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: Reclaiming Joy Through Authenticity
💖Longevity & Wellness: A Mindset That Adds Years to Your Life & Life to Your Years!
🌱Trauma Healing: Cultivating Safety: Creating Anchors in Your World (Day 2/5)
☀️Journal & Joy Prompts
🧠 Inner Reps: Mental & Emotional Well-Being Interval Workout
👇 And more good stuff, like lots of love from Lola & Joshua, the LWD creators xo
Today’s Edition
We are grateful for you, for being you, for showing up for yourself each day. That takes courage, strength and resiliency, all things you clearly have. What a wonder you are!
Reclaiming Joy Through Authenticity
Have you ever paused and thought, Is this really me? Or Is this really my life? That quiet question often surfaces when we’ve dimmed parts of ourselves to fit expectations, sometimes for safety, sometimes for approval. Sometimes authenticity feels like remembering yourself (getting back to your truth), and other times it feels like discovering yourself (finally allowing a version of you that’s been suppressed or has never had a chance to develop). When we reconnect with who we truly are (how we think, feel, dress, laugh, and dream) we reclaim joy as our natural state.
🌟 Ways to explore authenticity
🌈 Revisit what you loved as a child: what sparked effortless joy?
🪞 Notice where you edit yourself to be “acceptable.” Ex. Loudness, gestures, hobbies, etc.
🎨 Express freely or explore expression: through style, creativity, conversation, or rest. Sometimes you know what feels most like you, other times you need to give yourself the freedom to try new things until you find what fits.
💬 Share your truth gently: first most importantly with yourself and as you feel comfortable try sharing with safe people and spaces.
🌿 Ask: “What would it feel like to take up just 5% more space as me?”
✅ Action Step: Choose one small way to show up more authentically this week: wear something you love, say what you mean, or let your laugh be loud.
🧠 A Mindset That Adds Years to Your Life & Life to Your Years! 🌞
Is the glass half full for you or half empty? Seeing the glass as half full isn’t just uplifting; it’s linked to living longer and healthier.
A 2019 study (Lewina Lee, et al.) of over 70,000 people and using their data over 30 years found that people with higher levels of optimism have an 11-15% longer lifespan and are more likely to reach exceptional longevity, which is living to the age of 85+.
Optimism is linked to healthier behaviours, probably because optimistic individuals tend to set goals and have confidence to reach them. Optimism may foster resistance to unhealthy impulses through engagement with goals, effective problem-solving, and the ability to adjust goals when they become unattainable.
Optimistic people tend to experience less extreme emotional reactivity to, and faster recovery from, acute stressors. When faced with difficulties, they tend to have better capacity to regulate emotions, and can reframe situations as challenges rather than threats.
Optimism helps regulate stress hormones, lowers inflammation, and is linked to healthier biomarkers in the metabolic, cardiovascular, immune and pulmonary systems.
I am a recovery pessimist, so I can tell you firsthand that optimism is achievable no matter where you sit today. Practices like gratitude, our Inner Rep mental/emotional workouts, positive reframing, and focusing on what’s within your control can transform your mindset over time.
✅ Action step: Do today’s Inner Reps mental/emotional workout (scroll down 🙂), it will help you train your gratitude, self-compassion and mindfulness. 3 things that can help with optimism!
Cultivating Safety: Creating Anchors in Your World
This week explores how to intentionally create “anchors” that help you feel grounded, secure, and supported in daily life.
Day 2: Physical Safety Anchors
Creating external cues of safety helps you calm your body and mind.
🏡 Identify a safe space at home where you can retreat/rest/restore.
🕯️ Add calming sensory items: cozy socks, soft blankets, scents, warm lighting.
📦 Prepare a “safety kit:” ex. grounding objects, a journal, affirmations, calming playlist.
🔊Amplify with mental cues of safety: Scan the room and affirm: “I see that I am physically safe here.” Narrate your sensory experience: “I’m safe and cozy in this chair. I notice [the feeling of this blanket…]”
🛌 Remember: even small physical adjustments can shift your nervous system.
Darling, don’t give up on yourself, you’re so worth it. Sending love 💕
You can start over at 3 p.m.; mornings don’t own fresh starts. A reset is always within reach.
📖Journal Prompt:
Building a Caring Relationship with Yourself
How does self-criticism show up in your thoughts and how is it affecting what you let yourself go after? How can you introduce kindness instead?
🌟Spark of Joy:
Let Little Things Move You
Delight in a favorite food texture… maybe it’s the crunch of an apple, the melt of chocolate, find some mouth joy today.
Today’s Mental and Emotional Workout:
This interval workout will increase your ability to:
Tap into self-compassion to boost self-confidence, self-esteem and self-worth
Notice all of the good in your life
Tune into your body and the signals it is giving you to improve your overall well-being
In under 8 minutes, you’ll strengthen positive neural pathways for long-term well-being and end the workout feeling better than you started! (Click on the photo below to access the workout)
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).