Good morning! On this day in history in 1947, an independent India was formally established, ending nearly 200 years of British rule. Keeping up with “this day in history” is a fun way to keep your mind active. I trust Britannica.com to be factual. Continuing to learn and process history through a current lens is a great way to Boost Your Brain!

The Weekly Pounce offers science-backed and budget-friendly tips for achieving five essential actions each week. Focusing on these actions will help you achieve your vibrant longevity and active pro-aging goals.

It’s not too late to start the Pounce Pot Protocol, and it’s never too early. Let’s pounce on life’s possibilities together!

Think of yourself as a family detective this week. What can you uncover about your background?

Could you organize some documents that you’ve got filed here or there? Solve a question or two about your ancestors? Their past journeys?

Genealogy is a fun hobby that can satisfy your curiosity about your family’s history. You might also connect with older family members who would truly appreciate your interest.

A few years ago, a coworker noticed that my maiden name was in her family tree. It took a little digging through my old family Bible and her mother’s notes, but we determined that we were third cousins twice-removed. And hey, I wouldn’t be a true Southerner if I couldn’t expertly explain what a third cousin twice-removed actually means!

Boost Your Brain this week by seeing how far back you can research your family tree. Where do you hit an information wall? How can you break through it?

The BBC reports that friendships can be as important as family ties in predicting our future well-being. Read more details here.

This metastudy (a study that studies a group of similar studies) looked at nearly 309,000 individuals who were followed for an average of 7.5 years, and determined that people with enough social relationships have a 50% greater likelihood of survival compared to those with poor or insufficient social relationships.

What’s enough? Well, that’s up to you. If you’re feeling lonely this week, give a friend a call. Set up one of those standing dates that we discussed in The Weekly Pounce issue 12 and issue 18. Make or cultivate some connections this week for your future health and happiness.

I’m attending a wedding this weekend with our family. What a lovely couple of days to reconnect with old friends and cherish the hopes and dreams of the newlyweds. We’re also welcoming friends from Cayman for a couple of weeks, so my Connect & Thrive mission is joyfully overflowing this week!

What about you? Which of the five categories of the Pounce Pot Protocol do you find easily abundant, and which one always seems out of reach? Just hit reply to this email or contact me at feedback@pouncepot.com. I’d love to hear from you!

Getting enough sleep (7 to 9 hours) remains at the top of the list for super powers that keep our brains sharp. Read this quick article about the benefits of deep sleep and make a special effort at least one night this week to focus on improving how much deep sleep you’re getting.

Numerous sleep experts suggest setting yourself up for a good night’s sleep by cutting off your caffeine intake around noon, ensuring you get some exercise, avoiding screen time in the evenings, and taking a hot shower or bath right before bed.

University of California Berkeley neuroscientist Matthew Walker thinks of “deep sleep almost like a life raft that keeps memory afloat….” I’m onboard with that, and I’ll add my black eye mask for total darkness and a HEPA air-filter for white noise.

The research keeps rolling in to support Fuel Your Journey as an essential action: what you eat now affects how your body handles the chronic diseases that often come with aging.

Scientists in Sweden used 15 years of data to examine how diets impacted the accumulation of chronic disease. You can take one guess what the results were. Read more about the study here.

You can’t change your entire diet at once, but you can make one or two changes each week. Slowly but surely, work in more fruits and vegetables, and continue to remove sugar, refined grains, alcohol, red meat, and processed foods.

Fuel Your Journey toward a more healthy future. The research consistently confirms that it’s never too late to start and see benefits.

Doesn’t it always seem like there’s something more important you need to do instead of “working out?” The struggle is real. I’m right there with you. Two studies came out this week that helped with my motivation. Perhaps they’ll spark yours, too.

The first study compared slower strolling with more briskly-paced walking. Turns out that as little as 15 minutes of daily “fast” walking decreased overall mortality by 20 percent!

In a second study of 32,000 people in the UK, researchers found that “for every extra 1,000 steps taken daily, there was a 22% reduction in risk of heart failure, a 24% reduction in risk of stroke and a 9% reduction in risk of heart attack.”

Staying Active involves our strength, as well, but it should be abundantly clear that daily walking can lead to tremendous health gains. Try to carve out 15 minutes every day this week to take a walk or a quicker walk than you normally take. Your future self needs you now. I’m walking with you, I promise.

By the way, I decided I was letting the heat and rain bully me into not walking, so I purchased this small walking pad. I love it! It’s small and flat, so I put it right in front of a big window where I can either look out or balance my iPad or Kindle on the sill. I’m adding it to my upcoming future article about my favorite home workout gear. Keep your eye on the Pounce Pot Post.