Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee
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Are you in control of your nervous system – or is it in control of you? It's a question that deserves your attention, because the answer affects everything from how well you sleep to how you react when life is hard. And my guest this week believes most of us have more agency than we realise. Dr Kristen Holmes is Global Head of Human Performance and Principal Scientist at the wearable-tech company WHOOP. She’s also a former US national field hockey player and one of the most successful coaches in Ivy League history. In her new book, Aligned, she argues that a well-regulated nervous system is the foundation for our health, performance and relationships. We start by exploring what a balanced nervous system looks like in daily life, why some people need to begin with their body and others with their mind, and why Kristen prefers the word agency to control. Kristen then talks me through a study she led with WHOOP, in which 39,000 of its members tried four simple, free daily behaviours, and what happened to their sleep and heart health as a result. She explains why most of us have no idea when our body naturally wants to fall asleep, why sleep consistency predicts health more strongly