Good Morning Earthlings,
Welcome to the wabi-sabi letter, the digital newsletter that promotes healthy living, wellness, mental health awareness, fitness, positive habits, and all around happiness. Clear your head and cleanse your inbox with a tiny space for wellness as you set your intentions for the day. Badabing badaboom.
Stretching Out Of Our Sedentary States
"The biggest cause of back pain is prolonged sitting,” says Jeff Brannigan, a co-founder of Stretch*d for Well + Good whose worked with Olympic athletes on stretch therapy. “When the body is stuck in a seated position the anterior, or front, chain of the body becomes extremely tight while the posterior, or rear, chain becomes increasingly tense and dysfunctional.
Try it: the stretch below from Brannigan target the upper back and surrounding muscles to help you relieve tension and prevent upper-back pain.
1. Upper back and neck stretch
How to do it: Sit with your back straight and shoulders relaxed. Drop the chin toward the chest, and then gently assist the head downward by placing one or both hands around back of skull and gently pressing to bring the head slightly farther than it will go on its own. Hold for two to three seconds before lifting the head back up to start position. Repeat 10 times.
Action Item: But wait, there’s more. Check out the full piece with all 5 Stretches to Help Stop Upper-Back Pain Before It Starts in Well + Good.
Uncovering The Portfolio Diet
It’s never too late (or too early!) to start adopting healthy habits. In fact, a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association proves that women over 50 who begin adhering to the Portfolio Diet may be less likely to develop cardiovascular disease later in life.
The Portfolio diet contains mostly plant-based foods, which according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been shown to lower “bad” cholesterol.
The foods in question include:
Nuts, including peanut butter, peanuts, and more.
Plant protein from soy, green peas, beans, and tofu.
Soluble fiber from oats, barley, okra, eggplant, oranges, apples, pears, and berries.
Monounsaturated fats from olive oil and avocado.
Limited consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol, like organ meats, high-fat dairy products, eggs, poultry, and butter.
“An 11% reduction is clinically meaningful and would meet anyone’s minimum threshold for a benefit," senior study author John Sievenpiper, M.D., Ph.D., said in a news release. Read more about the portfolio diet here.
Self Care’s Biggest Hurdle: Self-Compassion
Self-care is a critical component of our overall well-being, and no one understands this better than Kristin Neff, Ph.D., a pioneer in the field of self-compassion and associate professor in human development at the University of Texas at Austin.
Of course, there are the more obvious limitations, like the time it takes to take a moment to yourself and, often, the money. The biggest hurdle of them all, according to Neff, is more behavioral. "Self-care is very important," she says, "but we really need emotional self-care."
No amount of bubble baths or full moon rituals can make up for a lack of self-compassion, and the ultimate why for self-care is so you can feel your best regularly and show up in the world in an aligned and grounded way. "If you practice self-care, but you're criticizing yourself the whole time, that's also not going to help," she explains.
Action Item: Lean into your Self Compassion practice and check out these tips from MBG on developing the flexibility in emotional self compassion.
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You're amazing. Enjoy the world today.
Love,
wabi-sabi team