Optimal Being

“Bed rotting,” or staying in bed all day, has been touted as a self-care routine on TikTok, but it might actually make you feel worse. Here’s why that happens and how you can snap out of it. The grueling stretch between New Year’s Day and springtime can seem interminable. It’s tempting to spend the long, gray months in hibernation mode with a book or your phone while you await brighter days. Enter “bed rotting,”   the Internet’s new favorite inactive activity . More entertaining than just sleeping in and somehow even less productive than being a couch potato, choosing to bed rot is a popular TikTok mental health trend associated with “reclaiming” time that might otherwise be spent on working, exercising, studying or other “productive” activities. It may mean you opt to stay in bed from sunrise to sunset for perhaps even a whole weekend or more, only leaving it to use the bathroom, get food or retrieve other essentials. Some “rotters” report feeling rejuvenated afterward. One Reddit...

“ How to Breathe Correctly for Optimal Health, Mood, Learning & Performance ,” In this post we discuss how deliberate respiration (breathing) represents a unique and powerful bridge between the subconscious and conscious mind — and how specific breathing protocols allow us to shift the state of our brain and body in powerful ways. We explain how to  use specific breathing patterns  to influence your brain-body state and thereby  positively shift your mood, physical capacity, and focus — and improve sleep . Indeed, even brief, deliberate breathing protocols, if done correctly, can positively impact all these around the clock — not just during the breathwork practice. Why We Breathe Breathing allows the body to draw in oxygen (O 2 ) and discard carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), or more accurately to  balance  ratios of O 2 :CO 2  in our brain and body. When we inhale, oxygen fills and passes from millions of tiny sacs (“alveoli”) in our lungs, into our bloodstream....

Summary:   A new study reveals a strong link between daytime physical activity and improved sleep quality among both children and adults. Analyzing the daily routines of over 2500 participants, the research highlights how higher levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity correlate with fewer sleep disturbances, less daytime tiredness, and overall better sleep quality. Unlike common sleep improvement tactics that focus on pre-bedtime routines, this study emphasizes the integral role of daytime activities, especially exercise, in enhancing sleep. The findings suggest that incorporating more physical activity into our daily lives could be a simple yet effective strategy for achieving better sleep and, by extension, improving overall health and wellbeing. Key Facts: Physical Activity Boosts Sleep Quality : Both children and adults who engage in higher levels of physical activity experience better sleep outcomes. Daytime Decisions Affect Nighttime Rest : The study underscores the ...

New research suggests that even the simplest forms of social interaction, like greeting or thanking someone, can significantly boost our life satisfaction. The findings, published in   Social Psychological and Personality Science , highlight the often-overlooked value of everyday, minimal social interactions. The motivation behind this study stemmed from decades of scientific research on the impact of close relationships, like family and friends, on psychological well-being. However, interactions with acquaintances and strangers – the people we might casually greet on our morning walk, thank a bus driver, or exchange a few words with at the supermarket – had not been as thoroughly explored. This gap in understanding prompted researchers to investigate whether these minimal interactions could be just as crucial to our overall happiness as the deeper connections we share with close ones. “I’ve been involved in relationship research for almost ten years but I focused solely on close r...

Summary:  Researchers have found that targeted electrical stimulation of the brain can temporarily increase a person’s hypnotizability, potentially allowing more individuals to benefit from hypnosis-based therapies for pain relief and other conditions. In a study involving participants with fibromyalgia, electrical stimulation delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex boosted hypnotizability for about an hour. The effect was achieved in less than two minutes of stimulation and was statistically significant. The findings offer a novel approach to altering stable traits and could have broader implications for enhancing responses to psychotherapy. Key Facts: Hypnotizability is a stable trait in adults, much like personality and IQ, and can influence the effectiveness of hypnosis-based therapies. Transcranial magnetic stimulation delivered targeted electrical pulses to the brain, increasing hypnotizability for a short duration. This research has potential applications in pai...

It is imperative to use strengths-based ways to cope with life stressors. Key Points Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, or various types of stressors. Resilience is important for optimal physical and mental health functioning. Meditation, stress management, and accepting mistakes can help you cultivate resilience. Resilience is important for optimal physical and mental health functioning across a variety of populations and settings, and across the human life span (Tsai and Freedland, 2022; Koliou et.al., 2020). The American Psychological Association defines individual resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress—such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors. As much as resilience involves “bouncing back” from these difficult experiences, it can also involve profound personal growth (APA, 2020). Psychologi...

What is inflammaging? The aging processes are accompanied by a chronic, smoldering background of inflammation that researchers call “inflammaging”. This backdrop of low-grade inflammation contributes significantly to mortality risk in the elderly and has a number of sources. The chronic inflammation that accompanies the aging process is believed to be a significant risk factor for a myriad of age-related diseases, such as atherosclerosis, arthritis, hypertension, and cancer [1-3]. The immune system relies on acute inflammation during the immune response to fight invading pathogens and to facilitate wound healing. This triggers cell turnover and tissue repair and is, in general, a desirable reason for inflammation. However, in direct contrast to this, inflammaging produces a chronic, low-grade, persistent background of inflammation that leads to poor tissue repair and degeneration [4]. This chronic inflammation also contributes to the development of age-related diseases and is instrumen...