The following is the best toolkit I know of, both in its simplicity to follow and implement & in its efficiency in improving and supporting Mood and Mental Health. It's a summary of a part of a hubermanlab.com podcast. These tools provided by Dr. Huberman, are science-based and represent key takeaways from several recently published research studies, as well as from other Huberman Lab guests - Lisa Feldman Barrett, Ph.D., an expert in the science of emotions, and Paul Conti, M.D., a psychiatrist with vast clinical expertise in helping people overcome mental health challenges. These 6 Major Pillars are principles of self-care for mood and mental health. Those ensure our physiology is primed for our overall feelings of well-being.
So, if your goal is to be in the best possible mood, to have the best possible mental health, given your life circumstances of course, and to improve your mood and mental health consistently over time, then you should pay attention to these six pillars, which lead also to a Healthy Performance:
1. Sleep and Sleep Routine – The average adult needs between 6 to 8 hours of sleep. Experiment to figure out what is right for you.
Strive to: Get the best quality sleep you can every night,
& Go to sleep and wake up at about the same time (± 1 hour).
Invest in your sleep 😊
2. Light - Sunlight and Nighttime Environment - Darkness – Try to view Sunlight, without sunglasses, (no direct staring at the sun of course, this is not to make you blind or damage your sight, this is to take care of your circadian rhythms), as early as possible after waking up. In sunny days 10 minutes will do, in cloudy days/dark areas of the world 20-30 minutes. (There are still light photons after sunrise, even if it is cloudy).
Avoid light and Create a Dark Nighttime Environment for 6 to 8 hours every 24 hours. (Or Very Dimmed, if you must have some light, and make sure it is not directed to your eyes).
3. Movement – Exercise. Strive to get to 180 – 220 minutes per week of movement that allows you to hold a conversation, that if you were to do it a bit more intensely, you wouldn’t be able to hold that conversation (Fast Walking for instance) + once a week of getting your heartrate very high – Running, Cycling, Swimming, Pilates, etc. Daily movement, either cardiovascular or resistance training, with 1-2 rest days per week.
(For more details about movement and fitness go to “Foundational fitness Protocol” on the hubermanlab.com website.
4. Nutrition – Consume sufficient amounts of QUALITY calories (Non to minimally processed foods) per day, within the bounds of the nutrition program you are following, that you find suitable to your biology and current needs.
5. Social connection – Strive to minimize connections and interactions that are causing you Stress, and to maximize the ones that are nurturing and leave you with good feelings and elevated mood. Invest a few minutes to run over your social connections, whether in thoughts or writing down, to recognize and/ or remind you, which of your connections are “Taxing” and which are “Savings.”
Social Connections and Interaction are very vital to our Mood and Mental Health 💙
6. Stress Control – The Physiological Sigh. Stress is a part of our lives and is not good or bad for us. It has, like all other things, positive aspects, influences and functions, as well as negative ones. The Key is to know how to manage it, work with it, and not to have too much or too little of it. The best known tool to manage stress and reduce it in real time, that is always accessible, is the Physiological Sigh – a simple pattern of breath: Take a big inhale through your nose, while you maximize the inflation of the lungs, and then just before you exhale, sneak in another inhalation, even if it’s a tiny one, and then exhale, a long and extended exhale, through the mouth. Typically, just one Physiological Sigh is enough to significantly reduce the level of stress. If needed, please repeat 😊 and if you want to excel – do this pattern repeatedly for five minutes per day to improve your Mental Health even more 😊
Another tool is to deliberately Raise Stress Threshold – Cold Showers for instance, once a week for a minute – while you practice controlling your breath and slowing it down, to teach your brain the controlled reaction and better navigation of real time stresses.
Take Care of Your Biology! Which includes your Mind and your Body 😊
Repeat Every 24 Hours ✨
@ the next post - science based tools to increase confidence, build a stronger concept of self, better understand our unconscious mind, manage stress and improve emotional processing.
コメント