Hello and welcome to 4-Minute Friday where I share, in four minutes or less, the latest things I’m doing to enhance my health, save money, and make day-to-day life easier and more enjoyable.
All comments and follow-up questions can be posted directly below, on my Facebook page or emailed to me at zach.griffith1@gmail.com!
Reminder that I’m running a giveaway for Barbell Apparel! If you purchase ANYTHING from the Barbell Apparel website by March 1st through my link, you will be placed in a raffle to win a $50 gift card to the site. Please send me a receipt of purchase to enter!
Aside from giving yourself the chance to win a gift card, it would greatly support me and my endeavors with HIB!
Reach out if you have any questions on their gear or sizing – I’m happy to help!
Psychological Tool I’m Using: Physiological Sigh
Stress seems to be at an all-time high in the current day landscape. Whether it’s work demands, world news, family obligations, or other life issues, we all experience and are aware of the inescapable pressure that comes along with living.
Stack on top of that the rising rates of diagnosed mental health disorders such as anxiety and it makes a clear demand for tools to lighten the load.
It’s rarely the case where we can step away from our obligations and go into hiding to re-emerge a day or two later feeling recharged and replenished. If your situation allows you to kick your feet up in the Caribbean every couple of months, that’s great and I envy you!
For the rest of us, real-time tools are critical to prevent stressors from overpowering us and hindering our performance.
One of the best ways to do this is through a simple breathing strategy.
Dr. Andrew Huberman, host of the Huberman Lab podcast, has echoed this claim since the very beginning. Although it was discovered much before his time, he’s made popular a breathing strategy called the Physiological Sigh.
It’s incredibly simple and is mechanistically grounded in science.
Our lungs are full of little air sacs called alveoli. Commonly, these sacs become collapsed and hard to expand which makes for poor gas exchange, shallow breathing, and increased feelings of tension.
Completing a single or series of Physiological Sighs forces these sacs to re-expand and generates a more relaxed state by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system.
How do you do it? Take a large inhale through your nose until you feel like you can’t get any more air in, pause, take another sip of air in through the nose, pause and then release the air slowly through your mouth.
Repeat this once or twice more and you’ll notice it right away.
For me, it’s most useful to do Physiological Sighs before stressful exams, public speaking, or even after a hard exercise session to decompress.
It takes less than a minute!
Mindset I’m Embracing: The Happiness Gap
I was listening to a podcast recently and heard an incredible insight on happiness.
Oftentimes we (or at least I) assume it’s money, perfect relationships, no stress (see above), or something external that gives us the sought after feeling of happiness.
Sure, these all play a role but NYT best-selling author Morgan Housel proposes an equation that makes it much more straightforward:
Happiness = Reality – Expectations
Simply, he argues we’re happier when our current circumstances exceed our expectations and we’re less happy when the opposite is true.
If we have extreme expectations (e.g., mansion, 8-pack abs, yacht with 2 Jacuzzis), it takes an incredible reality to rise above those expectations and generate happiness.
Contrast this to a person who needs very little to be happy.
They don’t expect (or require) the nicest stuff, much money, or extravagant getaways to post on Facebook. It doesn’t take much for their circumstances to rise above their expectations and put them in a ‘net positive’ on the happiness scale.
This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t strive to have more and be more, that’s a natural part of life and is justified within reason.
However, it’s much easier to adjust our expectations on how our life should look in the current moment than it is to change our circumstances… whatever that may be for you.
It doesn’t even necessarily have to be about money or possessions – it could entail an unrealistic expectation that every day should be full of excitement, each conversation you have should be better than the last, or your public speaking performances should stepwise improve over time without fault.
In regards to money and possessions bringing happiness, there’s something to be said about that, too.
I’ve listened to many celebrities who seem to have it all, but they’re still (often admittedly) quite miserable. Although from afar it may seem like they have all they could ever want, their expectations rise to meet and often exceed their situation as they want more (and more, and more…) which creates a recipe for unhappiness.
Simply put… when you expect less, it’s easier for your life’s circumstances to exceed expectations and bring about happiness.
Movement I’m Incorporating: The Ultimate Stretch
The Ultimate Stretch is an incredible mobility movement to put in your toolkit. It targets the hips, calves, and thoracic spine which are often tight from excessive sitting… especially for those who work at a desk.
I incorporate this stretch on my active recovery days, as a warm-up before exercise, and even to break up extended sitting if I’m doing work or school!
Here’s a video of me demonstrating it:
What else
There are 53 days until the official start of Spring! Appreciate the snow and cold… it’ll make the nicer weather even more special!
This Sunday I’ll be dusting off the Superfood Sunday series with a post on a food I consume nearly every day...
Strive for more, expect less.
Buy some Barbell Apparel fitness clothing through my link here!
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DISCLAIMER
- This is NOT Medical advice. Consult your medical professional before starting any supplement, diet regimen, or workout program.