Welcome to Living Well Daily, the newsletter serving up tips to help you live a joyful, healthier life.
In today’s edition:
😊Mental Emotional Well-Being: Building Momentum in Uncertain Times
💖Longevity & Wellness: Quit It For Brain Health 🚭
🌱Trauma Healing: Releasing Hypervigilance: Living Beyond Constant Alert (Day 3/5)
☀️Journal & Joy Prompts
👇 And more good stuff, like lots of love from Lola & Joshua, the LWD creators xo
Today’s Edition
You are like watching the sunrise, glorious, special and a burst of light in the world.
Building Momentum in Uncertain Times
Uncertainty can feel paralyzing, like you’re waiting for clarity before moving forward. But, this can be a catch 22 because clarity is often born from motion. When the future feels blurry, small consistent actions anchor you in the present and rebuild your sense of direction. You don’t need certainty to begin; use movement to find it. Taking a baby step can get your system out of that paralysis and back into living. You might be saying, “if I knew what small step to take, I would” and I hear you, when you don’t have a clear picture and know you need a change, it can be tough to determine what direction to take. So, instead, you might choose to begin with a small step that feels loving, caring, or rejuvenating even if it doesn’t feel like a direct response towards your goal. When the nervous system gets stuck in paralysis, your capacity can feel too drained to make those big leaps right away. So, when you instead pivot to something caring, it can build up your battery and energy again, allowing you to see and think more clearly. A little movement, no matter how small, makes that next step easier again.
🌟 Ways to build steady momentum
🚶 Focus on your next step, not the whole staircase.
🕯️ Create micro-goals that are clear, kind, and achievable. ‘Micro’ is the key here, make it smaller so you’re not holding too much at once and allow the picture to slowly get bigger. Remember, this can start with a basic care plan.
💬 Speak plans out loud, accountability fuels energy. (If you’re really stuck you might try an accountability partner, coach, or professional to support you through).
📅 Schedule gentle structure to counter chaos.
🌱 Let progress, not perfection, be your proof of hope.
✅ Action Step: Pick one meaningful step you can take today: something small but forward-moving. Begin before you feel ready.
Quit It For Brain Health 🚭
New research shows it’s never too late to quit smoking. Doing so even in mid-life or later is linked to a significantly slower decline in cognitive function.
A recent study by Mikaela Bloomberg and colleagues tracked over 9,400 adults aged 40 and up, comparing those who quit smoking with those who continued. After quitting, former smokers maintained their verbal fluency and memory much better than those who kept smoking.
These findings suggest that stopping smoking can meaningfully protect your brain, reduce the risk of dementia, and improve your long-term cognitive health, even if you’ve smoked for decades.
✅ Action step: If you smoke, commit to creating a quit plan this month. Reach out for support, set a quit date, and use the brain benefits as motivation.
Releasing Hypervigilance: Living Beyond Constant Alert
This week is about gently calming the chronic alertness inside you, allowing your body and mind to exhale.
Day 3: Calming the Nervous System
Gentle regulation helps to share with your body that it’s safe now. Sometimes regulation means giving the nervous energy an outlet (ex. Shake it out like dogs do), and other times the body responds to more calming activities. You can mix and match both to help you build a healing relationship with your body:
🪇Expressing the nerves: shake it out, try movement or exercise, dance, draw or write
🫁 Try deep breathing with longer exhales (inhale 4, exhale 6) to calm and express safety through breath.
👣 Ground physically: press feet into floor, feel your back supported by a chair.
🎶 Use soothing sensory input: calming music, scents, touch.
🧘 Practice progressive muscle relaxation: tense, then release.
Darling, don’t give up on yourself, you’re so worth it. Sending love 💕
You don’t have to earn food, rest, or love. They’re not rewards, they’re rights.
📖Journal Prompt:
Building a Caring Relationship with Yourself
Write a message to yourself from your heart. What does your heart want you to hear?
🌟Spark of Joy:
Let Little Things Move You
Leave something in a “good enough” state… feel the joyful abandon of setting perfection aside so you can reclaim a moment for you.
Thank you for being here!
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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).