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: The Three Faces of Anxiety: Emotional, Somatic, Cognitive
💖Longevity & Wellness: 💧Dehydration and Stress?
🌱Trauma Healing: Anger as Ally: Reclaiming Emotional Expression (Day 1/5)
☀️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
You are a gift to the world, and we are so grateful for you!
The Three Faces of Anxiety: Emotional, Somatic, Cognitive
Anxiety wears many masks. Sometimes it floods the body (somatic), sometimes it overwhelms emotions (emotional), other times it traps you in racing thoughts (cognitive). or can be a combo of all three (my fav 🫣). Pausing to ask yourself which “face” is dominant on heightened anxiety days, can help you choose the right tool for care. By meeting ourselves with tailored care, we can help soothe our system and increase our resilience. Here’s a closer look at each face:
🌟 How to recognize and respond to each type
💭 Cognitive Anxiety: Endless what-ifs, replaying conversations, overanalyzing.
→ Ground in reality: write thoughts down, challenge distortions, use factual self-talk.💖 Emotional Anxiety: Heightened feelings: fear, guilt, sadness, shame.
→ Practice compassion: name the feeling, breathe into it, use soothing touch or affirmations.🫁 Somatic Anxiety: Physical sensations: tight chest, nausea, shaky limbs, fast heartbeat.
→ Use the body to calm the body: move, stretch, exhale longer, apply warmth or grounding pressure.
✅ Action Step: The next time anxiety appears, identify which “face” it’s wearing. Then choose one matching tool to meet it where it lives: in your mind, heart, or body.
💧Dehydration and Stress?
Did you know that even mild dehydration can quietly amplify stress?
When your body lacks water, it increases the production of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, making you feel more anxious, tense, and fatigued. Dehydration also strains the heart, reduces blood flow to the brain, and impairs focus, all of which make everyday stressors feel worse.
Staying well-hydrated helps your nervous system stay balanced, improves your ability to regulate emotions, supports healthy blood pressure, enhances energy and cognitive clarity, helping you respond to challenges calmly rather than reactively.
Aim to drink half your body weight (lbs) in ounces of water daily (e.g., ~75 oz for a 150 lb person), adjusting for heat or exercise. Add electrolytes or a pinch of sea salt if you sweat heavily.
✅ Action step: Keep a reusable water bottle nearby and take mindful sips throughout the day, especially when you notice rising stress. Your body and mind will thank you!
Anger as Ally: Reclaiming Emotional Expression
Trauma often teaches us to fear or suppress anger. But anger isn’t dangerous in itself, it’s sacred, protective energy that says, “Something unjust happened. I deserve better.” This week is about reclaiming anger as an ally, learning safe ways to express it, and recognizing its healing power.
Day 1: Redefining Anger
Societal messaging can pathologize, silence, and reinforce suppressing anger but this messaging is harmful. Anger isn’t the enemy, it’s an emotion not an action. It’s a messenger pointing to harm, injustice, or crossed boundaries. When we separate anger the emotion, from actions/behaviours like aggression and violence, we can see that anger itself isn’t harmful but instead can be a way to claim that what we went through wasn’t okay.
🫂 Trauma can make anger feel unsafe, either because it was punished or because you saw it used harmfully.
🌱 Reframing anger as sacred energy helps you reclaim it as part of your wholeness.
🔥 Anger signals that your needs or rights matter. It can signal the presence of threats and asks us to care about our (individual and collective) experience.
🛑 It’s not the same as violence: violence is a harmful action, not an emotion. When we embrace anger as a communicating emotion, we can understand that action/behaviour is a separate choice.
Darling, don’t give up on yourself, you’re so worth it. Sending love 💕
Your softness is not a weakness. It’s a strength. In a world that hardens people, your tenderness is brave.
📖Journal Prompt:
Building a Caring Relationship with Yourself
What energizes you right now? Even just a smidge. How is this a clue for your needs right now?
🌟Spark of Joy:
Let Little Things Move You
Find comfort in a temperature… like putting on a cozy sweater when you’re cold or feeling a cool breeze when you’re hot.
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
Rewire your brain to have a more positive self-image
Be more mindful to step out of your head and into the present moment with more ease
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!
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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).