If you’ve got high blood pressure, or your numbers are creeping up, doctors universally suggest exercise. Because numerous studies show that taking regular walks, for example, can make blood vessels and arteries more flexible, so blood flows more easily, reducing the risk for heart disease.

But new research from the University of Saskatchewan shows you’ll get even better results by stretching! Everything from simple leg, arm and back stretches, to yoga and pilates. Kinesiology professor and lead researcher Dr. Phil Chilibeck says stretching your muscles ALSO stretches your blood vessels, which reduces arterial stiffness. And more-flexible arteries means better blood flow, and improved blood pressure.

This particular study found that those who stretched had better blood pressure than those who walked. BUT the walkers lost more body fat around the waist.

That’s why Dr. Chilibeck says the best way to lower blood pressure is to stretch AND do aerobic exercise most days of the week. He recommends spending a full 30 minutes walking, running, swimming, hiking, or biking. Then, adding at least 10 minutes of stretching, concentrating on the muscles in your legs. That’s because our legs have the largest muscle groups in the body. So flexible leg arteries trigger the biggest reduction in blood pressure.

Experts at UC Davis say, because of all the extra stress in the past year, more people than ever are fighting a serious loss of sleep.

Angela Drake is a clinical professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences. She says, it’s a problem across all age groups – and the increase is enormous. Basically, the added stress tells your brain there’s a threat in your environment, which keeps your brain on high-alert, which isn’t conducive to sleep. So, here are some tips to help you get the rest you need:

First: Don’t lie awake in bed or it could become a habit. Instead, if you’ve been in bed awake for 20 minutes, get up and do something relaxing, like reading or journaling, until you start to feel drowsy.

Another sleep-booster: Exercise during the day. It triggers the parasympathetic nervous system to lower heart rate and blood pressure and increase feelings of calm.

Finally: Dr. Drake recommends what’s called “box breathing” to calm the mind. Just breathe in through your nose for 4 counts. Hold your breath for 4 counts. Exhale slowly through your mouth for 4 counts. Then, wait for 4 counts, and breathe in again. And visualize a box, tracing one side of the square for each four-second interval. And repeat box breathing until you feel calm, relaxed, and ready for sleep.

Do you have a friend you know so well you can finish each other’s sentences? Or you tell stories about “remember when……” and they remember as many details as you do?

According to the Journal of Personal and Social Relationships, those are sure signs of a friendship that’s built to last! And that’s a big deal, since many studies show that a strong social network helps us do everything from ward off depression to increase our overall lifespan.

So, why is something as random as finishing a friend’s thought so important? Researchers say it’s a sign of something called the “transactive memory system” – which refers to shared memories, say, of an embarrassing experience in school, or a vacation you took. And in a study, researchers found that those with the strongest friendships were the most likely to have shared or “transactive memories.” And even with new friends, the best predictor of a trusting, high quality friendship was if two people could finish each other’s thoughts – or tell stories about each other.

Which is why researchers encourage us all to rehash old memories with friends as often possible. Because the more shared memories we have, the healthier we’ll be, emotionally and physically.