Welcome to Unstoppables – your weekly dose of circadian sunshine and actionable tips, tools and information to help you become your own health boss.
Discover this week how cold therapy may ease migraines, meet the 5 hidden saboteurs quietly derailing your health, and explore the most powerful force we all need to live a meaningful life — hope.
1 Thing I’m Doing
The 5 Horsemen Sabotaging Your Health
I’ve been thinking lately…if making healthy choices is so relatively simple – eat well, move your body, get decent sleep – why do so many people find this so difficult? And why are there still so many unhealthy people around?
It’s like people know what to do, but they can’t seem to follow through.
Here’s what I discovered in my research and come up with.
it’s not necessarily willpower, laziness, or lack of discipline that’s sabotaging our health.
It’s something much more sinister. Five invisible forces I call the 5 Horsemen that are working against us every single day. They don’t want us sick – they want us dependent. And they’re incredibly good at their job.
Once you see them, you can stop them. But first, you need to know who you’re dealing with.
Meet Your Health Saboteurs
🔷 The Disruptor severs your connection to nature and time. You wake to alarms, rush through blue-lit days, and collapse into screen-glow nights. He whispers, “There’s no time for sunrise. Coffee will do.”
🧠 The Dopamine Dealer promises quick hits and endless pings. He rewires your brain so real food, real connection, and real rest all feel… boring, whilst sugar and blue light, hits the spot. He whispers, “Just one more bite. One more scroll. You’ve earned it.”
🌊 The Guru Hunter floods you with conflicting advice: Keto! Vegan! HIIT! Yoga! You end up exhausted and overwhelmed, always searching for “the thing” that will finally fix you. He whispers, “But what if THIS is the one?”
🌿 The Outsourcer says you’re not qualified to heal. That you need scans, apps and trackers to tell you how you feel. He whispers, “Wait for permission. Don’t trust yourself.”
🎯 The Perfectionist says unless it’s perfect, it doesn’t count. Miss a day? You’ve ruined it. Eat something “bad”? May as well give up. He whispers, “You’ve already blown it. Why bother?”
These horsemen have you chasing perfection, trends, and quick hits while slowly disconnecting you from the body that’s been trying to guide you all along.
Once you see them, you can stop them
Here’s Some Questions to Ask Yourself:
Does one of these Horsemen have a grip on your life right now? And what would your health look like if you could silence their whispers?
The Antidote
These horsemen are sneaky, but you have something they can’t touch.
Your inner knowing.
The solution isn’t another app or tracker promising to save you. It’s much simpler and much more radical. You just need to rebuild trust in your own body and your connection with nature.
Start small and listen closely. Notice what actually energises you versus what drains you. Pay attention to when your body naturally wants to sleep, eat, and move.
Stop asking, “What should I do?” Start asking, “What do I need right now?”
Your hunger cues aren’t broken – they’re buried under years of diet culture rules. Your energy patterns aren’t wrong – they’re just fighting artificial schedules. Your instincts aren’t unreliable – they’re simply out of practice.
The path back is beautifully simple: one authentic choice and rhythm at a time.
When you start honouring your body’s signals instead of following external rules, something magical happens. The Horsemen lose their power.
This week, a challenge for you: Pick one small way to listen to your body more deeply. Maybe it’s eating when you’re hungry instead of when the clock says to. Maybe it’s stepping outside when you feel overwhelmed instead of reaching for your phone. Maybe it’s going to bed when you’re tired instead of when your Netflix queue tells you to.
That’s how revolutions begin.
2 Things I’ve Learnt
Cold Therapy for Migraines
I’m lucky — I’ve never had a migraine in my life. But I know from friends how absolutely debilitating they can be. Nausea, light sensitivity, crushing pain that can last for hours, even days.
I recently came across some fascinating information that may help relieve the symptoms of migraines so I thought I’d share in case you, your family and friends suffer from this terrible pain.
Now, I know putting your head in the freezer and breathing in cold air might sound like an old wives’ tale, or some crazy woo woo internet hack – but there’s actually real science behind why it helps. Here’s what’s going on:
Vasoconstriction Magic: Cold causes blood vessels to constrict, reducing blood flow and swelling – exactly what you want when your head feels like it’s going to explode. It’s like applying the brakes to an overactive vascular system.
Nerve Highway Slowdown: Cold slows nerve conduction, which helps ease pain transmission – think of it as putting speed bumps on the pain highway to your brain.
Metabolic Cool-Down: Cold therapy reduces your body’s demand for ATP (the cellular fuel), and research suggests ATP plays a role in triggering migraines. Less demand equals less migraine fuel.
The Nasal Route Advantage: The vascular anatomy of your nasal cavity allows cold to transfer from nasal mucous membranes directly to the dura mater (brain lining) – it’s like having a direct cooling highway to your brain.
And the research backs it up. A 2021 study found cold therapy is one of the most common self-administered pain relief methods among migraine sufferers. Another study showed significant symptom relief using cold gel caps for just 25 minutes.
How To Use Cold Therapy to Relieve Migraine Pain
So if a migraine hits, here are a few simple things to try:
🧊 Open the freezer and breathe in that icy air for a few minutes
🧊 Use a gel cap or cold compress on your forehead and temples
🧊 Wrap an ice pack in a thin cloth and place it behind your neck
🧊 Some people find cold neck wraps targeting the carotid arteries helpful
These are best used at the first sign of a migraine — they won’t cure chronic migraines, but they may offer real-time relief when you need it most. Of course, if migraines are a regular part of your life, it’s so important to explore the root cause. Talk to your trusted health practitioner, and trust your own observations too.
Time Spent on Smartphones Annually
Here’s something that really made me pause this week: the latest 2025 figures are out, and on average, we now spend 70 full days a year staring at screens. Argh!!
That’s not just lost time. It’s signal hijacking, as one of our most powerful biological inputs is light.
You see, your eyes don’t just see light — they interpret it. Every photon that reaches your retina carries information, and your brain reads that information like a code. It’s one of the primary ways your body keeps track of time, energy, mood, metabolism, and so much more.
But when that light is coming from a screen — especially blue-rich artificial light — your body is receiving a very different message.
How Blue Light from Devices Disrupt Your Biology
Blue light, particularly in the LED spectrum used in phones and tablets, overstimulates a protein in your eye called melanopsin. This sends the signal that it’s midday, even if it’s well past sunset. Over time, this false signal disrupts your circadian rhythm — the internal clock that governs everything from your hormones and metabolism to your sleep, mood and your mitochondrial energy production.
The result? A kind of biological confusion. And if that’s not bad enough – we haven’t even touched on the harm being done to your eyes.
The truth is, we weren’t built for this kind of light. Our ancestors lived by firelight, sunlight, and starlight — not LED strips and notification pings. They didn’t scroll before bed or wake to blue-lit alarms. They rose with the sun, moved with the seasons, and let light shape their biology the way it was meant to.
So if you’re spending more time on your smartphone than you’d like, perhaps this week is a chance for you to create some new habits.
3 Things To Explore
Hope is the Key to a Meaningful Life
New research from the University of Missouri has discovered something beautiful: hope isn’t just wishful thinking — it’s the emotional force that gives our lives meaning.
This groundbreaking study of over 2,300 participants found that hope was a stronger predictor of life meaning than happiness, gratitude, or any other positive emotion.
Think about that for a moment. Not happiness. Not gratitude. Hope.
Experiencing life as meaningful is crucial for just about every good thing you can imagine in a person’s life,” says researcher Laura King. We’re talking better relationships, improved physical health, higher income, and deeper satisfaction.
Simple ways to cultivate hope daily
If you’re not naturally a hopeful person — or if your hope tank needs a top-up — I’ve got good news. Hope isn’t fixed – it’s a skill you can develop. Here’s how:
Notice the good stuff – Even tiny positive moments can spark hope. That perfect cup of tea, your daughter’s laugh, the way morning light hits your kitchen bench.
Seize small opportunities – When life feels chaotic, grab onto little chances for forward movement. Reply to that text. Take the stairs. Say yes to coffee with a friend.
Appreciate growth everywhere – In yourself, your kids, even your struggling garden. Growth whispers “things can get better.”
Nurture something – Whether it’s sourdough starter, a friendship, or your teenager’s confidence. Tending to growth reinforces hope.
Remember: nothing is permanent. That overwhelming phase? The sleepless nights? The financial stress? Situations change. Hope begins with believing they can.
What small thing could you nurture today that reminds you tomorrow can be different?
Shaping Your Future
“Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.” – Robert H. Schuller
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