Quick fixes and fads may do little for our health, and some even prove harmful. Try to work healthy habits into your daily routines. If you’re a parent, sharing and modeling them can help children and teens embrace wellness, too. Mindfulness and meditation are overlapping techniques proven to ease stress, improve sleep, and enhance concentration. “Anxiety and stress are very common issues in my practice,” says Dr. Armand. Worrying too often about the past or future is rarely helpful. The too-frequent release of stress hormones affects our heart, brain, and sleep, all of which have downstream consequences for our health. Practicing mindfulness — whether simply by appreciating birds and plants on a walk in green space, or using apps like Calm and Headspace — anchors you in the present moment. This can calm anxiety, improve focus and concentration, and amp up positive feelings. When applied to eating, mindfulness may help with weight loss by encouraging people to slow down to savor meals. Meditation knits together body and mind by focusing on sensations, such as breathing, images, or a repeated word or phrase. One exercise that works equally well for adults and younger people is box breathing. The rhythmic pattern of breathing helps regulate the nervous system, reining in anxiety and stress, lowering heart rate and blood pressure, and boosting focus. The rhythmic pattern of breathing helps regulate the nervous system, reining in anxiety and stress, lowering heart rate and blood pressure, and boosting focus. Sleeping poorly can leave you feeling awful — snappish, foggy-headed, slow moving — and take a toll on your health over time. By contrast, getting sufficient, restful sleep supports the immune system, helps control weight, and aids physical well-being, mental well-being, memory, judgment, and other cognitive functions. It may even extend longevity. But how much sleep do you need? That varies with age and other factors: most adults need at least seven hours per night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, sleep quality (a measure of refreshing, uninterrupted sleep versus tossing and turning) may be more important than nailing seven hours. And it’s worth noting that too much sleep — nine hours or more in one analysis of multiple studies — is linked to higher risk for early deaths, too. Be aware that sleep patterns and circadian rhythms that help rule sleep and wakefulness change over time. Good sleep hygiene can help. Tips include getting regular exercise, setting regular bedtime and wake-up times, avoiding caffeine in the afternoon and evening and large meals and alcohol before bedtime, and turning off screens at least 30 minutes before going to bed.