It’s Monday (yes, again). Let’s make this week count. Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s issue:

• How to easily improve your focus with science

• Looking down at your screen to read this? We’ve got an stretch for that

• Magnesium spray: “life hack” or fraud?

• Plus, cute animals, hopeful health news and more…

Let’s dive in.

THE MAIN STORY

Can’t focus? Your brain probably needs a warm up. Here’s how to do it.

If you’re anything like us, your week kicks off with a mile-long to-do list and a brain that isn’t always thrilled to play along.

Turns out, just like you warm up your muscles at the gym, you should warm up your brain before sustained bouts of focused work.

So, today we'll cover how to do just that with easy to use, science-backed techniques inspired by America’s favorite neuroscientist Andrew Huberman.

Quick primer: how focus works

To supercharge your ability to concentrate and get sh*t done, it’s helpful to understand the basics of how focus works. Huberman explains that focus follows an “arrowhead model”, consisting of three main players (hormones) in the body.

1.) Epinephrine: Also known as adrenaline, this hormone increases alertness and energy. It’s necessary for focus, it’s not sufficient for focus. It focus was an arrow, it would be the shaft.

2.) Acetylcholine: If epinephrine gives you energy, acetylcholine helps you direct that energy into a specific spot or focus, kind of like an arrowhead.

3.) Dopamine: Last but not least, the “feel-good” hormone can also be known as the “molecule of motivation” because it acts as an engine for your brain. In other words, it’s necessary for ongoing focus.

Even if you skipped reading the bullets above, know that all 3 must be present for sharp and sustained focus.

Pre-focus do’s & don’ts

Since focus is like a workout for your brain, it’s probably unsurprising that what you do, or don’t do, before a bout of focus can make or break your concentration.

Do:

• Get good sleep — sleep modulates your focus hormones (and many other processes in the body) so it’s extremely important to get a solid night’s rest.

• Take a cold shower  – Turns out cold showers are good for more than just clearing your mind of inappropriate thoughts. Try a cold shower for 1-5 minutes to increase focus-boosting epinephrine and dopamine.

• Drink caffeine – Caffeine enhances dopamine signaling in the brain, making it a useful focus enhancer. However, If coffee causes anxiety or jitters, it's best to avoid it entirely.

• Turn on overhead lights — If you’re working early in the day (first 6-9 hours), your brain naturally has higher levels of both dopamine and epinephrine, making you more alert. A brightly lit space will further increase these two hormones.

As for the don’ts?

Well, there’s one main one to highlight here: Don’t eat a big meal right before you need to perform focused work.

If you’re asking, well what about working fasted? Or if I ate a few hours ago? Huberman says there are are two ends of a U-shaped glucose/focus spectrum that we’ve illustrated here:

Warm up with behavioral tools

The following tools are free and easy to use – and you only need to perform one. So try ‘em all out to find the one that works best for you.

• Binaural beats: Put in your ear buds and listen at 40 Hz for ~5 minutes as you begin to work to help focus your mind.

• Meditate: Sit or lay down for around 13 minutes and focus on your breathing. Your attention will drift, so just focus on bringing it back.

• Visual field stimulation: set a timer for 30 seconds per day (up to 3 minutes) and try to focus on one object without looking away. Be sure to blink!

Links and further learning

If your focused is so ramped up, you feel like diving into hours of more content on focus, you can learn more from Huberman about dopamine, how your brain works, focus tools & workspace optimization.

Sustained focus is within reach, now go out and conquer the day ;)

🐦️ From the Twittersphere

In case you need a little extra nudge to take that focus-boosting cold shower... 🥶 

Sorry, not sorry, for potentially causing you to count this towards your new 600/day tweet limit (no, we’re not joking).

📈 Health optimization tip of the week

Many hours hunched over a laptop can be great for productivity and a real pain for your upper body (hello tech neck and headaches). While fixing your work posture is key, if you already suffer from neck and shoulder pain, give this a shot.

📆 This week in wellness

Every week, we scan the web for the good, the bad and the downright entertaining in the world of health and wellness.

😻 The good:

• The FDA has granted full approval to the first-ever Alzheimer's drug proven to slow disease progression, marking a hopeful new era.

👎️ The bad:

• A Silicon Valley billionaire injected himself with 17-year-old son’s plasma – all in the name of longevity. Unfortunately, it yielded no effect, other than weirding out everyone who learned about it.

🤣 The entertaining:

• Yo-yo dieting is bad for your health, but apparently no one told that to UFC fighter Paddy “the body” Pimblett. Check out his epic body transformations between fights.

📱 Trending on TikTok #wellnessTok

Some TikTokers are peddling magnesium spray as a cure all for seemingly everything, but is it really a life changing “hack”?

While magnesium is an essential macronutrient and oral supplementation may have benefits, evidence is lacking for the effectiveness of sprays.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that magnesium spray is going to “change” your life, but with minimal side effects, it probably won’t hurt.

According to science: 

❌ Don’t try this at home 🍊 Maybe  ✅ Worth a shot

@thewellnesspharm

Magnesium oil spray is AMAZING for promoting relaxation, helping reduce muscle tension, and improving sleep quality! The skin on the soles... See more

🍧 The palate cleanser

There’s no shortage of heat waves this summer, so make sure you (and your furry friends) stay hydrated. Now, here’s an adorable video of a thirsty squirrel begging some humans for water.

Missed last week’s issue? Read it here 👇️ 

🏃 Before you go…

Something you want to see in a future issue?

Don’t keep it to yourself — reply and let us know.

Until next time ✌️

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