When you lie awake in bed, you send yourself the wrong message. “You’re basically training your body not to sleep in bed, but to lie there and not sleep,” Walia says. “And your mind can get conditioned to that.” If you’re unable to sleep for about a 15- or 20-minute stretch, leave the room, and try something relaxing and non-stimulating. Listen to music, read a book or take a bath.
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Turns out, laughter really can be the best medicine (for certain things, anyway). A 2003 study and a 2008 study found that even anticipating a laugh can decrease stress hormones. While a lot of these studies are small (and isolating variables in an experiment like this can be tricky), a good belly laugh certainly won’t make your stress worse. So consider this science’s way of telling you it’s OK to watch that stupid cat video at work or take a quick break to catch up on some clips from the previous night’s late-night TV shows.
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Okinawans call it ikigai or “reason for being.” Costa Ricans call it “plan de vida.” . . . It’s simply referred to as your life’s purpose. In the blue zones regions of the world, purpose has always played a major role in well-being and the resulting extreme longevity. . . . Dr. Robert Butler, the first director of the National Institute on Aging, estimated that an ability to define your life meaning adds to your life expectancy. . . .His study found that individuals who expressed a clear goal in life—something to get up for in the morning, something that made a difference—lived longer and were sharper than those who did not. A more recent study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association linked a strong sense of purpose with a lower risk of all-cause mortality after age 50. The study followed about 7,000 adults over the age of 50. They found that participants who had the lowest life-purpose scores were twice as likely to have died than those with the highest scores.
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Instead of eating out, cook at home. It’s easy to appreciate the convenience of eating out, but studies have shown that in comparison to meals prepared at home, eating out at both fast food or full-service restaurants are equally unhealthy in terms of calories, fat and sodium. By eating meals prepared at home, you will be able to save around 190 calories, 10 grams of fat and around 3-400 mg of sodium. Plus, this gives you another excuse to spend quality time with your loved ones.
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Don’t just plan to write—write. It is only by writing, not dreaming about it, that we develop our own style. ~ P. D. James
Drinking Alone
Li Po
I take my wine jug out among the flowers
to drink alone, without friends.
I raise my cup to entice the moon.
That, and my shadow, makes us three.
But the moon doesn't drink,
and my shadow silently follows.
I will travel with moon and shadow,
happy to the end of spring.
When I sing, the moon dances.
When I dance, my shadow dances, too.
We share life's joys when sober.
Drunk, each goes a separate way.
Constant friends, although we wander,
we'll meet again in the Milky Way.
One positive thought produces millions of positive vibrations. ~ John Coltrane
While short power naps are beneficial, long or irregular napping during the day can negatively affect your sleep. . . . A study noted that while napping for 30 minutes or less can enhance daytime brain function, longer naps can negatively affect health and sleep quality.
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Describe three things you see around you in terms of size, shape, texture, and color. For example, the brown, rough bark of a large tree. This exercise can be done indoors or outdoors. It brings your attention back to the present moment and neutral aspects of experience. This can take you away from your worries and fears about what might happen in the future. It is also a concrete task that can help disengage the default mode network in your brain that gets activated when you’re worrying, daydreaming, or thinking about yourself. Rather, it will activate your brain’s “on-task” network that is inconsistent with rumination.
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Let your sweet tooth rejoice — dark chocolate is healthy! (In moderation, of course.) Research has shown that dark chocolate — not milk or white — has heart-healthy properties. In fact, eating one ounce of dark chocolate a day has been associated with lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and higher HDL (good) cholesterol. Aim for dark chocolate that’s at least 70 percent cacao. Who knew your chocolate habit could help you look, feel and stay young?
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