New Year, Renewed Wellness: Our Deep Dive Into Habit Stacking, Inflammation, and Longevity
We all know how it goes: We pop the champagne on New Year’s Eve and confidently set intentions for the year ahead. But, by February, those resolutions are as long gone as the Christmas tree. Is there any way to implement those healthy habits for the long haul?
With a holistic approach supported by time-tested practices like habit stacking, your wellness goals have a fighting chance. We’re here to help you go a step further by developing habits based on their impact on longevity and considering how inflammation impacts long-term health.
Dive into all the details below, including key tips and insights to elevate your wellness routine this year.
What is Habit Stacking?
First things first: What is habit stacking? It’s the practice of linking a new habit to something you already do habitually, like eating breakfast or brushing your teeth. The idea here is that the step in your existing routine will prompt you to do the new habit.
Habit stacking is based on the concept of self-directed neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is your brain’s ability to adapt and change according to new experiences. Self-directed neuroplasticity involves intentionally rewiring the brain’s neural connections through specific habits and practices, including habit stacking!
Especially if you struggle to stick to new habits, as so many of us do, habit stacking can help you build a sustainable wellness routine. Here are a few examples:
- Aiming to increase your activity levels? Stack a 10-minute walk or yoga flow after your regular meals. It’s shown to improve digestion, reduces inflammation, and promotes better circulation—all of which support your skin’s health and glow.
- Want to ease stress levels and deepen your sense of calm? Add a five or 10-minute meditation to your morning or evening routine. Pro tip: Double stack it with LED light therapy to create a simple multitasking routine that benefits both your body and your skin!
- Interested in stimulating your brain and learning new skills? Stack a microlearning session onto your morning cup of coffee. Microlearning involves absorbing short bursts of information, like watching a five-minute video or reading a short article.
- Looking to elevate your skincare routine? Add one simple, clinically proven step, like red light therapy, to your existing regimen. It only takes 10 minutes, but it penetrates below your skin’s surface to reduce inflammation, calm redness, boost blood flow, and stimulate new collagen and elastin production.
Building Habits That Support Longevity
Stacking healthy habits can help you achieve various goals, from improving your mental health to giving your skin a gorgeous glow. Even more excitingly, these goals can provide cumulative health benefits, helping to improve your longevity over time.
In simple terms, longevity is your ability to live a long, healthy life. It can also refer to your vitality and quality of life as you age. Aging is inevitable, but with a sustainable wellness routine that promotes longevity, you can hold onto your energy levels, physical fitness, and radiant skin for years to come.
Longevity doesn’t hinge on any single habit. It’s like a puzzle with many pieces—including diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, and relationships—all of which contribute to the bigger picture. You can consider these pieces with your habit-stacking strategy to devise a routine that supports your long-term well-being.
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Diet: What you eat supplies your body with the nutrients it needs to regenerate damaged cells and function at its best. Foods rich in omega-6 fatty acids, collagen, and antioxidants are particularly helpful for preserving your skin’s longevity through optimal skin barrier function and protection against free radical damage.
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Exercise: Staying active offers myriad benefits for your physical fitness, cardiovascular health, mood, and general wellness. Experts recommend at least 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous exercise or 150 to 300 minutes of moderate exercise per week.
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Sleep: When you sleep, your body has the chance to repair damaged tissue and clear toxins from your brain, allowing you to wake refreshed and balanced. So, getting at least seven to nine hours of high-quality sleep each night is an essential habit to preserve your longevity (particularly for your skin and brain!).
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Stress Management: Chronic stress wreaks havoc on your body by continually releasing inflammatory chemicals. Thankfully, simple, stackable habits like mindfulness meditation, deep breathing exercises, and journaling can help keep your stress levels in check. As a reminder, you can stack it with Omnilux LED light therapy to create a simple multitasking routine that benefits both your body and your skin
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Relationships: Socializing keeps us young by stimulating our brains and enhancing feelings of well-being. So, foster positive social relationships by dedicating quality time to loved ones and engaging in activities to meet new friends, like classes, community events, and book clubs.
Promoting Longevity By Managing Inflammation
Inflammation is a common thread that runs through health-focused habits. Healthy habits like eating well, staying active, and managing stress help reduce inflammation throughout the body. Less-than-healthy habits like eating processed foods, drinking excessive alcohol, and having a sedentary lifestyle, on the other hand, can increase inflammation.Chronic inflammation, which occurs when the body’s levels of inflammation remain elevated over a prolonged period, is directly linked to accelerated aging. It weakens the immune system, increases the risk of DNA damage, and can even break down the collagen fibers that give youthful skin a plump, smooth appearance. Over time, this can lead to more pronounced wrinkles and sagging skin, as well as joint pain, digestive discomfort, and brain fog.
Along with the longevity-centered habits discussed above, you can manage inflammation by adding red light therapy to your habit-stacking strategy. Red light therapy (RLT) is a safe, natural way to reduce inflammation at home, with clinically proven benefits for chronic pain, injury recovery, muscle soreness, and signs of skin aging. It works by emitting specific low-level red and near-infrared light wavelengths that are proven to stimulate mitochondria, your cells’ energy source. This supports and improves cell function, which can:
- Protect against oxidative stress, a key cause of cell and tissue damage
- Ramp up collagen production
- Boost blood flow, ensuring your cells receive the oxygen and nutrients they need to thrive
- Increase the production of ATP, your cells’ energy source
