Welcome to Living Well Daily, the newsletter serving up tips to help you live a joyful, healthier life.
In todayās edition:
šMental Emotional Well-Being: Learning to Come Home to Your Body
šLongevity & Wellness: Eating Speed & The Impact on Digestionš½ļøš§
š±Trauma Healing: Grieving What Was Lost: Making Space for Healing (Day 4/5)
āļøJournal & Joy Prompts
š And more good stuff, like lots of love from Lola & Joshua, the LWD creators xo
Todayās Edition
The odds of us both being alive at this moment are infinitesimally low, which is one reason why we feel compelled to tell you.. Keep kicking butt, you majestic inferno of awesomeness!!
Learning to Come Home to Your Body
Your body is often speaking before your mind has caught up. Anxiety might show up as buzzing in the chest. Anger might feel like heat rising. Sadness might land as heaviness. Numbness might feel like fog or a sense of being far away. But if youāve learned to cope by disconnecting (which once served you as a form of protection) tuning back into your body can feel uncomfortable or even frightening. Youāre not doing it wrong. Youāre rebuilding trust. The truth is your body can be a great source of wisdom, and can help us understand the world, however, we may need to rebuild our relationship with it to feel at home in its messages. This practice is not about forcing yourself to feel. Itās about slowly learning to listen with curiosity instead of fear. Over time, reading your bodyās signals becomes a way of reconnecting with yourself, gently, at your own pace. Your body isnāt the enemy, it can be reclaimed as a home. It holds part of your story and when we learn to sit with sensation, we let the body express itself while learning to get comfortable with it again.
š How to begin coming home to your body:
šŖ Pause gently. Notice one sensation, even if itās faint, unclear, or changes quickly. (There is no ārightā way to feel.)
āļø Name it softly. Try describing it with neutral words (warm, tight, fluttering, flat, heavy, numb, tense, open).
š£ Ground through your senses. Feel your feet on the floor, your back against the chair, or your hands resting on something solid.
š§ Offer care, not correction. Ask: āWhat might this part of me need?ā Then respond with something small: a breath, a stretch, a moment of pause, a sip of water, or simply acknowledgment.
š¤ Go slowly. If the sensation feels too intense, step back. Disconnection was protection and youāre allowed to move at your pace.
ā Action Step: Today, take 10 seconds to notice one physical sensation without trying to change it. Whisper to yourself: āIām here. Iām listening.ā
Eating Speed & The Impact on Digestionš½ļøš§
Many of us scarf down our food and that can lead to digestive upset and discomfort because we arenāt chewing that food properly. Digestion actually begins in the mouth; there are enzymes in your saliva that help to break down food, and the only place you have teeth is your mouth. When you swallow your food, you want it to be pulverized so your body can effectively absorb it.
So slow down while eating, chew your food full,y and it will help activate the parasympathetic nervous system, your bodyās rest and digest state. This will help your stomach and intestines to properly break down food, absorb nutrients, and regulate appetite signals.
In contrast, eating quickly keeps the body in a mild stress response, which can lead to overeating, bloating, blood sugar spikes, and reduced nutrient absorption.
Plus, slow eating gives your hunger and fullness hormones (ghrelin and leptin) time to communicate, helping you stop eating when youāre satisfied rather than stuffed.
ā Action step: For your next meal, take 1 - 3 slow breaths before eating and aim to chew each bite at least 10 - 20 times. Notice your pace. Let your body relax as you eat.
Grieving What Was Lost: Making Space for Healing
Trauma often brings invisible losses of innocence, trust, safety, time, relationships, or opportunities. Grief honors those losses and creates space for healing. This week is about validating grief and learning gentle ways to move with it.
Day 4: Balancing Grief with Gentle Grounding
Grief can feel overwhelming at times, especially if the emotions were held in for a long time. Grounding helps you stay in the present moment so grief can move in waves instead of floods. Youāre not trying to stop the feelings, youāre just supporting yourself in staying connected and safe while you feel them.Ā
š« Pair grief expression with calming breaths.Ā
š£ Touch the earth: feel rooted while you feel.Ā Ā
š¶ Alternate between expressing grief and doing something soothing (warm tea, music, rest).Ā Ā
š¤ļø Grief comes in waves, you donāt need to ride them all at once.
š Choose a state shifting activity to move into after. For example, you may choose to sit with grief for 10 minutes, and then move into an action like walking, a shower, dance to a song, speak to a loved one, etc. to help you provide a container for grief.
Darling, donāt give up on yourself, youāre so worth it. Sending love š
šJournal Prompt:
Building a Caring Relationship with Yourself
Write a love note to the version of you who made it through something hard. Speak to them with reverence.
šSpark of Joy:
Let Little Things Move You
Sip something slowlyā¦ let each taste arrive fully, like time is stretching out to make room for delight.
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.
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