5 GP-backed ways to transform your wellbeing this summer

Sometimes the world of wellbeing can feel like a complicated place – from how many macronutrients you need to eat and hundreds of supplement options, to the latest ever-changing fitness fads.

But often the best practices are the simplest – and don’t cost a thing.

Here, Dr Shiv Chande, NHS GP, yoga and meditation teacher and co-founder of The Chande Project – a wellness initiative which blends mindfulness, Eastern and Western science and human connection – shares his tips for bringing the focus back to your wellbeing this season.

1. Sync with the season and get sunlight first thing

We have a natural circadian rhythm, Chande explains. “When we wake up in the morning and get sunlight on our face, it releases the natural rhythm of our hormones. We get a cortisol release to give us that ‘ready for action’ mode, and it also releases serotonin – the hormones that make us feel good – and in turn, as the day goes on, has a contribution to the amount of melatonin that’s released at nighttime.

“This means we’re more likely to fall asleep with the natural rhythm of what’s going on around us,” he adds, just as our ancestors would have done. “That’s the way we were designed to live and when we cut ourselves off from that natural way of living our hormones go all over the place – it’s a huge contributor to our decline in mental wellbeing.

“It’s one of the simplest, easiest things you can do – to naturally align yourself to the rhythm of what’s going on around you.”

Generally we need less sleep in summer, he adds. “I certainly do. I’m not advocating you completely mirror the cycle of light, but personally, for me, in winter I need my eight hours, whereas in summer I can get away with six and a half or seven. In summer, I start stirring at 5:30am.”

2. Focus on mindful, joyful movement

Often we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to exercise as hard as possible every time.

“I am also one of these people,” Chande says. “I’ve grown up in this culture and system, I’m a medic, so it’s ingrained into us to push ourselves, hammer runs. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to tune into what your body needs and what it’s feeling,” he says. If you’re already pushing yourself hard at work and working long hours, pushing yourself during a workout “is not necessarily what your body needs”.

He recommends a “rounded approach” but to include some endurance, strength and stretching. Yoga, dancing, swimming and hiking are great for slower, more mindful movement.

Run but “run for the sake of running in nature, looking around at your surroundings”, Chande says. “Sometimes you feel a surge of wanting to run really fast and push yourself” – just embrace it.

But another key factor is consistency. “Consistency has been shown to be such an important factor in progress in any domain”, he adds. If exercise doesn’t feel like hard work then you’re far more likely to be consistent. “Paradoxically, trying less and being more consistent will probably get you closer to your goals.”

3. Learn to breathe properly

“The breath is such a foundational tool in our health and our happiness,” says Chande. “It sounds crazy because we breathe all the time, you don’t need to think about it. When I first started learning about this stuff as a doctor, [I thought] ‘What are you talking about?’ But the little changes in the way you breathe, cumulatively, have a huge impact on every aspect of our being.”

Plus, a consequence of not living in the way our ancestors did (with more sitting, time inside and screens) “is that our core, back, spinal health and abdominal muscle health is poor, and that leads us to collapse. It leads us to breathe differently to how we should”, he says.

“We often breathe up into our chest – and this is not a minority of people, this is a significant amount of the population, maybe even a majority, who are breathing in ways that are not good for our health.”

When patients come into his GP practice with stress and health issues, he often recommends changing how they breathe.

“The idea is being able to breathe into your belly and inflate your abdomen like a balloon. The reason why that’s important is because we have three different areas of our lungs, and if we’re not using them, we’re not oxygenating effectively.”

It also means we aren’t using our diaphragm effectively, he notes. “If we just breathe into our chest, it’s a very stimulating state, and over a period of time, we get an imbalance in our nervous system. That makes us more likely to get anxiety, stress, shallow breathing and poor oxygenation. And that has an impact, not just in the short term, but on the long term of our whole entire health.”

Look on YouTube for demonstrations on how to do ‘full yogic breath’ – breathing firstly into your belly, then the sides of the rib cage and thirdly into the top of the chest. Combining all three is known as ‘full yogic breath’. Or try alternate nostril breathing.

4. Schedule stillness

Vegging in front of the TV at the end of the day might feel relaxing but it’s not true ‘stillness’.

“Unfortunately, when we are focusing our mind on something like scrolling through Instagram or watching lots of Netflix, we are using up our energy,” says Chande. “And so even though it feels like we might be physically still, we’re not actually relaxing in a way that our body needs.

“There are a whole set of processes that happen when we are ‘still’, from reducing inflammation in the body and optimising our immune system, to emotional processing, being able to sleep, digestive health… if you sit down and watch TV, you probably will get some of that but it’s not enough.”

For people who struggle to sit still and just breathe without distractions, writing a journal is helpful, he says. “It allows you to sort of cathartically release your thoughts from the day.

“[But] the only way you will learn what’s best for you and how you tick is if you sit still and you start to cultivate self awareness through practices like journaling, breathing techniques and meditation.

“If we live outside wholly, we will get lost in the chaos. We have to find time to connect with our body, our feelings, our emotions, our ourselves.”

5. Connect meaningfully

“Deep connection comes from seeking to understand people, asking questions and appreciating others, as well as shared experiences, being listened to and listening in return.

“A key component that constantly comes up for deep, meaningful connection is vulnerability” – so don’t be afraid to open up.

The Chande Project hosts retreats, community gatherings and corproate wellness days.  Follow @thechandeproject on Instagram for upcoming events.