Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

“Sleep is a lot like love: the less you look for it, the more it shows up.” So says my guest on this episode, one of the world's leading sleep doctors, who’s here to reveal the five common traps that are stopping us getting the rest we need.

Dr Michael Breus is a clinical psychologist and sleep specialist based in California. He’s the author of several books, including the brilliantly helpful, Sleep, Drink, Breathe. Over the course of his 25-year career, he’s helped
thousands of people transform their health by changing the way they sleep. You’ll love his bold, no-nonsense manner and warm, practical advice.

In this conversation, we unpack the sleep myths that are keeping us stuck. We talk about why chasing eight hours could be working against you, why sleeping in at the weekend may be doing more harm than good, and why freaking out about your sleep is making it worse. We also explore what is really happening in your body to cause that 3am wake-up, and the practical techniques that can help you get back to sleep quickly and calmly.

Michael shares his own diagnosis of sleep apnoea, which will surprise you given his background, and opens up a conversation I think many of you will find both reassuring and galvanising. He dispels common myths around testing and treatment, and makes a clear case for investigating your symptoms – it could change your life.

We also cover sleep tracking and how to interpret what your wearables say without driving yourself to distraction. Michael gives his view on the supplements worth considering and those that are not. We talk about the specific challenges facing women going through perimenopause and menopause, and he gives practical advice for shift workers, parents, and carers who feel they can’t get the hours they need.

We close by talking through his five-step plan, which is simple, evidence-based, and immediately actionable. It will help you sleep better from tonight. Wherever you are in your journey towards restful, restorative sleep, you will hear something new in this insightful and surprising conversation. By going back to basics, Michael offers some truly fresh perspectives on this most fundamental pillar of your health.

The Thrive Tour: Transform Your Health and Happiness, a live show: Book Your Tickets https://drchatterjee.com/live

 

Thanks to our sponsors:

https://hellolingo.com/livemore

https://dohealth.co/livemore

https://thewayapp.com/livemore

https://drinkag1.com/livemore

 

Show notes https://drchatterjee.com/672

 

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

Today’s guest belongs to the 35th generation of Shaolin Masters and began practising Kung Fu at the age of four. In the 38 years since, he’s acquired a wealth of knowledge in Chinese martial arts and Zen Buddhism.

Feel Better Live More Bitesize is my weekly podcast for your mind, body, and heart.  Each week I’ll be featuring inspirational stories and practical tips from some of my former guests. 

Today’s clip is from episode 426 of the podcast with Master Shi Heng Yi. 

In this clip, he shares a beautiful concept - and caution - that our thoughts may shape our destiny, and explains why cultivating greater awareness of our inner world could transform the way we experience our lives.

Thanks to our sponsor ⁠⁠⁠https://thewayapp.com/livemore 

Show notes and the full podcast are available at drchatterjee.com/426

Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts ⁠⁠https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore⁠⁠

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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 other qualified health care provider with any questions you may 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.

We’re living in a world that has become extraordinarily skilled at measuring success. But most of us never stop to question which standards really matter to us. Are you chasing success by someone else's definition, without even knowing it? This episode will help you figure that out.

My guest is C Thi Nguyen, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Utah and the author of The Score: How to Stop Playing Someone Else's Game, one of the most thought-provoking books I’ve read. This conversation explores where our values really come from, what games and hobbies can teach us about living with freedom, and why so much of what matters most in life resists being measured at all.

Thi has developed a fascinating framework for understanding one of the defining problems of modern life: what he calls ‘value capture’. It’s the process by which our own rich, personal values are replaced by simplified external metrics (think followers and likes, salaries, exam grades – even health metrics like your weight or blood pressure score). These metrics can never show the full picture of a human life – but they can end up running it. And once you understand this concept of value capture, you’ll start to notice it everywhere.

Thi and I discuss why our culture is so poor at honouring the ‘unmeasurables’. We talk about why joy, love, forgiveness and the quality of our relationships are the substance of a life well lived. Yet they’re systematically undervalued, not because they’re unimportant, but because they’re hard to count.

He’s somewhat of an expert on play, whether through sport, board games or hobbies, and we discuss what these activities, often dismissed as trivial, can teach us about meaning and how to live well. Plus, we debate the difference between principles and algorithmic rules – a distinction that might change how you approach your health and your life more broadly.

What I love about Thi's thinking is that he’s not telling us to throw out all forms of measurement. He’s more nuanced than that. He is asking us to wake up to the difference between the scorecard we have inherited from the world around us, and the one we would choose for ourselves. He wants us to know that the first step towards genuine fulfilment is simply becoming aware of whose game you have been playing.

The Thrive Tour: Transform Your Health and Happiness, a live show: Book Your Tickets https://drchatterjee.com/live

 

Thanks to our sponsors:

https://thewayapp.com/livemore

https://hellolingo.com/livemore

https://exhalecoffee.com/livemore

https://drinkag1.com/livemore

 

Show notes https://drchatterjee.com/670

 

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

Today’s guest believes brain decline is not inevitable, we all have agency in how we age, and the secret lies in our food.



Feel Better Live More Bitesize is my weekly podcast for your mind, body, and heart. Each week I’ll be featuring inspirational stories and practical tips from some of my former guests. 



Today’s clip is from episode 330 of the podcast with science journalist and New York Times bestselling author, Max Lugavere.

Max is passionate about helping people improve their brain health, their longevity and how they feel by optimising their diet.

In this clip, he shares three food types that he believes are worth reducing or removing from our diets, and explains why doing so could have many benefits for our health.

Max’s message is one of balance and realism. We can all make choices every single day that set us on the path to better health, even if we’re only taking baby steps. Making small changes could have a meaningful impact on our health.

Thanks to our sponsor https://heights.com/livemore

Show notes and the full podcast are available at drchatterjee.com/330

Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts ⁠⁠https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore⁠⁠

For other podcast platforms go to ⁠⁠https://fblm.supercast.com.

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 other qualified health care provider with any questions you may 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.

Could the stress you barely notice be more harmful than you think? Most of us know chronic stress is bad for us, but few of us realise how deep that damage can go – or how much power we have to reverse it. In this enlightening episode, I speak with one of the world's leading stress researchers Dr Elissa Epel, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, to explore the latest science of stress, ageing – and why deep rest may be the remedy we’re overlooking.

Elissa's research as a health psychologist reveals that chronic stress can age our immune systems by as much as 10 years. But with the right habits we can activate the repair mechanisms that slow and even reverse that process. We talk about her framework of four mind states – red, yellow, green and blue – outlined in her book, The Seven-Day Stress Prescription. I find it one of the most useful tools for understanding our place on the stress spectrum at any given moment. We explore why so many of us have lost the ability to relax, the importance of deep rest for cellular repair, and the evening habits that transform the quality of your sleep.

We also discuss the very latest in wearable technology and the metrics Elissa believes are worth tracking. She makes the distinction between monitoring daily stress levels and the tech that can now track longer-term trends. And she shares her experience with continuous glucose monitoring and what it revealed to her about the relationship between stress, sleep and metabolic health.

I loved hearing about the Big Joy Project, Elissa’s ongoing study of around 20,000 people, finding that small, simple acts of kindness and connection can shift our emotions over the course of a week and make us more altruistic and prosocial. At a time when the world can feel divided, I think that matters enormously.

Finally, we explore how changing the story you tell yourself about a stressful situation, current or past, can transform your physiological response. This reframing is something I’ve learned to do and find endlessly empowering. Our perception is not just a mental experience. It shapes our biology.

Elissa is an open-hearted communicator, whose generosity comes across in everything she shares with us here. Whether you struggle with overwhelm, or you suspect you’re more stressed than you realise, I know this conversation has advice you’ll want to take on board.

The Thrive Tour: Transform Your Health and Happiness, a live show: Book Your Tickets https://drchatterjee.com/live

 

Thanks to our sponsors:

https://exhalecoffee.com/livemore

https://boncharge.com/livemore

https://thewayapp.com/livemore

https://airbnb.co.uk/host

 

Show notes https://drchatterjee.com/668

 

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