Smile, Don't Scroll
Three ways to induce a joyful state-of-mind. Plus, three pieces of happy news.
The news cycle has been pretty dark lately.
Most of us are hanging on by a thread — trying to maintain a balance of “staying aware,” of current events and trying not to spiral in spite of them.
Here’s the thing I want you to know.
Your body cannot always tell the difference between danger (a predator in the wild) and perceived danger (watching violence on social media). Our brain might interpret what we see, hear or read as threatening which makes our fear center light up.
The problem with modern life is that we have direct access to a never ending stream of conflict, despair and sadness. Without realizing it, we are inadvertently pressing the panic button over and over again sending stress hormones throughout our bodies.
When you understand that on the cellular level, we are increasing our own inflammation, suppressing repair and even changing our gene expression by choosing to expose ourselves to this danger response every day, it becomes obvious that we need a better path.
Three Anti-Spiral Moves:
1/ Pause The Scroll
When you feel your heart racing or your gut do a flip, stop consuming the triggering content before your brain starts to create a narrative around it. Your body wants to keep you safe so it’s doing what it can to make sense of the information without realizing that you are not in physical danger.
2/ Move Your Body
You can shift the physiological changes of fight-or-flight through gentle movement. Go for a walk, do 10 jumping jacks or shake your arms and legs to release some of the stress. Even smiling can send a signal to your vagus nerve that things are okay.
3/ Counteract With Something Joyful
Your brain will go looking for more of whatever you just fed it. If you deliberately choose light and beauty, you’ll start finding more of that instead.
Three Bright Spots ☀️
And because joy-seeking is easier when you have examples, here are three things that made me optimistic this week.
1/ Female billionaires are changing the world
Philanthropist Melinda French Gates has committed an additional $50M to women’s health for new research into autoimmune conditions, mental health and cardiovascular disease, all of which increase after menopause. Read BBC about why this investment is so critical.
2/ Tomato season is still here
Head to your local farmer’s market for the sweetest heirloom tomatoes for that perfect BLT, caprese salad or homemade pasta sauce. The richer the color, the sweeter the fruit. Find pleasure in Nature’s bounty.
3/ Some beauty products actually work.
In midlife, declining estrogen can make our skin and hair drier but I’ve found some beauty products that nourish, smooth and hydrate without breaking the bank.
First up is Naturium. Founder Susan Yara is an old friend and OG beauty editor who has created an incredible, affordable range of skincare.
My current favorite for brightening is their BHA Liquid Exfoliant 2% which uses encapsulated salicylic acid and bioactive fruit acids to improve skin texture. My 50+ year old skin is literally glowing.
Naturium KP Body Scrub is both a gentle physical polish and chemical exfoliant with AHA/BHA/PHA so it does double duty to leave your skin super soft and ready to soak up moisturizer. I like to follow up with the ultra-rich Bio-Lipid Restoring Lotion.
Next is the Roz Milk Hair Serum which is a leave-in conditioner and styling product that heat protects hair up to 450 F. I treat my damp hair with it before my weekly sauna sessions and my locks are shiny and silky.
The takeaway: When you are about to spiral, swap your doom scroll for a smile or a stretch and look to the rituals that bring a little joy into your every day. Your cells will thank you.
Resilience Wins
“It’s not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
All writing is for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
I watched the Melinda Gates announcement last week — watching her and Regina Dugan from Welcome Leap talk about the collective $100MM and how they are going to spend it was enthralling. Speaking of joy, I went back to training inside a Crossfit box again, for the first time since late 2019. The toys at my disposal — ropes to climb, more rings to swing from and more — are exactly what the doctor (and this always helpful substack) ordered!