Women’s Health UK – September 2019

(Elliott) #1

SEPTEMBER 2019 | 63


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STATS
Age: 35
Job: Actor, writer,
stand-up comedian
Fitness MO:
Hip-hop dance
Wind-down
secret: CBD oil

ROUTE TO WELLTH


Aisling


Bea


The writer, actor and comedian talks witchcraft,
sustainability and making peace with her skin

HEAL
Now more than ever
we’re realising mental
health isn’t just an
airy-fairy idea. My TV
show This Way Up is
about a girl working
her way back up after
a breakdown. It
explores the fragile
period that follows
hitting rock bottom. It’s
not autobiographical,
but a huge part of my
life has been managing
stress and anxiety, and
I’m always changing
how I approach it


  • one week it’s a
    crystal healer, the next
    week it’s a therapist. CELEBRATE^
    I’m lifted by my female
    peers. I’m glad we’ve
    moved past thinking
    there’s a finite amount
    of space for women to
    succeed. I was writing
    my show at the same
    time as my friend
    [comedian] Sara
    Pascoe was writing her
    book [Sex Power
    Money, out 29 August].
    Reading it now, I’m like,
    ‘You came up with this
    when you were sat
    opposite me drinking
    wine? You genius.’


MOVE
Some aspects of being
healthy come naturally
to me; cooking proper
meals is one of my
favourite things.
Exercise? Less so. It’s
taken me ages to find
something I like, and
dancing is definitely
that. I’ve tried to find
a hip-hop class where
I’m working, but the
guy I went to did salsa
to songs from a Shakira
album. I enjoyed it,
though – good old
Shakira, there are
some classics in there.

SUSTAIN
We all need to start
living more consciously


  • and it’s all about little
    changes that you can
    make in your own
    world. My sister is a
    costume designer, she’s
    done Black Mirror, and
    she wrote a directory
    to help the costume
    industry become more
    ethical. I tried to make
    the set for my show
    more sustainable, too.
    We had meat-free
    Mondays and no
    plastic. Reducing my
    avocado intake remains
    a work in progress.


CONNECT
I love to try spiritual
things – I’ve even been
on a witches night. We
had to burn incense
and go round in a circle
to say where we were
in our cycle. There’s
a search for meaning
in this life and certain
things seem weird, but
I bet there’s science to
back them up. I grew
up in Ireland, which is
a very Catholic country


  • I’m not religious, but
    spirituality and a belief
    in the connection
    between humans is
    important to me.


RESTORE
My sleeping became
out of sorts recently
because I got burned
out, and CBD oil has
changed my life. It
helps wind my brain
down. I travel so much
that pottering around
my house would
be my ideal evening.
I’d be carrying my
laptop like it’s a tray of
canapés and watching
Queer Eye. If I’m being
honest, I’d probably
cook potato waffles.
Things that you cook
in the toaster from
the freezer are my
nostalgia foods.

SYNC
I’ve just read Period
Power by Maisie Hill
and I wish they’d hand
it out in schools. I
started monitoring my
own cycle, and I’ve
realised how much of
a difference it makes. It
helps with your mental
health: ‘Oh, I feel low
today, it’s because my
oestrogen boost has
gone and I’ve had a
progesterone drop. So,
maybe if someone says
something to me today
that I don’t agree
with, I won’t write an
emotional email back.’
It’s knowing how to
map your mood.

TREAT
Managing my skin has
been a lifelong battle.
There’s nothing worse
than breakouts when
you’re a comedian
who is looked at
for a living. A New
York dermatologist
prescribed me
spironolactone,
which helped clear
my hormonal acne.
Appointments with
London facialist Abigail
James help, too. She’s
taught me to be wary
of over-perfumed
products – now
I love brands like
The Ordinary and
Image Skincare.

Catch Aisling in This
Way Up on Channel 4
this August

B
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(^) B
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