Want a more positive, encouraging Instagram feed? Then follow us!
@Living_Well_Community
@LoveLolaGraham
@RetireHealthier

Welcome to Living Well Daily, the newsletter serving up a daily dose of care designed to support you, cheer you on and remind you, always, just how wonderful you already are.

In Today’s Edition:

🥰Well-Being & Self-Care: Conditional Happiness: Loosening Limiting Mindsets
💖Longevity & Wellness: Fitness Friday - Nerves and Muscles
✨Daily Affirmation & Daily Prompt

Feel the beating of your heart.
That consistent power is within you and an expression of who you are.
When you need to, come back to it to centre yourself.

“I'll be happy when…”

When life settles down. When I reach the goal. When my body changes. When I have more money. When I finally become the person I think I should be.

Goals and hopes for the future can add meaning to our lives. But conditional happiness happens when we continually postpone our permission to experience joy, pride, rest, or aliveness until certain conditions are met.

The problem is that there is almost always another “when.”

Common ways conditional happiness limits us:
• 🏆 Believing you'll finally feel good enough after the next achievement
• ⏳ Treating your current life like a waiting room for your “real” life
• 🪞 Making joy dependent on changing your body, circumstances, or self
• 📈 Reaching milestones only to immediately create another condition
• 🚫 Feeling guilty enjoying life while something is still unresolved

Ways to gently loosen conditional happiness:
• 🥠 Ask: What am I postponing until life looks different?
• 🌱 Let yourself want change without making your current life meaningless
• ✨ Notice small experiences of pleasure, connection, wonder, or pride now
• 🔄 Catch the moving goalpost of “I'll be happy when…”
• 💙 Give yourself permission to experience good things alongside unfinished things

You don't have to stop dreaming about tomorrow to let yourself belong to today. Life doesn't have to be finished before you're allowed to enjoy living it.

✅ Action step: Finish the sentence “I'll let myself ______ when ______.” Then ask: Is there a small way I can give myself some of that now?

^{Love, Lola Graham}

New research shows that age-related strength loss isn’t only due to muscle loss but can also be impacted by the communication between your muscles and your nerves. This is because your nerves are what tell your muscles what to do.

Researchers found that older adults with muscle weakness had lower levels of NaV1.4, which helps muscle fibres respond to signals from their nerves. This means lower levels make it harder for muscles to activate and produce force.

There is not yet a definitive way to specifically maintain NaV1.4 levels through lifestyle. However, regular resistance training, staying physically active, and eating enough protein remain some of the best-supported ways to preserve muscle and neuromuscular function as we age.

Also, doing exercise that creates high levels of neural drive can help too. I’ve outlined a few of those in the last couple of weeks, like jumping and overcoming isometrics, so refer back to those newsletter issues if you want to learn more about those strategies. 

You can also work on your mind-muscle connection to help you be able to create a muscle contraction when you want it. Try this out…

Bend your arm fully and try to flex your biceps without changing the angle of your elbow. If you can do that, change your elbow angle to 90 degrees. That was probably harder to do. This is an example of the challenges of the mind-muscle connection. As you exercise, try to tune in and feel your muscles contract; that will help keep those nerve-to-muscle pathways strong. 

✅ Action Step: Strength train at least twice per week and practice your mind-muscle connection. 

^{By: Joshua Graham}

^{A gentle invitation to integrate lived experience with kindness, perspective, and care.}

What’s one thing you wish you could tell your younger self with tenderness?

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!

If you find our newsletter helpful, we’d love for you to share it with a friend! If you’re that friend, you can subscribe here. Thanks for spreading the word! xo

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).}