongue scraping and what is oil pulling? I did my research. I'm gonna read some things for you, guys, and then I'll

give you my personal take on it. Okay. Tongue scraping is using a metal or copper tool to gently remove the coating of toxins, bacteria, and build up from your tongue. Each morning. Oil pulling follows swishing oil like cold preass coconut, sesame or some flour in your mouth for five to

twenty minutes to draw out deep toxins. So this is the way of daily detox It is important to do like daily detoxing like this, like oil pulling, tongue scraping for your liver because the less toxins that we have in our body, the less chances of disease forming and living in our body. That and also inflammation, and we're going to talk about that moving forward. But my gosh, guys, what I do in the morning, I wake up, I drink water, I put the oil straight in my mouth.

It's one that I bought off of Amazon actually, and it's organic. It's coconut oil with some mint. The one that I bought comes with like a little cap, like you know when you buy medicine, and it like has a cap and it tells you like it measures it's about I don't know, like yeah, like a tablespoon. I

would say a tablespoon and a half. Not only is it great for you, and it clears your tongue and from bacteria and toxins and all that, and whitens your teeth right, and it helps your gums the gum health as well, but swishing is also an exercising for your jaw and neck. So when I heard that, I was like, oh, I am missing a day because you know, we're getting older out here and I've lost weight and my neck is just not the same. So I've been very like self conscious about it. So when I heard that, I

was like, oh my gosh, I'm doing this. So now I'm doing it for like ten minutes. At first, I couldn't do it more than two minutes because it kind of does hurt your mouth a little bit, like you're swishing. So it's a little sore. But I've worked my way up to ten minutes. And all I do is I put the oil in there. I'm swishing, literally like swishing it through my teeth. Obviously, like don't swallow it. You're

not supposed to swallow it. Don't spit it out in your sink either, because it could clog up the pipes. I spit it out in the trash can, and it's a little thick. It's a little weird at first, and it takes a little bit of time to get used to. Anyway, while I'm doing that, I'm swishing, i am lighting my incense. I'm setting the tone for like my meditation and stuff. And you know, I'm not like just sitting there. I'm actively doing something. And then I just spit it out

and I brush my teeth. So what I do my process is I tongue scrape first and then I do the oil pulling, then I brush my teeth. Okay, it is a bit of a process, but again this is self love, self care, so I highly recommend it. Okay, I love it. My teeth feels better, like I feel like I don't have bad breath, like even if I eat onion or anything like that. Like my taste buds. Guys, I'm so much better, Like now I came. I if something's too salty, I feel it right away, like I'm

eating less salt because of it as well. So it has a lot of great benefits. Look into it. Highly recommend it. And here here's why it's powerful. Okay. It removes bad breath causing bacteria, prevents cavities and gum disease naturally, whitens the teeth, supports digestion by improving oral flora, reduces the bacterial load that leads to inflammation in the body, boost energy, mental clarity, strengthens the connection between oral health

and gut health. This is the reason I started doing and I learned about the oil pulling and the tongue scraping. Was because of that holistic doctor that I went to that started me on this whole, like reminded me and brought me back to myself of like being organic and doing these things. And it was because of my digestion. She told me, you need to start tongue scraping. She took my poles, she didn't take any blood. All she did was like, let me see your tongue and from

my tongue health. She was able to see what I was dealing with. So our tongue shows a lot of our health. And this is like a pract just like indigenous practice, guys. So this is from like years and years ago. So look into it again. You can go back and listen to this again. And now I want to move on because again I said, I want to make this as brief as possible. Okay. Another thing that I've been doing is cold face plunging. Okay, I don't know if you guys have seen it on social media.

After I started like looking into it, it's been all over my feet because you know, our phones listen to us. But that's another conversation. I know about obviously cold plunging like when you submerge your body, but I didn't know about the face. And funny enough, what I would do while I was going to the gym was I would always grab ice cubes and roll them up in a little napkin and like put them on my eyes to help like my eyes from like depuffing and tightening and stuff.

So anything that's cold is good for your skin. It's great for your skin. Even when I shower, I shower with like warm water. I do the whole thing, and then right before I get out, I do like as cold as I possibly can. It's just so good for you. All you do is just I mean, could be a little inconvenient, but you know you have to go downstairs or you have to go to your refrigerator from your

bedroom and grab the ice cubes. You know, I know, but again, these are all things that are great for you and the super beneficial, so I think it's worth it. Just wake up a little earlier and do it. And I just grab a normal bole, fill it up with cap water, put some ice, wait for it to melt, and then I plunge my face about three times, and I do it for ten to fifteen seconds at a time.

You have to hold your breath, obviously, and then just count in your head slowly one, two, three, you know, until you get to ten or whatever you can handle, because after the first time, your nose gets a little numb. But the tightness, the depuffing you guys, amazing. So let me read because this is straight from the internet, guys, so it's not something that I made up. I wanted to make sure that I'm giving you guys the right information. Dunking your face in cold water or using ice tools

to stimulate blood, float and refresh the nervous system. Okay, and these are the benefits. Reduces puffiness and tightened skin, Booth circulation and glow, calms the nervous system and stress response. Supports lymphatic drainage okay, depuffing huge and my rosacea. It helps with my roseacea, helps regulate oil production and skin clarity. But also, guys, it's like a free natural facelift and a mood reset because it does. I feel like it wakes me up and I'm like ready to go to

the gym. It's it's like a little bit of a pre workout. It's amazing. Or if you just if you don't want to work out, like if you have a meeting or word, don't, it's so good. I love it. Plus, it trains your nervous system to handle stress more calmly. That is the truth. And I have been experiencing it. I haven't been doing it for long, guys, it's been a month, but I am loving it and I highly recommend it. Try it or not, it's up to you now.

Breath work is another one. Okay, I've been doing breath work for a long time, and I freaking love it and I want to talk about it because sometimes obviously we're breathing, like right now, I'm like breathing, But when you breathe intentionally, like hold it. And then when you do those things when I'm stressed out, when I'm having a bad day, which I've been experiencing lately, a lot has been going on, I'm like, Okay, we can change our entire mood, guys, with just taking a deep breath

and letting out the stress. Even making that noise does something to your shoulders, to your neck. It resets your mind. And this is what the internet says. Okay, just so you see that it's true, and I'm just here to tell you and affirm it and confirm Okay. Intentional breathing practices to activate healing, calm, and connection. It clears stagnant energy and emotional blocks, regulates the nervous system, reduces anxiety, panic, and overthinking. Very true. Here's a big one for the

women and for men, but mainly for us women. Lowers cortisol and inflammation. Okay, we hear a lot of inflammation. You see, everything is inflammation. I don't know if you've seen that so far. But inflammation, guys, it lives in our body. And we talked about this guys with a doctor, a holistic doctor here on Cheeki's and Chills. So check out that episode. Because inflammation, you guys, is a real thing,

and that's why turmeric is very important to take. I'm not a doctor again, I'm just suggesting these are things that have helped me. Because inflammation causes disease. It also can cause cancer. There's a lot of inflammation in the body, in the gut, in the organs, you guys. So breath work again, you can look up on YouTube and there are a lot of apps. There are a lot of people on TikTok as well doing breath work and teaching people how to do the square. I think it's I

believe it's called square breathing. Amazing. Guys, you heard all of the benefits. Look it up, see what works best for you. Okay, if that's something that interests you. But another thing is mouth taping at night. Okay, I've heard about mouth taping a lot. One of my friend's husbands does it and he said, hey, Cheeky's, I super highly recommend it, and I ignored it for a while until I saw an ad that came up, and I think because I had been talking about it, it came up.

And what caught my attention was that it can also help with the excess fat under our chin. So with the jaw line, I'm super obsessed with, like making sure my jawline looks good right now. I don't know why, but it's like I'm doing exercise, I'm doing all these things for it. So when I saw that, I was like, hey, I'm gonna try it and see. And then I saw and I researched all the benefit and I'm like, oh

my god, this is amazing. I should have listened to Rob my friend's husband a long time ago, because he's been doing it for a long time. Okay, so what is it. It's lightly taping the mouth closed at night to encourage nasal breathing after COVID. Guys, I got COVID three times. It messed up all my sinuses and my nose has never been the same. So I started breathing through my mouth a lot, especially when I was asleep, and obviously that's not good. So moving forward, what I'm

saying is improves oxygen intake and sleep quality. It really does supports oral health and prevents dry mouth, reduces snoring and jaw tension. That's where the jaw thing comes in, guys. Supports heart and brain health. I've noticed I have a clearer mind when I wake up. I'm not even lying. It also encourages proper facial structure and nitric oxide production. Guys,

these are all great things. And no, you're not gonna grab some tape from like your drawer and put tape on your mouth like they have special tape that's not going to irritate your skin. I have very sensitive skin, and I found a good tape that says, okay, great for sensitive skin. You can find it at you can find it on Amazon. You can find it. Just google

mouth tape and a bunch will come out. I'm not gonna recommend the one I use, because the point here is you guys, doing your own research and seeing what works best for you. But I have felt the difference, like I have slept so good. I put it on Emilia the last two nights and he told me, he's like, Babe, I don't know if it's the tape or I don't know if it's because we're not smoking right now cannabis. He's like, but the dreams that I've been having have

been so vivid. He's like, I had some deep, deep sleep, babe, And I think it has to do with the mouth tape, and I've seen him wake up with more energy. Try it and then you decide. But it is amazing. I don't know if you guys have heard about red light therapy. I have been doing that for a while, and I started doing it because I have very poor circulation, and

that's something that I've known for a long time. And I do the vibrating plate and the red light therapy can be pricey, I will say that, but there are places that are offering it. It's coming up a lot more, and I wanted to just bring it up because it is something that I think is important for all of us, because a lot of us don't get a lot of sun exposure. There's nothing better than the natural sun. But red light therapy is different and it has a lot

of great benefits. And I have seen and have felt a big difference. And I wish I would have known sooner, honestly, like in my twenties, because I think it would have helped my circulation a lot. Yeah, because I get a lot of water retention and stuff like that, and I think I would have been able to prevent it a lot sooner. But anyway, we're learning, we're living and learning, okay. So it is a healing treatment to promote regeneration at

the cellular level. It boosts collagen and skin elasticity. It's very hard for me to say that word, but elasticity reduces wrinkles and sun damage, m M calms, ro satia, and acne. I have roseatia. It's been helping that a lot. Enhances thyroid and hormonal health, speeds up muscle and joint recovery, reduces inflammation in the body. Inflammation again, it is great. Again, I have, you know, bad circulation. I'm trying to like age gracefully. So wrinkles, it has been phenomenal. It also

helps again with your joints. I do it like three times a week. I sit in front of my light. It is important to buy if you're going to purchase one, to buy a quality like look at the reviews and make sure that it is a high quality red light because there's some that are out there. Because it's becoming so popular, guys that don't buy just a cheap one because you know, I know, I'm telling you. I know it could be expensive, but it has to be a

good one. So please look at the reviews. That's one thing I will tell you, because I almost got bumboozled and bought one that was like, Okay, it's like less expensive, but it was not. It was actually going to cause damage. So that's why I'm saying, make sure you're reading your reviews and doing your research on whatever it is that you're buying. But again, there are places a lot of spas are coming out and they offer it and you could do it once a week and they have like

these full body ones. It helps with scars as well, like if you have scars. I have scars from like my boob reduction, and I feel like it's been helping flattening them out as well and lightening them. So highly recommend it. And you know what, I'm not going to go into the other ones that I had because I was going to talk about daily detalks body brushing. You guys, I don't want to get into the details because I want to make this as short and pretty and informative

as I possibly can. But if you guys like this episode, let me know. If you want to hear about these other things. I will gladly elaborate and talk about it a little bit more. But look into it. The daily detalks, especially the liverty talks. We talked about that before. Body brushing, wearing a night guard, daily movement, all that stuff. We can get into the nitty gritty if you want a

second part of it. But I did want to talk to you guys about inflammation and how important it is to reduce it in our bodies by not only taking supplements, speak to your doctors right about supplements, but also by not eating certain things. And if you guys want to know a little bit more about certain foods and how it affects your skin and your health. Followed doctor Julie Greenberg, and we also have an episode with her, so you

can go ahead and listen to it. So, too much inflammation can lead to hormonal imbalances, Okay, something I've dealt with, And a lot of things that we eat, guys, A lot of the stuff that's in our food is causing that, and is causing even the stuff that we put on

our skin. If we're putting too much fragrance on our skin, on our body, you guys, it will cause a lot of hormonal imbalances, okay, autoimmune disease, heart problems, fertility struggles, mental health challenges, chronic pain and fatigue, premature aging, and

autoimmune disease. Guys, that for me is one of the biggest things, especially for disease and if you're trying to get pregnant and all that stuff, which is why I'm changing the way that I'm eating and changing my lifestyle and taking things out of my house that aren't good for me. Even my lotion, my body lotion right now is fragrance free. I am really looking at the ingredients and making sure that the things that I'm putting on my body and putting in my body, foods and everything,

the less ingredients the better, Okay. And reducing inflammation helps you prevent disease, reclaims your energy, regulates emotions, heal, naturally, feel vibrant, present in your body. And I'm not gonna lie. I do feel a lot better and I do have a lot more mental clarity. So I just wanted to have this episode. Sorry. I know we talked about a lot of different things, and I wanted to make it short, cute,

and informative, but hopefully some of this stuff will help you. Again, I know it's a lot of information, but just choose one to start with, one that resonates with you, one that you're like, Okay, this one I'm going to start with because I know it's a lot to do at once, and if you do want to know a little bit more about things, because I do a lot of different things now, things that are making me not only feel better, but I feel like even look better, like more vibrant.

And I just want to share because you know, chickens and chill is all about that, about sharing, because I care about you. Sharing is caring, And yeah, I hope you like this this episode. I'm sorry if it was a lot, but I just want to share. That's it. And I want to make the world's a better place, one hard at a time, and it starts with you, guys. All right, guys, So I'm going to take a deep breath. Try the breath work if you want to start with that,

because you don't have to buy anything. Just start with that. Oh my gosh, it is life changing, guys. Right now, I'm going to take a deep breath because I just said a lot mix helling good positive energy because I hope and pray that it helps you, sending you love and light, and I thank God for you. I love all my listeners, each and every single one of you, guys. I'm so grateful, And you guys also help make me feel better. So thank you, and I hope that I'm

doing the same for you. So thank you for coming back to my podcast and listening and learning and growing and glowing. I love you so much, and I will catch you here on the next episode of What Your Favorite Podcast? Cheek Isn't Chill. This is a production of

iHeartRadio and the Micaeldorda podcast Network. Follow us on Instagram at Michael Doda Podcasts, then follow me Cheeky's That's c h I q U I s. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.