Have you noticed how much less stressed you are after going for a walk outside or after spending a weekend camping in the wilderness? This is because nature is so powerful in improving both physical and mental health.

Physical activity has been shown to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. Studies have shown that people who are physically active tend to be happier people. And even a single bout of physical activity can boost mood! We know that for optimal physical health, you should get a mixture of aerobic, strength, and flexibility training. But what kind of physical activity should you do to improve mental health?

Many of you have indicated that lack of time is one of your main barriers when it comes to your health and performance. This is not surprising - with trying to balance work, family, friends, and other commitments it’s hard to find the time to prioritize your health and wellbeing. One of the aims of these weekly emails is to try and give you simple rules and biohacks you can implement into your lives that require as little mental energy as possible. So this week is dedicated to one of the most confusing topics: nutrition.

You might have heard that you need to drink 8 cups of water per day for optimal health. But most people don’t know exactly why water is so important. So this week we’re going to talk about one of the easiest ways to improve health and performance: water!

Sleep is important for restoring energy levels, repairing tissues, regulating appetite, and improving mental clarity. Everything falls apart if you’re not sleeping properly. With many people back at work or school, at least for the time being, sleep is often put on the back burner as you’re getting used to a new schedule. However sleep should be prioritized now more than ever! Why? Because sleep is also so important for immune function.

One of the ways in which you can set yourself up for a productive day (in work or in another area of life) is by winning the morning. The first hour of your day sets you up for success - provided you do it right! Prioritizing your morning and starting your day right allows you to be focused, creative, alert, and perform at your very best for your family, coworkers, and everyone who depends on you.

In previous weeks, we’ve discussed one of the main dangers of working from home: too much sitting time. During a normal day at the office, the walks to and from your car, and to and from appointments and other commitments, all add up. These days, if you’re working from home, even if you’re getting in a lot of exercise otherwise, you’re probably sitting more than you ever have. This can be damaging to not only your physical health, but your mental health and work performance as well.

When your behaviour becomes a habit, you are able to sustain it because you’re not putting any mental energy into doing it. When people want to implement a behaviour change, they need to do it consistently in order to make it a habit.

As many of you know, one of our main mantras is that incremental improvements, or micro-gains, will help you win over the long term. Being just 1% better every day has a huge impact on your physical and mental health over time.

A few emails ago, we challenged you to do a daily meditation. This is because there is overwhelming evidence that meditation is beneficial for mental health. Meditation has been shown to reduce stress, depression, and anxiety. It also boosts mental performance by improving focus, clarity, and mindfulness. Hopefully you’ve started (or continued) to incorporate meditation into your regular routine. Even five minutes out of your day can have significant benefits!

This week is all about the power of gratitude. Gratitude has become something of a buzzword over the past few years. You might have heard the word through social media or heard of friends or family members practicing it. But what exactly is gratitude? Gratitude is simply what it sounds like - being thankful. Practicing gratitude means noticing the positive aspects of the world, as opposed to focusing on the negatives.

The bacteria in our gut are responsible for 90% of our serotonin. Serotonin is one of the hormones that makes us happy! This means that we can actually influence how we feel on a daily basis by eating foods that nourish these bacteria. So how can we do that?

A few weeks ago we discussed the importance of meal prep, particularly when working from home. Without having a strict lunch or break, it’s easy to get caught up in work and miss your regular meal times. The problem is that when you’re really hungry, that’s when you reach for that bag of chips or leftover cake sitting in the fridge. This is where meal prep comes in! If you plan out what you’re going to eat when, you won’t get to that point of extreme hunger. You just have to do a little planning the night (or week) before.

It’s time to stop thinking of exercise as a workout, and start thinking of it as just doing something you enjoy! Exercise doesn’t have to be running on the treadmill for an hour or counting down the minutes until your workout class is finished.

Your circadian rhythm is your internal biological clock which regulates everything from sleep, eating patterns, mood, hormone regulation, and energy levels during the day. Disruption to your circadian rhythm can lead to insomnia, fatigue, loss of appetite, depressed mood, and decreased physical and mental performance. This is particularly apparent when you are jet lagged - I’m sure you’ve all experienced how bad that can be!

Great performers enter a state of complete connection to the task while remaining completely relaxed. In so doing, they consistently deliver exceptional performance. From a brain science perspective, they are able to access gamma mode, a state of intense brain activity when the entire brain works together at once.

I’ve spent a lot of time trying to crack the code of ultra-performance.

I do it by looping back through everything I’ve learned as a scientist and physiologist, and comparing that knowledge to everything I am learning from meeting and working with some of the highest-achieving people on the planet.

What I’ve observed is that elite performers are consistently able to access their full potential.

Your creativity isn’t something you can just turn on and off, but it is definitely something you will undermine if you are in constant go mode. Our brains aren’t designed to ideate and innovate when we are in focused execution mode.