Your mental state manifests physically! How your body impacts your brain

0:00Hello and a massive welcome to Happy Place with me Fern Cotton. Today a real treat we're reliving last month's Happy Place Festival at Gunnersbury Park. All the people in my life who are here complaining about having bad backs, a massive part of that is us suppressing how we feel. We are done with the time of treating cancer. We are now treating the people. It is the whole person approach. The biggest indicator that I'm doing too much is that I just get real stress in my right shoulder. I feel like something's happening in my body and all of a sudden I feel like my mind is opening up to something else.

0:35Even our melatonin. So it might sound a bit weird, but if you want to sleep better at night, get out first thing in the morning. So then you're training the brain to still keep fit and the body. Now, if you weren't at our festival this year, let me set the scene. It's the hottest weekend ever. The sky is blue, like the brightest blue you've ever seen. There's not a cloud in the sky. The grass is scorched. Everybody's got their arms out. They're having a lovely time in the sunshine. The atmosphere is beautiful. It's calm and peaceful, yet also in the most peculiar way, absolutely electrifying. It felt like we were actually beaming up happiness from Gunnersbury Park into the ether.

1:18Across each day, the talk stage hosted loads of different speakers. And this year, there was a particular focus on building healthy, resilient bodies and the way our mental state will often manifest physically. Our talk stage host is the gorgeous Katie Hill. So she'll introduce everyone as we go along. But you're going to hear about the mind-body connection from the brilliant Richie Norton, my good pal, and the power of being out in nature from Julia Bradbury, a.k.a. The Bradders. Then Jordan Stephens and Donna Lancaster, who I class as Happy Place Family, are teaming up to talk about the groundbreaking physical effect one of Donna's retreats had on Jordan's body.

1:57Liz Earle is talking us through her immunity-boosting morning routine. And Kelly Holmes is chatting about how she approaches physical goals. What a lineup.

2:35Post a job for free and get started today. If you're a smoker or vapor ready to make a change, you really only need one good reason. But with Zinn Nicotine Pouches, you'll discover many good reasons. Zinn is America's number one nicotine pouch brand. Plus, Zinn offers a robust rewards program. There are lots of options when it comes to nicotine satisfaction. But there's only one Zinn. Check out Zinn.com slash find to find Zinn at a store near you. Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. There's a part of me that everyone sees. I'm Howie Mandel, the comedian.

3:13Apparently, I know what funny is. Funny bought me a house, but I also know what isn't funny. OCD. I've lived with OCD my entire life, and people throw the term around like it's no big deal. But OCD is severe, often debilitating. It's a mental health condition that involves unrelented, unwanted thoughts that can make you question your character, your beliefs, even your safety. General therapy can help with some things, but for OCD, it can actually make things worse. That's why I want to tell you about NoCD. NoCD is the world's largest treatment provider for OCD and is covered by insurance for over 155 million Americans.

3:53Their licensed therapists specialize in ERP, the most effective treatment for OCD. If you think you might be struggling with OCD, go to NOCD.com to book a free 15-minute call. They are here to help. Dr. India Woods here. As a veterinarian, I demand a lot of my scrubs on the job. That's why I show up in figs. Figs are made for the sometimes crazy situations I find myself in. It doesn't matter if I have to squat, sit, bend, or even chase after one of my patients. Figs moves with me and keeps me comfortable in the highest pressure situations. Figs gives me one less thing to worry about. Get 15 % off your first order by visiting wearfigs.com and use code FIGSRX at checkout.

4:34That's wearfigs.com, code FIGSRX. Here we go. This is the show.

5:03Everybody, welcome back. Welcome back. Well done for staying in the shade. I actually feel like a happy place 2025. If there was an ice bath challenge, quite welcome, right? No other time of year. I'm not interested, but today, possibly. But now it's time for a very, very special talk and one that is so so needed so please give a huge happy place welcome talking all things male mental health the wonderful Richie Norton and Mark Whittle. I had this rugby career that was my only mission I had no plan B I was the alpha male I was the bloke that wasn't going to talk about his feelings I just wanted to lift weights be buff and smash people on a rugby pitch and eventually I'd be a Sky TV pundit.

5:53It was all written. And unfortunately that came crashing down. I had this moment where I picked up a few injuries because I wasn't really taking it seriously enough. I was just winging it. I was just relying on skill and grit and a lot of deep-rooted anger that I hadn't addressed. But for me, rugby was an outlet for all my frustrations. But what I'm getting at is when I started to lean into the struggles, the fear, the challenges, the things that I found were really hard that were initially like an obstacle that I could not get past that's when I did my biggest growth that's when I felt like I was getting stronger that's where I felt I was doing the reps to become more resilient to be able to reach that next level but this was a mission over a few years so if I break down in a very short window of time there was a fallout there was a lack of identity there was no plan B felt really lost ate all the food I could find drank all the drink I could drink didn't treat my health very respectfully and I paid the price end up in hospital ill from the inside out but on the outside I was kind of pulling it off I was faking it on the on the front it looked like I had my shit together but I didn't and so many of us go through this of just like no one understands no one gets where I'm at and then we don't take action we suffer in silence you've heard that before we suppress all these emotions we suppress all these feelings and I was the perfect example of that because I didn't think anyone would be able to understand and I also would have to accept that I'm a bit vulnerable and I'm not together a few years later I met an amazing yoga teacher who kind of got where I was at happened to be a female yoga teacher who I was really attracted to I just listened to her every word but the point was over time I found someone who understood me who could speak to me in a way that I could relate.

7:47And I realized that's all I needed. I needed someone to understand and hold space for me for a second. And that took me on this road of working on my body again. I had these amazing experiences at the end of a yoga class where breathwork took me to this place of light. I felt like I was floating off the mat. I completely forgot where I was. And that night, I had the best night's sleep of my life. I thought, oh, there's stuff in that. I might give that another go. I wonder if that yoga teacher is a teacher on a Thursday. And I'd delve a bit deeper. And then eventually I met another guy who was a yoga teacher who also did Brazilian martial arts.

8:17I thought that was cool. He was ripped. And he was also a surfer. I thought that's cool. And I realized that I just hadn't found my people yet. I hadn't been able to sort of chat with the right people who would get where I was at that moment in time. And it gave me this lifeline of going, I feel seen. I feel like something's happening in my body. And all of a sudden, I feel like my mind is opening up to something else rather than just staying in what I thought was everything. because we create this illusion that our existence right now, our identity is all that we have and it can't change. It can't begin again.

8:51I would say I've probably begun again three times now. I've had real fallouts of like, I'm not happy here. Something's not right. But because I've done it once, I know I could do it again. And so the reason I share that without going into too much detail because I traveled the world, I went and practiced with all these gurus and Buddhist monks and ninja surfers. I was just like trying to absorb as much information as I possible, doing that deeper work because it started with me. There was no one that was gonna rescue me. There's no one that's gonna do the work for you. There's no one that's gonna hold your hand and make you do every single step.

9:28You have to want to do it inside of you first. And a lot of you will be able to relate to going, actually, I know what that feels like. I may, but I didn't take the action I should. So my point there is take that step, take that leap. You've got nothing to lose. You've got your whole life ahead of you. If something doesn't feel right, listen. If something kind of like deep inside of you needs to change and you know something's just not quite sitting right, listen. Take action. Because you can constantly steer your life down this path of just exploring new things all the time and constantly growing, learning lessons.

10:06Sometimes they might feel like a bit of a roadblock. That wasn't for me. But I bet you're not where you began. And that's what I've been doing for the last 10 years. So I now trained in breath work. I train in meditation. I learned how to move better. I started working on my training in a more smart, I guess, more smart approach of keeping my body strong. Not just because I want to look a certain way. It's because if we don't take care of our bodies, what's the point? So I've got massive goals. They keep getting bigger and bigger because I realize I'm capable of more and more. The more I push myself to that edge and the more lessons I learn doing that, the more capable I'm feeling.

10:45So I hope that kind of excites you about, do you know what, I need to take that leap. There is something I need to take action with because it's just a choice. It's a decision that you're capable of more, that you want to thrive. You don't just want to exist. Sometimes that means taking some bigger leaps, taking some bigger risks. but I promise you it's worth it. I am very, very excited to welcome our next guest. She's an all-round beautiful human being, which is what you know, which is why you're all here. She's the queen of resilience. She's a TV presenter. She's a passionate outdoor adventurer.

11:21Ladies and gents, please give it up for the unique Julia Bradbury. Listen, when I was in LA chasing George Clooney down red carpets, I wasn't thinking about hugging trees, let me tell you. but it is something that has stuck with me for life and now it's become my life you know country file it turned into my work turned into my walking series it's become my books and even when i'm doing my health and wellness books and hack yourself healthy my next book is all about personalized medicine i've done blood biopsies i've done full body imris i've done cryo i've been to antarctica and jumped in the water there to see what happens to the body when you know cold water exposure all of these things at the end of the day still the most important thing is the nature.

12:02Still, it's that reconnection with nature. And I did a really interesting study in the new book with some people for the Environment for Human Health. They work out of the University of Exeter, these incredible professors, and this is what they do. They work out how important it is for us all to spend time outside in nature and what it does for us and what it does for the NHS, for example. Now, I spend, I force myself to spend time outside. So I take what are called nature of snacks. I stand up from my desk very regularly. I go outside, I walk the dog or, you know, I hug my trees. I do my grounding.

12:35I do my little bit of exercise outside. And I do that at really regular intervals throughout the day. My productivity goes up. I feel happier. My vision is better. I'm saving the NHS£1 ,700 a year by doing that, according to these professors. We did a mathematical equation. If everybody in England did what I did, and that's not me being outside all day, this is just taking these enforced nature snacks, if you will, how much, and I'll give you a clue, it's billions, how many billions do you think we could all save the NHS if everybody did Julia-type nature snacks? Just shout out some figures. 50 billion, 60 billion, 90 billion.

13:17Okay, I'll tell you, it's 81 billion pounds. Because people who spend time outside, you're reducing your blood pressure, you're improving your cardiovascular health, your nervous system. Something that not a lot of us talk about when it comes to health is stress and what that does to your body. Well, stress is adrenaline cortisol. If that is coursing through your body all the time, that is like somebody, one of the doctors that tested me, I had quite high cortisol. This was immediately after my breast cancer, so perhaps not surprising. But she went, oh, she's an American fan. Julia, you're like being chased by a tiger like all day.

13:53We need to work on that. Wow. And that's what stress does for you. Yeah. It's that constant state of hmm. Yeah. Sachin Panda gives a great hack in the new book. He's a world famous circadian rhythm expert. He says, don't eat within the first hour of waking up. The reason being your cortisol rises very high in the morning because it's your body getting ready for the day ahead. That's our natural physiology. Wake up. That's what we're doing is wake up. So food and cortisol don't go that well together. You're busy producing your cortisol. You're not so good at the digestion and the insulin response at that time, which is why he says wait an hour and then eat.

14:36Now, how many people do you know who say, I'm really exercising really hard, and I'm doing this, I'm doing that, and I can't lose any weight? They've probably got a lot of cortisol going on in their body, which is why the meditation and the nature and calm is such an important part of it. That's so interesting, because I had a lymphatic drainage massage the other day. Incredible. And then he said to me, oh, yeah, people do this for weight loss. I'm like, no, no, I just want to feel amazing. I had no idea, because obviously, if your system's not working like it should, it's going to have a knock-on to everything around it.

15:07this book though I know there was so much in it that was about walking and nature and all of that stuff but I know it was also a very deep dive on some very personal stuff yeah that you wanted to share surviving breast cancer your IVF journey how was that feeling like you were putting that out into the world so I mean my my breast cancer diagnosis was quite public and it was it was everywhere and it was it was in all the papers but I don't talk about my breast cancer because I want sympathy and I don't want people to think oh well she's special or she's different you know she's a celebrity what difference is her breast cancer I did it a because I wanted people to to to see it's absolutely fine to be frightened and petrified because I was and it was a really terrifying moment in my life and also I've learned some amazing things about cancer whilst I've been researching I've met an incredible doctor called Dr.

15:55Naysha Winters and I've actually just come back from retreat with her and her team and she's written a brilliant book that I would recommend to everybody, cancer or not, called The Metabolic Approach to Cancer. And it's just about to come out, its 10th anniversary edition. And her approach, and this is echoed also in the new book by Dr. William Lee, who's an amazing doctor who's written Eat to Beat Disease, lots of New York bestsellers. But he's a very well-respected scientist and doctor in America that's had a direct impact on more than 40 medical procedures. And he and Neisha both share this approach that we are done with the time of treating cancer.

16:28We are now treating the people. It is the human. It is the whole person approach. So it's not cancer in Julia. It's Julia's terrain, her body, and what the cancer is doing within her. And what can we do to support her and the body in order to get through this cancer diagnosis? So he doesn't like that whole the battle of cancer and kill the cancer cells and cut them out and he really approves of oncologists taking a holistic view and we're not there yet with the NHS you talk to your oncologist and say what should I eat and they go I don't know yeah whatever you like and that's there are several reasons legally they can't tell you because they're not trained and the NHS isn't set up that way so it really is up to us now to become the CEOs of our own body and our own health and to start asking these questions and William Lee is pretty brutal in the book.

17:19He says, if your oncologist isn't asking you about your gut health, your microbiome, then you probably need a new oncologist or teach your oncologist about the microbiome. Just a quick case study from him. His mum was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in her 80s. She was treated. It came back a year later, stage four, and the doctor said, take her on a cruise. She's going to die. He said, you do know what I do. I'm a scientist. So he took her under his wing. He fixed her gut. So she did a stool test. He saw where the gut bacteria were. He fixed the gut with supplements and with food. And then he gave her three courses of immunotherapy.

17:53And that was 10 years ago. And she's 90 and she's still here. And he's done that with dozens of people. And he said, this is the cure for cancer. This is what it looks like. And we're there now. Wow. I think what's tough as well is that obviously the healthcare system here is so stretched and it's so reactionary, right? But I remember discovering a doctor when I lived in America and he was incredible. He was proactive. You'd go every six months and have like an body MOT. And we do it for our cars, but we don't do it for us. We just wait till something goes wrong. Well, you wouldn't just keep driving your car and then go, oh, the wheel's about to fall off.

18:30You'd know it. And I think everybody here at The Happy Place, you are obviously all open-minded, progressive, and that's why you're here. You're here to learn and you're here to grow, and we're all here to progress ourselves. And it is pretty strange what people will spend money on. And then you say, I'd probably do some blood tests there. And they go, oh, no, I can't. I can't afford that. And then you deep dive with some people and you say, do you drink coffee? Do you have a Netflix subscription? Do you smoke? Do you dye your hair? Do you dye your hair? and you look at, you know, what you spend your money on.

19:01And in the book, Oliver Berkman, who's another great author, he wrote the book 4 ,000 Weeks. Who's come across that book? 4 ,000 Weeks is what we all have on planet Earth if we're lucky and we live a long, healthy life. And you get a chart with the book. And the first thing you do when you're my age is you open up the chart and you cross out the first half of the chart because it's gone. Absolutely. And then you look and you go, oh. So it equals about 80 summer holidays. That's our lives. Wow, of course it is. I mean, that makes total sense. Total sense. But when you see it, and Oliver Berkman's written a brilliant piece in the book, which is how do we make time to prioritise our health?

19:38What do we sacrifice in order to give our health what it deserves? And that is time and it's your emotion and it's taking care of yourself. And sometimes it does mean throwing some money at it as well. I'm very excited about our next guest, everyone. Please, he's going to be the hottest man in the room in all ways. Please welcome to the stage Jordan Stephens and Donna Lancaster. The reason I wrote about masculinity was because I was going through heartbreak. That's genuinely, that is what this entirety of this book is about, is journeying through that heartbreak. And actually, just as a bit of trivia, Donna's name is the only real name in the book, outside of my own.

20:18And I use her full name because I genuinely want people to Google Donna and find out more about her. Oh, what a delight. What about this man? But it's real though, because I remember that feeling of not understanding how to feel, or even understanding that emotion is a physical reality. And then was it like someone had switched light on and gone, wow. Yeah. Can you explain the bridge a bit? The bridge was a residential program. It was, again, I can't remember, I think it was five nights or something like that. And five nights and days, you basically go away on a retreat, away from your everyday life, and you are turning towards the places inside you that ache and hurt.

20:54So it's like a space for grieving all of the things that have hurt you. Well, not all of them, otherwise you'd need more than five days for most people. Can I just move in? Yeah, exactly. But it's really the important thing about the retreat was a space where people could switch off, no gadgets, no distractions, and just go inside. So it was a lot of somatic work, working with the body because grief lives in the body, but with the intention of what I call clearing the debris from your heart and your soul. So it was really like, it's like, you know, bringing people back to life. Yeah. Because so many people are carrying a heavy burden, be it depression, anxiety, whatever it might be, or just a low level sadness.

21:37Yeah. And so it's really helping kind of clear. So people feel lighter. Life is short. We want to enjoy, you know. Talking to Julia Bradbury about the impact that your emotional state has on your physicality. It's like, it's everything is, of course, your whole body is just connected like that. Like, if there's anyone sat out there thinking, oh, I feel like I need some therapy, but I'm not sure. Like, how do you know the moment is there? When is that nudge so loud that you have no choice but to listen? Yeah. Want to go? Well, I mean, for me, genuinely, the biggest indicator that I'm doing too much is that I just get real stress in my right shoulder.

22:14Like, I genuinely have one specific place that the second that pings, I'm like, right. Here we go. Yeah, I need to just make sure I start taking, you know, sleeping better. But the funny thing is as well, many of the things that I've been talking about recently are things I learned at the bridge. This is why it's so important to me that Donna's here. I talk about the six tent poles, something I learned in the bridge. Whenever I feel off kilter, if that stress response is happening, I look at these six things in life. And if one of them is out of whack, I can work on it. So it's, and you have to correct me if I get these wrong.

22:44So it's. You get detention if you get them wrong. I know. So sleep, nutrition, exercise, community and solitude in equal measure, because there's a lot of people who can't be alone. And there's a lot of people who spend too much time alone. You have to try and balance the two. That was a big part of the bridge. Nature. And animals. Yeah, nature and animals, being around nature and animals, and creativity. And play. Yeah, creativity and play with no outcome of it. And, you know, it's really hard for us as humans, especially under this pressure, to have all of those balanced. But I feel it. And on the bridge, I actually did get, I did manage to have a trauma response, which is good because we're bleeding towards that.

23:22And it was my, under my, it's in my knee, under my right patella was like my legs started shaking. And I thought all the people in my life for me, again, especially men who are here complaining about having bad backs, about their shoulders hurting, dodgy knees, like everything's a stress or strain. Sure, some of that will be because of physical demand, but a massive part of that, and Gabor Mate says this too, is us suppressing how we feel. Yeah, and you're just carrying it around. So now when the shoulder goes, you lean into those things and shift things in your life to make sure it's like, okay.

23:53Well, it's an indicator. Would you agree? Yeah, for sure. I mean, some people feel stuff in their body. But I think for all of us, it's that when we look at what we are using to avoid being present to our lives, whether that's gadgets, whether that's drink, whether that's drugs, whatever it might be. But I think looking at our relationships to substances and behaviours that maybe we're a little bit too keen on the old scroll or whatever it might be. And I think that's usually, yeah, it's often avoiding something underneath, you know. And for me, I think with the, you know, like in my own story, it really was a situation for myself after having all these years of sort of a low level depression.

24:40Like I was kind of a functioning depressive. When was this? Oh, probably from my teens to my mid-30s. Okay. A long time. But then when I turned 30, I had a full breakdown. And it was like the universe pulled the rug from under me. Because I was a warrior. I could keep going, going, going. And it was almost like the universe looks at me and went, oh, bless her. Yeah. She's going to waste another 10 years if we don't. So it was like, boom. I started having panic attacks. I've never had a panic attack in my life. I was a warrior. and it's like the warrior fell down and this wounded, vulnerable version of myself stood up and I was like, okay, I've got to do something about this.

25:22I've got kids. No one's going to save you, Donna. You've got to save your own life. Yeah. And that was the start of me healing and then also training to do the work. And you talk a lot about reclaiming joy. I mean, this is the thing is that people, you know, when we're born and we're young children, we are so joyful. We're so playful. I've got three grandsons and they're all like curious and into stuff and so full of life and joy. And then life happens, doesn't it? And suddenly we wake up one day and life has become a sort of serious business and we lose connection to that sort of innocent joy in us.

26:00And then what we do if we do healing on that, if we turn towards the places inside us that are hurting, that have been created through life, through life experiences, is we reclaim the innocence. So we move, you know, when you're wounded, you can become childish rather than childlike. So, you know, I was like, that was reactive, always triggered, like angry. You know, everyone else, it's just everybody else's fault, blaming. And then when I actually turned and lovingly and compassionately started to do my inner work, I came back to that childlike girl full of wonder, full of awe and full of joy.

26:45And so it was from childish to childlike, from joyless to joyful. The market's uncertain. Revenue's tied and hiring on hold. That's why results-driven companies are using Upwork to keep work moving. Go to Upwork.com today and start hiring proven freelance talent fast. No bulky overhead. No rigid long-term contracts. Just the right expert right when you need them. Work smarter and faster with Upwork. Go to Upwork.com now and find your freelance expert. That's U-P-W-O-R-K dot com. Post a job for free and get started today. If you're a smoker or vapor ready to make a change, you really only need one good reason.

27:28But with Zinn Nicotine Pouches, you'll discover many good reasons. Zinn is America's number one nicotine pouch brand. Plus, Zinn offers a robust rewards program. There are lots of options when it comes to nicotine satisfaction. But there's only one Zinn. Check out Zinn.com slash find to find Zinn at a store near you. Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. There's the part of me that everyone sees. I'm Howie Mandel, the comedian. Apparently, I know what funny is. Funny bought me a house, but I also know what isn't funny. OCD. I've lived with OCD my entire life, and people throw the term around like it's no big deal.

28:09But OCD is severe, often debilitating. It's a mental health condition that involves unrelented, unwanted thoughts that can make you question your character, your beliefs, even your safety. General therapy can help with some things, but for OCD, it can actually make things worse. That's why I want to tell you about NoCD. NoCD is the world's largest treatment provider for OCD and is covered by insurance for over 155 million Americans. Their licensed therapists specialize in ERP, the most effective treatment for OCD. If you think you might be struggling with OCD, go to NOCD.com to book a free 15-minute call.

28:49they are here to help. Dr. India Woods here. As a veterinarian, I demand a lot of my scrubs on the job. That's why I show up in FIGS. FIGS are made for the sometimes crazy situations I find myself in. It doesn't matter if I have to squat, sit, bend, or even chase after one of my patients. FIGS moves with me and keeps me comfortable in the highest pressure situations. FIGS gives me one less thing to worry about. Get 15 % off your first order by visiting wherefigs.com and use code FIGSRX at checkout. That's wearfigs.com code FIGSRX. Okay, back to the festival with Liz Earl and Kelly Holmes. I'm so excited to welcome our next guest onto the stage.

29:32She really needs no introduction. She's been a staple in all of our lives for so long. She is our guru when it comes to all things wellness. And I'm so excited for this chat about how we could all have a better the second half. Please, ladies and gents, give a huge happy place welcome to Liz Earle. I've done a challenge I saw on there, which was wonderful. Oh my gosh. Yeah, that was the four-day challenge. So I don't know if anybody followed that. Did anyone do the challenge? We should actually be sitting here without our shoes and socks on. Yeah. You know, literally got all this grass here. So it's been shown that if we are connected to nature physically, so here we've got all this grass, so no excuse, take your shoes off i don't think anyone's wearing socks any guys in socks and sandals no one in the front okay sorry sir socks are gonna have to come off then you can stand and that the earth emits negative ions and there's this energy that we physically connect with and if that probably some people sounds a bit woo but it has actually been shown scientifically to reduce inflammation within the body and speed wound healing and if you look at animals when they're sick they'll just go and lie They'll go and lie down on the ground.

30:42And we've lost this connection with the earth. We're in plastic-soled trainers, even my lovely Berkies. You know, they're not connecting me to the ground. And actually, early in the morning is really key because the other part of my challenge was to get outside within 30 minutes of waking up. Why is that important? That is important because what's happening with low-level UV light is it's sending signals through the receptors in the eye, in our retinal cells that connect to our brain, and it starts the hormonal cascade. So it starts something called the circadian rhythm. And that's to do with everything from hormone production to stress management, our cortisol, even our melatonin.

31:20So it might sound a bit weird, but if you want to sleep better at night, get out first thing in the morning, because that's starting the production later for your melatonin that will help you sleep better. So within 30 minutes of waking, ideally before you put your phone on, because that blue light is not so good. we need this broad spectrum UV light we've all become a bit light phobic haven't we a bit sun phobic, a bit sun shy but first thing in the morning, if you can't physically get outside, open a window I love that, just quickly talk as we've got obviously, wake up and stand on the ground and that you look at the sky look outside, what else did I have fascinated by your morning routine I've written my whole routine in here because I get asked all the time exactly what do you do then what, exactly What time does your alarm go off?

32:08Well, it depends. I try not to set an alarm. Actually, my alarm goes off at night. My alarm reminds me when I need to go to bed. I really protect my sleep. So my alarm will go off at about 10 o 'clock at night, and it'll say, listen, you really need to be winding down and in bed by now. It doesn't always happen, but that's for me. So I tend to wake up naturally around 6.37. It's great at this time of year as well. Anybody else waking up early at this time of year? And also, that's biological. They now know that we need a little bit less sleep in the summer. It's why animals hibernate in the winter, because they need more sleep.

32:42We need more sleep. We're more likely to have longer sleep sessions in the winter. I didn't know that. We don't need as much sleep in the summer. No, so don't worry about it. I was worrying about it. I was thinking, I've only had five and a half hours sleep, and I should be getting like seven or eight. But actually, I feel fine. You need to be guided by how you feel, obviously. And if you get to see the sunrise, it's such a bonus, isn't it? Yeah, but that's like 4.30. I did a radio show and I had a 3.30 alarm and that was the one joy. Oh, that is the one benefit. That's my sunrise. But we get nice sunsets.

33:11So sunrise and sunset, any time the sky is red, we need to be out there looking at it. You probably heard that red light is really good. Yeah. And you can buy infrared saunas and red light panels. And that's because it's a frequency of light that lowers inflammation. So again, coming back to inflammation and cell health. and it also helps with our hormone balance and it just helps improve skin and it helps with collagen synthesis, all sorts of things. So we get that free whenever we see it in the sky. And they used to say, didn't they, red sky at night, shepherd's delight. That is, if you see the sunset, then definitely it's a good thing.

33:47Last night there was a brilliant red sky so I just kind of went out and stood in it and I was grateful. Gorgeous, I love that so much. Thank you. That's a red sky, I love it. So that's really important. So tongue scraping. Yeah. Why is that important? Okay, so if you get up in the morning and you look in the mirror, stick your tongue out, and it's all kind of white and fuzzy, that is the coating of dead cells and bacteria, stuff the body doesn't want. It chucks it out. Overnight, it's done that. Overnight, it's done it. So, you know, we usually go to bed with a pink tongue, and you can tell if you've had a heavy night, if you've been on the old Chardonnay the night before, you will probably...

34:22Don't look at me. The Chardonnay. then you will have a possibly a white coated tongue and what you don't really want to be doing is re-ingesting that because your bodies work quite hard to get rid of it so a tongue scraper just one simple swoop down the sink job done and then you're actually helping the body to eliminate so i do that first thing and then i drink two large glasses of electrolytes okay so electrolytes so if you forget to drink water during the day i mean i know we all need to be drinking a lot more fluid, especially on a day like today. Water in itself is not necessarily hydrating.

35:01Water finds it more easily absorbed in the cells if it's bound with trace minerals. So you can actually end up being dehydrated if you overload just with water and there's a whole condition associated with that because we dilute the minerals in the body. So you could have a little pinch of rock salt or a little pinch of sea salt. I keep a little grinder of sea salt in my bathroom and I just put that in my filtered water jug first thing in the morning. And having two large glasses, especially at this time of year, is really important because overnight, obviously we're not drinking. During the day we take sips and we're replenishing our water.

35:36Overnight that doesn't happen. So we wake up dehydrated. If you factor into that the weather, if you factor into it menopausal hot flushes potentially, vasomotor symptoms, maybe a night of passion if you're lucky. So there's all these reasons why we might be a bit more dehydrated. I didn't think we were going there. I didn't see that one coming, but I'll go then. So there's lots of reasons why first thing in the morning, before your cup of coffee, coffee is also a good thing, by the way. Coffee drinkers live longer. I've written that down. Coffee drinkers live longer. I saw it on your Instagram this week and I thought, praise the Lord, finally.

36:13It's a good thing, but don't have it first thing. It does tend to give you a little micro-cortisol spike, which is okay. We need that. Cortisol is, sometimes you think of it as the bad guy. Too much, as you know, is bad. But first thing, it's what gives us our get up and go. It's what gets us up and starting the day. So you need a little bit. So I would say ideally wait half an hour before your first cup of coffee. And those electrolytes, if you put them back first thing, I promise you, if you've not tried this before, you will have so much more energy. And you can thank me later. Ladies and gents, we are so excited to have this beautiful human with us today.

36:51Please make some huge happy place noise for Dame Kelly Holmes. To have that amazing resilience, like the mental capabilities and the physical capabilities for both the military and, you know, being an incredible athlete. Which do you think was tougher mentally and physically? In different ways, they were very tough. I was in a so-called man's world, which I'm getting away from because we're globally 50 % of the population. So we say we actually globally deserve to be here as much as men. So it's not the man's world. It's half ours. Right. It's half ours. So I've stopped all that now. But I was in an army where it was predominantly men who I worked for or worked with.

37:39And so it was tough in a way because as a woman, I always had to show myself a little bit more, especially when I became a physical training instructor when I was 21. You know, you've got all these big guys, six foot tall. And that's what you did in the army. Yeah, I was actually a heavy goods vehicle driver. Hello. Start with. Look out, she's coming in. You know why I say your phone is too late. It's like that opportunity came up, I went in, and then I thought, well, then I can go to be a PTI rather than not bothering. So I became a physical training instructor. I love the strategy behind that, though.

38:09That's what it takes. You need to have that resilience and the go, get and go. I'm going to do that and that will pivot into that and amazing yeah well otherwise what do you do give up on things or yourself so I just thought I'll go for it became a physical training instructor loved it because I was beasting the guys like properly like had all these powers like oh my god this is amazing uh but it taught me a lot about myself leadership styles improved my self confidence self-worth and I became the person that I wanted to become as a soldier yeah um and it gave me a lot of discipline and resilience like you say yeah athletics very different when it's a goal when there's an unknown you're up against everybody else that wants to be number one there's only one person who's number one in the world you know you get a lot of losses in every form of life like whoever tells me that life goes up there up there is lying yeah because no everyone that's ever been successful and success can mean anything to you has had a journey to get there and i don't care who that is they've had a journey unless they've been given it on a plate billionaire thank you very much everyone's had a journey I believe I've got a platform a story I hope to make changes to difference but everyone out there has their own story right yeah and it's like the likes of us we should be there to make you realize that life isn't all great what I love with you we're going to talk about how you keep sort of reinventing your journey but just quickly touching on the Olympics because every time it's on I say to my kids no but you don't get it it's not that You've just got to be physically incredible.

39:40Your mindset, your body, everything has to come together for that, however many seconds it is. Like the pressure of that, like how has that set you up for life? Visualization, all of that amazing stuff. On both sides of the coin, it's done two things. So one, achieving like the ultimate goal in my sport, being Olympic champion is like literally the ultimate. or you can win a medal that's good because that might be your podium moment or you can get in a team that might be your podium moment the thing is set your own podium moment what is where you want to get so I always had that in my mind and I put mine right at the top and um you know the thing is the journey to get there no one sees the other side of it so in sport you're putting a telly olympics comes and you'll see the highs and lows of the athlete with the tears or the cheers right but the truth is 80 of it is probably fighting to keep fit going through the emotional turmoil are you going to be ready injuries you know they're not waiting for you they have a date in a diary that's set every four years women's 800 meter final they are not waiting for you to be ready so you then it's the mindset around getting yourself ready in time I had seven years of injuries out of 12 years of performance with 13 international medals at Commonwealth European World previous Olympics I got a bronze and that one and everyone says how do you go through injuries not being able to walk to winning a medal well if you're into fitness let me tell you and it's you know I'm all I say I talk to you from lived experience right then I'm not here to preach I talk from lived experience.

41:30What I realise is that if I want to keep fit or I've got a goal and something goes wrong, like I want to do a run, I'm getting injured a lot. I get a calf injury, let's say. People give up on themselves. They think, I can't train now, like I'm injured. All about from here all the way up to here and then there, that can still train. So as long as you're getting treatment or looking after it or recovering or icing or stretching or whatever wherever it is you can still train so then you're training the brain to still keep fit and the body because actually when you get back to fitness you know the thing you were doing anyway and that's how I treated it an injury is a lesson that I've done either something not how it's done I've pushed myself too hard I then have to reset and that's the hardest thing the mind actually the body will do it but the mind saying it'll be okay you know and again then it's about team of people around you elite level it's slightly different you've got great people around you you know i love as well the takeaway already for everybody have the podium moments in your diary right it's not about winning a gold medal and standing on that podium what is that podium moment for you right now in your life that you can set as a huge goal for later in the year for quarter four whatever it is um and the next thing is motivation because i think we can so easily let ourself off the hook you wake up and you're like do you know what i'm not really feeling it like You can't do that with the Olympics, right?

42:56Not with the Olympics. You can do it with life. So share a sort of hack with everyone for kind of keeping motivated when you're kind of waking up going, eh, I'm not really feeling it. I think you said about goals, you know. Why do you want to do something? Like what started you on the journey? Or why in your heart or your body that you think, I want to do this? You've got to have a purpose. Like people say why and purpose and ambition and dreams and goals. Have something, one of them. because then that sets you on well how do I get there right it's like with your work you know you start a job the expectations are there you don't know the brand new job but you find the way and then suddenly year down the line it's just natural it's nature yeah so but in fitness and health I think it's like a way like why do you want to do this what is it is it because of illness is it because you don't like the way you feel or your perception of how you look or, you know, are you getting ready for something?

43:54Or have you entered something that's the first time ever and the nerves are going and, you know, you've got a park run, it's 5K, you've just done the Couch to 5K app and then can you have the guts to go to a place where you're exposed because you did that on your own? Everyone else feels the same. Like I'm telling you, it doesn't matter whether you win Olympic Games or you go to a park run, if it's your first time, their belly is going but if you don't do it you sit there and everyone else gets up and gets the feel good you know their door fins are dreading people forget that uh you matter as well you know we all go around life pleasing or appeasing someone whether it's your partner your loved one your friends family you know kids colleagues whatever we all go around every day because life is like that but when do you actually think i matter too and i think i started remembering that when my mum passed away in 2017, I was thinking, oh my God, do you know what I mean?

44:45Like I'm having all these feelings because I've had a lot of mental health problems, but I just thought to myself, well, but I'm not, I've got to live, if I, you know. We can go through life or we can live life. We can go through life or we can live life. Yes, I love that, Kelly. What a special woman Dame Kelly is. I always curtsy when I see Kelly. It's a must. Have all these chats made you think you want to be part of the action at Tatton Park when we do this all over again, this weekend on the 30th and 31st of August, I hope so, tickets are available at happyplacefestival.com. Very simple. We're going to be back later this week with a celebration of this incredible summer of sport that we're having.

45:28And then next week with someone who I'm saying is national treasure status. It's going to be gorgeous. Until then, a massive thanks again to everyone who made our Gunnersbury Park Festival so special. To the producers of this episode, Anushka Tate and Basil Oxtoby, and to you, look after yourselves, babes.

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