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Born Superhuman: The Truth About What’s Still Possible with Dan Metcalfe

• Polly Warren

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What if everything you’ve believed about aging is wrong?
This mind-expanding conversation with brain health expert and former West End performer Dan Metcalf will have you rethinking what’s actually possible for your energy, vitality, and future.

Dan has survived and thrived through childhood asthma, career-ending injury, and even partial brain death. He now teaches a revolutionary approach to wellness that prioritises biology, belief, and brave self-leadership — no matter your age.

Inside this episode, we explore:

  • The moment Dan defied medical predictions (twice) — and how it reshaped his understanding of human potential
  • The 7 real pillars of health — starting with oxygen and hydration (spoiler: most of us are doing these wrong)
  • The #1 reason your brain might be exhausted — and it has nothing to do with how much you think
  • Why 75% of adults are chronically dehydrated, and how hydration could be the key to your clarity
  • A mindset shift that turns “eating” into nourishing
  • How proper breathing can regulate your emotions and energy in minutes
  • The difference between movement and exercise — and why serotonin is your natural antidepressant
  • The power of embracing challenge to slow aging and sharpen your edge
  • Dan’s radical reminder: self-love isn’t selfish — it’s essential biology
  • The belief flip that can change your life: “Somebody has to do it — why not you?”

🎧 Whether you’re navigating midlife, recovering from burnout, or simply want to reconnect with your inner power, this episode will leave you thinking differently about what’s possible — and what’s still available to you.

🔗 Explore more at bornsuperhuman.com for free resources, or connect with Dan on Instagram at @dan_metcalfe_official.

Download The Breath Check-Up - your FREE guide to understanding how well you're breathing right now.

Download my energising 5 Minute Morning Practice to get your day started in the best way possible.

To find out more about my membership The Inner Space go to: https://www.pollywarren.com/theinnerspace

Email me at: info@pollywarren.com
https://www.pollywarren.com/
https://www.instagram.com/pollywarrencoaching/

Speaker 1:

Are you, like me, riding the roller coaster of midlife and menopause and eager to get back to living your best life? Are you tired of low energy, a short temper and endless self-doubt? Well, it's time to stress less and shine more. It's time to ditch the worry, reclaim your mojo and tap back into the incredible woman you already are. Because midlife isn't the end of anything. It's the beginning of becoming more you, more grounded, more radiant, more powerful than ever before. Join me each week for real, uplifting conversations to help you feel better, think clearer and live with more joy, purpose and ease, because it's never too late. No-transcript.

Speaker 2:

Polly thanks so much for having me on the show. It's great to be connected back to England, polly thanks so much for having me on the show.

Speaker 1:

It's great to be connected back to England. So, dan, I have been reading about you and honestly it's quite remarkable. Some of the achievements that you have listed from your life you know leading roles in Andrew Lloyd Webber's theatre productions. You have proved doctors wrong who said that you'd be disabled for life. You've overcome partial brain death. You've been head coach of the US Olympics. I mean there has been a whole host of different achievements, which is really phenomenal. So why and what has led you to doing what you're doing today? Maybe you could just tell everybody what it is you do and then, just you know, tell us a little bit about how you've come to be here, what it is you do, and then, just you know, tell us a little bit about how you've come to be here.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, thanks so much. Everybody is born superhuman, and that's I. Had to go through my own journey to understand that we are limitless, provided we open up the limitations that were put onto us. I've had an incredible life journey that has been full of challenges, but I'm a huge believer that every challenge is actually a gift, provided we wrap it right. So when things are happening to us, it's because there's a lesson we need to learn, and if we look at the lesson and are open to learn it, it's incredible. The power that we have inside us you know, I call it the miracle inside, waiting to be unleashed can handle the problems that are coming in. So I work in the. If I said the health world, it's about individual, personal health. I've trained over 70,000 people to overcome what doctors or what society has said is not possible, that we have to just accept that aging is part of our decline, rather than aging is an expression of the wisdom and knowledge we have, that we can overcome the challenges and live the best years ahead.

Speaker 1:

Going back to some of the things that have happened to you in your life. So, for example, you had a an accident on stage and it was so severe that you were told that you were going to be disabled for life and but you overcame that and I'd just love to kind of understand that a little bit more how you did that, because I'm sure that will then feed back, feed into your approach now to help the rest of us with how we age and how we feel as we get older.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so it's fascinating. It started off I wanted to be a professional footballer. It's great, I can say football In America. I have to say soccer. So I love I can say football. But I wanted to be a professional footballer. That's all I lived for. From the moment I was born. My mum would say that I'd get up, hold on to the piano seat, kick a ball, get on my knees, crawl after it. I mean, it was my life.

Speaker 2:

But I had really bad asthma and my grandfather who was a GP, great doctor, really cared about people, bought me an inhaler down to use and I used it for the first time. Oh, I could breathe, but something told me that it wasn't the best thing for me. So as a nine-year-old I walked to the library remember those things, libraries and sat there and read about the respiratory system and it said the body is made to overcome the struggles we're having and that if I use the inhaler, that it would actually weaken the body's ability to be able to correct the issues that were going on. Now I didn't know anything, but as a nine-year-old that's how curious I was, because my dream was so big. So what I would do is I'd go to the local park, merrick Park, down in Bournemouth, I'd drop my jacket on the ground, run as far as I could until I was collapsed, lying on the ground, breathing, thinking I'm going to die because I couldn't breathe, and I'd just keep my eyes focused on my jacket and when I could breathe I'd get up and try and run back to my jacket. Well, over time I became a really good runner, ran for Dorset County, became really good at soccer, captain of my county football team, all the different stuff, and it made me realize the body is made to heal. Now another story that I'm not going to go into.

Speaker 2:

But I decided not. I got to AFC Bournemouth, decided it wasn't what I wanted to do and was going to go into the marines because I'd done eight years with the Royal Marine Cadets, the CCF, and I started doing aerobics to get supple for mountain climbing and the teacher there said you should become a dancer. It was a place called Hollywood Dance Studios in Poo Paul actually, and I'm like me, dancer, I'm a man's man. I had the muscles. I'm running on Bournemouth Beach with 50 pound backpacks. I'm gonna go. And you know, save the world. And she dared me to go to audition at Lane Theatre Arts just outside of London, in Epsom, and so I thought I'll do it for a laugh. I'm going to be signed up in two weeks. So I went up Unbelievable the environment at Lane's. Betty Lane, who was the principal there, offered me a full three-year scholarship to start in two weeks' time and the next thing I know, here I am in ballet tights, tap shoes, jazz, all these different things. It was mind-blowing.

Speaker 2:

But the night before I had my first class and this is really where it all started and eight words that I lived my life by my father, who I didn't even know was into musical theatre. I didn't have a great relationship with him growing up, but he took me to see a show called Starlight Express at the Apollo Victoria Theatre and you walked in and the stage is all around you. It's over a quarter of a mile long, it wraps through the theatre behind you, through you, above you, and at the end he said what do you think? And I'm sitting there going, I'm going into this world. I'd never even had a dance class before and I just looked at my dad and said that was amazing, like these people were demigods to me, incredible. And he said one day you'll be in that show. And I said no, I'll never be good enough. And he said eight words that I lived my life by. He said somebody has to do it, why not you? Somebody has to do it, why not you? I didn't realize the impact at that time. Those words were going to lead my whole life and do still today, because anytime you do something out of your norm or out of society's expectations, you're going to meet resistance, either because people don't want to see you succeed, because it exposes them that they weren't willing to do it, or they're going to call you crazy because we all should suffer together.

Speaker 2:

A year and a half later, I was in Starlight Express that quicker transformation and I continued to do college. So here I am, on the West End each night and going to college every single day, until I had to leave to go to the show, but because I knew I had so much more to achieve. It wasn't about being lazy, because I believe aging is the excessive pursuit of sedentary comfort. Right, we want to do less and yet we expect the same results. So when we get tired, when we go through life, when we've had all these challenges, we just want a moment of peace. And yet there's a place for that. But that peace becomes comfort, that becomes lack of work, that says I just want to settle here and not have problems and what we're actually doing is then we're aging because as kids we got up and did everything, jump forward to get into the um accident.

Speaker 2:

I opened the show for angeloid weber back in 1994 in las vegas at the um las vegas hilton, where elvis presley thank you very much used to perform, and during a show and I'd had an accident the same place. It's kind of a stunt within the show um I. Five times previous I had had an accident the same place. It's kind of a stunt within the show. Five times previous I had had an accident because they hadn't built the stunt part properly. We're on the sixth time.

Speaker 2:

I hit my head against a brick wall at about 30 miles an hour because we're on skates and I fractured my spine. I was paralyzed, I couldn't go, obviously back on stage. I'm lying there unable to move. I heard the crack in my neck but luckily because I'd always worked out and the doctors have said if I wasn't so muscular at the impact where the muscles contracted so much, I actually would have broken my neck. So that was the beginning of me having to really face for the first time in my life, I didn't even think about the asthma and stuff that now I've got this challenge I have to figure out, because the doctors had said you're going to be disabled for life and the insurance companies knew it was cheaper to disable me than it was to fix me. So what's the thing we want to do? Sign this piece of paper. I'd never be able to work for my dreams again because nobody would employ me, because I'd be an insurance liability. So I had to take it under my own control so what did you do from there?

Speaker 1:

so you had you, so you were living your dream, you were doing this amazing show, and then, obviously, someone could easily just go. Well, that's me, that's me done. I am now disabled in some way. Uh, what you know? I'm just going to take my disability benefits and and do nothing. So what was it that dragged you back and what did you go on to do next?

Speaker 2:

yeah, great question, because I think it goes back to the subconscious of somebody has to do it. Why not? I wasn't thinking that at the time. In fact I'd even forgotten the words, but they were impregnated into my mindset that I can do anything. It's right before I had the accident. It's funny because we had the biggest freestanding sign in the world for our show in Las Vegas and we were on a road called Paradise and we went to bed or I went to bed one night and here we have the biggest freestanding. My face is on the biggest freestanding sign in the world and I woke up the next morning and there'd come a storm, gone through and it had broken, fallen down over the road and my face was shattered all over the road. So it's funny that was kind of a prerequisite that nothing lasts forever and the glory we think we have can can be broken at any time.

Speaker 2:

So the scariest part in here, polly, was that that night when I was laying in the hospital, I lost sight in my right eye and I was so fearful I kept shutting my left eye and opening it and shutting my left eye and opening it and seeing and trying to open my right eye and praying that let me see. I was so scared not that the paralysis my fear was that I wouldn't be able to see again and I didn't want to go to sleep. So I just kept staring at the wall with my left eye all night until I did eventually fall asleep, because I didn't know. I didn't want the last view I ever had to be of a hospital wall. But I woke up the next morning and it was the inflammation in the brain around the optical nerve that forced the optical nerve to squeeze shut, which is why I couldn't see. I woke up the next morning. Inflammation was going down, I could see. It gave me this sign.

Speaker 2:

What we think we have can be corrected. If I can explain this even simpler anybody that's ever cut their arm and you look at it and you go, oh, I'm bleeding. You get a rag, you clean it up. You then maybe put a band-aid on it, a plaster I can say plaster, plaster on it, and then it scabs over. As long as you don't pick the scab, normally there won't even be a mark left.

Speaker 2:

Well, that same system that heals the outside that we trust is the same system that's healing the inside. But we don't trust it because we either haven't experienced it or we can't see it. So what do we do? We run to a doctor who should know more about our body. But there's two things I learned. One, doctors will never be more invested in you than you. You have to put yourself first, and doctors are a form of knowledge and education, but they're not the final say. You are the final say.

Speaker 2:

So it comes down to the work, or the magic we seek is in the work we avoid. So we want something, but we don't want to do the study, we don't want to do the challenge. We want someone to gift it to us, and I don't believe in hope. Hope for me is the worst word for ourselves, because hope is a procrastination word. I hope I get better. I hope someone helps me. I hope they can figure it out For other people. It's great, polly. I hope you have a great day. I hope your boys get to see Brighton Hove, albion, win the Premier League. I hope all these things. I have no control, but for ourselves we have to have belief, because belief is actionable. So anyone that's going through perimenopause or through menopause or struggling with other areas of life, if you believe that you can come through it. Belief alone won't change anything. But the belief will say, okay, I'm now willing to work because what you believe in, you can go and find results, and that comes down to the brain. So if I can just jump forward, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I went on to um become a head coach on the Olympic program for football out in America. I had opened a non-profit organization for kids for football. I put over 400 kids into college. Over here I have 40 professional players that went on through the system and my training. That went on to play pro uh one in the english premier league as well, um. And then I then opened a sports performance training center which was for movement based uh strength, because going in and just working out with no purpose means you'll get stronger for that one moment. So a bench press or just doing push-ups, you'll get stronger at that one moment. So a bench press or just doing push-ups, you'll get stronger at push-ups. But can we transfer that into everyday life? Had a lot of success there. It was an incredible education.

Speaker 2:

But then there was a gentleman that came in to see me called Bob Eubanks. Now in England he won't be well known now, but he used to do a show called the Newlywed Game. That was very famous back in the 50s, 60s, 70s and Bob was very famous with that. But he was fooling a lot and so I had written a movie I'm down at Netflix, I'm presenting to Netflix. He's my partner as a you know, executive producer. He was 79. He couldn't get out of a chair. Producer, he was 79, he couldn't get out of a chair.

Speaker 2:

So when we're driving home I said to him, bob, what are you doing for working out? Because he was really in bad shape, 79, really in bad shape. And we've all seen it either with our parents, our grandparents, our partners, and we're told you're just getting older. And so I said to him what said? Well, I go to physical therapy and they do this for me and we have all these different protocols. But they were so basic and irrelevant that I literally said to him these are my exact words then they're helping you die comfortably. And he said what I said they're helping you die comfortably.

Speaker 2:

He goes, what do you mean? I said you can do more. We are built to be amazing. At a cellular level, we're meant to live to at least 122. At a cellular level, because on the ends of our cells we have telomeres that protect the cells, but the things we do continue to break them down the stress, oxidative stress, the food we eat, the air we breathe, our breathing patterns that I know. You're so into the food we eat, the air we breathe, our breathing patterns, that I know you're so into Polly. All these are attacking at a cellular level. So I said let me train you. He goes oh no, you're too tough a coach. I was known as being one of the toughest trainers. I was Nike coach of the year, I was a spokesperson for Under Armour and just so many things. And Sunday night he calls me up and goes I need your help. So I said absolutely come to my house.

Speaker 2:

So anyone that's falling we already know, strengthen the legs, strengthen the hip flexors, strengthen the core. You're going to be better. In fact, I would say a vast majority of your listeners are going to start noticing a balance change within the next five to 10 years, depending on how active they've been. So I started training and within two minutes I found out I was a hundred percent wrong here. I was a master trainer, I had all this knowledge, I trained professional athletes and within two minutes I was wrong. Balance has nothing to do with the body, balance has everything to do with the brain. So in other words, we say if someone's falling or losing their balance, go to the gym. Well, if that was the case, you've got your boys. How many of your boys did you take to the gym to help them learn to walk?

Speaker 2:

yeah, yeah, no they just got up. It was the brain figuring out pressure points and building neurological pathways. So in three weeks, I took Bob, at the age of 79, from stumbling, falling and unable to get out of a chair to running six miles on a treadmill, running up and down stairs back, playing golf, walking, excited to wake up because the fear was gone. That's a pretty long winded story for me to get to the final point where we'll start the conversation of how people could help themselves. 2018, having already gone in and studied the brain, I was out on a bike ride, I was racing the Ironman, I was a cyclist, I raced on a racing team out here in California. I was coming through a guard-gated community and the security guard brought the methyl gate down on my head at 22 miles an hour.

Speaker 1:

Oh.

Speaker 2:

God, I was immediately knocked unconscious. I have the video of it, otherwise I would know nothing. I do actually remember seeing the gate coming down. It's the last thing I remember trying to duck, and that was it. I was unconscious for about three minutes. Part of my brain died. I had to learn to talk again, learn to function properly, learn to even stay awake, and again I didn't know anything but check this out. This is what's fascinating On the video.

Speaker 2:

After about three minutes, I get up. I stumble around like a drunken fool. I had broken my coccyx. The bike had landed on my face, so I was bleeding on my face as well. I got back on my bike and I rode home. I have no idea. I don't remember it at all. I remember nothing except about, apparently 40 minutes later, the fireman knocking on my front door because someone had seen and called, and then there was a phone call coming. I had answered from the security gate.

Speaker 2:

All this different stuff. I suddenly was in this place of inability to move forward. And the doctors. I became a statistic. As you know, it's just the way we are. It's just the thing. Take this drug. We don't know if you'll ever recover again. Well, thank goodness, I trained Bob's. Just the thing Take this drug. We don't know if you'll ever recover again. Well, thank goodness, I trained Bob and studied the brain and I realized that I had to take responsibility, that my life is my responsibility, and through my own discovery like you, polly with the podcast, when there's a struggle and no one's really given you the advice except take this drug or it's just the way it is I had to go on a mission to self-heal and from that I've been fortunate, like I said before, to train tens of thousands of people and I started my company Born Superhuman, because we all are.

Speaker 1:

So let's talk about being born superhuman. So tell me about you've got seven pillars. You've written a book about this. You've got seven pillars. You've written a book about this. You've got seven pillars. Do you want to talk us through those pillars and how they came up and why you settled on those seven?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely, and thank you. It's been a fascinating exploration to get to the root. Because if it's not simple, it's probably not true, because most things are simple. How things work may's not simple. It's probably not true, because most things are simple. How things work may not be simple, but simplicity is critical for actionable changes.

Speaker 2:

I do want to preface this by saying I'm not anti-drugs, I'm anti-dependency, because sometimes we have to have a kickstart. So I just want to say that, because I'm not a big believer in drugs, but I do say, in extreme cases or certain situations, to get the body to start ticking over again, it's like a battery in a car that doesn't start. Sometimes you've got to jumpstart it. But if you're having to rely on that jumpstart, you're not going to be fixing the problem. So born superhuman, there are things that we can do that take us back to the initial days of our brilliance that we've ignored as we've grown. And it shouldn't cost anything. Health should not cost any money. Acceleration may cost money, but ultimately the world was given to us to be able to thrive as it did for many, many centuries before.

Speaker 2:

So the seven pillars number one you'll love this one is oxygen, and I list these Polly in order of importance for living. So number one is oxygen. It's the number one thing we need. Try not having oxygen for 15 minutes. The chances are you're going to be brain dead, if not dead With oxygen.

Speaker 2:

It's the quality of what we're doing, it's our breathing patterns. I know how you talk about. Probably at least 30 to 40% of us don't breathe properly. We take constantly short breaths. We're not filling the oxygen in the body, but we're also creating this stress in our body that can affect our emotions, and we know breathing will change how we feel. You've also got to look at the conditions you're living in. If you're living in a mold-infested house, we're breathing in these toxins that will affect us. So oxygen is a much more deep dive, but it's very simple to solve, just with a little bit of reading, a little bit of education. And that's my number one. Number two and this is probably for me the easiest fix of all because if you're living in an environment where there's a lot of toxins in the air, you either have to move or find a way to change it um or minimize the impact. But number two is hydration. In America and this was shocking to find out the latest studies show that 75% of adults are in a chronic state of dehydration Wow.

Speaker 2:

I would say it's probably the same in England. As a kid growing up, I didn't drink water.

Speaker 1:

No, me neither. Yeah, I know.

Speaker 2:

And it's not that we're not drinking, it's what're drinking. So we get up, we have our coffee tea is better than coffee, um, from a from a health point of view. But then we'll have the alcohol, we'll have the sodas, we have the sugar drinks, we have the quick energy drinks and that will go into your gut, create a leaky gut syndrome. That means that the contaminants are going into our blood and then our blood is passing the blood-brain barrier, going into our brain and creating inflammation. It's fascinating when you see simplicity and what it does for us. And yet we're trained to love the taste because of the dopamine release of the taste, which is negatively affecting our brain, but we become addicted to it. If you can drink water and we're not talking about people say, I'll drink ten glasses a day there's a certain protocol that we have to have that would allow the cells to get hydrated. If I can break this down even more, when we're dehydrated, our blood thickens. When our blood thickens, it can't travel as simply and easily through our body. Yet our blood carries our oxygen. Then our heart has to work harder. If our heart's working harder, then we're burning energy to do what should be simple. Also, our brain consumes about 25% of every breath we take, and our brain is our power force. If we're not feeding the brain with the water it needs and the oxygen it needs, the brain will begin to diminish its ability. And the greatest technology in the world is your brain. Why would we put in less than what it could do? And I'm a huge believer, which is why I think hydration is the quickest fix, although it's not easy to do, is the quickest fix, although it's not easy to do. It's the quickest fix to start letting the brain heal your body and put you in a better emotional, mental and positive state. It's not just drinking, it's how you drink, the same as how you breathe. It's better to sip water over an hour than it is to drink one glass. That is sitting your gut. You end up peeing it out and you can actually swamp your gut. You can swamp your cells if you take it wrong.

Speaker 2:

I'm a huge believer in hydrogen water because if you look at h2o, h2 is the H2 is the hydrogen, o is the water and hydrogen is the smallest atom in the universe. It will help the absorption at a cellular level to get healthier. I was just speaking at a health convention in Los Angeles and I got tested at a cellular level, because it's one of these conventions where it's live forever, or, and I'm not a big believer in biohacking, but I think there's great things that we can learn about biohacking. I got tested at a cellular level. My age this was two years ago was 19. 19. So what is it? It's my brain health, because the brain will govern the actions of the cells themselves. I don't take anything. I'm not there taking any supplements specifically for cell health or anything, so I can't emphasize enough hydration, hydrate, hydrate. It will unleash the miracle that your body's looking for and and if you get more hydrated, unbelievable.

Speaker 1:

Do you believe in adding electrolytes to your water salts as well? Because that's actually what helps you absorb that water into your body, isn't it?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it depends. So if you've got a good diet, a good nutrition, most of those electrolytes will be already contained in the food and you don't want to put too much sodium in. You don't need to have more magnesium, even zinc, which we know is great for us, which is obviously not in the electrolyte setup. But everyone's unique, so we all need different things.

Speaker 1:

But if you're working out, if you're in a hot day, if you're sweating excessively or feeling the heat in your body, absolutely just adding it for the sake of it with a good diet, you don't need okay, yeah, okay, that's interesting because I will always have a glass the first thing I do before, and I always go and work out very early first thing, but I'll always have a glass of water with electrolytes in it before I work out. And I've just I don't know why I do that, but it's something I've always done because I feel that's probably what my body needs. I wonder if that's that's worth it or not.

Speaker 2:

I don't, yeah, I mean again, if you're working out and you're going to be sweating, it's great. How much do you need? It's more of a recovery for the electrolytes or while you're working out than it is pre, but it's better to have it in your system if you're going to be burning, you know the, or sweating a lot. I would prefer to have that, but I was. I personally either use it during a heavy workout, where I know that I'm sweating, or if I'm out racing on the bike, I don't sweat as much. Even if it's, I'm actually missing a gene in my body that transports heat out of my body, so I don't sweat a lot, but I feel that I'm getting dehydrated and so at that point, yes, I'll add electrolytes and post-workout if you've worked really hard, but you don't need as much as sometimes they say.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's good.

Speaker 2:

I did find out, though, probably when I was a head coach on the olympic program.

Speaker 2:

Some of the studies we did, a three percent dehydration can lead up to a 20 percent loss of performance. Wow, now think of this football. When are most goals scored? In the last 15 minutes of the game or in the last five minutes of the first half? Why? Because we're further away from our health, because we've been running. The players are out there, they're sweated. Now the brain? There are more mistakes are made there because the brain now can't function at its highest level, and so it's fascinating. But if that happens in the game, we're also in the game of life. All of us yeah, you're self-hydrated yeah, okay, so that's number two.

Speaker 1:

What's the next one next?

Speaker 2:

number three critical sleep yeah sleep is critical.

Speaker 2:

It's when your brain detoxes. It's where your brain helps the body heal. It's where you take everything from that day, de-stress it, put it into its different banks where it needs to go, or release it and prepare you for the next day. We know so much about sleep now, but there's certain things we don't know. When you sleep, your brain actually paralyzes your body for milliseconds. We don't know why, except for the brain to work properly, the body can't be active, because the brain is only created to keep us alive, that's all it's there, and to keep us safe. So if we're moving in our sleep, the brain is active of not falling out of bed. What's going on? But the brain doesn't know the difference between reality and fiction. The brain only knows what we tell it. You'll wake up from a dream, believe it's real. Look around, where's my new bike? Oh, it was a dream. And suddenly we're back in. But the bodies had the same reactions as if we were awake.

Speaker 2:

So, quality of sleep going to bed, relative to the circadian rhythm, the light that we're getting and I'd like to touch on this because light is part of sleep Either negative because we've got the TV on. We've got the blue light that everyone talks about, or the ability to have the sun build the natural curvature in our thought, in our process, in our energy to allow us to go to sleep. So melatonin that we know gets built later in the day with the sun. And part of the problem is that we've been told stay out of the sun, the sun's bad for you, put on those shades and in England there's not as much sun. But think about it in the summer, when we go out in the sun, how much better do we feel.

Speaker 1:

We feel great Then, after a day, maybe at the beach and the good air that we're breathing.

Speaker 2:

You sleep better that night. Hospitals in the 1800s 1900s actually had beds on the rooftops to get patients into the sun, because the sun has healing and energy qualities that we can't find without it. So I'm again huge, huge proponent for getting the sun. Be careful of the sunscreens you put on, because they're actually toxic. There's more cancer now than there was back in the 60s and 70s when people weren't using sunscreens. And again this goes back. Know the health sick system rather than the health care system. But I'm not going to get into that too much, I'm just saying educate, because the sun is critical for your health yeah, we all feel so much better when the sun is out and in.

Speaker 1:

In so many ways and particularly for um, a lot of people to this, sleep might well be something which you know people might be screaming at this going. Yeah, I know it's really good, but actually I find it really really hard and it's something which does get really disrupted, particularly during midlife. However, I have been there and my sleep used to be dreadful. It went through a really bad patch, but actually now, at the age of 51, I think my sleep used to be dreadful. It went through a really vast patch, but actually now, at the age of 51, I think my sleep is better than it's ever ever been. So, just for anyone listening and who's shouting at this, it does get better.

Speaker 1:

I try and go to bed at a similar time. I try and wake up at a similar time. Doesn't always happen. I always wake up the same time, just really no matter when I go to sleep, because that's my. I'm set. But, um, yeah, and I and I know lots of people have very varying views on wearables, but I wear a boot band and I must admit I do love to track and see my deep sleep, my REM sleep because you can kind of it, kind of you can see that you're getting it, even when sometimes you don't feel like you're getting it. I like to ignore it when I feel like I've got it and it does as I have, and that's when I don't look at it. But, um, yeah, I just just. I think it can be helpful to know that you are getting that deep sleep and you are getting that REM sleep and that's a great point you bring up.

Speaker 2:

And to those people that are shouting, I totally feel for you. I went three years of sleeping two hours a night so not realizing the negative effect it was having on me yeah.

Speaker 2:

I couldn't sleep. But there's a certain thing I'd love to share this. As you said, you look at your trackable data and it becomes almost like your training. If you think about it, it's like I go out and I run a mile. How fast did I do it? You're doing, you're treating your sleep almost like a training where there's results, and so you change your mindset of I can't sleep or I'm struggling with sleep and that when it comes, that's great. I got this.

Speaker 2:

My girlfriend going through perimenopause now hormone therapy couldn't sleep at night. Where's a trackable? Wake up every day and go. Oh, I actually slept better than I thought because we're focused on the not sleeping rather than sleeping. I'm not going to sleep tonight. I can't sleep. This is going to be bad. I'm going to have the hot flushes. I'm going to wake up.

Speaker 2:

So this is one of the things I did with my brain when part of my brain died. I'd wake up all the time I couldn't sleep, or I'd wake up with nightmares and all the different things. I had to change my mindset and it takes time. If you want to go and let's just say I want to lose 30 pounds, don't expect to do it in a month. We'll come up with a six month plan. That's doable, that's progressive. Well, you do the same thing with your sleep. You have to turn around and get excited about the potential, not about the actual. If I can take these steps but it may take me a month to get there, but I'm willing to invest the time I can get the results.

Speaker 2:

So what I would do is I would go to bed at night and I would say to myself I would do is I would go to bed at night and I would say to myself Dan, get out of the way, brain, I give you permission to go to sleep, allow me to go to sleep. And I'd have to almost meditate myself where, instead of fearing not sleeping, I relaxed into allowing sleep. Did it happen straight away? No, but it was the consistency of my messaging that I would just say, because the brain will only work on the information it's given. So if you say I can't sleep, I won't sleep, I'm fearful of sleep. And the brain will go oh, I'm fearful, I better stay awake.

Speaker 2:

It's fascinating how the brain takes messaging. And so if anybody that's struggling with sleep, don't see it as an enemy, see it as a gift that you're working towards. And now that again sounds easy. Oh, you're not. You're suffering. Well, I'm suffering from 100% Full respect and care goes to you. But give yourself permission to be brilliant, give yourself permission to change. So okay, I'm lying in bed, I'm just going to relax, I'm going to go into my breathing, I'm not going to worry about sleep, I'm going to give my brain permission, let's go to sleep. And I'm going to relax and take it. It's amazing how that messaging starts to change the neural pathways. That goes I'm safe, so see it as a positive. And add you have a great night. And if you have a bad night, it doesn't mean to say tomorrow night's going to be bad, it's just a one-off. But until you create the problem to make it your only focus.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so we've done sleep.

Speaker 2:

The next one's nutrition.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, obviously very important.

Speaker 2:

It's very important. But if you look, if you try, you can not eat for 30 days and live. But try not sleeping for 30 days, try not drinking for 30 by not breathing for 30. That's why it's number four. Yeah, I'll keep this one very short because we're all unique, but I had a major breakthrough when I heard this when you're hungry, don't eat. When you're hungry, nourish. It's a complete change. So I can have a bag of, I can say, crisps.

Speaker 2:

I love salt and vinegar crisps oh I used to love those things or I could have an apple. Well, when we're hungry, we think, just eat. Don't just eat, say what does my body need? If you can change your mindset from eat to nourish, you would change how you perceive the food and you will have a direct result away from the chemical laden, addictive food into the food that tastes the best, once we change our taste buds yeah, love that.

Speaker 1:

So simple. And, and it's one of those things, the more that you eat in that way, the more you it, the more your taste buds start tasting everything. Everything feels so much more juicy and all the colours are more vibrant. And, yeah, you just kind of get into that mindset. I mean, don't get me wrong, we can all fall off the wagon and you know, eat in the way that we know isn't so helpful, but yeah, I think majority of the time that's that is the way to go Absolutely. And it does affect your energy, it affects how you feel, it affects your mood, it affects everything and I think everybody listening will will totally get that and understand that. Okay, so moving on from food and nutrition, Next exercise.

Speaker 2:

Yes, it's critical. Often, when we're depressed, when we're feeling bad, we're not creating serotonin release in the brain because we're depressed. So what do we do? We take antidepressants. Antidepressants then stop the brain having to create serotonin, which is the feel-good drug that's naturally released from exercise. But when we're depressed we don't exercise, so we don't do it.

Speaker 2:

This is my thing, just do it whatever. It is my favorite. Get up in the morning when the sun's coming up or the light's coming up, depending on the cloud Get out and walk and you say, well, I don't have the time to do it. Then get up 15 minutes earlier and walk as the sun comes up and you're home when you'd normally wake up. It's a discipline of time, not a discipline of exercise. Commit to it. The results will be fantastic. Get in that early morning sunlight, getting up, just walking, have your water with you, hydrate and then, if you want to push it, continue to start. Maybe I love this one in here Polly, if you're going on a walk, just run between one set of lampposts, a nice easy jog, or pick up your speed and then go back to relaxed. Then do two, you know, lamppost, walk, lamppost a little bit faster and then walk and slowly increase what you're doing. Stressing your body is brilliant for brain chemical release, but also feeling good, both dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine and other drugs.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly, it's that hormetic stress, that stress which actually does our bodies the world of good. Firstly, it tells us that we are capable, that we are able, and it gives us that little bit of boost. And, yeah, our bodies kind of love it, don't they? They thrive off that little bit of stress. It kind of builds us to be stronger, more resilient. Stronger, more resilient, yeah, and you never, ever, ever, regret doing it. You always feel better after moving your body and pushing it a little bit further, and that's the thing you know. You say I love that running between the lampposts, because then you'll suddenly find yourself going oh right, I might run two lampposts, now three lampposts, and you always surprise yourself yeah, a very good friend of mine, you may have heard of her Arlene Phillips.

Speaker 2:

Oh, yes, the uber dancer. Yes, yeah, she um, she's in her 80s now. You should see what she's doing. We're not, um, governed by age. Age is not the reason. Our mindset relative to age is the reason. And I was just uh speaking. You may have heard of Ruthie Henschel. She's the uber theater megastar. We were talking yesterday and you know she's looking to advance her career. She's now into her 50s. So you know anyone listening don't have age be your limit. Your mindset will determine where you go. We can improve into our 60s, 70s, 80s.

Speaker 1:

We're not limited, okay can I just say, though, what would you say though? So I'm now thinking about my husband. So he is, um, he's always been so active. He was built to just be active and he has been wanting to run more and more kind of endurance style races as he's getting older. He's now 52 and at the moment he's, for the first time really ever in his life, he has been sort of badgered by little annoying niggly injuries knees, ankles, various things and I keep telling him he's got to just keep the mind positive, mindset, not to never to say it's because he's getting older, um, and just to keep positive but it's not, it's. You know, it's hard and he's. I'm just wondering what you would say to him. What? Because he's just like going oh, this is annoying, I'm so ready and wanting, and he's still very fit. But what do you do when you've got these little annoying, little niggly injuries which pop up, which didn't used to?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so that's the beauty of age we have more wisdom when we're pushing, and some of those niggles could be from you know, past injuries that we forget about that are now inflaming or they weren't fully healed. So this is what I'd say to him be smarter on your recovery than on your training. Listen to your body and cross train, because you still want to work out. So if he's out running every morning and doing these, no, he's not.

Speaker 1:

No, he's not. So he is trying to do a little bit more, yeah, more cross training.

Speaker 2:

So, yes, switch it up a bit swimming, biking, taking the pressure off of impact sports, um. Also be even more conscious, like I say, on your recovery time, pushing hard in intervals, not in long term, um, and then your nutrition looking at and I'm a huge fan polly of red light therapy, red light therapy pads, make sure it's the right one. But this is the old adage when you get an injury, ice it. That's what we always did. But the healing compounds that our body sends go through our blood. When you ice, you think you're taking down the swelling, but you're actually stopping blood flow, which the body needs to go in to that area.

Speaker 2:

Red light therapy is incredible for speeding up. I use it all the time I'll have a bad knee. I've got a race on the bike coming up. I wake up my knees and I put the red light therapy pad on and within 15 minutes my knees perfect to go. I have no more pain anymore because we're attracting the healing rather than freezing it out. Okay, so, yeah, I'm a huge believer, but again, there's a lot of gimmicks out there. Make sure you do the research on getting a real red light, not a sales red light, in other words, just letting you get the idea.

Speaker 1:

That's something he hasn't tried, so definitely worth trying. So, yeah, thank you.

Speaker 2:

Can I also give one little thing? I know we're conscious of love. It right. There's no relationship in the world that will ever thrive without love, right? If you love your husband, he doesn't love you back. The relationship's going to break. If he loves you, you don't love him back. It's going to break. When your body's going through an injury and we go oh, I can't believe my knees hurting me, or I can't believe I can't sleep or I can't be all these different things we separate it away from us. We're actually rejecting that body part. Turn around and say you know what? I love my knee. It's made to heal. It's a miracle in progress. It's healing in progress. Change the mindset, because when you push it away, it won't heal, it's going to take much longer and it gets separated away from your actual healing system. You're telling your brain I don't like this and the brain would focus on other things. It's incredible how our brain works.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I've never heard it put like that, but it makes so much sense that whole mind, body, connection, everything's working together yeah, love it.

Speaker 2:

Number six. So let's go through the list oxygen, hydration, sleep, nutrition, exercise. Next is mindset right, mindset is. Mindset can be mind reset. How we are, how we think is who we are. How we think is what our brain would do. When I teach my courses, the first thing I teach is mindset, even though it's sixth in the list, because without the others, there's no point having a mindset, you won't be here. But it's the first one because if you have the right mindset, you then will be able to commit at the right time. Not everything at one time, little bits and pieces, but our mindset will determine. As I said, our brain and our mind are two separate entities. The brain can only go off of what we tell it. If you have a poor mindset or you're always a victim when you could be a hero, why be a victim when you can be a hero? But if you're always the victim, you're telling your brain I am a victim and you won't take action. So mindset is critical in all we do.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, what is it? Is it something like? We have something like seven I don't know who discovered this 70, 80,000 thoughts every single day, and of those thoughts, something like 80% of them is a negative and a whirring round again and again. So in order to do something, to be different, we need to think differently. We've got to do something differently. We have that control over over our actions, but we've just got to take control of them. Um so, yeah, really I actually just really quick.

Speaker 2:

I actually teach how to change your mindset. It's all about rewiring how your brain is is wired we're all wired off of information, but how do we actually change it? And it's actually very, very simple and actionable. So it's fascinating how quickly we can go from a negative to a positive or just see things differently so we, there's always going to be challenges.

Speaker 1:

So what would just to give a headline of of what you, what you teach with that, what would be sort of you know, one of the some of the key actions that someone could take?

Speaker 2:

the first one is recognizing what you're thinking yeah, awareness is everything yeah, yeah, we're so subconscious in our thought.

Speaker 2:

It's our autonomic system as, as far as we just go to, it's our go-to. We have to understand our sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. We can see the different brain waves that are working, but we can't without a piece of equipment. We don't need the piece of equipment, even though I do use it in person. When we're conscious of what we're thinking, we then have to understand the journey of that thought and the action that's coming from it. It's like a train track. All you have to do is switch from one track to another that hasn't been built yet, but once I begin to build it and put the stop sign up of where I don't want to go, it's a short process. I can change someone's mindset in a week. It's incredible. It's just actionable steps.

Speaker 1:

So if you look at the road you're on, become aware of it and realise it's not the road you want to be on, now we can rebuild a new road and that is the wiring within your brain of where it's connected to yeah, and kind of it often sometimes turn out as like you start with a little pathway cutting through the the bushes, and then that, as you feed it more and more of what you want, that pathway turns into like a super highway, and that's when your natural way of being uh yeah, that for me has been absolutely crucial in in the last 10 years completely changed the way I see the world and perceive everything around me. It's totally possible and totally doable.

Speaker 2:

And you live so much better. You're happy. Why shouldn't you be happy? Everyone should be happy.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly. Why do we want to be moaning about the state of the world when, in fact, there is so much goodness in the world? But it's just how we perceive it, how we see it so jumping on to the last one, yeah challenges.

Speaker 2:

It's critical to be challenged. As I said, aging is the excessive pursuit of stationary comfort. When we get up and we move, we're challenging the body. How much we challenge is how quickly all the resistance that we're moving for. But also you've got to have dreams. I go back to where we started. As a young girl, as young ladies, as young boys, as young men, we had dreams and we gave them up, sometimes because we were forced to give them up under circumstance, or we were told that they weren't valid, or we were told stop dreaming, you're wasting your time, get on with life. And we took on responsibilities. To live life, you've got to have challenges. Challenges create stress, but there's positive stress. Negative stress is arguments. It can be oxidative stress that we get from situations. It can be um lack of challenges takes your body down right. We age because we're not allowing the system to continue to thrive. We need positive challenges. That comes from dreaming biggest, not dreaming big. Dreaming biggest it doesn't mean to say you have to achieve it, because most people will know the destination we arrive at often isn't what we thought it was, but the journey was magnificent. And so if we can get on the biggest dream and then take the steps to get there. Along the way, we will discover new things about us.

Speaker 2:

Eleanor Roosevelt, incredible lady, said stay curious. Be passionate about being curious. Just because you're here today, why can't you be here? I'm curious. Where else can I go? Once you do that, your mind opens up. You start getting excited, even through challenges. That goes down to back to mindset I'm going to go through because before every great breakthrough is a greater breakdown, because that's where most people stop. And if you look at the pyramid of success, it's narrow. It's a pyramid because not everyone goes there. Every level has its own devil. So as we get to the next level, there's something that's going to be a resistance. That's the lesson we need to learn. So, set the challenge, set the goal, dream biggest.

Speaker 2:

Say just because somebody else isn't doing it doesn't mean I can't. Somebody has to do it. Why not you? Everyone is born superhuman. What we do with that is our character and what we're willing to commit to ourselves. And as you have been and continue to be, polly, you had no idea the impact you would have on people around you. You didn't do this to become an inspiration or a leader. You did this and, as a result, you became inspiring. You didn't do this to become an inspiration or a leader. You did this and, as a result, you became inspiring. You became motivational, you became a leader. Everybody that's listening can do the same. We don't know who we're impacting, but by taking action, someone that didn't have the strength, the bravery or even the courage to take that step will understand that they can follow you. Take action. Everyone is born superhuman.

Speaker 1:

Gosh. It's so true because when I started this podcast it was so scary. I didn't know if I could do it, didn't know what I was doing, didn't know what my voice was, didn't know what my opinions was, didn't know what my opinions were. But actually it was just those small, consistent steps that kept me moving forwards and and this is what I say to people I work with it's just exactly that it's like set yourself a goal and you absolutely, and you've got to believe it, you've got to believe that you can do it, like you said, and then it's those small consistent actions that you, you know that you can do it. I always, I always think it always makes me think of.

Speaker 1:

I ran my first marathon just before I was 50 and I'd run lots of half marathons but never run a marathon, and it was one of those things that's like I really want to do it before I'm 50 and it was. You know, I have respect to anybody running a marathon, because you've got to train, you've got to train for it. It's you've got to respect the distance. You never quite know what's going to happen, particularly when it's your first one, and it was like it was harder than I thought it was going to be. It was annoying because I thought, oh, I got this, I'd done all the training it was.

Speaker 1:

But actually it was harder than I thought it was going to be and there were moments, yes, I wanted, I wanted to give up, but obviously I had set this goal, this dream, I was going to do it, and the feeling you get, that you can do something which you never thought you really probably could, was just amazing. And I apply that to everything. You know, it doesn't really matter what that goal is. It's going to be amazing once you get there. And and, yeah, even if it doesn't happen straight away, you know we're all working towards things all the time and sometimes they can take longer than you're wanting them to. You're wanting them to come right now, but you just got to keep going and, um, yeah, I think you've been really inspiring in that that. Yeah, we can all do it there's.

Speaker 2:

I'd love, love to leave with one thing that I think would be amazing. Um, and first off, it goes back to that point when you cross the finish line. Crossing the finish line was crazy. Right, you felt so good, I achieved it, but then you look back and go, I wanted to quit here. I didn't think I was going to make it. It was the journey that made crossing the line amazing. Yeah. So self-love this is so important, polly. Self-love is not selfish. Self-love this is so important, polly. Self-love is not selfish, self-love is critical.

Speaker 2:

In England, we were brought up so many times to serve and we put ourselves second. There's a time of the day you have to put yourself first. Make that time your time. It's not selfish, it's essential. The fitter and healthier you are and we're talking about mental strength, brain health as well, not just going out and working out the more you can help others. We can't help when we're down, but this is what I'd love everyone to understand. There'll be a lot of people listening, going yeah, it sounds so easy, but yeah, I'll start tomorrow. I'll start.

Speaker 2:

Whenever I raced my first Ironman up in Canada Lake Penticton, oh sorry, penticton, lake Okanagan and I'm standing on the front with about 2,000 people. The Canadian National Anthem plays, the cannon goes off and we were running in the water and I was near the front and swimming. There was like 2,000 people almost behind me. Some guy put his hand in the back of my wetsuit, pushed me under the water. I couldn't get back up because it's just this swarm of people swimming, kicking, going crazy. There was no way up and it got to a point where I knew I was going to drown. So I just gave up as in didn't give up trying, I just went. Okay, I'm going to relax, it's over, I'm gonna. I you find this peace, but I was, it wasn't fearful. So then I look at it and go. Once I found the peace, I saw a little gap and I swam toward the gap. When I broke through the water, I'm breathing. I can't do this, I'm done.

Speaker 1:

It's over All this training, all this money.

Speaker 2:

I spent the flight. It's over and I lay there for like three minutes and there was still people kind of going by and I thought, dan, just get on and do it, just start swimming one stroke at a time. Had an amazing swim passed, so many people got on the bike. In fact, I ran my very first marathon in the Ironman. I'd never run a marathon before. Wow, I finished across the finishing line. I saw a guy a mile from the line collapse. He'd totally frozen, he had cramped up and I didn't want to stop. I didn't know what. I'm shouting to the crowd please help him. And people were running out. I saw bike crashes. I saw blood. I saw people just having to give up and I crossed the finishing line. I felt amazing. 30% of people that finished go to the medical tent. I stayed, I helped them. I was there till the last person crossed the line. I got on my bike. I biked back to the hotel. I felt amazing. But this is the point that I'd love people to take Anyone that crossed the finish line was a champion.

Speaker 2:

So I thought the winner was the first. I thought anyone that crossed was a champion. That day changed my life and it will, for everybody listening Anyone that was willing to cross the start line not knowing the journey ahead, is a champion. I saw people not finish that day that were ahead of me, that were brilliant. They had an accident, something went down, their body collapsed through the effort they put in but they recovered. If you're willing to step over that start line, not knowing the journey ahead, but willing to risk it all for betterment, to get to your finish line, whatever it is, whenever it is, knowing that you committed to yourself. Finish line whatever it is, whenever it is, knowing that you committed to yourself, you're a champion. There's two people in life spectators and players. Be a player. Step over the start line and know you are born superhuman. You're incredible. The power of your brain is immense. Tap into it because you are made to be everything you're born to be.

Speaker 1:

Dan, thank you so much for coming on today, for sharing all your wealth of wisdom, of knowledge For anybody who would like to find out more about you, to get your book. Where can they come and find you?

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much. Yeah, you thank you so much. Yeah, if you go to born superhumancom, that's born superhumancom, all one word. Obviously, I have free courses on there as well, especially for hydration. I have a free course learn to be hydrated. It's a very simple seven-day program to change. My book is born superhuman. You can get that on amazon or other places. And then my own personal Instagram is just Dan Metcalf. I can say it with an English accent Dan Metcalf with an E underscore official, and if I can help anyone, it would be my honour.

Speaker 1:

Oh well, thank you so much. It's been a real, real pleasure to meet you and, yeah, all the way from LA. So, yeah, thanks so much. There you have it. I hope you enjoyed this episode. There was an awful lot in here, so perhaps just think of one or two things that really resonated with you or something which you thought, oh yes, I need to do a little bit more of that and just take that thing and see if you can perhaps integrate it into your everyday life. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd be so grateful if you could hit that follow and subscribe button. It really does help this podcast. I'd love to connect with you over on instagram, where I am at polly warren coaching. Come and say hi or you can always send me an email info at pollywarrencom. Have a fantastic rest of your week and I will speak to you next time. Take care lots of love. Bye.