Good morning! The Weekly Pounce provides five, encouraging and evidence-based tips that we call the Pounce Pot Protocol. Each week, you can power up your future self by integrating these budget-friendly longevity and pro-aging strategies into your routine. 

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With a Bermudian husband and three children who are “subjects of the King,” I hold the tiny British island of Bermuda especially close to my heart.

Today in 1609, the Sea Venture, heading with a supply fleet to Jamestown, Virginia, encountered a hurricane near the island. To save his passengers and keep the ship from sinking, Admiral George Somers deliberately scuttled the Sea Venture onto the reefs.

From the ship’s debris and other materials found ashore, the shipwrecked survivors built two new ships and successfully continued on to Jamestown. Over four hundred years later, Somers is a popular Bermudian baby name for both girls and boys, and readers are still enthralled with Shakespeare’s recounting of the ordeal in his play The Tempest.

Boost your brain this week by revisiting Shakespeare’s Tempest or his other plays and sonnets. They’re all available for free online.

Reading improves your memory, vocabulary, and analytical skills. Shakespeare can also revitalize your insulting skills (just for fun, of course). Read Shakespeare’s top 50 jabs for a laugh this week. Research and learn words that are arcane or unclear. Here’s a glossary of Shakespeare’s most elusive vocabulary.

Research also shows that just a few minutes of silent reading lowers stress levels. Learn more in another recent article which explores the benefits of reading for your mental and physical health. Explore it now.

While in-person connections with real people are the gold standard, let’s not discount the power of digital tools to maintain distant relationships.

Believe me, after decades of living overseas, I’m the resident expert on this form of staying in touch. I’ve used platforms such as Skype, FaceTime, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Zoom for years to maintain visual social ties with family and friends, even my alumni and meditation groups.

While the isolation of the pandemic pushed so many of us to meeting up digitally, its frequency has certainly decreased now. But digital connections are still a fabulous way to stay in touch with distant friends and family you haven’t seen in a while.

Give it a go again. Schedule a call in advance with old friends, your children or grandkids, or former neighbors. Remember that studies agree that anticipation of the visit, not just the chat itself, also brings positive and rewarding joy into your life.

Read the science behind the beneficial role digital connections can have on your social connectedness.

Three recent studies suggest that staying sharp might be “less about what you do and more about how closely you watch yourself doing it.” They recommend:

1. Five minutes of structured self-reflection (for autobiographical memory)

2. Tracking, not just doing, moderate exercise (for executive control)

3. Ten minutes of mindful breathing (to stabilize attention)

These actions, called “metacognitive efficiency” (in other words, the skills of noticing your own awareness, or thinking about your thinking) help to build cognitive reserve for your future.

If you don’t have a journal, make it a point this week to buy one (here’s one that I like) so you’ll have a dedicated place to reflect, track, and practice “watching yourself” thinking. Explore the science here.

Breakfast is on my mind this week as I'm prepping for an upcoming summer vacation in a beach house with friends.

I remembered a super easy and delicious chia seed “pudding” recipe from a friend who’s a vegan chef in the Cayman Islands. Actually, I need to find the tiny piece of scrap paper with the recipe jotted on it so I can share it with you.

Chia seeds are a powerhouse superfood. Just two tablespoons have 4.7 g of protein, 11.9 g of carbohydrate, and 9.8 g of fiber. They’re full of Omega-3 fatty acid, magnesium and calcium, as well.

Chia seeds really are fabulous for you (unless you simply cannot eat seeds due to diverticulitis.) Read more about their health benefits here. Try out chia seed pudding with me this week. Be sure to refrigerate it the night before and enjoy it cold in the morning.

It’s easy. (I found my notes!) Drop the following into a blender, mix very well, and then pour into small single-serving bowls for the fridge: 1 can of coconut milk, 1/3 cup of chia seeds, 1 quite ripe banana, 4-5 dates (pitted, of course). If your dates are very hard, you might soak them in the coconut milk before you blend them.

If strength training isn’t yet a part of your routine, let’s repeat a popular healthspan mantra: “It’s not too late to start, and it’s never too early.”

I tried for a year to go to a gym regularly, but honestly, it just wasn’t working for my schedule and lifestyle. So I’ve gone all-in with my home workout equipment. Nothing fancy, just a few pieces of equipment that I’ve found to be the perfect set up for me until I can try the gym again.

Dumbbells and resistance bands are two essential items in my kit. But I have often wondered which one of the two should I really be using? Physical therapists pass out bands like candy. But trainers at the gym seem to prefer dumbbells. So which one is better?

Turns out, they serve different purposes, and both are extremely valuable to maintaining your strength, just in different ways. I enjoyed this recent article comparing the two. It’s definitely worth the quick read.

If you need bands, these are my favorite. As for the dumbbells, I’ve worked my way through 2 lbs up to 20. You’ll also need to start light and move up as your strength improves, using what’s right for you. Anyway, maybe you enjoy going to your local gym! Use their bands and weights. The trainers can also show you the correct form for how to use the weights and bands.

Think of your strength this way: it will decrease over time without intervention. That’s a reality of aging. So let’s say you’re 50 now, and you want to be able to lift a 30 pound carry-on suitcase when you’re 80.

You’ll need to be able to lift much more now, to be able to lift 30 pounds in the future. Dr. Peter Attia explains this concept in Outlive, a book that truly put a fire under my feet and got me moving (and lifting!) I’ll put a link below.

Remember, it’s not too late to improve the strength of your future self, no matter what your current age!