How did your relationship with rest and recovery change in that moment?

When I was ill, I was living with so many different symptoms that at one stage I was only able to eat 10 foods. And because I was so weak, I stopped moving. Unfortunately, when you do that, your body gets worse. It simply can’t recover enough to build the strength and resilience that it needs to get going again. It’s like having a car; if you don’t start the engine for a whole year, that car’s going to struggle to start.

I learnt the hard way that motion is lotion; everything is in motion all the time. When we’re static for long periods of time, our bodies struggle to operate normally. Think about the lymphatic system, which is our drainage mechanism; that needs movement to optimally function otherwise you get this build-up of fluids.

It’s so important to move. But when you’re in rest and recovery from things like stress, burnout and trauma, you want to try to do low-impact forms of exercise, such as dance, walking, yoga or swimming rather than HIIT or intense cardio.

Rest Lessons: “I was bedbound for a year – but only discovered true rest when I started dancing again”