Health & Wellness

How to Sleep Better Tonight: 7 Simple Habits That Actually Work

Rachel Larson · June 2, 2026 ·

One of the most powerful things we can do for our health, energy, mood, recovery, and longevity is also one of the simplest: get a good night’s sleep.

Sleep is when your body repairs tissues, builds muscle, regulates hormones, strengthens your immune system, consolidates memories, and prepares you for the next day. Unfortunately, many people struggle to fall asleep, stay asleep, or wake up feeling refreshed.

The good news? Better sleep doesn’t always require a complete lifestyle overhaul. Small changes to your evening routine can have a significant impact on the quality of your sleep.

Here are seven science-backed habits that can help you sleep better starting tonight.

1. Dim the Lights and Put Away Screens Two Hours Before Bed

Your body operates on an internal clock known as the circadian rhythm. One of the biggest signals that tells your brain it’s time to sleep is darkness.

As the sun sets and your environment becomes darker, your brain begins producing melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep. Bright lights—especially the blue light emitted from phones, tablets, computers, and televisions—can interfere with this process and delay melatonin production.

Try dimming household lights and reducing screen exposure at least two hours before bedtime. If you need to use a device, consider using night mode settings or blue light filters.

Think of this as creating a sunset for your brain. The more clearly your body receives the message that nighttime has arrived, the easier it can be to drift off to sleep.

2. Stop Eating at Least Two Hours Before Bed

Late-night snacking may seem harmless, but digestion requires energy and can make it more difficult for your body to fully settle into sleep.

Eating too close to bedtime may increase the likelihood of indigestion, acid reflux, blood sugar fluctuations, and disrupted sleep throughout the night.

Aim to finish your last meal or snack at least two hours before bedtime. This gives your digestive system time to do its work so your body can focus on rest and recovery once your head hits the pillow.

If you find yourself hungry before bed, consider whether your meals throughout the day included enough protein, fiber, and healthy fats to keep you satisfied.

3. Skip the Nightcap

Many people believe alcohol helps them sleep because it can make them feel drowsy. While alcohol may help you fall asleep faster, research consistently shows that it can reduce sleep quality later in the night.

Alcohol can disrupt REM sleep, increase nighttime awakenings, worsen snoring and sleep apnea symptoms, and leave you feeling less rested in the morning.

If quality sleep is your goal, try replacing your evening cocktail with sparkling water, herbal tea, or another relaxing beverage.

You may be surprised by how much more refreshed you feel the next day.

4. Cut Off Caffeine After Noon

Caffeine has a much longer lifespan in the body than most people realize.

Depending on the individual, caffeine can remain active in your system for six to ten hours or more. That afternoon coffee, energy drink, or pre-workout may still be influencing your nervous system long after dinner.

If you’re struggling with sleep, try making noon your caffeine cutoff time. This allows your body more time to clear caffeine before bedtime.

Many people notice improvements in both falling asleep and staying asleep within just a few days of making this change.

5. Unload Your Mind Before Your Head Hits the Pillow

Have you ever climbed into bed only to find your brain suddenly reviewing every unfinished task, future plan, and awkward conversation you’ve ever had?

You’re not alone.

One of the simplest ways to reduce nighttime mental chatter is to get those thoughts out of your head and onto paper before bed.

Spend five minutes writing down:

Tomorrow’s to-do list
Any worries or concerns
Tasks you don’t want to forget
Things you’re grateful for

This simple practice helps reassure your brain that nothing important will be lost overnight. Instead of trying to mentally store everything, you create a trusted place for those thoughts to live until tomorrow.

6. Use Deep Breathing or Meditation to Calm Your Nervous System

Many people try to force themselves to sleep. A more effective approach is to create the conditions that allow sleep to happen naturally.

Deep breathing and meditation help shift the body from a stressed, alert state into a more relaxed state that supports rest.

Try this simple breathing exercise:

Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds
Exhale slowly through your nose for 6 seconds
Repeat for 3-5 minutes

The longer exhale encourages your nervous system to move toward a calmer, more restorative state.

Guided meditations, body scans, gentle stretching, and restorative yoga can also be wonderful additions to your bedtime routine.

7. Consider Tart Cherry Juice Before Bed

Tart cherry juice has gained attention in recent years for its potential sleep-supporting benefits.

Tart cherries naturally contain melatonin as well as plant compounds that may help support sleep quality and recovery. Some studies suggest that consuming tart cherry juice may improve sleep duration and efficiency in certain individuals.

Try drinking a small glass of unsweetened tart cherry juice about 30 minutes before bedtime.

While it isn’t a magic solution, it may be a helpful addition to an overall sleep-supportive routine.

Better Sleep Starts Long Before Bedtime

The reality is that sleep isn’t something that happens only when your head hits the pillow. The choices you make throughout the day—and especially during the hours leading up to bedtime—can have a profound impact on how well you sleep.

You don’t need to implement every strategy at once. Start with one or two habits that feel manageable and build from there.

Dim the lights. Turn off the screens. Put away tomorrow’s to-do list. Take a few deep breaths.

Your body is designed to sleep. Sometimes it simply needs the right environment and signals to do what it was built to do.

At Flostate, we’re big believers that recovery is just as important as exercise. Movement, strength training, mobility work, stress management, and quality sleep all work together to help you feel your best. If you’re looking to reduce stress, calm your nervous system, and support better sleep, explore our yoga, mobility, meditation, and recovery classes designed to help you move better, feel better, and rest better. Browse our on demand classes, programs and collections at www.theflostate.com.

Why Recovery Days Are Essential Hormone Health

Rachel Larson · May 26, 2026 ·

As our estrogen hormone levels become erratic during perimenopause and decline into post menopause recovery days may be one of the most important things we can do for our health.

Yoga and intentional recovery practices don’t just help you feel relaxed in the moment. They create measurable physiological changes in the body that support your nervous system, lower stress hormones like cortisol, improve sleep quality, and help you feel more emotionally steady and energized throughout the day.

For many women especially, constantly operating in a high-stress, high-output state can leave the body feeling depleted, inflamed, anxious, and exhausted. Recovery helps restore balance.

The Stress Response: What Cortisol Is Actually Doing

Cortisol is often called the “stress hormone,” but it’s not inherently bad. Your body needs cortisol to wake up in the morning, regulate blood sugar, manage inflammation, and respond to challenges. The problem comes when stress becomes chronic.

When your nervous system perceives ongoing stress — whether from work, intense exercise, poor sleep, emotional overload, under-eating, or constantly being “on” — cortisol can remain elevated for too long. Over time, chronically high cortisol levels are associated with:

Poor sleep quality
Increased anxiety and irritability
Fatigue and burnout
Increased abdominal fat storage
Muscle breakdown
Hormonal imbalances
Increased inflammation
Difficulty recovering from workouts

Your body was designed to move between stress and recovery. But many people stay stuck in “fight or flight” mode all day long.

This is where yoga and recovery practices become incredibly powerful.

How Yoga Helps Calm the Nervous System

One of yoga’s greatest benefits of practicing yoga is how it helps us out of the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight mode) and into the parasympathetic nervous system (rest-and-digest mode).

Gentle movement, slower breathing, mindfulness, and longer holds can help signal safety to the nervous system and encourage the body to shift into a more restorative state. Research suggests yoga may help lower cortisol levels, improve mood and sleep quality, and reduce symptoms of stress and anxiety.

Breathwork plays a major role in this process. Slow, controlled breathing stimulates the vagus nerve, which helps regulate the nervous system and creates a calming effect throughout the body. That’s why many people notice they feel mentally clearer, emotionally steadier, and physically lighter after yoga even if the class itself wasn’t intense.

Yoga also improves body awareness. Many of us spend so much time disconnected from how we actually feel that we miss the early signs of stress and burnout. Recovery practices help you slow down long enough to notice tension patterns, shallow breathing, fatigue, or emotional overwhelm before they escalate.

Recovery Improves Sleep – And Better Sleep Helps (Just About) Everything

Gentle yoga and restorative movement may improve both sleep quality and sleep duration. Recovery practices help reduce physical tension, quiet mental overstimulation, and prepare the body for deeper rest.

And better sleep improves:

Energy levels
Mood
Metabolism
Muscle recovery
Hormone health
Immune function
Cognitive performance

If you’ve been feeling exhausted but wired, restless at night, emotionally reactive, or constantly tense, your nervous system may be asking for more recovery.

Simple Ways to Start Supporting Your Nervous System Today

1. Add 10 Minutes of Gentle Movement

Even a short yoga flow or mobility session can help reduce physical tension and improve circulation. Focus on slow, intentional movement rather than intensity. Try this 10 minute flow.

2. Practice Slower Breathing

Try inhaling for 4 counts and exhaling for 6 counts for a few minutes. Longer exhales help signal safety to the nervous system.

3. Create a Recovery Evening Routine

Dim lights, reduce screen time, stretch gently, or do restorative yoga before bed to help improve sleep quality.

4. Schedule Recovery Like a Workout

Add yoga, mobility, walking, or stretching into your weekly routine intentionally.

5. Learn to Listen to Your Body

Fatigue, irritability, poor sleep, soreness, and emotional overwhelm are often signs your body needs restoration.

A Sustainable Approach to Wellness

At Flostate Fitness, we believe movement should help you feel better in your body.

If you’ve been feeling stressed, tense, exhausted, or disconnected from your body, this is your reminder to take the time to breathe, slow down and care for yourself. If you are looking for structure to guide you, our 30-Day Yoga Program may be what you are looking for.

Our 30-Day Yoga Challenge is designed to help you create consistency with movement, improve flexibility and mobility, calm your nervous system, and feel more grounded physically and mentally. Whether you’re brand new to yoga or returning to your mat, it’s a simple and supportive way to prioritize recovery and reconnect with yourself.

No matter where you are in your fitness and wellness journey, Flostate is here to help you along the path. Join our 14 day free trial membership to give us a test run and see what you think. Cancel anytime – no strings attached. Learn more about the 14-Day Free Trial!

Why Following a Workout Plan Changes Everything

Alice Halvorson · March 27, 2026 ·

One of the biggest barriers to consistency isn’t motivation — it’s decision fatigue. When you don’t have a plan, every day starts with the same questions: What should I do? How long? Strength or yoga? Do I even have time? That mental load makes it much easier to skip altogether. When the plan is already set for you, the schedule is clear — you simply show up. No overthinking required.

A structured plan also builds discipline. When you’ve committed to specific days and times, workouts become part of your routine rather than a daily negotiation. Those “maybe not today” thoughts lose their power because the decision has already been made. You’re not relying on motivation — you’re relying on consistency.

Another major benefit? Balance. Flōstate’s programs, challenges, and weekly workouts are intentionally curated to include a mix of strength, yoga, mobility, and core. This prevents the common trap of gravitating toward only your favorites (like always choosing yoga or only doing strength) and ensures your body is supported in a well-rounded, effective way.

With a balanced and progressive plan, results follow. You’re building strength, improving mobility, and increasing endurance in a purposeful sequence rather than random workouts that may not move you forward.

Finally, a plan creates built-in accountability. When you’re following a schedule — especially in a challenge setting — you feel responsible to show up and stay on track. You’re not doing it alone; you’re supported by Flōstate coaches and a community working toward the same goal.

This is exactly why our Spring Livestream Challenge is so powerful. (And our other programs and challenges, for that matter.) Your workouts are automatically scheduled, the variety is built in, and all you need to do is commit and press play. Sign up today!!

5 Nutrition Swaps to Make Today

Alice Halvorson · February 4, 2026 ·

Upgrade your nutrition with a few simple food and beverage swaps. And can we forget about calories for a second? Strategic swaps can dramatically boost fiber, protein, and micronutrients with minimal effort — no tracking required.

1. Swap regular soda for a probiotic or prebiotic soda

This one’s a game-changer. These newer “healthy” sodas typically have around 30 calories, ~5 grams of fiber, and gut-friendly probiotics and prebiotics (fiber) — and they actually taste good. If only we had invented them ourselves. Brands like Poppi, Bloom or Olipop are easily found at a story near you.

2. Upgrade your bread

Don’t be afraid of bread. Including it in your diet can make meals more satisfying, reduce feelings of deprivation, and increase intake of fiber, whole grains, protein, and key vitamins. Many brands are true nutritional rockstars, offering up to 10 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber per serving. Those are champion stats. Brands such as Dave’s Killer Bread or Ezekiel 4:9 Organic Bread are good choices.

3. Use a protein shake as your cereal “milk”

Cereal often gets a bad rap, but here’s the upgrade: shake protein powder with milk and pour it over your cereal. Instantly, you’ve transformed a traditionally carb-heavy bowl into a balanced, protein-rich meal — with a side of childhood nostalgia.

4. Swap iceberg lettuce for spring mix

The deeper the color and stronger the flavor of your greens, the more nutrient-dense they tend to be. Iceberg lettuce tastes like water… because it mostly is. Experiment with spring mix, romaine, arugula, or spinach to boost vitamins and minerals without changing much else.

5. Plan for “dessert” — strategically

Yes, dessert can stay — just swap the base. Instead of ice cream, cookies, or cake, start with Greek yogurt and make it delicious: add berries, flavored protein powder, granola, or a drizzle of nut butter. You’ll feel satisfied and find it much easier to hit your protein goals.

Questions? Email us at info@theflostate.com

How to Build and Maintain a Healthy Pelvic Floor for Women 40+

Rachel Larson · December 14, 2025 ·

If you’re a woman in your 40s, 50s, 60s—or beyond—and you’ve noticed changes in your core strength, bladder control, or overall stability, you’re not alone. For many women, midlife brings physical shifts that can feel confusing or even frustrating. The good news? There is so much you can do to support your core and pelvic floor through these years—and you don’t have to blame yourself or push harder to see results.

Let’s break down what’s happening in the body and how to respond in a way that’s smart, sustainable, and empowering.

1. Hormonal Changes Matter—And This Is Not Your Fault

As estrogen begins to decline during perimenopause and menopause, tissues throughout the body are affected—including the pelvic floor. Estrogen helps maintain muscle tone, tissue elasticity, and circulation. When levels drop, the pelvic floor can become less responsive or weaker, which may lead to occasional urinary leakage during activities like sneezing, coughing, running, or jumping.

This does not mean you’re doing anything wrong. It means your body is changing.

Many women benefit from discussing options such as vaginal estrogen or other hormone therapies with their healthcare provider. These treatments can help support pelvic tissue health and function and are often underutilized simply because women assume symptoms are “just part of aging.” You deserve informed care and options.

2. Midlife Strength Requires a Smarter Strategy—Not Less Fuel

Another major shift that happens as estrogen declines is a reduced ability to build and maintain muscle and bone density. This is exactly why traditional advice like “eat less and exercise more” can backfire during this stage of life.

Instead, this season calls for:

Lifting heavier weights (appropriately and progressively)
Prioritizing strength training to protect muscle and bone
Increasing protein intake to support muscle repair and growth

This is not the time to under-fuel your body. It’s the time to fuel wisely and train intentionally. Strength is protective—it supports posture, balance, metabolism, and yes, pelvic floor health too.

3. Kegels Still Matter—But They’re Only Part of the Picture

Daily Kegels can be a powerful tool for improving pelvic floor strength and awareness. Practicing them consistently helps you reconnect to these often-ignored muscles and improves coordination and control.

For best results:

Practice daily Kegels (short, focused sets)
Integrate pelvic floor engagement into functional movement and workouts
Learn how to fully relax and lengthen the pelvic floor as well as strengthen it

The pelvic floor isn’t meant to be clenched all day. It’s meant to respond dynamically to movement, breath, and load. Combining isolated work and integrated movement creates the biggest gains.

4. How Flostate Supports Your Pelvic Floor—From All Angles

At Flostate, we believe optimal pelvic floor health comes from a balanced approach. That’s why our Pelvic Floor Restore On-Demand Collection is designed to:

Activate under-recruited muscles
Strengthen for support and confidence
Lengthen and release tension for full function

These workouts are intentional, approachable, and grounded in how the body actually works during midlife and beyond. Repetition and consistency matter most. You can do these workouts on their own or layer them onto your existing strength, cardio, or yoga routine for added support.

Small, consistent efforts add up to meaningful change. Explore our Pelvic Floor Restore collection in our On Demand Library. https://theflostate.com/on-demand/

You Are Not Broken—You Are Adapting

Your body isn’t failing you—it’s asking for a new kind of care. With the right education, strength training, fueling, and targeted pelvic floor work, you can feel strong, stable, and confident at every stage of life. This is about working with your body, not against it—and Flostate is here to support you every step of the way.