“I’m up pretty early as the mom of two little kids. On the days where I get an extra minute, the first thing I do is start with a body scan. I scan from my toes all the way up to my head giving gratitude for my body’s function. Moving my joints, especially as I get older, is important. I do a five-minute stretch in bed. After that, I get straight up, brush my teeth, and use a tongue scraper.

I grew up with a knowledge of Ayurveda, which is a form of ancient science, and in Ayurveda, we typically use a copper tongue scraper. Scraping your tongue all the way from the back rinses the white mucus off your tongue. During the night, the body detoxifies, replenishes, and expels waste. When you look at your tongue first thing in the morning, this is the excess that we want to remove from our bodies. Tongue scraping also helps to ignite the power of our digestive system so that we’re not taking in all that toxin into the body. In Ayurveda, there’s a big focus on bettering your digestion; Tongue scraping helps support the enzymes you’re producing, your teeth, and your immune system as well. We want to help remove those excess toxins every day.”