One of the proudest moments of my career.

Hi friend!

The little things don’t matter until they become big things.

Fair statement, right?

You can likely relate to that in some aspect of your life.

There’s a more insidious side to that fact though, something that a former client of mine, we’ll call her Dawn, found out the hard way.

Now in her late 50’s, as an ambitious A-type, Dawn had asserted for most of the past 40 years that…

“Only the big moves matter. If it doesn’t move the needle, it doesn’t get my attention.”

While that mindset had worked for much of her early career, the engine was starting to splutter, and her health, energy and now, her productivity, were suffering.

Get this…

She hadn’t slept for more than 4 hours a night…in 15 years!

FIFTEEN YEARS!

And needless to say, it had caught up with her.

A big part of the reason it was succeeding wasn’t about the lack of sleep, or any of the other symptoms she was experiencing.

It was about her approach.

She was trying to solve big problems with bigger solutions. When she couldn’t overhaul her life with massive 90-degree shifts, she’d lose hope and rebound worse than before.

Again, a feeling most of us can relate to.

Long story short, less than three months after we started working together, for the first time in 15 years, Dawn scored her first week of consistent 7 hour + nights of unbroken sleep.

And. She. Felt. Incredible!

She unlocked energy she couldn’t remember ever having. A vibrancy returned to her life that had gone dormant.

She didn’t change jobs, or move neighborhoods, or set any “new year new me” resolutions. She committed to making the small changes, the cornerstones of which we’ve been talking about in this very newsletter over the past 4 weeks.

Let’s break down a high-level summary.

1 - Breathwork

Improving breathing mechanics by;

• Breathing through the nose,

• Breathing from the diaphragm instead of the chest,

• With longer exhales than inhales (e.g. 4-seconds inhale, 8-seconds exhale)

…activates the parasympathetic nervous system, bringing the mind and body into a calmed state and deactivates the sympathetic nervous system which often has us perceiving everything around us as a threat or a stressor, whether it is or not.

Between 3 - 5 minutes of intentional, slowed breathing stimulates the vagus nerve which again, creates a parasympathetic response…

• Lowering heart rate and blood pressure,

• Reducing inflammation,

• Improving emotion regulation and

• Treating migraines and cluster headaches.

Book-ending your day with 3 - 5 minutes of intentional breathing brings a calm focus to mornings, better directing your efforts and avoiding distractions, slowing down the system enough in the evenings to prep for deep, restful sleep.

2 - Cold-exposure

Not everything that does you good will feel good.

At least not initially.

11-minutes a week of cold water exposure has a dramatic impact on mood through the release of dopamine and serotonin, as well as increases in testosterone.

If you’re new to cold exposure, it’ll take a few weeks of short daily exposure before the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system calms down, after which it’s parasympathetic all the way as the vagus nerve gets stimulated and you’re feeling more relaxed, focused, and at ease.

The increase in “brown fat” that comes from consistent cold exposure will make you a more efficient burner of harmful “white fat”, and you’ll be increasing the number of mitochondria your body possesses, improving pretty much every function in the human body.

So, 90-seconds before you step out of the shower, turn the gauge from hot to cold, breathe through the discomfort, and chill.

3 - Nature

The sooner we realize that we are nature, the sooner we understand that to be in nature is express our highest selves. Not in a conscious, "I think therefore I am” kind of way, but as a wholly unconscious, automatic cellular response.

We see it in neuro- and thermal imaging in response to as little as 15-minutes of barefoot grounding on grass, and in the reduced stress and anxiety responses of people who spend time viewing fractal patterns found in trees, other plants, rivers and rock formations.

Nowhere is it clearer though, than in getting adequate indirect sunlight in the eyes early in the morning.

As mammals, our body clocks are set to cycles.

Annual cycles with the seasons, monthly cycles with the moon, and daily cycles with the rise and fall of the sun.

Taking 10-minutes to be outside in the morning, as soon as you can, kicks off the body’s circadian rhythm and starts the timer for it to power down roughly 14-hours later. That’s right, other than reducing PM screen time, your most powerful tool for better sleep is what you do with the 30-minutes after you wake up every morning.

4 - Movement

We’re movement machines.

There’s no way around it.

Our bodies are a genius construction of pulleys, levers and systems that get better the more we use them, and worse the more we flaunt that gift and stay stagnant.

Yes, scheduling in regular workouts is important for things like bone density, muscle gain and strength, but THE most important thing is to move more, generally.

Walking 20% more steps every day will have far greater long term effect than three workouts per week.

Equally, working out three times per week will have very limited impact if the remaining 165 hours are sedentary.

Where possible, get into the habit of walking/stretching/moving for 5 - 10 of every 60 - 90 minutes.

Not only will your body thank you, the mental break from the screen will boost focus, energy and long-term concentration.

…

Over the past 4 weeks I’ve thrown a lot of information your way about what it takes to level up the health of your nervous system.

Knowledge is only power when it’s applied.

And we stand our best shot at consistent application when things get broken down into bite sized chunks.

We’re all busy, but busy’s only an excuse if you want it to be.

One thing you’ll notice if you commit to what I’ve summarized here, is that what little time you do have gets expanded from the use of these tools.

You’ll have more energy, more focus, and a calmer approach to your tasks and projects, not to mention improved “foundational” systems such as sleep, digestion, cognition and neurochemistry, ushering in a new Dawn of personal health, performance, and vitality.

In love and health,

Alex

Disclaimer: This post is for general information purposes only and is not intended to treat or diagnose any medical or psychological conditions. This information is not intended as a substitute for medical advice and readers should always consult their doctor, physician or registered healthcare practitioner before implementing anything they read in The Edge.