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: Projection Bias: Escaping Thought Traps for Better Mental Health
💖Longevity & Wellness: Fitness Friday - How Hanging Can Improve Your Shoulder Health
✨Daily Affirmation & Daily Prompt

Stay on track.
You can make it.
You can do it.
You are braver and stronger than you believe. 

Our current emotions and state of mind can strongly shape how we predict the future. Projection bias happens when we assume that how we feel right now is how we’ll always feel, or how others will feel too.

When we’re overwhelmed, discouraged, lonely, or emotionally activated, it can become difficult to imagine change, growth, or different possibilities. Temporary feelings start feeling permanent.

This thought trap can influence decisions, relationships, motivation, and hope.

Common ways projection bias shows up:
• 🌧️ Assuming difficult emotions will last forever
• 🔮 Making future predictions based only on your current mood
• 😞 Believing you’ll never feel motivated, connected, or confident again
• 🚫 Avoiding opportunities because of how you feel in the moment
• 🪞 Forgetting how much emotions, energy, and perspective naturally shift over time

Ways to gently loosen projection bias:
• 🥠 Ask: Have I felt differently before?
• 🌊 Remember that emotions and states naturally change
• ⏳ Avoid making permanent decisions in temporary emotional states
• 🔄 Reflect on past moments that once felt endless but eventually shifted
• 💙 Leave room for future versions of yourself you haven’t met yet

How you feel right now matters, but it is not necessarily a permanent forecast of your future.

✅ Action step: Think of a difficult feeling you’ve had before that eventually shifted. Remind yourself: states change, even when they feel permanent.

^{Love, Lola Graham}

It is one of the simplest things you can do for your shoulders: hang from a bar, and there is evidence to support it.

When you hang, gravity gently pulls the shoulder joint apart, creating space in the subacromial area, which is the narrow channel where your rotator cuff tendons run. For people who sit at a desk, sleep on their side, or have poor overhead mobility, that space can get compressed over time, leading to impingement, pain, and restricted movement.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. John Kirsch documented this in a longitudinal study of 92 patients with diagnosed shoulder conditions, 76% had shoulder impingement syndrome, and 17% had confirmed rotator cuff tears. After following a simple hanging protocol, the results were amazing…

90 out of 92 patients eliminated their shoulder pain and avoided surgery. His research, detailed in his book Shoulder Pain: The Solution and Prevention, proposes that hanging restores the natural space in the shoulder joint and remodels the soft tissue and bony structures over time.

Beyond decompression, hanging also strengthens the rotator cuff and scapular stabilizers in a long, loaded position, exactly the range of motion most people never train and most commonly get injured in.

If you want to start doing this yourself, start with even 10 to 30 seconds at a time, accumulating a few minutes throughout the day, is the protocol Kirsch recommends. You can do this at the park on monkey bars, a pull-up bar at home, or even a sturdy door frame bar; all work.

If you struggle to support your full bodyweight, you can start by keeping your toes on the ground and slowly loading your arms more and more until you can hang fully. 

Important note: if you have an acute shoulder injury or have had recent surgery, check with a physio or doctor before starting.

✅ Action Step: Find something to hang from today and try 20 to 30 seconds. Notice how your shoulders and upper back feel afterward.

^{By: Joshua Graham}

^{A gentle prompt to help you create small feel good moments of beauty, appreciation, and delight.}

^{A reflective journaling prompt to explore learning, self-awareness, and becoming.}

^{A mini-care practice for grounding, calming, and nervous system support.}

^{A supportive prompt to build health, nourishment, and long-term wellness.}

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

prompt 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).}