Skin-to-Skin Co‑regulation Stabilizes Newborns' Heart, Breathing, Temperature
A newborn isn't able to regulate its own body right away. For the first few weeks, it relies on YOU. When you hold your baby skin to skin, their heart rate and breathing stabilize, their body temperature regulates from yours, and their stress hormones drop. Their nervous system uses the patterns it picks up from your body to settle and organize itself. This is the mechanism behind "just hold the baby." The right name for it is co-regulation.
Meditation Feels Crushing After Startup Funding Failure
After a failed Series B, I took a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat....By Day 4, I was convinced my brain would never recover.
Irregular Sleep Increases Heart Disease Risk Significantly
Sleep regularity might matter as much as sleep duration or even more. Compared to people with consistent sleep, those whose sleep duration varied by >120 minutes had: - 33-39% higher risk of severe coronary artery calcification (CAC >300) - 58-75% higher risk of...
Breathing Exercises Significantly Reduce Adult Anxiety and Stress
A Systematic Review of Breathing Exercise Interventions: An Integrative Complementary Approach for Anxiety and Stress in Adult Populations
Bad Memories Can Disrupt Sleep, Not Just Vice Versa
Bad sleep leads to poor memory. But what about the reciprocal of bad memories leading to poor sleep? @ScienceMagazine https://t.co/bxlTe2bIDp https://t.co/CG7L1cXGxm https://t.co/0PqJcJZKBM
Mental Health Recovery Is Lifelong, Not Total Remission
Even the most effective mental health care rarely results in total remission, and I think we need to be more candid about this. Even the most "healed" person almost certainly will experience ongoing, lifelong impacts of their condition. Under enough stress,...
Presence Beats Programs: Enjoy Time With Your Children
In a world of hurry, fear, and competition, I am here to tell you raising successful children has more to do with our presence than it has to do with racing them to the next 'enrichment' activity or helping them...
Understanding Stress: Key Takeaways for Better Health
https://t.co/e9dkR2a135 Let me know what you think of this video about stress that I created for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Let me know if it was helpful. Did you learn something new? What were your takeaways? #lifesetylemedicine #health #healthcoaching #pavingwellness
Empowering Teens with Lifelong Healthy Habits
Helping our youth to adopt and sustain healthy patterns of eating, exercising, sleeping, de-stressing, and socially connecting is key for their futures and ours. The teens today will be the leaders of tomorrow. https://t.co/PcsvI5d8dn #lifestylemedicine #Teens #highschool #medicaleducation #MedEd
Hope Restored: Doctor Repairs Brains After Stroke
The doctor who mends broken brains: why there is room for hope after a stroke or head injury https://t.co/mNABi17orQ
Immobilization Studies Isolate Calorie Restriction’s Impact on Muscle
Figuring out whether caloric restriction reduces muscle mass is difficult when physical activity levels are normal because the reduction in bodyweight changes the number of activated fibers in activities of daily life. Immobilization studies provide an answer. https://t.co/F2N3IuCkiY
End Your Day with a Simple Brain Shutdown Routine
A Shutdown routine is a simple system that tells your brain, “Work is complete. You can rest now.” Without it, your mind keeps running tabs in the background: tasks, reminders, unfinished thoughts, and you wake up already mentally overloaded. Here's a FREE...
Your Body Detoxes Naturally—Skip the Juice Craze
Juice cleanses for “detox” are wellness nonsense. You don’t need a cleanse to detox. You have a liver, kidneys, lungs, gut, and skin doing that job every day. Most detox products are selling the feeling of a fresh start. If you want to support...
Prioritize Basics—Sleep, Sun, Movement—Before Productivity Hacks
The modern world made everyone sick and then sold them productivity systems. Sleep first. Sunlight first. Movement first. Real food first. Real people first. Then talk about optimization.
Happiness Is a Skill, Not Just Genetic Luck
Half of your baseline mood is genetic. And if yours runs low, you got lucky. The people born with naturally cheerful brains coast through life. Their default setting is good enough, so they never have to develop the habits that make...
Overthinking Masks Discomfort, Not a Thinking Issue
Overthinking isn't a thinking problem. It's a discomfort problem. When I catch myself replaying a conversation for the fifth time, or rehearsing an email I haven't sent, I used to think I was being thorough. Careful. Responsible. I wasn't. I was avoiding...
One Week of 5‑Hour Sleep Cuts Testosterone 10‑15%
The lie I taught in medical school: sleep is for muscle repair. The 2011 JAMA study most people have never heard of: 5 hours of sleep for ONE week dropped daily testosterone 10-15% in healthy young men -- the hormonal equivalent...
Time‑restricted Feeding Restores Metabolic Health in Aging Mice
Time-restricted feeding improves metabolic flexibility, promotes beiging, and mitigates fibro-inflammation in the adipose tissue of aged mice "These results underscore the potential of TRF as a dietary intervention to mitigate adipose dysfunction and promote metabolic health in the aging population." https://t.co/JgTEjivlCM
Omega‑3 Supplements Cut Aggression by Up to 28%
This is a big deal. Omega-3s reduce aggressive behavior across randomized controlled trials. A meta-analysis of 29 studies and nearly 4,000 participants found that omega-3 supplementation reduced aggressive behavior by up to 28%. The benefit was broadly consistent across children and...
Parents Say “I Don’t Know” While Children Cite Toxicity
38% of American adults are estranged from at least one close family member. That's a remarkably high number. What's especially interesting is that parents and adult children often tell completely different stories about why the relationship broke down. When adult children are asked...
Speak Kindly to Yourself for a Gentle Week
In case you forgot (again): How you speak to yourself matters. A smidge more self compassion & kindness might just help this week start gently. Sincerely A Psychologist
Find Joyful, Low‑Sweat, Low‑Risk Movement for Mental Health
Underrated mental health intervention: going on a quest to find a way to move your body that 1) you have a ton of fun doing and 2) makes you feel really good in your body. You may think you hate movement...
Sugar: The Alcohol Threatening Children’s Metabolic Health
I have followed the work of @RobertLustigMD for literally decades and now have had the good fortune to meet him in Berlin this week. Champion of tackling the standard American diet including the damage caused by sugar sweetened beverages & preventing...
Stop Worrying, Embrace Life, Learn and Grow
Do not use your energy to worry. Life is too short to worry about stupid things. Have fun. Fall in love. Regret nothing and do not let people bring you down. Study, think, create and grow. Teach yourself and teach others. —Professor Richard Feynman...
Nine Hallmarks Guide Resilient Living and Healthspan
The nine hallmarks of mental health and wellbeing as a watershed framework for resilient living and healthspan optimization https://t.co/kmXABZ6dEy https://t.co/7jP4xfIFK3
Healing Begins When We Stop Avoiding
Healing and progress often begins the moment we stop organizing our lives around avoidance. What are you avoiding? 🏷️ couples therapy, online couples therapy, therapy for couples, intensive sessions for therapy, empowering self after life changes, identity shift, psychological flexibility
Use a 5‑Second Sensory Reset to Calm Meltdowns
A child psychologist trick: the fastest way to calm an ADHD brain after a meltdown.
Healing Trauma Thrives in Quiet, Everyday Victories
Healing from trauma doesn’t always look loud and obvious. It is rarely just about major breakthroughs. Most often, it is found in the quiet, gentle shifts in how we experience daily life. These quiet victories can take many forms: * Sleeping enough to...
Fast Music Boosts Task Speed for Neurodivergent Minds
I'm a neurodivergent health research advisor with a PhD. Here are 14 life-changing ND accommodations that are stupid-simple but way too underused: 1. Listen to fast music during tasks you want to finish quickly (shopping, cleaning, getting ready, walking to the gym)....
Swap Social Media Toolbar for Journaling for Sanity
Sanity tip: if a social media app is in your main toolbar on your mobile device, replace it with a writing/journaling app.
Stress Stems From Your Need to Control
If you are wondering where your stress is coming from, look no further than your attachment to control.
Calm a Tight Chest with Gentle Collarbone Tapping
How to relax if you have a tight chest or emotional overwhelm: Tap gently around your collarbones for 30-60 seconds. Slow rhythm. Easy breath. This gives your body one clear point of contact when everything feels too loud.
Wellness Wild West: Autonomy, Biohacking, and Information Gaps
This week on Optimizer — some extra tidbits from my Enhanced Games coverage. Specifically some conversation about bodily autonomy, what you put in your body, and how hard it is to find reliable information in the wellness Wild West. https://www.theverge.com/column/939462/enhanced-games-biohacking-fda-health-wellness
Distinguish Thoughts From Threats to Manage OCD
What does it mean to say "thoughts are thoughts, not threats", & how does this help with OCD? Join me this week with expert Jon Hershfield (@ocdbaltimore) to explore what OCD is & what can be done about it. https://t.co/h2IGXTWAHq https://t.co/DCs1slYaoq
Student Leaders Share 2023 Lifestyle Medicine Insights
Furthering Lifestyle Medicine Through the Donald A. Pegg Student Leadership Award: Reflections From 2023 Awardees - Yoav Jacob, Roshini Srinivasan, Emily Ubbens, Amanda Orme, Sheeva Shahinfar, Beth Frates, 2025 https://t.co/O8N9fomyg2 #lifestylemedicine #health
Join Breathwork Study by BSMS Med School Students
Do you practise breathwork? Masters students @BSMSMedSchool are running a study. Get in contact with a.colasanti@bsms.ac.uk https://t.co/3bgEirIuhD
Practical Tips for Setting Healthy Work Boundaries
How Can You Set Reasonable Boundaries Around Work? Part 11 https://t.co/MtlC2Ta2BB via @YouTube #health #workplace #CEO #employees What are your words of advice for setting boundaries at work? 🤔 https://t.co/o8jRwC7SJ1
Chronic Sympathetic Overdrive Drives Most Unexplained Symptoms
A radiologist with paresthesias, migraines, vertigo, tinnitus, reflux, and bleeding gums saw five specialists. Every lab and every scan came back negative. Every specialist gave her a different medication. None of them were trained to name what was actually wrong. ...
Weekly Gratitude Journaling Boosts Optimism and Well‑being
Research suggests that practicing gratitude regularly can improve our well-being. In one classic study, Bob Emmons and Michael McCullough asked people to write down things they were grateful for each week. Over time, participants reported more optimism and higher wellbeing than...
Permission to Rest: Stop Overextending and Just Be
It’s okay to stop giving energy you don’t have, forget about being productive for a while, and simply exist in your own life without any explanation.
Unlock Lower Back Relief with Hip Mobility Routine
Low back pain | mobility routine 3 exercises that focus on improving hip mobility and lumbar spine control. Sitting for long periods can make the hips feel stiff and place more stress on the lower back. When the hips don’t move well,...
Empowering Women with Longevity Strategies at Atlanta Expo
I'm excited to be a featured speaker at this weekend's Atlanta Women's Expo. It is a powerful opportunity to share common-sense solutions to help women enjoy longer, happier, and healthier lives. I'll cover the latest on burnout, life satisfaction, and Alzheimer's...
Cultivate Courage: Thriving When Pressure Strikes
Pressure will come. Inflation is rising. Supply chains are tightening. AI is changing jobs. Some companies announce it. Some do not. The question is not how to avoid pressure. The question is: what is your mental attitude when pressure hits you? In my latest...
Prehab Myths: Runners Fear Injury Without Mandatory Exercises
The prehab exercises you’re doing before a run have a lot of runners in a chokehold…. Thinking they HAVE to do the exercises or they will get injured
Ground Yourself: Slow Observation Stops Mental Spirals
If your brain is spiraling, try the orienting practice: 1. Slowly look around the room. 2. Name colors, shapes, textures, objects. 3. Let your eyes move slowly. Your body often needs “I’m here, not inside the disaster movie” before logic works.
Postpartum Thyroiditis Mimics Depression—Request Full Thyroid Panel
About 5-10% of women develop postpartum thyroiditis after birth. Most get told they have postpartum depression, anxiety, or are just exhausted from new motherhood. It shows up one of three ways: - Hypothyroid alone: fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, cold all the...
Run with a Friend: Boost Heart and Connection
Go for a run or walk with a friend today. This can help increase your cardiorespiratory fitness while simultaneously increasing your social connection. It's good for your heart in many different ways. 🏃♂️🏃♀️💙🙏🌞 #exercise #socialconnection #lifestylemedicine #pavingwellness #health #mentalhealth #Wellbeing
Gentle ADHD Reset Calms Kids Without Punishment
A gentle ADHD reset that helps kids calm down without punishments, threats, or long lectures
Psilocybin Adds Fresh Snow, Reshapes Old Mental Tracks
A Harvard-trained Army Ranger described psilocybin to me like this: "Your brain is a snowy mountain. Every thought is a sled track. After 40 years you are riding the same five grooves down the same hill." "Psilocybin is fresh snow." The grooves do...
Correct ADHD Behavior Gently, Avoiding Shame and Anger
A child psychologist trick: how to correct an ADHD child without triggering shame or anger.