How do you strengthen your mental fitness? 

I strengthen my mental fitness by creating sculptural and functional ceramic pieces.

You start with this malleable lump of wet mud which you pull into shape, paint and then cook into stone. It’s a long process that often goes wrong so you learn to be patient and love the process as much as the end product.

My mind instantly untangles as soon as I get into the studio. Time just evaporates when I start working because I go into a state of complete absorption. Often the whole day will fly by and I’ll realise I haven’t said a word. It’s like my own condensed meditation retreat. It keeps me from burning out.

There’s something about getting my hands dirty that grounds me, and helps me put aside the things that don’t actually matter.

What is your favourite health hack?

I’ve always found exercise, like lifting weights or using exercise machines, boring. The only way I have managed to maintain and improve my fitness and health is by finding activities that promote a healthy lifestyle, are physically intensive, and mentally addicting. For me, those activities are surfing and jiu-jitsu. When you love what you’re doing it becomes a practice that’s a blessing rather than a chore and it’s with you for life.

What is your ‘not-so-guilty’ pleasure?

Falling asleep to audiobooks / podcasts. There’s something incredibly relaxing and soporific about the sound of human voices.

What are you currently reading? 

Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality

by Max Tegmark