Raise your hand if you want more resilience to stress! Less anxiety? Yes please 🤚

New research shows that one way to achieve these things is simply by getting better sleep.

The study looked at data from 1600 healthy adults during 2020 (an anxious time for lots of people!). Most of the participants were women.

They found that both positive coping strategies and higher quality sleep made people more resilient to stress and anxiety—independently, meaning each of these things work on their own.

Pro Health Tip

Did you know you can benefit from yoga—even without committing long hours to the practice?

Our nervous systems are extremely resilient and responsive. Even taking just a few moments out of your day can help you focus your mind, relax your body, and better handle stress.

Try these!

1️⃣ Downward Facing Dog

Start on your hands and knees, with your wrists directly below your shoulders. Push up and back so that your legs and arms are straight and you are in an inverted “V.” Press your heels down toward the floor.

2️⃣ Cat-Cow

Start on your hands and knees in a table-top position. Inhale and tilt your pelvis back and head up for cow pose. Exhale, round your back, and tuck your tailbone and neck for cat. Repeat.

3️⃣ Child’s Pose

From your hands and knees, sit back on your ankles while spreading your knees out wide. Allow your hands to extend out in front of your head. Let your belly rest between your thighs and your forehead touch the floor.

Whether or not you go to yoga classes or have a practice of your own, these exercises are available to you anytime anywhere.

Did You Know?

So much about improving our health requires changing our habits. But in order for new habits to stick, we also need to retrain our brains.

It’s called neuroplasticity and is basically like rewiring old patterns into new ones on a subconscious level.

That means every time you lace up your walking shoes instead of sitting on the couch, you’re training your brain that you’re a person who exercises. Every time you drink water instead of wine, you’re training your brain that you’re a person who stays sober. Every time you take a deep breath instead of yelling, you’re training your brain that you’re a person who stays present and relaxed.

The key to making neuroplasticity work in your favour is to practice your positive and health-promoting habits in little bits often: