Could YOU cope with these women's wacky WELLNESS REGIMES?
From swilling with coconut oil at dawn to lying on a bed of nails at bedtime — and not forgetting the daily ‘gratitude meditation’. . .
FOR most of us, staying well means keeping out of the biscuit tin, going to bed before midnight and taking the stairs, instead of the lift.
However, there are some, part of a growing movement, whose pursuit of ‘wellness’ would leave most mortals crawling under the duvet in horror.
Here, three such devotees share a diary of a typical day in their lives. Get a strong coffee ready . . .
EVERY NIGHT I LIE ON MY ‘YANTRA MAT’
SAMANTHA LEHANE, 35, is a senior programme manager in marketing and lives in St Albans, Hertfordshire, with boyfriend, Danny, 33, an insurance broker. She became a self-confessed wellness addict after turning 30.
5.30am: Woken by my phone alarm at the optimal time by an app that detects when I’m in the lightest phase of sleep. Before getting out of bed I take my temperature to record on the Ovia fertility app, which monitors my menstrual cycle.
Most women use it to help them conceive or avoid pregnancy, but it is my early warning system for the sugar cravings I get in the run-up to my period. That means I get lots of grapes and mangoes to see them off, and keep me feeling alert.
5.40am: In our basement, which I’ve converted into an exercise room, I do a High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workout following a YouTube video. That’s 30 minutes of intense bursts of running on the spot, jumping jacks, squats and push-ups to get my heart rate up, then resting to slow it down. Alternating intensity like this is said to be best for burning fat.
6.15am: Before showering, I use a brush with natural bristles on my body and face to stimulate circulation, remove dead cells, and prevent cellulite.
I like to keep myself in tip-top condition on the inside too, and three mornings a week I use an Elvie Kegel pelvic floor trainer, which connects to an app on my phone. It cost me £130, but is worth every penny. I’d like to have children one day and my mum’s friends terrify me with stories of their weak bladders, which I’m determined to avoid.
7am: Once a week I practise oil pulling, swilling coconut oil around my mouth for 20 minutes to draw out toxins that cause bad breath — I have very white teeth and credit it to this.
I drink hot water with lemon as a cleanse, then have a breakfast of fat-free Greek yoghurt and blueberries, plus various multi-vitamins and supplements.
7.25am: I power walk for 15 minutes to the railway station, then get off a stop early to walk a further 20 minutes to my office in central London. My colleagues are bleary- eyed and need coffee to wake up; I feel perky.
11am: I snack on a hard-boiled egg. I record my weight in the Ovia fertility app weekly and it fluctuates around 9½ st.
12.30pm: A lunchtime, 50-minute yoga class, followed by lunch at my desk: either soup with two rice cakes or grilled chicken and vegetables, which I bring from home.
3pm: An apple or banana beats the mid- afternoon slump. No office Dunkin’ Donuts runs for me! I have about 30 colleagues so there’s birthday cake most weeks — I always decline. Some think my willpower is impressive while others say they couldn’t stand the deprivation.
I do allow myself a treat of one coffee a week, on Friday mornings, but otherwise stick to herbal tea and water, which I purify using charcoal sticks.
6.30pm: After an hour’s commute back to St Albans, I hit the gym where I run either 5km or 10km, on a rotation. It’s great to pound away the stress of the day
7.30pm: Danny cooks dinner — either a salmon or chicken fillet with vegetables. I occasionally have pasta, but only after a long run when my metabolism is high.
9pm: After showering I lie in bed on my yantra mat, like a bed of nails covered in plastic spikes that touch pressure points in the body. I’ve been doing it for years and find it really relaxing, but when people try it for the first time they find the spikes agonising. Danny thinks it’s bonkers.
9.15pm: I listen to a meditation recording and am asleep by 9.30pm. Luckily, Danny also likes early nights.
A DAILY TAROT CARD IS MY GUIDE
ISABEL DEL LION, 36, is a yoga teacher who lives in West London. She and her partner are expecting their first child in June. A party girl in her 20s, she’s lived more healthily for six years.
7.20am: After nine or ten hours of sleep I’m gradually woken by my Lumie alarm clock, which emits increasing amounts of light to mimic the sun coming up, helping keep my hormones in balance.
It is the only electrical item in my bedroom — I can’t risk my calm being disrupted.
7.30am: I spend ten minutes doing yoga stretches followed by a ‘loving kindness Buddhist meditation’, sipping hot water mixed with freshly squeezed lemon juice.
I light candles on a small altar that I have set up in the spare room. It contains crystals, a Buddha statue and Tarot cards, one of which I pick each day and reflect on how it might guide me.
8am: Half an hour of free writing — jotting down whatever comes into my head — in my journal. It helps declutter my mind; I might have been feeling insecure or upset about something someone has said, or worried about something. I then set goals for the day.
8.30am: At least an hourand-a-half of yoga, rounded off with another ten-minute meditation. I use either a rose quartz or jade crystal roller on my skin to reduce inflammation, help cell renewal and give me a rejuvenating
glow. Every three weeks I have ‘intuitive facials’, £110 for 90 min - utes. The therapist asks my skin to ‘speak’ to her about what it needs, whether that be more moisture or something to calm sensitivity.
Other times she has me repeat affirmations such as: ‘I feel really comfortable in my skin’.
Fortnightly, like Gwyneth Paltrow, I have tui na, or cupping, in which toxins are sucked out of my body by small glass suction cups placed on the skin. All this adds up to several hundred pounds a month and, though my partner isn ’t into wellness, he’s supportive of me.
10am: Breakfast is porridge with blueberries and acai berries, to which I add superfood powder containing omega 3, 6 and 9 as well as maca, which is great for fertility and vitality.
I blend avocado, apple, banana, blueberries and almond milk with spirulina and more superfood powder in my Nutribullet to make a smoothie. In my 20s I’d eat fryups or croissants with black coffee which left me feeling wired and then drained by midday.
10.30am: After brushing my teeth I use a copper tongue scraper to remove toxins. Every other day I boost circulation using a natural fibre brush before showering.
11am: I start work on a book I’m writing about yoga. Every 45 minutes I take a break and do yoga poses to counter the effects on my posture. I keep a black tourmaline crystal beside me to help balance my energy and miti - gate the laptop’s electrical rays.
1pm: Before eating I always have a shot of wheatgrass, some - times with spinach or ginger to boost my immune system. Lunch is high-protein, such as boiled eggs with quinoa or chicken and raw vegetables. I have lemon and hot water afterwards to digest, but never touch caffeine.
2pm: Some days after lunch I’ll have a reiki massage or a cranio - sacral treatment, where a practitioner heals the body by laying their hands on it. I also have acupuncture to balance my hormones, go to sound-healing sessions, and meditate to the sound of drums.
6pm: I teach a yoga class, and join in to tone my body.
7pm: I go for a run or to the gym, where I use the cross-trainer and weights, or have a swim. I’ve avoided the sauna during pregnancy and will mainly stick to the pool, rather than the gym, from now until after the birth.
8pm: Dinner will be high protein — beef steak, stir-fried vegetables and brown rice. I’m not a big fan of carbohydrates. I drink up to seven litres of water a day , and never touch alcohol as it interferes with my sleep.
9pm: I switch off my phone and other devices, because the blue light they give off can interfere with sleep. I put on a charcoal face mask to draw out toxins.
9.30pm: I wind down in a ritual bath with rose petals and essential oils, surrounded by lit candles.
I listen to Om Mani Padme Hum or another Buddhist ritual song.
10pm: A ten-minute, candle -lit gratitude meditation — appreciating everything that I have, and what I’ve achieved today.
10.30pm: Bedtime is signalled by the light fading on my Lumie clock, like the sun setting. I keep a rose quartz, which promotes love and healing, under my pillow and an amethyst stone, good for physical cleansing, beside my bed.
Getting nine hours’ sleep a night and sticking to my routine will be challenging once the baby is born; I’ll cross that bridge when it comes.
CRYSTALS AND COLD SHOWERS
ANDREA HOWARD, 50, is a divorced holistic health coach who lives in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
7am: I get out of bed, having spent the past half -hour coming round with the help of my Lumie lamp, which is programmed to start giving off light from 6.30am.
7.15am: I drink warm water with the juice of one lemon, through a straw to protect my teeth from the acid, then do 15 minutes of yoga.
While I hold poses I list, aloud, the things I’m grateful for: it could my eyesight which enables me to see the beautiful day, my car which enables me to get around, my laptop so I can work — it changes every day. Then I sit for five minutes and think positive thoughts.
7.30am: Once I’m dressed I chop up a whole galia or honeydew melon, or half a watermelon, for breakfast.
9am: I begin working , writing and meeting clients over Skype. While I’m talking to clients I’ll hold a crystal — a rose quartz or blue quartz — which helps ensure I’m approaching the call from a place of love. If I’m pushed I can stand my ground, but I very rarely lose my temper with anyone.
11am: Snack time — an apple with almond butter and flaxseed bread. Every six months I have hair tissue mineral analysis — I pull out a strand of hair and send it off for testing , which costs £60, and it shows the levels of minerals, what I’m too high or low in, and toxins in my body so I can adjust my diet and work on my stress levels accordingly.
1pm: Lunch is a huge veggie salad. I don ’t eat wheat, gluten, dairy, processed foods, shop - bought cakes or biscuits, refined sugar or artificial sweeteners, nor do I drink alcohol — or miss it.
After lunch, whatever the weather, I walk for an hour to get natural light, which helps reduce stress and boost metabolism. It also helps keep my body clock in good order so I can sleep.
5pm: I do weight training to keep my muscles strong, followed by 15 minutes of HIIT.
6pm: In the shower I spend the last minute, or as long as I can bear, with the temperature freezing. It increases circulation, w hich promotes healing by drawing stagnant blood away from muscles, attracting fresh blood so they are less likely to ache.
I’m living with my parents, having moved from France, and when they hear screams from the bathroom they know it ’s my daily shower. They are aged 77 and don’t understand my funny rituals.
6.30pm: Dinner will be chickpea stew, lentil dhal, chicken stir-fry or fajitas, made with gluten- free wraps. I don’t often weigh myself but I’m a size 8 and don ’t tend to go over 7½ st, which is pretty light for my age.
While a lot of my contemporaries suffer with aches and pains, I feel much stronger than in my 20s, thanks to my strict regime.
At the weekend I might share a slice of gluten-free chocolate cake with my mum, but a couple of bites is always enough to satisfy any cravings. I don’t believe in deprivation, it’s all about balance.
Friends say they couldn ’t be as disciplined as me, because they like crisps, or whatever , but changing a habit just takes time.
7.30pm: I try to avoid screens from this time onwards, and if I do watch TV I wear special orange - tinted glasses to cancel out blue light. My dad rolls his eyes!
9pm: I turn on a diffuser in my bedroom and pour in lavender , orange or lemon oil. I spend some time looking at my vision board, with images of the things I want to attract into my life, including a Nissan X-Trail car, about £25,000, and retreat holidays.
It works — I attracted a trip to Australia to see my brother , that my parents are treating me to, by posting it on my cork board.
9.30pm: I do yoga then listen to a guided meditation. I’m usually asleep by 10pm as I like to get nine hours’ rest.