The art of drinking lots of water
I’ve been reading “12 Rules for Life” by Jordan Peterson in which he presents some valuable principles for helping navigate life’s challenges and experiences. I’m still in the middle of it (or really the beginning…) but the first rule has already mentioned some interesting principles.
Rule 1: Stand Up Straight With Your Shoulders Back
In a nutshell, Peterson explains that hierarchy is a primordial system that can be observed in nature such as with lobsters. The purpose of this social ladder is that it dictates how valuable resources are divided up without having to risk actual injury via constant fighting which would leave both the winner and loser seriously injured and prone to death. For lobsters, valuable resources may simply mean who gets access to the best hiding spots, but for humans, these perceptions change the way we behave in complex and meaningful ways such as how we handle stress and challenges.
By standing up straight with your shoulders back, Peterson points out how small changes in body language can change how you perceive yourself and can thus help you better leverage this natural hierarchy. (Along these lines, there’s an interesting study we learned from my Psych 101 class where they had participants hold a pencil in their teeth (simulating a smile) and it actually improved their mood!)
But the part that stood out to me the most from this section was a quote that said “I have had many clients whose anxiety was reduced to subclinical levels merely because they started to sleep on a predictable schedule and eat breakfast.”
This is a great reminder for myself, and it reminded me of the something else that I haven’t been great about: drinking water.
“mild dehydration can impair mood, memory, and brain performance”
7 Science-Based Health Benefits of Drinking Enough Water
Yikes.
And it’s even worse for me since the office room that I work in right now is somehow always stuffier and warmer than the rest of my house.
So I was curious, and it turns out that good air quality and ventilation is also very important… surprise! A Harvard study looked at this closely to conclude that Stale Office Air is Making You Less Productive (oh and you can bet that the study was done double-blind :)).
Standing straight might be a bit hard to keep track of, but I’ll keep it in mind. In any case, the easiest step for me right now is simply keep myself fully hydrated… even if it means making the long, arduous trip downstairs to refill my water bottle.
That, and goodnight.
🌵 graduation gift from Tyler and Yuma 🌵