Peak Health Wellness Insights Issue 31
Op Ed: The New Normal
Written by Rose Davis
A series to discuss new lifestyle changes brought about by the effects of a global pandemic
I am overwhelmed by how quickly a community can be derailed. We are stubborn creatures of habit, routine, and predictability. This is not to say we do not adapt and change as a society, we do. However, when these changes threaten our habits, routines and life's predictability, instability ensues quite quickly. Coronavirus is just one example of this.
What might the impact of this ultimately be? What is going to change and will it cause forever change? This situation currently calls to question how we eat, sleep, socialise, work, interact with others, exercise, and more....
Focus: Death of the handshake?
Handshaking dates back to as early as 5th century B.C., when it was used to signify peace and prove that you weren’t holding a weapon. It has been adopted in our modern day as a greeting, a sign of trust and friendship and has become engrained in our culture. So, when governments urged that we stop handshaking to slow the spread of the coronavirus, we were left empty handed. This was logical, of course. Some think that the slower initial spread in Japan was because it is a low contact culture. They greet each other with a bow instead of physical contact. However, even with the new handshake ban, it is clear that we still craved physical touch - people soon substituted the handshake with foot or elbow tapping. Is the element of touch too rooted in our culture to be eliminated entirely? It is clear that handshakes are less sanitary, even when there isn’t a global pandemic underway, but is this enough impetus for us to change our greeting gesture that hasn’t been questioned since the 5th century B.C.?
Mental Resilience
Plan making can eliminate the cognitive effects of unfulfilled goals
This study finds that having unfulfilled goals causes distracting thoughts and poor focus on other tasks. This is due to a continuous cognitive activation in the mind that is present until the goal is fulfilled. However, research demonstrates that creating plans to achieve our goals helps to free cognitive capacity, which allows an individual to focus more effectively on other pursuits and tasks in the moment.
Sleep
Restricting sleep may impact emotional reactivity
Findings from a new study support what some of us might have experienced first hand: inadequate sleep negatively impacts emotional processing and reactivity. The results showed that inadequate sleep for 5 days results in a change in ones perception of pleasant and neutral stimuli to be more negative than those who have adequate sleep.
Nutrition
Mediterranean diet tied to better cognitive function
This new research adds to the known benefits of a Mediterranean diet, a diet high in whole fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish and olive oil and a reduced consumption of red meat and alcohol. Findings show that those who eat this diet experience the greatest protective effect on cognitive decline.
Fitness
Our epigenome may impact our propensity for exercise
New findings show that our epigenetic differences (established in the brain during fetal or early postnatal life) might explain why some of us enjoy and have more motivation for working out than others. Research in mice shows specifically that when DNA methylation (an epigenetic mechanism) of neurons within the hypothalamus change, it has a major impact on the level of and desire to perform voluntary exercise behaviour.
Productivity Tip
Declutter your mind and set intentions
When we use the word ‘declutter’ we usually think of our physical space. But it is equally important to declutter our mental space. Take time in the morning to be deliberate about your mindset for the day and try to switch out of the default mode of immediately feeling stressed - from worrying about your to do list, reading the news and checking your emails the minute you wake up.
Habit Hack of the week
Focus on overall consistency, not an all-or-nothing mentality
Try not get stuck in the mindset that if you can’t do something perfectly or perform an action every single day, then there’s no point in doing it at all. Overall consistency is much more important than perfection, because the things we do consistently are what will make the most impact on our health and wellbeing.