LifeStyling: How it changed my life.

What is Life Styling? I use the term because it feels authentic to me, however other terms of description are ‘biohacking’ or ‘human enhancement’. Whichever way it is labelled the meaning of it is ‘when a person takes it upon themselves to make incremental changes to their body to improve their health by diet, exercise and mindful practises – avoiding conventional medicine prescribed today – instead working with the natural flow of the human body.’

The funny thing is there is an awful lot of science behind the working of life styling – and using that science and trusting that our bodies are incredible machines that have the capacity to do just about anything!

Let’s imagine ourselves a prestige sports car - it would be imperative to check the engine regularly and fill it up with the best fuel, it would be cleaned and polished taking care that rust wouldn’t settle in and taken out for runs so the battery would stay alive. It could last forever and eventually become a classic for people to admire. Life styling is where you are the prestige sports car that is destined to become a classic.

So where do you start?

Where did I start?

You see I was a clapped-out car broken down on the side of the road – with my hood up overheating and spluttering….

The Life Stylers Road Map

i. Open your mind to complimentary practises. My starting point was at rock bottom, and it was necessary for me to start with drastic action – so my first port of call was to see a chiropractor who could help realign my body, and with massage/manipulation, laser treatment and exercises for me to practise at home there were definite improvements. Next was 10 weekly sessions of acupuncture – having needles placed from my neck down my spine, the length of my arms and the back of my legs down to my ankles – I was also sent home with what looked like a bag of potpourri to steep in hot water and drink. This practise was releasing blockages in my body and allowing energy flow and create a pathway called the meridians which connected the acupuncture points. The results of this treatment were quite incredible, it brought me out of my first and by far the most severe flare up – and more importantly opened up my sensibilities of ancient and modern treatments and their potential of making everlasting change… This was over 20 years ago, and since that eye-opening time I have learnt the value of meditation, hot and cold treatments, natural alignment and many more.

ii. The healing nature of food. Complimentary practises are fabulous, and they play a large part in life styling however, what we eat is a non-negotiable factor and is the most important part of creating well-being. It is common knowledge now how important gut health is and reducing inflammation in the body. This is only created by what fuel is being fed in – and it can be a minefield to decipher what is good and what is not. It took me seven years of following elimination diets and plant-based eating to finally discover which foods actively caused inflammation by the harmful lectins and which foods acted as a healing medicine and helped me thrive. I have learned the fascinating science behind the nutrients found in foods that cause healthy cell renewal and eating the correct foods for me led to rapid improvement and eventual reversal of my symptoms. It’s not about cutting out certain foods out of your diet entirely (apart from processed junk) but actually gaining knowledge as to which grain or protein or even vegetable is suited and allows your body to heal itself.

iii. The art of exercise. I still hear people groaning at this and comment ‘but the gym is boring’ which is such a closed response, I seriously don’t get it. The benefits of getting up and moving like boosting self-esteem, helping sleep and then energy reducing stress and clinical depression as well as your physical health is a no-brainer for me. You just need to be creative anything and everything can be exercise if you put the effort in. I love to dance so I’ve made dance classes as part of my cardio a couple times a week, I love to walk so I make it a great excuse to get out and explore and when the weather doesn’t allow it I go walk on a treadmill and listen to rock music. There really is so much to do cycling, climbing, horse-riding, swimming, surfing, play sports it’s endless. I personally do recommend pushing weights as well, it builds strength in muscle groups that supports your joints which in turn protects against injury – as well as becoming toned which then boosts confidence. Win win.

When I first started this journey, I had very little knowledge as to whether what I was doing and experimenting with would work, the terms biohacking and human enhancement were not common back then. I acted on pure instinct and had to learn sometimes the hard way as to what worked and what didn’t. I pride myself now that through my learning curves I am able to guide others much more quickly to get the outcomes that they want.

If you’re looking to start styling your life whether it’s you’re at rock bottom like where I was or you are just curious as to how life could get even better – reach out.