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:

You have agency, free will and the ability to mould your life in a way that suits you.

You hold the power.

Guilt can be a healthy signal when we’ve acted against our values. But chronic guilt is different, it lingers or shows up even when you haven’t done anything wrong. It can show up as a constant sense of responsibility for others’ feelings, difficulty saying no, or a quiet belief that you’re somehow “too much” or “not enough.”

This kind of guilt often forms early, especially in environments where love felt conditional, conflict felt unsafe, or you learned that being “good” meant being self-sacrificing. Over time, guilt stops being about actions and starts becoming an identity.

You are allowed to have needs. You are allowed to take up space. You are not wrong for being human.

How chronic guilt often shows up and how to gently work with it:

Guilt doesn’t always mean you’ve done something wrong. Sometimes it means you learned to survive by putting yourself last.

✅ Action step: The next time guilt arises, pause and ask: Did I violate my values, or did I simply honor my needs? Let that distinction guide your next choice.

^{Love, Lola Graham}

We live in a world filled with artificial light from screens to outdoor lights. Researchers wanted to see if light exposure at night was associated with cardiovascular disease.

They used data from 88,905 people over 40 years old who wore wrist light sensors to measure their light exposure. Those in the top 10% of nighttime light exposure compared to those in the bottom 50% had significantly higher risks of developing coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and stroke. 

This association was strong even when controlling for other CVD risk factors, including physical activity, smoking, alcohol, diet, sleep duration and socioeconomic status. 

There is a chance that many people in the top 10% are shift workers and therefore exposed to more light during their night shifts, and we know from previous studies that shift work can disrupt the circadian rhythm and can lead to dysregulation of some cardiovascular and metabolic mechanisms. 

However, other research has found that too much light during the night can lower sleep quality (which was not measured in this study) and that can impact health outcomes. 

What to do with this information? Darken your room at night, turn down the lights close to bedtime and put the screens away. Personally, I recently put in darker blinds in my bedroom, and I have seen a noticeable benefit to my sleep quality. 

✅ Action step: look for ways to darken your room during the night and/or lower your nighttime light exposure. 

PMID: 41129148, PMID: 22043119, PMID: 37528146

^{By: Joshua Graham}

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

Linger on a taste that hits just right today. Maybe a little treat, the perfect cup of coffee, or a staple that keeps serving up delish day after day. Savour the flavour, and even vocalize your delight with a soft ‘mmm’.

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!

If you find our newsletter helpful, we’d love for you to share it with a friend! If you’re that friend, you can subscribe here. Thanks for spreading the word! xo

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).}