O K A Y we know it- we feel it- we crave it-BUT why don’t we do it? HI, my name is Aleah, and I stay up way past my bedtime- I really don’t even know why? Maybe I am a sucker for punishment? FOMO  ?  Maybe mommy hood got my circadian clock so jacked up- my body doesn’t even remember what it needs? What I do know, is that my sleep deficit is REAL! So, I am compiling all of this compelling evidence, so that you can join me in the first “7 Night Sleep Rehab” Beginning Sunday June 2^nd .

Sleep deprivation is really common, but it’s affecting us in ways that go far beyond feeling “sleepy” in the morning. Our cells repair during the night, and our digestive system gets a well-deserved break. So, if we are cutting our sleep hours short, we are missing out on these crucial processes.  Our body is crazy smart and will start to respond to it’s lack of sleep by doing things like-increasing production of certain hormones (Grehlin- the hunger hormone) and decreasing (Leptin- your “I’m full” hormone) in an attempt to get food for energy ( except it will want that energy quick and easy, so you will be on the hunt for sugar, processed carbs and caffeine) We as humans need anywhere from 7-9 hours of sleep each night (every person is slightly different, over the next 7 nights you will find out what works best for you) But, just in case that wasn’t enough- here are some other dark side-effects of not living your best sleep.  Lack of sleep attacks your cognitive processes. It impairs attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning, and problem solving. This makes it more difficult to learn, and you can forget making memories (literally) your sleep cycles help to consolidate your experiences in your mind. If you don’t sleep, you won’t make memories. Lack of sleep also kills your sex drive due to depleted energy, sleepiness, and increased tension. Anxiety and Depression are also largely linked to too little sleep.   It also ages your skin, makes you forgetful, and impairs your judgement (especially about your need for sleep-ooooooof course it does)

Here is how expert Dr. Frank Lipman says we can break up with late night binging, and create healthful sleep patterns.

1. Set an electronic hold 1 hour before you plan to go to sleep. (There are really cool apps that will lock your devices for specific times/ durations) Electronic devices are too stimulating and interfere with the quality of your sleep.
2. Keep it DARK- Even that subtle blue light from your phone/receiver disrupts the brains ability to rest. Eye masks are a great alternative.
3. Eliminate your CAFFINE intake at least 7 hours prior to planned bed time. Caffeine blocks sleep neurotransmitters, over stimulates the adrenal glands, and throws off your bodies internal clock (circadian rhythm) Alcohol will do the same thing- initially you may feel drowsy, but as your body begins to break it down, you can count on frequent disruptions, and an early morning.
4. Make your bedtime routine an experience.  It is impossible to go from hyper engaged to peaceful sleep without a meaningful in between. Essential Oils/Meditation/ Reading / Writing/ Gratitude Practices are all great ways to prepare your body for sleep.

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I am launching this “7 Day Sleep Rehab” to help you reset your internal sleep clock, and create healthy habits that are practical/manageable/ and easy to implement.

PM on Facebook, DM on Instagram, OR email ikkopilates@hotmail.com & get your name on the list.
Sweet Dreams,
Aleah

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We are all a source of
U N T A P P E D potential.

Generally it takes an outside force/event/ or tragedy to make us dig deep, to step outside, to do better, or to reach higher.
Only then do we begin the climb to towards our potential.
These situations are an opportunity to uncover exactly what we are made of (spoiler alert: its always MORE then we imagined)
Pick a goal.
Start a plan.
Live your life. &
get uncomfortable&
do hard things&
hold true to your potential&
meditate about it&
get in the flow of your life&
BECOME YOUR OWN FORCE. Don’t wait for something to happen, that makes you tap in. Tap into your potential now. -57,000M

ikkoandharmony

WELCOME

REMEMBER WAY BACK when all you needed to do, was yank out the Mario Brothers cartridge- blow inside and hit the reset button. GAME ON.  Here are three ADULT ways to hit the reset button on your life.

This is a piece for self-reflection, a chance to seek more, and to get you asking questions to spark real life-long essential changes. We will highlight 3 tools that you can use starting today.

1. Intuitive Eating & Intermittent Fasting – Your body is brilliant beyond measure, and will cue you to live your best, most healthful life…if you are paying attention to those cues. Unfortunately, our current diets and lifestyle have taken us so far away from our internal rhythm, that the messages we are receiving, are false. These messages, these false reads, are mostly a result of stress, chemically processed foods, and lack of sleep- and those exact messages we receive on the daily, are perpetuating the issues we are trying to eliminate-be it weight gain, trouble sleeping, digestive issues, mental fog, anxiety , depression etc.
When we rid the body of these toxic foods/chemicals we give it a chance to breathe again, a chance to reconnect with its innate needs for survival and health. Makes sense-but gets pretty tricky when we factor in all the habits, we have spent a lifetime developing. We habitually eat breakfast at 7:00am to get a good start to the day and “insert every statement you’ve ever been told about the importance of breakfast here”, but breakfast is exactly what it says BREAK FAST- It is much more about what you choose as your first intake – then it is about when. There are actually bacteria (Akkermansia) living in your gut that produce and thrive in a fasting state. These bacteria protect you from invasion of bad microbes and reinforce your bowel walls. High levels of these microbes are linked to decreased obesity and lessen your chance of developing diabetes. These fasting periods can and will be different for everyone. This is where we must get really honest with ourselves, when we have to really listen to our bodies. Understanding that habits and intuition are not the same thing, and that as you transition into a more healthful way of living you will get mixed messages- habits disguising themselves as intuition. It is up to you to do the work, to discern what you need vs. what you want, and develop a healthy discipline. Eventually your relationship with food will return to a more natural state of eating with purpose vs. eating for entertainment.

2. YOUR Gut in 10 sentences or LESS. “The Gut” or Your Biome extracts energy from your food. It accounts for most of your immune system and produces more then 24 hormones that influence everything from appetite to mood. Your gut actually has its own brain (similar to the size of a cat, yes those entitled, moody, unpredictable little felines) so why wouldn’t we want to be mindful of how we feed this thing, and why are we so surprised it freaks out when we feed it junk? So, what does it want? A colourful and diverse selection of fruits and vegetables (eat the WHOLE plant -leaves, stems etc.), locally sourced foods giving you the bacteria your biome needs to thrive, open the windows in your house, spend time outside (get your hands in the dirt). You need to feed that bacteria, so it has a fighting chance against everything else we let in – be it the products we use, the chemicals we ingest, or the processed foods and refined sugars we eat.
A great way to support your biome is to add in fermented foods (like sauerkraut & kombucha) to your diet. All of this is just the beginning-if this has sparked any interest for you and you want to learn more- There are so many resources and amazing books on the subject. I also encourage you to check out Culture Shock Kombucha (https://www.cultureshockkombucha.com/)  . Laura and Shannon do a ton of local health talks and are always willing to share their knowledge.

3. Letting Go of Guilt – WHY are we so pierced with guilt? We don’t do enough, we say too much, we eat the wrong things, we feel the wrong way. It’s like we have conditioned ourselves to constantly get in the way of our own happiness. WHY? No honestly, WHY? Getting through this section requires some work on your part (but don’t feel bad if you don’t do it)
a. Identify the things/people/ situations from your past that trigger feelings of “guilt”. That cause you to repeat the same patterns and cycles over and over again- until you feel so guilty about feeling guilty that you might actually implode.
Let that shit (& maybe those people) go. Write them down, burn them up, but get to know them for what they are. Psychological imprints- that once you have identified, you can attempt to re-write. Goodbye guilt. CONSTANTLY be digging deeper, asking yourself WHY? Letting go of the feelings that do not belong to you (hint: it’s most of them)
b. Remember nothing is permanent. Not this moment, not these feelings. Actually, N O T H I N G
c. We also don’t own anything- not our bodies, not our children, not a single F’ I N G thing. Doesn’t that leave a lot of room to soften? To give ourselves grace? To be kind to others?
d. Understand and believe that you have everything you need in this moment to be happy.
e. Today is the perfect day to begin.
f. & tomorrow is a good day to begin again.

-Aleah