Behaviors

During nicotine cessation, avoid parties or settings where friends are vaping because visual and smell cues can trigger relapse; instead, set up a social milieu with friends who are not using and involve family support.

Teach teens how to say no and feel good about saying no, rather than simply telling them 'just say no.'

Appeal to teens' concern for the environment by explaining harms from pods, plastics, benzoic acid, and secondhand or thirdhand aerosol.

If alcohol or other substances are involved, use a designated driver, sober driver, Uber, Lyft, or another rideshare rather than driving impaired.

Have one sober person at a party not only for driving but also to help prevent unsafe sexual situations, falls, or other harms.

Use condoms, get STI testing, and use birth control as part of safer sexual behavior.

Use comprehensive education rather than only 'just say no.' If a teen may engage in risky behavior, provide practical safety guidance and put safety first—for example, tell them to call for a ride if they've been drinking, teach negotiation and healthy relationship skills, discuss fentanyl test strips, advise against buying drugs off the internet, and emphasize not using drugs alone.

Ask teens about their goals and aspirations, then link current choices and risks to those future outcomes.

If underslept and you have a choice of when to learn, schedule learning for the time of day when your chronotype puts you at your best operating temperature; for early chronotypes this may be around 10–11 a.m., for later chronotypes around midday or 1 p.m.

Set an evening alarm to help begin winding down and support the transition into sleep.

A daytime nap can improve motor skill learning versus staying awake, showing the benefit is due to sleep rather than nighttime itself.

Avoid cutting off the final part of sleep, because stage 2 sleep and sleep spindles in the last quarter of the night are especially linked to motor memory benefit.

If sleep tracking causes sleep-related anxiety, avoid checking it daily; either review data only once weekly, such as Sunday afternoon, or stop using the tracker temporarily, restore sleep confidence, and only then return to using it.

Delay phone use for at least the first 30 minutes after waking to avoid eclipsing sleep-derived creative insights with external sensory input.

Capture ideas that emerge after waking by writing them down; suggested as a way to preserve sleep-derived creative insights.

If you have severe or persistent back pain, get a proper assessment and diagnosis from a qualified back expert; if non-surgical methods fail, consult a surgeon.

If you have a thicker, less mobile spine, emphasize work aimed at generating more flexibility in side-to-side and angled planes of motion.

Especially if you have back pain or posterior disc bulging/herniation, avoid sit-ups and abdominal crunches because they can worsen disc bulging, nerve impingement, and pain.

McGill Big Three exercise: Lie on your back with one knee bent and the other leg extended, place both hands under the lower back to preserve its arch, keep the head neutral with the tongue on the roof of the mouth, and breathe through the nose. Lift the elbows and upper chest only 5–10 degrees by leading with the chest, not the chin, contract the abdominals for 8–10 seconds, rest 10–30 seconds between reps, then switch sides; a typical routine is 3–5 sets with descending holds (5, 4, 3, 2, 1 reps), done daily or 1–2 times per week.

Aim to do the Big Three at least once or twice per week; some people may do them daily. Even 1–2 sets of each can be completed in 5–10 minutes.

If any movement worsens your back pain, stop doing it.

Hold onto a sturdy overhead bar or object with arms overhead while keeping toes, feet, or heels in contact with the floor so it is not a full dead hang; avoid twisting; aim to lengthen the spine for 10–30 seconds, walk around, then repeat 2–3 times.

Avoid inversion practices if you have glaucoma or are predisposed to glaucoma because inversion increases ocular pressure.

For posterior disc bulge-type pain: lie face down with hips in contact with the floor, toes pointed back, legs straight and together, head neutral; press up like a push-up while keeping hips on the floor. Do 8–10 repetitions and hold the final rep until you begin to quake slightly, then relax. Used to encourage the disc bulge back toward the center.

If pain is too severe for cobra push-ups, stand about 6 inches or so from a wall with hands on the wall and push the hips toward the wall; can be progressed later to floor cobra/up-dog style work.

Place fists under the jaw on either side of the chin; with tongue on roof of mouth and breathing through the nose, press the chin downward against the resistance of the fists for a 10-second static contraction. Do 3–4 repetitions of 10-second contractions for 2–5 sets.

Practice spreading the toes apart on both feet so none are touching; this can take a couple of weeks to learn. While sitting barefoot with toes spread, practice lifting toes independently, starting with lifting the big toes independently of the others. As a no-purchase aid, place firm paper towel or tissue between the toes to help learn toe spreading. Advanced option: strengthen individual toes with bands.

When at rest, relax the abdominal musculature and belly breathe: inhale so the belly moves out, exhale so the belly moves in.

When seated and during daily activities, especially if prone to posterior disc bulging or low-to-mid back pain, avoid rounding the lower back; keep it straight or slightly arched, but not overly arched.

Lie on your side as if preparing for a side plank but keep the lower leg on the floor; point the top foot's toe downward, bring that foot slightly in front to touch the floor, then extend the heel back toward the back wall and slightly toward the ceiling while maintaining the downward-pointed toe. Do 5–10 repetitions, then hold the final raised position for 10–20 seconds. Repeat on both sides. You can press into the top of the working-side glute with your thumb to feel it activate. May be repeated a couple of times per day if needed for pain relief, and can also be used as a leg-day warm-up.