Last week, I wrote about a new eating routine that I began in light of new information about something called the “glymphatic system.” I didn’t mention that, in addition to making my sleep more restful, making this one improvement triggered a number of other positive changes as well. Today, I want to use that experience to highlight a phenomenon I’ve come to call the cascade effect. The cascade effect is… Read More »The Self-Improvement Cascade Effect
Long-time readers will know that I’m all about brain health. Improving the strength, function, and longevity of my brain is the reason why I exercise nearly every day, the reason I avoid sugar, the reason why I meditate, and the reason why I make sleep a priority. But I don’t know everything there is to know about brain health, so when I learn something new that seems important, I adjust… Read More »Get a Better Glymphatic Flush by Not Eating Before Bed
In every person, there is a complicated mixture of competing wants. We crave short-term pleasures, but we also want deeper, longer-lasting satisfaction. We like instant gratification, but we also want the rewards of delayed gratification, hard work, and patience. Here are some of the competing wants that I wrestle with: I want to sleep in, but I also want to have time for my daily self-care routine. I want to… Read More »What Do You Want More?
Last week, while making the case for discomfort training, I pointed out that pain is the price of admission if you want to enjoy the view from the top of a mountain. The very next day, my father and I went out to do just that. Our goal was Red Mountain, a thrusting pyramid of rust-colored rock at Snoqualmie Pass. We knew that the hike was hard work: It’s almost… Read More »Playing the Equanimity Game