Welcome to Living Well Daily, the newsletter serving up tips to help you live a healthier, happier life.
In today’s edition:
💖Longevity: Joy Is Important For Health
😊Mental / Emotional Health: Anxiety Isn’t Just in Your Head (It’s in Your Nervous System)
🧠 Inner Reps: Build Self-Acceptance
☀️Self-Care & Connection
🌱Trauma Healing: Masking (Day 2 of 5)
👇 And more good stuff!
Today’s Edition
You are not just enough, you are overflowingly, magnificently more than enough. Keep spilling that brilliance everywhere you go and take a moment to steep in your own awesomeness. So glad you’re here!
Joy Is Important For Health
Doing things that light you up is a longevity booster. Joyful activities lower stress hormones, release feel-good chemicals, and protect your heart and brain from the wear and tear of chronic stress. Happiness, it turns out, is powerful preventive medicine.
Tips to create more joy in your life:
😻Stop taking everything so seriously, we will all die someday (hopefully not for a while) might as well enjoy the ride!
🙀Be more mindful. Mindfulness can make it easier to step out of your head and into the moment, which is where we find joy!
😽If you struggle to do joyful things, make a list of things that light you up and do at least 1 every single day.
✅ Action Step: Make time today for one thing that sparks joy for you and soak up the joy (listen to a favorite song, draw, play a game, garden, laugh with a friend, etc). Treat it like a daily vitamin for your well-being.
Anxiety Isn’t Just in Your Head (It’s in Your Nervous System)
If you’ve ever felt anxious and told yourself to “just calm down,” only to feel worse, you’re not alone. That’s because anxiety isn’t just a mindset problem; it’s often your nervous system’s way of trying to protect you. Understanding that can help you respond with tools and care, not shame.
Why it works this way:
🧠 Your nervous system scans for danger. When it senses something uncertain, it can activate your fight-or-flight response even when there’s no real threat.
⚠️ That fight-or-flight response feels like anxiety. Racing heart, tight chest, overthinking, stomach knots… that’s your body trying to keep you safe. When we understand the root desire of “safety,” it gets easier to respond with kindness.
🪵 It’s not always rational. This can happen based on past experiences, not just present ones: your body sometimes reacts to old stress like it’s happening now.
🌿 You can help your body feel safe again. Grounding, deep breathing, kind words, mindfully taking in the environment, and/or gentle movement can help bring your system back to baseline.
✅ Action Step: The next time anxiety hits, try this: Meaningfully pause with yourself and say, “You’re okay, you’re safe, I’m here.” Then do something grounding (touch something cold, take a few slow breaths, or wiggle your fingers and toes). The goal isn’t to “get rid of” anxiety, it’s to show your body it’s safe to settle.
Today’s Mental and Emotional Workout:
These mental exercises help increase gray matter in areas related to self-awareness and self-acceptance.
Drink water, get sunlight, move a little: simple things have the power to change the day. They’re tiny anchors that bring you back to yourself. What’s one simple caring act you can do right now?
📖Journal Prompt:
What helps you feel at home in yourself, even just momentarily?
🌟Spark of Joy:
Step outside for a breath of fresh air — like when a cool breeze wraps around you on a warm afternoon.
🦋Weekly Connection & Kindness Challenge:
Send a Gratitude Message: Text, email, or DM someone to let them know you appreciate them and why.
Masking
Masking is a common coping mechanism after trauma. This week’s series helps you notice, understand, and begin to soften the mask.
Day 2: Why We Mask
We often mask to protect ourselves from rejection, criticism, or harm. It can be rooted in both past and current experiences.
🫥It may have started as a way to survive in unsafe situations.
😎It can become so automatic that you might not notice you’re doing it.
🤩In safe spaces, reducing masking can help you feel more authentic and connected.
Darling, don’t give up on yourself, you’re so worth it. Sending love 💕
⌚Wearables: New research shows they aren’t very good at predicting your stress levels.
Thank you for being here!
Before you go, let us know what you thought of today’s edition and if there are any subjects you would like us to cover in the future reply to this email and let us know!
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With love and care,
Lola & Joshua | The Living Well Team
Living Well Daily is for educational purposes only and is in no way a substitute for professional medical and mental health advice and diagnosis. Please consult a qualified professional for care unique to your needs.
Remember: It’s okay to ask for help. Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 (Canada & US).