Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

How to Transform Your Lifestyle for Optimum Health, Happiness and Vitality with Tony Riddle #278

22 snips

May 31, 2022

In this engaging discussion, ultra-endurance athlete Tony Riddle, known as the natural lifestylist, shares insights from his journey towards a simplified, natural lifestyle. He emphasizes the importance of reconnecting with nature, down-regulating stress through breathing exercises, and adopting minimalist practices for better health. Tony also highlights how mindful movement and embracing cold exposure can rejuvenate well-being. With inspiring stories about enhancing vitality, even at older ages, he advocates for a return to our natural roots for both physical and mental wellness.

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INSIGHT

Nervous System Regulation

Up-regulation, or fight-or-flight, is a necessary response to acute stress, but modern lifestyles often trigger it chronically.
Down-regulation, or rest-and-digest, should be our default state, promoting growth and restoration.

ANECDOTE

Transforming Stressful Interactions

Tony helped a client manage stress related to her father by using down-regulation breathing techniques.
Practicing the 4-6 breathing technique before and during stressful encounters can change your experience.

ADVICE

Hourly Breathing

Practice the 4-6 breathing technique: inhale for 4 seconds and exhale for 6.
Do six cycles every hour to down-regulate your nervous system.

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What does it mean to be a thriving human in the 21st century? The way we currently live is very different from the way humans have lived for the bulk of our evolution. As humanity has evolved and developed technologies to make us more comfortable, many of us have lost our instinctive connection to nature and this has had profound consequences on our physical and mental well-being. So what can we do about this? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot. My guest today is Tony Riddle. Tony is an ultra-endurance athlete and goes by the name of the natural lifestylist. He has spent the last decade developing and refining a robust way of life based upon the principles of a natural lifestyle. He's hosted retreats and workshops, where he has taught thousands of people around the world to live more naturally.

Tony has now written his very first book, Be More Human: How to Transform your Lifestyle for Optimum Health, Happiness and Vitality. The beauty of Tony's natural lifestyle philosophy is its simplicity, rather than a long list of things to incorporate into your busy life, it's actually all about stripping back and simplifying; removing what's not serving us in order to get back to a natural state of well-being. A good way to start is to learn how to ‘down-regulate’ – to calm the fight-or-flight system that’s switched on when we’re under chronic stress. It can be as easy as a minute or two of breathing, exhaling for longer than you inhale. Or a few moments spent in nature.

But he also wants us to experiment with discomfort and inconvenience, antidotes to modern life that will keep our muscles and mind from atrophy. We talk about the benefits of cold immersion and some simple ways in which we can start to bring this into our lives.

We chat about the importance of good quality sleep and why we all may not need the mythical eight hours. Tony describes some posture-enhancing positions we can all adopt, including squats and heel sitting to liberate our joints and spine. He explains why our foot strength dramatically increases when we transition to minimalist shoes and spend more time without our shoes on.

We finished off talking about Tony's deep relationship to running and why he describes it as a spiritual experience. The truth is we are never going back to being hunter-gatherers. But it doesn't mean we can't learn from them. Tony says we don't have to live in the wild to re-wild. This is such an inspiring episode, packed with practical tools that you can try right now. Tony is passionate and knowledgeable and I hope this conversation will help you become happier and healthier.

Thanks to our sponsors:

https://www.vivobarefoot.com/livemore

https://www.athleticgreens.com/livemore

https://www.leafyard.com/livemore

Show notes available at https://drchatterjee.com/278

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified health care provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.