ROUTE TO WELLTH
The broadcaster, author and mum of two opens up about her eating disorder, building a healthy relationship with work and the power of movement for an inner vibe shift
Quieten
I love meditation; I used to do 40 minutes a day, but not any more. With a baby and a four-year-old, if I can get four minutes to meditate, I’ll take it. My perfectionist instinct used to signal that if I couldn’t do something ‘properly’, it wasn’t worth it. Now I realise that meditation acts as a time when I can ask, ‘Are my expectations ridiculous?’ or, ‘Am I being a total troll to myself?’
Seek
Striving for joy can feel frivolous and unrealistic, but seeking pockets of joy and squeezing every drop out of them is vital. I don’t do this perfectly, but my gratitude practice has helped a lot. Creating a podcast about gratitude was partly about keeping me accountable. I hope my book, Joyrider: How Gratitude Can Help You Get The Life You Really Want, can help others, too.
Grow
My experience [of a home birth] was amazing. Marnie came a few days early when my older daughter Ruby was asleep. When she woke up and came downstairs, she came in and rubbed my hand and then my face. I think her being part of the experience has eased the transition into that big sister role.
Recover
Growing up, eating disorders were framed as either tragic or humiliating. Mine made me miserable for years; it can feel like there’s no way of being other than that isolation and loneliness – but it can get better. That’s why I wrote about my experience. It’s so positive that we’re talking about mental health; eating disorders need to be a part of that.
Nourish
I don’t weigh myself; there are no scales in my house and I wear oversized clothes so I don’t have things to measure my body against. Still, pregnancy is a challenge because of the loss of control. This time – like the last – Itold myself, ‘This is about nourishing another human being.’ And if those old [disordered] coping mechanisms resurfaced, I
