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

In today’s edition:

May this week be as special, beautiful & majestic as a sunset bursting with colour over a field covered in wild flowers 🪻

Gratitude is healing, but only when it doesn’t erase your pain. Forced gratitude (“it could be worse,” “be grateful and move on”) shuts down emotions and creates shame. But authentic gratitude can coexist with grief, stress, or struggle. Gratitude isn’t about pretending everything is fine, it’s about noticing what is steady, supportive, or good alongside what’s hard. Toxic positivity forces brightness. Real gratitude makes room for both truth and tenderness.

Gratitude becomes powerful when it’s gentle, honest, and never used to silence the harder truths of your life. You don’t need big moments to feel grateful. You just need presence.

🌟 Ways to practice grounded gratitude

✅ Action Step: Identify one small thing that feels supportive today, without minimizing anything else.

“Exercise snacks” are short bursts of movement sprinkled into your day (like 10 squats while your coffee brews, taking the stairs instead of the escalator, or walking fast for a block).

These tiny bouts may seem insignificant, but they can boost your cardiovascular health, increase energy, and help maintain muscle strength and mobility (especially important if you sit a lot). This is because these small doses of movement that interrupt long sedentary periods help wake up your muscles and increase circulation without requiring a full workout.

Over time, these micro-bursts add up, and they also lower the mental barrier to exercise.

✅ Action step: Set a timer for every 60–90 minutes and do a quick movement burst like 10 squats, a walk up the stairs, or 30 seconds of jumping jacks. Your body will thank you!

Emotional exhaustion happens when your heart, nervous system, and mind have been carrying too much for too long. This week is about recognizing signs of depletion and gently rebuilding emotional energy with care, rest, and boundaries.

Emotional exhaustion is not weakness, it’s a sign you’ve been overloaded, often while still showing up for life every day. Your system is asking for relief, not pressure.

• 💭 Signs: irritability, numbness, overwhelm, withdrawal, tearfulness.
• 🧠 Often caused by chronic stress, caregiving, trauma, or constant alertness.
• 🫂 It’s your body saying “I need support.”
• 🌱 Awareness is the first step toward relief.

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

What is something your younger self was right about?

Hold a warm mug with both hands… let your fingers savor comfort before you taste it.

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).}