L&L Insider - November 21

Hi friend,

Welcome to your Longevity & Lifestyle Insider with the latest insights for your optimization journey!

1. Your Personal Optimization Tip of the Week! - Breathwork

As you will well know, stress is part of our lives. 

Though having a little dose of stress can be useful for problem-solving and alertness, too much stress and anxiety can have an adverse effect on your health, including on your nervous system. 

But did you know that there is an amazing FREE AND SIMPLE antidote? Your breath.

Your breath is such a powerful and free tool that you can use at any moment. There are many simple breathing techniques that you can use regularly which only take a few minutes and help you de-stress and re-focus, as well as optimize your performance. One great example is box breathing, also known as square breathing.

This is actually a stress-reducing technique practiced by the U.S. Navy SEALs.

So how does it work? Here’s how:

Step 1:  Breathe in slowly through your nose for a count of 4,

Step 2:  Hold your breath for a count of 4,

Step 3:  Then breathe out slowly for a count of 4,

Step 4:  Then hold your breath out for a count of 4.

Step 5:  Repeat this 5 times slowly to really feel the difference.

Another technique that you can use to support your immune system is The Smiling Breath. Smiling can trick your brain to instantly feel happier. Also, a study showed that smiling people had an advantage in stress recovery and lower heart rates when put in stressful situations than people holding a neutral expression. 

Here is how to do it:

• Close your eyes, focus on your breathing in and out, and smile slightly while relaxing your tongue. 

Although it might feel unnatural in the beginning, you will soon experience pleasant emotions and feel calm. This is because the act of smiling activates the nerves in your face and stimulates one of the main cranial nerves - the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is closely interlinked with your overall health and wellbeing. For more on the vagus nerve you can check out my Instagram posts on the Vagus Nerve - A Key to Wellbeing.

2. Don’t miss out on this episode - Longevity & Biohacking Products Series #8: Airofit - On Breathwork, Respiratory Muscle Training, Longevity, New Airofit Pro 2.0 Features & The Science Behind It with Mike Bennet

‘Breathing is such a fundamental thing. It's something we do from as soon as we're born until we die with the occasional breath hold in there. The underlying factor is that we're just trying to get oxygen in and carbon dioxide out, as simple as that. However, when you're doing it poorly, it leads to all kinds of trouble. Also, we lose the ability to breathe properly as we age.’ - Mike Bennet, Partnership Manager

Previously on The Longevity and Lifestyle Podcast I had the pleasure to talk with Mike Bennet, the Partnership Manager at Airofit.

In this episode we dig into biohacking breathing, the difference between nasal and mouth breathing, effects of breathing on mindfulness & longevity, respiratory muscle training, real life case studies, the new Airofit PRO 2.0 features and so much more!

Check out the full episode on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, or on the Longevity & Longevity website where you can find the Show Notes, great quotes from the episode, the transcript, links to products and people mentioned, and more!

To get a 15% discount for your Airofit products click here or use Claudia15 at the checkout.

3. A biohack I love - F.lux

During daytime, blue light exposure helps maintain a healthy circadian rhythm since the largest source of blue light is the sunlight. However, now more than ever, we are exposed to a lot of blue light due to all the decides that use LED technology (TV, cellphone, tablets), as well as inside lighting in our homes and stores.

Why is it so bad to have exposure to blue light in the evening? Blue light tricks your brain into thinking that it is daytime and triggers your body to stop production of melatonin - the sleep hormone (check out the TED Talk How artificial light affects our health for more on this).

Ensure to eliminate blue light exposure 1.5 hours before bed to help you fall asleep faster and sleep better. If I have to work after dark, I use the free software F.LUX that you can download for your laptop, computer, phone or tablet. This will automatically change your background lighting from blue to yellow at sunset. You can also try wearing blue-light blocking glasses before going to sleep and within the first 30 min of waking up. Your brain will thank you!

Like what you just read? Don't miss out! Grab your weekly L&L Insider for the latest tips, strategies and tools to optimize your life, health and business by signing up on LLInsider.com.

As always, thank you for reading and choose to live well!

Warmest,

Claudia

P.S. Coming soon! - With the winter holidays around the corner, I created an Ultimate Health Optimization, Longevity & Biohacking Holiday Gift Guide with my favorite products that would make great gifts for this holiday season for yourself and loved ones. Stay tuned!