Stuart Sandeman – Favourite Things
Stuart Sandeman is a breathing expert, DJ, founder of Breathpod and host of BBC Radio 1’s Decompression Sessions. After losing his girlfriend to cancer, Sandeman discovered that following a connected pattern of breathing helped him manage his grief and overcome his anxiety. Since then, he has delivered breath sessions to Google, Nike and Lewis Capaldi amongst others. You can listen to his Decompression Sessions on BBC Sounds here.
These are a few of Stuart Sandeman’s favourite things…
Getting the tunes on
There is always a soundtrack to my day. Music picks me up if I feel low, lifts me when I need energy, and motivates me when I need a bit more drive. Equally, it calms me down when I’m overactive, soothes me when I’m restless, and keeps me in a state of flow when I’m working. And there is nothing quite like it when a good tune drops. I’ve always loved making music, too, and it’s the main way I scratch my creative itch. Being able to bring great artists to the ears of my listeners on Radio 1 over the past year has been a real pleasure.
Swimming in the sea
I must have been a merman in a previous life. Any time I see the sea, I just have to jump in – (summer or winter!) There are many health benefits from doing this – it’s really relaxing, seawater is excellent for your skin, and being in the sea can trigger the release of feel-good hormones. But I’ve always been outdoorsy and active and what I love most about swimming in the sea is strengthening my connection with nature and feeling wild again. It’s a great feeling, oh and is the perfect cure for a hangover.
Nova’s Garlic soup
Vampires beware: this packs a serious punch, but if you love garlic, then this might become your favourite soup. If I start to feel sniffy or have a cold or the flu, my girlfriend Nova’s famous garlic soup is my number-one go-to. Even if I don’t feel under the weather, I love it because it tastes so good. The secret is loads of garlic; 52 cloves to be exact! So don’t plan any meetings after eating it. It works best in the evening as garlic has allicin in it which helps promote relaxation, helping you fall asleep.
Serves 4
26 garlic cloves (unpealed)
26 garlic cloves (pealed)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablepoons vegan butter
½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
½ cup fresh grated ginger
2 ¼ cup sliced onions
1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
½ cup of coconut milk
3 ½ cups vegetable broth
4 lemon wedges
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Place your (unpeeled) garlic cloves in a small, glass baking dish and add your 2 tbsp. olive oil with some sea salt, mix around and coat the garlic.
Cover the baking dish tightly with some foil and bake until garlic is golden brown and tender (about 45 minutes).
Let the roasted garlic cool and then squeeze the garlic from the skin to release the cloves and transfer to a small bowl.
Melt butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add your onions, thyme, ginger and cayenne pepper and cook until the onions are translucent (about 10 minutes).
Add the roasted garlic and 26 raw garlic cloves and cook for another 5 minutes.
Add your vegetable stock, cover and simmer until the raw garlic is very tender (around 20 minutes).
Puree all ingredients in a blender.
Return the soup to the saucepan, add the coconut milk and simmer.
Serve and squeeze fresh lemon juice on top.
My Olympic rings
This is a new addition to the house. These are the things that you see the male gymnasts using at the Olympic Games, but they’re basically two wooden circles attached to a bar above by straps. They stimulate the natural movement pattern of your body, which puts much less stress on your joints and forces you to work muscles you didn’t know existed. They also bring that element of playfulness back into working out, which I think a lot of us lose when we go to commercial gyms. I’m very much a beginner, but I love building my stretch using the rings and the kind of strength it helps you develop is very functional.
The grounding sheet on my bed
This has been a game-changer, big style, to my quality of sleep. Over the last century or so, due to using rubber and plastic-soled shoes and insulating mattresses, most of us have lost our electrical connection to the earth. I won’t give you all the science, but the Earth is a reservoir of free electrons, and if we don’t walk barefoot on grass or on the beach that often the cells in our body won’t have a chance to balance the charge of free radicals, which are electron-deficient. What this means is that when we do ground ourselves, there’s a really powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-ageing effect in the body. Luckily, I’ve never had a problem sleeping or getting to sleep, but since I got a grounding sheet I’ve been sleeping more deeply than ever and waking up full of beans.
Enjoyed Stuart Sandeman’s favourites? Explore last week’s Favourite Things here.