Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

How To Get Well and Stay Well: 6 Healthy Habits We All Need To Know with Dr Gemma Newman (Re-release) #625

February 15, 2026

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  • The biggest barrier to lasting health change is often a lack of self-compassion and the inability to change one's self-perception. 
  • The body and mind are one and the same, and emotional states often manifest physically, meaning physical symptoms can be rooted in underlying emotional or narrative challenges. 
  • Dr. Gemma Newman's holistic approach is summarized by the GLOVES framework: Gratitude, Love, Outside, Veggies, Exercise, and Sleep, emphasizing free, lifestyle-based interventions. 
  • Spending time in nature, even viewing images of it, offers significant physiological benefits by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing stress markers like blood pressure and heart rate, and boosting immune function. 
  • Forgiveness is a crucial, often undervalued component of health that acts as a gift to oneself, releasing the physical tension and energy drain associated with holding onto resentment. 
  • Behavioral change and lasting wellness are fundamentally supported by self-compassion, especially when facing setbacks, as every attempt contributes to the overall journey. 

Segments

Barriers to Health Change
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(00:02:52)
  • Key Takeaway: Self-perception and the challenge of changing one’s established self-view is a primary barrier to making health changes.
  • Summary: Dr. Newman identifies the inability to see a better version of oneself as a major obstacle to change. Initially, she believed simply providing the right medical solution was enough, but realized patient perception of achievability was key. Listening to patients’ personal stories helps uncover where these challenges in self-perception arise.
Patient Story: Tension Headaches
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(00:06:26)
  • Key Takeaway: Emotional tension stemming from unresolved relational issues, like estrangement from a father, can manifest physically as tension headaches.
  • Summary: A patient presented with tension headaches despite reporting a ‘perfect’ life, which was traced back to subconscious stress from being estranged from his father. The Meaning Maker exercise helped him objectively list facts and identify learnings, such as the importance of honesty, leading to headache improvement without reconciliation.
Mind-Body Connection in Illness
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(00:12:46)
  • Key Takeaway: Emotional states play out physically in the body, and physical therapies like yoga benefit psychological health because the body and mind are intimately connected.
  • Summary: The body often communicates what is happening subconsciously in the mind, which is why physical release methods benefit psychological states. Physical problems are not necessarily caused by mental problems, but the two are intrinsically linked through systems like the gut-brain axis. Chronic disease sufferers often face prejudice, making self-reflection on how life challenges affect them crucial.
Limitations of Reductionist Medicine
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(00:14:56)
  • Key Takeaway: The reductionist medical model often fails chronic conditions because it overlooks that ten people with the same symptom can have ten different root causes.
  • Summary: While useful for acute issues, the standard diagnostic model is myopic for chronic conditions where causes vary widely between individuals. This gap between research-backed medical knowledge and lived experience leaves patients vulnerable to seeking expensive, unproven treatments. Understanding a person’s life events shapes their opinions and opens pathways for free, holistic approaches.
Introducing the GLOVES Framework
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(00:20:59)
  • Key Takeaway: The GLOVES framework outlines six free, key areas for health: Gratitude, Love, Outside, Veggies, Exercise, and Sleep, prioritizing ‘way of being’ habits first.
  • Summary: GLOVES stands for Gratitude, Love, Outside, Veggies (nutrition/plants), Exercise (including breathing), and Sleep. Gratitude and Love are placed first because the way a person is being and feeling is vital for making beneficial health decisions for themselves, others, and the planet.
Case Study: Nurse Millie’s Eczema
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(00:23:16)
  • Key Takeaway: Consistent, small positive habit changes, such as improving sleep and mindful eating, can cumulatively improve seemingly unrelated chronic conditions like asthma and hay fever.
  • Summary: A nurse with eczema, asthma, and hay fever improved all conditions after making three small, consistent changes: batch cooking to eat sitting down, going to bed an hour earlier, and setting a consistent wake-up time. These changes improved digestion, sleep quality, and stress levels, which are known to influence immune and allergic responses.
Gratitude and Pain Perception
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(00:33:57)
  • Key Takeaway: Gratitude practice, especially focusing on learning from struggle, can diminish the sensation of physical pain, with studies showing up to a 16% reduction in pain perception.
  • Summary: Gratitude involves recognizing beauty and learning from life’s struggles, which is crucial even when experiencing tragedy or chronic pain. Expressing gratitude activates brain regions associated with relaxation, counteracting the negative rumination cycle. Studies show that gratitude journaling improves mental health outcomes more effectively than discussing problems alone.
Visualization and Future Self
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(00:44:24)
  • Key Takeaway: Visualization is a powerful, free tool that allows the brain to rehearse a desired future, making behavior change achievable by creating a mental blueprint for new habits.
  • Summary: Visualization helps overcome the inability to imagine oneself as a healthier, non-reactive person by opening the mind to possibility. Research on athletes shows that visualizing an action (like flexing muscles or running hurdles) in real-time can lead to measurable physical improvements without actual movement because the brain perceives it similarly to reality.
Daily Purpose Setting
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(00:53:28)
  • Key Takeaway: Daily journaling focused on a single quality to embody, such as ‘compassion,’ brings intention into sharp focus, making it more likely that one avoids falling into old, negative patterns.
  • Summary: Dr. Chatterjee asks himself daily: ‘What quality do you want to show the world today?’ This singular focus directs daily actions and interactions, reinforcing desired behaviors. Dr. Newman echoes this by suggesting asking: ‘What is my most important value today?’ and ‘What can I do today that will honor that value?’
Outsourcing Wellbeing and Depletion
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(01:05:14)
  • Key Takeaway: Patients often feel unheard by doctors due to systemic pressures leading to professional depletion, highlighting the need for individuals to reclaim ownership of their inner wisdom.
  • Summary: Doctors feeling professionally and emotionally exhausted cannot give the time they once could, leading to patients feeling unheard. There is an over-reliance on outsourcing wellbeing expertise to professionals, but individuals are capable of self-guidance. Empowering oneself with knowledge, like that in Dr. Newman’s book, is vital given the current global syndemic of chronic diseases.
Nature’s Impact on Brain
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(01:15:21)
  • Key Takeaway: Nature reduces activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, the brain area responsible for rumination.
  • Summary: Evidence suggests nature reduces activity in the brain region linked to rumination. Shifting visual focus from near vision (like a monitor) to the distance, such as the horizon, relaxes eye muscles and activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting calm. Peripheral vision, common in natural settings, also aids in activating the body’s relaxation response.
Blue Mind and Water Benefits
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(01:18:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Simply looking at water, especially tanks with high biodiversity, significantly improves mood.
  • Summary: Research on the ‘blue mind’ shows that viewing water boosts mood, with increased biodiversity in the water providing further positive effects. Walking near water allows for an energetic advantage through electron transfer, similar to grounding by walking barefoot on grass. The Earth acts as a large grounding globe, providing electrons beneficial for the body.
Urban Nature Substitutes
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(01:22:00)
  • Key Takeaway: Bringing small elements of nature indoors, like houseplants or herb pots, offers visual and environmental benefits.
  • Summary: For those in urban settings, benefits can be gained by incorporating small natural elements like herb pots or house plants. Using nature scenes as computer screensavers brings the natural world into the immediate environment. Houseplants are visually pleasing and may help reduce certain bacteria and molds in the home.
Reframing Life Stories
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(01:25:22)
  • Key Takeaway: The parable of the three stone cutters illustrates that reframing one’s perspective on the same task fundamentally changes its meaning and impact.
  • Summary: Everything in life is a story, and individuals possess the autonomy to create better narratives, even when acknowledging difficult events. Awe and inspiration often stem from witnessing others overcome suffering. The core reason for existence is perceived as being to be and give love, which is the root of much healing.
Forgiveness and Health
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(01:37:03)
  • Key Takeaway: Forgiveness is a gift given to oneself that elevates personal health by releasing the physical tension caused by holding onto resentment.
  • Summary: Resentment consumes the heart and acts as a form of self-punishment, whereas forgiveness brings lightness and peace. Research shows that people who forgive experience lower blood pressure and better immune system function. Holding onto emotional pain is described as literal tension and hypertension within the body.
Compassion and Forgiveness Practice
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(01:51:16)
  • Key Takeaway: Leading with compassion, particularly by considering ‘If I was that person, I’d be doing exactly the same thing,’ makes forgiveness significantly easier.
  • Summary: Self-compassion is essential for navigating life changes, especially when facing perceived failures or setbacks; setbacks are part of the journey, not a return to square one. The phrase ‘If I was that person, I’d be doing exactly the same thing’ helps lead with compassion first, which facilitates forgiveness. Relentless negative self-talk is an exhausting adversary that diminishes self-worth.
Power of Three Action Plan
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(01:52:36)
  • Key Takeaway: The book distills the six healing habits into a simple ‘Power of Three’ framework: Plants, Peace, and Purpose (The three P’s).
  • Summary: The human brain processes patterns best in threes, leading to the simplification of health habits into Plants, Peace, and Purpose. The book provides practical tools, such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or tapping, to address physical pain or psychological struggles by combining physical action with a self-acceptance mantra. These tools are intended as free, supplementary additions to existing medical or psychological care.