I'm excited to share with you one of the best health and wellness resources I've discovered in years! The Huberman Lab is regularly ranked as the #1 health podcast in the world. Its host is Dr. Andrew Huberman, who discusses neuroscience; how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health. Dr. Huberman is a tenured professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.

Schedule “Me” Time: Open your calendar and book a date with yourself. Carving out time for yourself is not selfish. It’s impossible to have good relationships with others if you don’t have a good relationship with yourself. After work or on the weekend spend time doing a hobby you enjoy or taking a walk in nature. Reflect on your life, assess your needs, or do something that makes you feel good. Take a walk in nature or spend Friday night in your favorite PJ’s with a good movie. Scheduling “me” time is an important part of maintaining healthy physical and mental balance. Making it part of your weekly schedule is a great way to bring self-nurturance and good self-care into your life on an on-going basis.

Planning meals and snacks in advance has many benefits. Planning helps you optimize your time, reduce stress, and improve your health. Spending less than an hour a day on food preparation often leads to eating more fast food, while spending more time promotes better eating habits, like consuming more fruits and vegetables. A fabulous resource that cuts through the thicket of confusing—and often downright wrong—advice on nutrition and gives you easy-to-digest, scientific information to discover which foods your body needs to thrive, is a book titled, The PlantPlus Diet Solution: Personalized Nutrition for Life, by Dr. Joan Borysenko, a dear friend and fellow Hay House author. As a psychologist and cell biologist—Joan helps you psych out your inner saboteur, and master the dietary changes to which you aspire.

Spend Time in the Sun! Sun boosts our mood, improves sleep, and promotes vitamin D production in the body. Many people suffer from seasonal affective disorder (a mild form of depression) during the winter months. Sunshine is good medicine. In fact, many mental health professionals prescribe a daily dose of sunlight to people with depression. Sunlight increases blood circulation and the production of white blood cells, which support the immune system and promote a good night’s sleep. Sunlight is also an excellent source Vitamin D, a key nutrient aiding in calcium absorption for strong bones and teeth.

Recipe for Optimal Living
One of my favorite quotes from Mahatma Gandhi is, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” Too often we go through our days as though they were of infinite supply. We take ourselves and others for granted. Our egos, anger, and resentments are more important than the people we love. We settle for less than our heart’s desire, believing that we always have tomorrow to create a more meaningful and fulfilling life. At a 2005 keynote address at Stanford University, Steve Jobs shared some great advice. He said that one of his daily rituals was to ask himself, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

Planning meals and snacks in advance has many benefits. Planning helps you optimize your time, reduce stress, and improve your health. Spending less than an hour a day on food preparation often leads to eating more fast food, while spending more time promotes better eating habits, like consuming more fruits and vegetables.

CULTIVATE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

I often tell clients that where you focus is where you go. In other words, we largely determine how we feel in each given moment by what we focus on or tell ourselves. A practical and powerful way to re-direct your mind and emotions to a more positive inner state is through a regular gratitude practice. Practicing gratitude is simply taking time to reflect upon the things you value and for which you’re thankful, both big and small, such as a call from a friend to see how you are, good health, or a stunning sunset. People who practice gratitude experience more joy, feel more inspired, sleep better, have more compassion toward themselves and others, and even have stronger immune systems.

Train Your Dog!

People used to think that dog training was only about teaching dogs obedience commands. It was viewed as somewhat of a luxury for pet parents and often wrongly considered to be something so simple to achieve that anyone could do it on their own without the help of a professional. Sadly, the majority of owned dogs have had no formal training, positive or otherwise. Since dogs are now sharing our homes and lives in even closer ways, it’s more important than ever that every dog be given a good canine education. Doing so will prevent thousands of dogs being surrendered to shelters due to behavioral issues that could have been prevented. Investing the time to teach your dog will make living with her easier and that investment could also save her life.

Take a Nap!

A daytime nap is not just for toddlers and college students. Research shows that the effects of napping during the day are very beneficial, especially if you spent the previous night tossing and turning. The body and mind require a certain amount of sleep. Deficiencies can produce slower metabolism, impaired concentration, and poor reaction times. By having just a 10-20 minute nap as part of your lunch break, you can restore your energy levels for the afternoon and be far more productive and alert.

While few people would contest that fruit and vegetables are good for you, there can be some confusion over how many servings of them you're supposed to eat in a given day. The USDA advises people to eat anywhere from five to nine a day, with international standards similarly converging around five or six, though some go much higher.

Trust Your Intuition

Your intuition is your instinctive knowing about whether something’s right or wrong for you. It’s part of your innate human nature and a practical tool for honoring who you really are. To develop your intuition, start paying attention to it. When you have to make a decision, ask yourself: How does this feel for me? Is this what I should be doing? Use your intuition to help you create the life you want and to avoid situations that are detrimental to you. People tap into their intuition in different ways.

The Benefits of Vitamin C

Experts say that Vitamin C is one of the safest and most effective nutrients. While it may not be the cure for the common cold, the benefits of Vitamin C may include protection against immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, eye disease, and even skin wrinkling. Vitamin C is important for collagen production and collagen production is necessary to have thicker skin. Because Vitamin C is water soluble, it is not stored in the body.

Bring Some Laughter into Your Life

Remember the old saying that laughter is the best medicine? While it may not always seem appropriate or what we need—especially at a time when the world is so filled with chaos, pain, and hardship—balancing the grief with the distraction of humor can make things more bearable, something to which I can personally attest. Over these past months, if I find myself feeling low, or when I’ve hit my limit from the constant barrage of disheartening news, I give myself some relief by re-directing my mind to a funny memory or story, or by putting on an uplifting comedy to provide a couple of hours of laughter. Using comedies to shift my focus and emotions has been one of my favorite self-care tools over the years.

Planning meals in advance has many benefits. Planning helps you optimize your time, reduce stress, and improve your health. Spending less than an hour a day on food prep leads to eating more fast food, while spending more time promotes better dietary habits, like eating more fruits and vegetables. A fabulous resource that cuts through the thicket of confusing—and often downright wrong—advice on nutrition and gives you easy-to-digest, scientific information to discover which foods your body needs to thrive, is the book The PlantPlus Diet Solution: Personalized Nutrition for Life, by Dr. Joan Borysenko a dear friend and fellow Hay House author.

During this time of increased isolation, it’s tempting to fall into unhealthy eating habits. Here is a recipe for muffins that are not only comforting, but are delicious and healthy. They can be made with regular flour or gluten-free.