21. Learning what it takes to be happy

Over the past several years, our attention to sleep and its importance to our overall health has become much more mainstream. This is great. Yet there are still so many of us who struggle to either fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night. Ensuring your evening routine is setting you up for a great sleep can be fundamental in improving the duration and quality of it. Many of us aren't doing the right things, but I run through some of the best actions you can take today which will improve your sleep considerably.

We are often so focused on developing new habits when it comes to achieving progress in life, whatever our goals may be, that we often forget about eliminating the bad habits. Doing this can actually be just as beneficial and quite often, bad habits are the real things that are holding us back to becoming better people. Here I discuss 7 of the most common bad habits I believe to be holding us back and how we can remove them from our lives.

Being healthy has become so complicated in today's world and to be quite honest I'm tired of it (as you might be too). It's confusing and demoralising, but in reality it really doesn't need to be this way. The answer to living a healthier, more fulfilled life is going back to basics. The fitness world doesn't make money off "basics" though but I'm here to tell you some of the easiest and naturally available things you implement in your life today that will make you healthier than most people.

Season 2 is here! And it begins with my journey over the past year which has led me on a path of discovering how we can lead healthier lives whilst navigating the toxicities of modern living. I scratch beneath the surface to see how we can all benefit from going back to basics whilst becoming more aware of what's around us in order to truly maximise living every day.

Cold water therapy has suddenly become the new health craze...why you may be wondering? Because what it does to you is quite something, and I'm fully on board with it. I'm currently in a pretty militant routine but have never felt happier and cold exposure is a part of that routine, every single morning. I discuss how I got into cold water therapy, the best way of starting, the unbelievable physical and mental benefits around it and a few other top tips worth knowing before you turn that shower cold or dive into an ice bath.

"Alcohol is the only drug you have to justify not using"...having spent the large part of the last 14 years drinking alcohol, 6 months ago I decided to become sober curious and significantly cut down the amount of alcohol I consumed, to now hardly any. Today I feel the best I have ever felt in my life for it. I take you through my relationship with alcohol growing up as a high level rugby player and the pressures of drinking working in the city in my mid 20s. I discuss the physiological effects that drinking alcohol has on the brain and body and run through the pros vs the cons of drinking. The aim of this episode is to encourage people to make informed decisions about their alcohol consumption in order to benefit their physical and mental health, and to open people's eyes up to becoming more sober curious. 

Social media is everywhere. You can't escape it. It's how we connect with people, follow our idols, retrieve information, stalk our ex's and show off the best bits of our own lives. But is it becoming all consuming? Is it taking away from our own reality? Are we living vicariously through others without even realising? Should we be using it more intentionally? How can we use it more intentionally? What are the positives? Listen in and explore the depths of it all with me in this episode. 

The world of pornography is huge and it's more readily available than ever. But do you know the implications it can have on you in a number of different ways? I discuss how watching porn can impact our mood, sex life and relationships and how it can be detrimental on the developing brain. I also discuss what good sex is and isn't, and how it can be influenced by porn. Strap in for this one, it's a good'un.

When someone asks "What is happiness?" I don't believe there is a single definition. It's different for everyone. But I do believe there are methods we can apply and definitions we can explore to open up our minds as to what happiness is and isn't. I take a look at some key components of happiness: what being in a flow state is, having inner peace, why being fully present is fundamental and also why things are only perfect or imperfect based on what we desire. 

I am a firm believer that we are most happiest when we are our true selves. Living on our own terms, doing things we want to do not because someone else says we should and being true to ourselves. I explore why self-acceptance is a crucial component of achieving this. I discuss why embracing death can be liberating and give our life meaning and I finish with why prioritising your physical health creates so many opportunities in other areas of life, including that of which is being yourself.