January: fitness
This month is about getting moving, building consistency, and laying the foundation to reach your goals this year.
TOTAL HEALTH CHALLENGE
OCTOBER SELFLESSNESS CHALLENGE
This month, our free challenge is about the health benefits of selflessness. With weekly science-backed steps, you’ll explore how kindness to yourself and others can lower stress, improve heart health, and even add years to your life.
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Kindness is prevention
Chronic stress is one of the biggest drivers of poor health, linked to everything from anxiety and depression to heart disease.1 But research shows kindness and selflessness work like a buffer, protecting both body and mind.
Lower stress hormones: People who regularly practise kindness have up to 23% lower cortisol, the hormone tied to stress and inflammation.¹
Heart protection: Acts of giving and volunteering are linked to lower blood pressure and reduced cardiovascular risk.²
Longevity boost: Strong social ties, like those seen in Blue Zone communities, can cut the risk of early death by as much as 50%.³
Mood regulation: Helping others activates the brain’s reward system, releasing serotonin and endorphins that lift mood and protect against burnout.⁴
Your year of transformation: monthly highlights
Over the course of the year, we'll challenge you to improve upon different areas of your health, with hopes to create lasting, sustainable change that facilitates better health and wellbeing.
February: heart health
Show your heart some love with cardio moves and heart-healthy meal swaps.
March: mindfulness
March is all about meditation, journaling, and mindfulness to help you stay balanced and clear-headed.
April: clean eating
This April, we’re focusing on the powerhouse of health - the gut, and how to keep it thriving.
May: outdoor
Summer's creeping up, so we're taking your workouts outside to reap the benefits of fresh air.
June: strength
Feel the summer pump with strength workouts that build power, boost flexibility, and keep injuries at bay with moves that deliver results.
July: hydration and kidney health
Beat the summer heat with hydration tips, water-rich foods, and creative ways to keep your water intake consistent.
August: commuting
Turn your commute into an adventure this August and watch your step count soar.
September: sleep
Build a bedtime routine, reduce screen time, and create the perfect sleep environment for a more energised you.
October: selflessness
Lift your mood and strengthen connections through acts of kindness and self-care.
November: new skill
Step out of your comfort zone by mastering a new exercise or skill that challenges you to grow.
December: 12 healthy days
Celebrate 12 healthy days of Christmas with treats and activities that keep your progress on track without impacting enjoyment.
This year's previous challenges
Our Total Health Challenge is a year long. Each month focusses on healthy habits that can be built into your routine in the long term. So even if you miss a month, you can download it for free and follow the core principles of the challenge.
February's Heart Health Challenge
April's Clean Eating Challenge
July's Hydration and Kidney Health Challenge
August's Commuting Challenge
August's challenge focused on transforming your daily journeys into opportunities for movement. Whether it’s swapping the bus for a bike or walking to your local coffee spot instead of driving, we helped you turn your commute into a health boost. With weekly goals and simple tips, we guide you to move more, stress less, and feel better. Click on the button below to download the challenge.
September's Sleep Challenge
September’s challenge focused on transforming your nights to improve your days. From building a better bedtime routine to cutting down on late-night screen time, we guided you through weekly goals and science-backed tips to help you sleep deeper, wake more refreshed, and feel sharper throughout the day. Click the button below to download the challenge.
WHY THE SELFLESSNESS CHALLENGE?
It’s easy to dismiss kindness as something “soft”; a nice-to-have rather than a health essential. But research shows selflessness works as a form of preventative medicine. Regular acts of kindness don’t just lift mood, they lower stress hormones, improve heart health, and strengthen resilience against disease. In fact, people who volunteer regularly have up to a 24% lower risk of early death compared with those who don’t.5
Selflessness rewires the body’s stress response, reduces inflammation, and boosts connection - one of the strongest predictors of long-term health.1,6 Much like sleep or nutrition, kindness is a daily habit that can protect your mind and body from the wear and tear of modern life.
What makes our challenge different?
Each month of the 2025 Total Health Challenge focuses on a different part of your wellbeing, and October is all about selflessness. This challenge encourages you to practise kindness in evidence-based ways, from looking after your own health to strengthening social ties and supporting your community. By embedding small, consistent acts of selflessness into your routine, you’ll lower stress, boost resilience, and build the kind of connections proven to support long-term health.
What's in it for you?
This challenge is your gateway to lasting change, each month building on the last, creating routines that stick and transform the way you approach your health. And if you’re working with a health coach, you’ll have someone to cheer you on, track those wins with you, and help you overcome any hurdles along the way.
You’ll become part of a growing community—people just like you, sharing their triumphs, setbacks, and everything in between. With the hashtag #NumanHealthChallenge, you can document your progress on social media, inspire others to take that first step, and celebrate those small-but-mighty wins that add up to something remarkable. Below are just some of the benefits of signing up to this challenge now.
Giving can be rewarding
Giving your time or energy to others is also deeply rewarding for the giver. Evidence shows that volunteering consistently boosts mental wellbeing, reduces feelings of depression, and increases life satisfaction.2 Volunteers report higher levels of purpose, empowerment, and self-esteem. These benefits are most pronounced when people volunteered with altruistic intentions, reflected on their experiences, or felt appreciated for their efforts. In fact, giving back is linked with better overall health, including improved functioning and even reduced mortality.2
The rewards of giving extended beyond the psychological. Volunteering supported physical health by increasing activity levels and helping older adults maintain independence for longer.2 Socially, it strengthened networks, reduced loneliness, and created a greater sense of community.
Learning from Blue Zones
One of the clearest lessons from the Blue Zones (regions where people regularly live into their 90s and beyond) is the power of strong social groups. In Okinawa, Japan, people form lifelong “moais” (committed circles of five friends) that provide financial, social, and emotional support for decades.3 In Sardinia, Italy, tightly knit communities of shepherds and families maintain daily interaction and collective responsibility. These networks act as powerful buffers against stress, isolation, and poor health.3
That’s why this October’s Selflessness Challenge focuses on building connection through kindness. Acts of selflessness strengthen the ties that protect our health, whether that’s checking in on a neighbour, sharing time with friends, or volunteering in your community. Kindness is a way of building the same kind of protective networks that help Blue Zone communities thrive well into old age.
Knowledge
Take a deeper dive into all things health
References
1. Fryburg DA. Kindness as a stress reduction-health promotion intervention: A review of the psychobiology of caring. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2022;16(1):89–100.
2. Nichol B, Wilson R, Rodrigues A, Haighton C. Exploring the effects of volunteering on the social, mental, and physical health and well-being of volunteers: An umbrella review. VOLUNT Int J Volunt Nonprofit Organ. 2023;35(1):1–32
3. Buettner D, Skemp S. Blue Zones: Lessons from the world’s longest lived: Lessons from the world’s longest lived. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2016;10(5):318–21.
4. Carter CS. Oxytocin pathways and the evolution of human behavior. Annu Rev Psychol. 2014;65(1):17–39.
5. Okun MA, Yeung EW, Brown S. Volunteering by older adults and risk of mortality: a meta-analysis. Psychol Aging. 2013;28(2):564–77.
6. Yang YC, Boen C, Gerken K, Li T, Schorpp K, Harris KM. Social relationships and physiological determinants of longevity across the human life span. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016;113(3):578–83.