Welcome to Living Well Daily, the newsletter serving up tips to help you live a joyful, healthier life.

In today’s edition:

You are sooooo freaking fantastic! That we will shout it from the rooftops so that you can know how great we think you are! Have an absolutely wonderful day, you spectacular being! 

Music reaches parts of us that words can’t. It can elevate energy, soften anxiety, release sadness, or reconnect you to your aliveness. I think it’s easy to downplay how effective music can be at shifting our states, that yes we know music can change how we feel but when we take a moment to pause and recognize that studies back up the power of music to change how we feel we can get more intentional about how we use music as an intervention. Music can help us release feel good chemicals like oxytocin and endorphins. It’s been shown to create emotional resonance, enhance cognitive function, and increase our well-being (PMCID: PMC10765015 ). 

So, how can we be more deliberate about using music to help our well-being? By digging into what moves you specifically. You can create lists of music that evoke certain feels so you can help yourself process emotions when you’re having hard days. However, my favourite is using music as a tool to ground more joy into your life. When life is heavy, stressful, difficult, it can feel hard to connect with the pleasant things around you. Since music has the ability to bring our body along for a ride with chemical shifts and enhancing brain activity, it can help up get past “blah” and into “awe.” A “joy playlist” is not just a collection of songs, it’s a nervous system regulation tool. When you intentionally pair certain songs with emotional states, your brain learns: this sound = safety / ease / joy. 

You’re training your system to remember: Joy is accessible.

🌟 How to build your joy playlist

✅ Action Step: Today, start a “Joy Playlist” with at least 3 songs that spark energy or peace. Use it as your go-to mood reset.

A recent study of almost 6,000 adults with an average age of 63 years old showed that those with cavities and gum disease had an 86% higher risk of stroke than those participants with healthy mouths.

The researchers also found that those with both gum disease and cavities had a 36% higher risk of major cardiovascular events, including fatal heart disease and heart attacks. 

What can you do to improve your oral health? Well, the study showed that those who went to the dentist regularly were 81% less likely to have both gum disease and cavities and 29% lower chance of having gum disease. 

Now, there are limitations in this study; they only assessed the participants' oral health once, and this showed correlation and not direct causation. However, even with these limitations, there are ample reasons to keep your mouth healthy. 

Other than the dentist, it is important to brush and floss regularly to keep your mouth healthy and feeling good! 

✅Action Step: If you haven’t been to the dentist in a long while, it might be a good idea to book a check-up. Brush and floss regularly.

After trauma we can get stuck searching for what we “should have done” in an effort to make sense of our pain. This week is about loosening that weight and remembering what is real: you were not at fault.

Self-blame is incredibly common after trauma, not because it’s true, but because the nervous system is trying to make meaning out of something overwhelming. If we believe we caused what happened, then part of us can believe we could have prevented it. This is the mind trying to protect us from feeling powerless, but the cost is turning blame inward. Recognizing this dynamic is the first step toward gentleness.

• 🔄 Self-blame can create an illusion of control: “If it was my fault, I could have prevented it.”
• 🪞 It’s a coping mechanism, not a reflection of reality.
• 🛑 The responsibility lies with the harm-doer or harmful system, not you.
• 🌱 Naming this softens the grip of blame.

^{Darling, don’t give up on yourself, you’re so worth it. Sending love} 💕

Think of a joy from childhood. How might you bring a tiny version of that joy into your life today?

Step outside into the fresh air… whether brisk or warm, let the world touch your skin for a moment.

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).}