The Making of Size HH: Part 4, Sleeping Beauty
If you have read Size HH, you will know it’s not really a diet or exercise book. It’s about helping you to feel happy and healthy from the inside out, so we look at mind and lifestyle habits first, including sleep and stress management, then move onto nutrition and exercise.
Those of us with busy lives know that; no matter how many exercise DVD’s, recipe books or fitness guides you own, if you don’t find the time, or don’t feel any motivation to use them regularly, they will probably just sit on the shelf gathering dust!
Give yourself the best chances of reaching your health and fitness goals by making sure your core needs are on point first. What are they?
Air, water, food and sleep. Sounds simple, but each one of those is torture on the body if we don’t have enough, yet many of us regularly find ourselves putting other things before them like; TV, social media and housework before sleep, stressing before taking deep breaths, or eating convenient junk food before the good stuff.
Looking after these vital needs doesn’t have to be complicated…
Air – The plants and trees give us free life-saving oxygen yet many of us still aren’t getting enough. Stress, anxiety, fear and even posture can change the way we breath, leading us to take shallower breaths for large chunks of our days. This is seriously not good news for our whole body and even the skin will show effects before long. There are many deep breathing methods to suit everyone, so find one that’s right for you and practice it every day to give your body a delicious boost of oxygen.
Water – Drink plenty ever day and go for filtered or purified mineral water where you can. Never reuse disposable plastic water bottles, or drink from plastic bottles that have been left in heat (hot cars, in the sun etc). They give off toxic fumes that are bad news for our health and hormones.
Good food – Keep it balanced and tailored to your lifestyle and activity level. It’s always worth consulting a professional to have your gut health checked and be tested for any food intolerances to rule out anything there. See more about the fuel foods we need daily in the Size HH book.
Sleep – Stress, work, kids, etc. most of us have these responsibilities and our resting time often suffers from it. As adults, we know when kids (or even other adults) need sleep because we can clearly see the effects – grouchy, can’t concentrate, uncooperative etc, but when we display these signs ourselves, do we actually listen? Rarely! Most of the time we have more important priorities other than sleep.
As I was writing this part of the book, I realised just how important it was when I witnessed myself ignoring balance to perform a juggling act, which usually resulted in sleep dropping out first, then me feeling exhausted and unproductive. I know many women in the same boat, so I began looking for the right person to help and contribute a few tips to the book.
Thanks to our Editor, Jacqui Malpass, I was introduced to Anandi, Sleep Guru as featured in Vogue, OK Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Harpers Bazzarr Good Housekeeping, Esquire and many more.
With over 25 years’ experience in all things sleep and wellbeing, Anandi was the perfect fit and amazingly agreed to be part of the project after hearing about it. I was (still am) unbelievably thankful to have such a respected professional on board to provide some valuable tips and information for our readers!
With Anandi’s help we were able to finish off the sleep section soon afterwards and I trialled the tips right away. Quickly, I felt the difference in how much more productive I was, if I actually let myself rest when my body said it needed to (whenever possible obviously). It actually allowed me to get more done and with a fresh mind just by making a few simple choices.
For those of you who suffer with persistent sleep problems or insomnia for sometime, you may want to look into Anandi’s Personal Sleep Review for some professional 1:1 support and guidance to solving your sleep troubles, through the most natural paths possible.
Anandi spends her time between the UK and Italy where she runs sleep retreats, teaches yoga, meditation, deep breathing techniques and more, as well as providing support to clients all over the world online. Anandi also makes regular trips to India where she helps raise funds for children’s education and welfare.
To read some of Anandi’s fab articles for good night’s sleep tips, natural stress relievers and lots more, head over to http://www.thesleepguru.co.uk/. You can also sign up to her free newsletter for regular tips straight to your inbox.
