Let me get one thing out of the way:
I don’t know what you’re going through. But I do know that you’re strong enough to get through it and live a happy life.
We’ve talked quite a bit about stress, herbs, and diet...but what about happiness?
If I can share something personal, I wasn’t always good at being happy.
I thought of happiness as something to be chased. And like so many people today, I thought, “I’ll be happy when I have this thing or that job or that number in my bank account.”
I lived like a stress case, repeating the same day over and over, thinking, “this will all be worth it when I’m happy.”
I was only concerned with myself, I didn’t prioritize my friends and family like I should have, and I was pretty pessimistic.
It took a while to undo this way of living (and I’m still working on it), and it took meeting someone special to realize I wasn’t focused on the right things.
So I’ll share what’s helped me in hopes it helps you live a happier, more fulfilling life:
There’s no magic pill or supplement that’ll ever come close to matching the benefits of a good night’s sleep, a healthy diet, and some exercise.
90% of serotonin - an essential neurotransmitter for happiness - is created in your gut. So a healthy diet is critical.
Exercise increases feelings of wellbeing, reduces stress, increases another important feel-good neurotransmitter called dopamine, and improves your sleep.
Sleep improves your energy, concentration, mood, immune system, and more.
Take care of The Big Three, and you’re off to a great start towards happiness.
On my way to work, I try to list all the reasons I have to be grateful:
My family, my friends, my experiences, a roof over my head, etc.
The more I practiced this, the more reasons I found to be grateful. And by the time I get to work, I’m in a really good mood. Sometimes I’ll send a text to a friend or family member I thought about, just something small and encouraging.
Not surprisingly, science has confirmed1 the benefits of gratitude:
“Gratitude reduces a multitude of toxic emotions, from envy and resentment to frustration and regret. Robert Emmons, a leading gratitude researcher, has conducted multiple studies on the link between gratitude and well-being. His research confirms that gratitude effectively increases happiness and reduces depression.”
Gratitude naturally leads us to our next one:
This is one that helped tremendously during quarantine. And it took a while to get used to because I’m not much of a talker. But the truth is, we all need social interaction, and relationships are key to a happy life.
Every time I talked to a friend or family member, I felt a massive wave of relief. And again, this has been studied by happiness researcher Martin Seligman:
“These ‘very happy’ people differed markedly from average people and from unhappy people in one principal way: a rich and fulfilling social life. The very happy people spent the least time alone (and the most time socializing), and they were rated highest on good relationships by themselves and by their friends.”
Well, this was originally going to be "6 ways to be happier today," but this email’s getting a bit long. Don’t worry. I’ll send you part two next week!
A good night’s sleep is something everyone wants, but fewer and fewer people actually get enough sleep on a regular basis.
(1 in 3 adults don’t get enough sleep, according to the CDC1).
Sleep affects your metabolism, immune system, mood, productivity, cardiovascular health, and more.
Now, if you’re like me and have a tough time falling asleep, you’re probably rolling your eyes and saying “tell me something I don’t know…”
But before we go over the best natural sleep aids, let’s understand two key components of the sleep process:
Your body releases the hormone Melatonin in response to darkness, kick-starting the entire process that takes you from getting tired to fast asleep.
Melatonin is also involved in managing your immune system, stress levels, and blood pressure.
When it comes to rest, relaxation, sleep, and calm - the neurotransmitter GABA is what makes it all happen.
GABA is a neurotransmitter like serotonin and dopamine, but its main function is to block impulses between nerve cells in the brain.
When you get anxious, stressed, worried, or afraid, GABA slows down the nerve signals in your brain so those feelings don’t overwhelm you.
And it comes as no surprise that GABA is critically important to calming down and falling asleep.
So with that background, here are the best natural sleep aids:
“1 In 3 Adults Don't Get Enough Sleep.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Feb. 2016, www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0215-enough-sleep.html.
“Trust your gut.”
“I’ve got a gut feeling this is the right thing to do.”
“The whole situation makes me sick to my stomach.”
“I’ve got butterflies in my stomach.”
Are these simply metaphors, or do they point at something very real occurring in our bodies?
According to the Harvard Health Blog1, gut feelings are very real, and scientists are now referring to the gut as our “second brain.”
95% of serotonin is produced in your gut.
You’ve probably heard of serotonin - it’s an important neurotransmitter that helps regulate sleep, appetite, mood, and more.
In fact, your gut has nerve cells and uses serotonin to communicate back and forth with your brain!
Some of the most popular medications for anxiety and depression increase levels of serotonin, and perhaps not surprisingly, the most common side-effects are gut-related.
So when something is so terrible it makes you “sick to your stomach” or you get anxious and feel “butterflies in your stomach,” you’re experiencing just how strong the gut-brain connection really is.
Studies have compared a traditional Mediterranean Diet (fruits, vegetables, unprocessed grains, fish, seafood, and lean meats) to the typical American diet, and found that the risk of depression is 25-35% lower for the traditional Mediterranian Diet group.
Harvard Health Blog offers the following recommendations:
REFERENCES:
A funny thing happens every spring…
Right around the end of February, I start a weight loss routine to get ready for summer, and the FIRST thing that happens is I wake up earlier…
(My friends like to tell me I “hibernate” in the winter)
Now, I love sleeping in, but it’s hard to do when you wake up hungry.
And I’ve got to say, the little things I’ve added to my morning routine have a dramatic effect on my days, weeks, and months.
Here's my favorite morning routine:
As we covered in last week’s email, coffee not only wakes you up, it’s actually been shown to make you feel good.
So now you’re sipping coffee and getting ready for step 2, which is going to change everything...
There’s perhaps no better way to start your day. We know we should get some exercise each day, so crossing it off your list first thing in the morning is a great way to build positive momentum. In fact, researchers found that those who exercised first thing in the morning ate healthier the rest of the day.
I like to set out my workout clothes and shoes the night before to get up and go. If it feels like the last thing you want to do, trust me, once you get your body moving, you’ll feel more motivated.
There’s an old saying, “you’ll never regret that you exercised.” After you exercise, you’ll likely feel an almost euphoric calmness from your body releasing the feel-good chemicals called ‘endorphins.’
Now it’s time for breakfast (I’m a sucker for the classic eggs and toast combo).
But we can turn it up a notch on the morning scale with some music. You’re cooking your favorite breakfast while listening to your favorite tunes and maybe enjoying a cup of coffee, too.
It’s going pretty great so far, but remember...
Relax. Enjoy the morning. If you’re rushing through your morning routine because you have a million things to do, it’s best to wake up earlier. I know, easier said than done, but waking up a little earlier is better than stressing yourself out all morning.
My college roommate taped a list of motivational quotes to the top bunk so he saw them first thing in the morning. Another strategy I’ve used is to list all the reasons I have to be grateful. I’ll list some of my favorite morning quotes for you to try:
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
- Marcus Aurelius
“Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”
- Buddha
“Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful day of your life.”
- Mark Twain
Try it for a week and see how you feel!
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I hate allergies. They’re one of mother nature’s cruel jokes.
Just when the sun pokes through the clouds and I feel its warmth for the first time in months, I’m stricken with watery eyes and rapid-fire sneezes.
Fresh air? I wouldn’t know, it’s all the same to my stuffy nose.
The OTC allergy medications help a bit, but they also make me tired and tend to dry out my sinuses so much I get nose bleeds.
(I’ve instructed our herbalist to fast-track a supplement for allergies)
So in the meantime, this is what I’m trying to get me through allergy season:I won’t sugar-coat it...the neti pot takes some getting used to, but it’s a great way to clear out your sinuses.
A 2012 review1 found that participants who tried this method saw a “27.66% improvement in nasal symptoms, a 62.1% reduction in medicine consumption, a 31.19% acceleration of mucociliary clearance time, and a 27.88% improvement in quality of life.”
It’s pretty straight-forward:
You fill a special tea-pot with water and mix a saline solution, tilt your head to the side, and pour it up one of your nostrils. The solution travels up your nose and out the other side.
It's a little gross and uncomfortable at first, but it works wonders.
Butterbur is a flowering plant that’s been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years for migraines and allergies, and the research is pretty incredible.
When 580 people took a butterbur extract for two weeks, a whopping 90% reported a reduction in seasonal allergies.2
And two separate studies with a total of 346 people found that butterbur was as effective as two common OTC allergy medications.3,4
Is there anything Vitamin C doesn’t do?!
It looks like Vitamin C may lower levels of ‘histamine’ instead of blocking it like antihistamines. And additional research indicates that Vitamin C is a safe alternative strategy for fighting seasonal allergies.5,6
Allergies aren’t going to keep me inside this year!
These are foods that fill you up (because you can eat a lot of them), but don’t have many calories. My favorite example of this is spinach:
A 10oz bag of spinach fills an entire salad bowl and only has 67 calories.
Low-fat popcorn only has 100 calories per bag!
Here are some great low-calorie-dense foods:
Vegetables:
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Fruits:
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Protein:
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As for cooking veggies, steaming and sauteing are your best bet to preserve the nutrients and make them tasty.
It’s pretty difficult to eat too many vegetables. So instead of sandwiches, try making a wrap out of lettuce. Instead of spaghetti, try spaghetti squash (which is delicious). And instead of snacking on crackers, try snacking on carrots.
If you really love your bread, try ‘thin sliced’ bread. It generally has half the calorie
The mental aspect of weight loss is the hardest part. With fewer calories, you have less energy, and hunger cravings can put you in a bad mood. Your mind will try all sorts of tricks to get you to eat more, but you can win the fight by doing these things:
When I was six years old, my uncle told me something that scared the living daylights out of me...
We were sitting by the lake at our family reunion in the Adirondack mountains, and he asked me what I learned in school.
I told him the usual, “Math, Social Studies, English and stuff.”
He asked, “Did they teach you the secret to life yet?”
I was dumbfounded and a little upset. ‘Why haven’t I been taught the secret to life yet?’ I thought. What’s the point of an education if they don’t teach this?!
“No, what is it?” I asked.
He shrugged, “No one knows. Let me know if you figure it out.”
I stared at him with my jaw dropped. Up until then, I assumed adults knew everything!
Every now and then, I remind my uncle of that conversation and we have a good laugh, but the conversation still rings true:
No one knows the secret to life. And experience is often the best teacher.
With that said, I wanted to share one of my favorite quotes:
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I’ll admit it...I’m a worrier.
Bills, work deadlines, the future, you name it - I’ve worried about it and lost sleep over it.
If that’s you, you might feel better knowing that even professional athletes admit to vomiting before an event because they’re so nervous.
Stress can make people so anxious they resort to drugs and alcohol to cope, and this only digs them into a deeper hole.
But stress is also an unavoidable part of life. When our hunter-gatherer ancestors were stressed, that stress gave them the energy and drive to plan, hunt, or avoid being eaten. Nowadays, we don’t have to worry about being eaten, so stress has moved to other things like our health, our finances, and whatever’s on the news.
I used to get so stressed and anxious I’d try to distract myself with TV or something else that didn’t require me to move - which only made it worse.
Then one night, lying in bed wide awake, I decided to lace up my shoes and go for a walk. That walk turned into a run, and I noticed that while running, my mind was clear and stress-free for the first time that day.
Here’s what Dr. John J. Ratey - author of Spark - says about the subject:
“The stress of exercise is predictable and controllable because you’re initiating the action, and these two variables are key to psychology. With exercise, you gain a sense of mastery and self-confidence. As you develop awareness of your own ability to manage stress and not rely on negative coping mechanisms, you increase your ability to “snap out of it,” so to speak.”
“What’s gotten lost amid all the advice about how to reduce the stress of modern life is that challenges are what allow us to strive and grow and learn. Just keep in mind the more stress you have, the more your body needs to move to keep your brain running smoothly.”
What’s fascinating is that this is the opposite of how most people view stress management. You’d more likely hear about scented candles, getting more rest, or lying on a couch talking to someone about it.
So it looks like “running from our problems” or to put it better, “running in response to stress” is a much more effective way to cope. And after some exercise (remember, it can be any form of exercise), we can approach whatever’s causing that stress with a clearer head.
Lastly, my favorite way to think about stressful times is to imagine them as weather. Whatever you’re going through, whatever’s stressing you out, it’s not forever. The storm will pass. And you’ll be stronger having weathered it.
But in the meantime, don’t sit in the rain, run through it!
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When people are happy or in love, it's often said that they're "glowing." And it looks like there's some truth to this...
Whether we like it or not, our skin is often a reflection of what’s going on inside our bodies, and that includes our mental health, too.
So when it comes to the mind-skin connection, you can blame cortisol.
Cortisol is your body’s stress hormone, and it’s not all bad. In fact, cortisol is what wakes you up in the morning and gets you going.
But chronically high stress levels can speed up the aging process by reducing the production of wrinkle-fighting skin proteins like collagen and elastin.
And those good feelings of love and happiness release the “love hormone” oxytocin, which lowers cortisol and inflammation and gives your skin a youthful glow.
How do we lower cortisol and boost oxytocin?
Let’s start with cortisol.
When it comes to reducing stress levels, there are health supplements that go a long way. But as I like to say, nothing beats a good night’s sleep:
Life will never be completely stress-free. We all have our ups and downs; it’s how we learn and grow. More importantly, perhaps, is having someone to love along the way.
Oxytocin contributes to those warm feelings of empathy and compassion. It can be as simple as telling someone that you care about them, that you love them, and how happy you are to have that person in your life.
One of the best ways to boost oxytocin is the one we’ve all been lacking this past year: Touch.
Especially hugs. A study of over 400 people has confirmed what our hearts knew all along: Hugs lower stress.1
But that’s just scratching the surface of how important touch is, according to a NY Times article2:
“Students who received a supportive touch on the back or arm from a teacher were nearly twice as likely to volunteer in class as those who did not, studies have found.
A sympathetic touch from a doctor leaves people with the impression that the visit lasted twice as long, compared with estimates from people who were untouched.
Research by Tiffany Field of the Touch Research Institute in Miami has found that a massage from a loved one can not only ease pain but also soothe depression and strengthen a relationship.”
Well, I better get started on my new skincare regimen of sleep and hugs!
One study found that just three 60-minute sessions of exercise increased memory.1
In women between the ages of 60-78 years old, exercise increased cognition, brain size, and power.2
Another study found that elderly people who engaged in aerobic exercise had bigger brains. 3
Not surprisingly, people who exercise have lower rates of age-related memory and cognitive decline compared to sedentary people.4
Anderson, Elizabeth, and Geetha Shivakumar. “Effects of Exercise and Physical Activity on Anxiety.” Frontiers in Psychiatry, Frontiers Media S.A., 23 Apr. 2013, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3632802/.
Burzynska AZ;Wong CN;Chaddock-Heyman L;Olson EA;Gothe NP;Knecht A;Voss MW;McAuley E;Kramer AF; “White Matter Integrity, Hippocampal Volume, and Cognitive Performance of a World-Famous Nonagenarian Track-and-Field Athlete.” Neurocase, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26237526/.
Chapman, Sandra B., et al. “Distinct Brain and Behavioral Benefits from Cognitive vs. Physical Training: A Randomized Trial in Aging Adults.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 20 June 2016, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00338/full.
Colcombe, Stanley J., et al. “Aerobic Exercise Training Increases Brain Volume in Aging Humans.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Nov. 2006, academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/61/11/1166/630432.