The key to balance and routine | Mindful Chef X Lawrence Price

After a summer of socialising and a slow return to normality, a lot of us have found it hard to maintain routine and balance. We caught up with Mindful Chef ambassador Lawrence Price, to find out his top tips for maintaining a routine, and the importance of a balanced lifestyle.

LAWRENCE PRICE

Lawrence is a former rugby player, one of London's top personal trainers, and well known for his Fiit exercise classes.

WHAT IS YOUR DAILY ROUTINE?

I wake up at 5 am, shower, coffee & breakfast, out of the door for 5.35 am. In my car drive into London, I listen to meditation music and practice my mindfulness exercises as I drive towards the rising sun. Some mornings I’m blown away by the beauty of this world. I arrive in Notting Hill ready to rock and roll with my PT clients.

GIVEN YOUR BUSY LFIESTYLE, HOW MUCH DOES ROUTINE PLAY A ROLE IN KEEPING YOU HEALTHY?

I need a healthy combination of routine and freedom each week. Without routine, I struggle to shape my week in a way that serves my professional goals and life values. Likewise, I leave one day a week open to get creative and work from home - this is my time to explore and be curious. All the other days heavily rely on my routine to get me up and out the door with purpose each morning. Otherwise, I’d probably sleep until midday.

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TIPS FOR MAINTAINING BALANCE?

Give yourself a blueprint and structure, made up of ‘non-negotiables’, that align with your greater purpose…but outside of this remember that there is great power in letting go of conformity and exploring the world with curiosity. Not everything has to make sense, but it’s important that life feels good…so always move in the direction of that good feeling.

DO YOU HAVE ANY NON-NEGOTIABLES WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR HEALTH?

My non-negotiable is to always ‘honor myself’, to listen to my deeper being and the intuition I have curated over my life experiences, most answers are here…and most answers to questions I’m uncertain of come from the question ‘does it serve your future self?’. This means there is no rigidity but plenty of positive action…and I get to develop a closer relationship to myself in the process.

Here is Lawrence holding one of our Mindful Chef boxes.

WITH YOUR FAMILY AND BUSY TEACHING SCHEDULE THINGS MUST GET SO HECTIC - DO YOU HAVE ANY TIME SAVING HEALTHY-HACKS? IF SO WHAT ARE THEY?

Um…try to get your evening meals delivered straight to your door several times a week…lol, but seriously. It makes a huge difference - saves brain power as well as time and means you’re constantly feeling inspired and learning about the food you eat.

HOW DO YOU STAY CLAM WHEN THINGS GET STRESSFUL?

I use the acronym R. A. I. N. Which stands for recognise, allow, investigate and nurture. This means I can observe the mind with compassion and choose to ‘respond not react’, coming from a place of expanded consciousness. And when that doesn’t work I just go for a high octane workout to harness the power of that kind of energy…if in doubt, workout!

WE KNOW IT'S NOT ALL BROCOLI VS BIRTHDAY CAKE. HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN BALANCE IN NUTRITION?

I’m so lucky in that I’m a massive foodie who gets great joy from eating well-sourced, mostly local, ingredients…to understand if I want to eat something, I’ll always ask the questions ‘where does it come from and how will it make me feel?’ If I get two good answers from this then I’m naturally drawn to the food. This intuitive approach gives me balance that works on every level.

WE KNOW WE'VE ALL BEEN MAKING IT UP DURING COVID. WHAT'S THE SURPRISING LESSON YOU'VE LEARNT IN THIS LAST YEAR?

I’ve learnt so much about the energy I carry around…and that when I slow down and am more appreciative of the simple things in life then my vibration is higher, my life experience becomes more joyful and I simply ‘feel good’ more often. That’s what life’s all about right?