Tony Riddle - Be More Human: How to transform your lifestyle for optimum health, happiness and vitality

This book is brilliant. Tony is a hero with such an important message to help us connect with a more natural way of living, so we feel happier and healthier

David Flynn and Stephen Flynn, the Happy Pear

That Tony so wholly and passionately walks his talk is the real key here youre not witnessing marketing spiel, youre witnessing a living, breathing, thriving example of unsullied human nature. It should be the norm, but given how far removed we are from our nature its become extraordinary

Emin Rushton, author and journalist

Tony exposes you to the areas that have been compromised by modern living and arent serving you; suggests small changes that can be implemented for big impact, even in the busiest of lifestyles. Keep spreading the word

David Haye, former unified Cruiserweight World Champion and World Heavyweight Champion boxer

The irony of our hyperconnected world is disconnection from that which is most important. In Be More Human, Riddle challenges us to mend this wound by enriching our natural and ancient relationship with that which is fundamental: our relationship with others, the natural environments we share and, of course, ourselves. Extending from there, this inspiring read will teach you the importance of movement, sleep, community, conscious parenting, and even play so we can together navigate the complexity of modern life with deeper meaning and greater purpose

Rich Roll, author of Finding Ultra

An ultra-endurance athlete and Natural Lifestyle Coach, Tony Riddle garnered brilliant press coverage for his barefoot run from Lands End to John oGroats, raising awareness and funds for sustainability and environmental NGOs. In September 2021, he broke the mens running record by completing the 400-plus miles of the Three Peaks challenge barefoot in 9 days, 7 hours and 44 minutes.

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First published by Penguin Life in 2022

Copyright Tony Riddle, 2022
Illustrations copyright Sneha Alexander, 2022

The moral right of the copyright holders has been asserted

Cover photography Sheray Lloyd/Getty Images

The information in this book is not a substitute for and is not to be relied on for medical or healthcare professional advice. Please consult your GP before changing, stopping or starting any medical treatment. So far as the author is aware, the information given is correct and up to date as at the time of writing. The author and publishers disclaim, as far as the law allows, any liability arising directly or indirectly from the use or misuse of the information contained in this book.

Text design by Alice Woodward

ISBN: 978-0-241-50960-9

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Its 2014 and Im standing in the disused London to Scotland railway ticket hall that I have spent the last few years converting into my gym. Around me are my trainers, coaches and movement specialists. Around me I can see the product of my lifes work and the realization of my dreams. Im teaching a class about being more human and how to move the body as nature intended. Its a philosophy Ive been developing and living for decades. I should feel complete but I dont.

Suddenly, a train thunders overhead. As the gym is attached to a railway platform, this isnt unusual. All day, every day, trains hurtle past, rattling the equipment and vibrating the floor. Its an event so commonplace that no one really pays attention to it. Yet something about this train, at this time, hits me hard. A feeling of momentous awakening cuts me off mid-sentence and almost knocks me over. Its as though my entire life has been building to this very second. As the noise and vibration grow more intense, shaking the walls, the strip lighting flickers and the bars on the window tremble. Somewhere deep inside, Im hit with a sudden bolt of clarity. Standing silently in front of my gym class, I feel like the train is thundering into the depths of my unconscious and I begin to see my life, and the memories and stories Ive told myself, flash before me. I see the lack, the untruths, the struggles and frustrations. And finally, I arrive at the impossible truth: I was a fraud. I had been conning everyone, and worst of all, I had been conning myself. It was time to wake up.

For all my trying, I was not healthy or content. How had this happened? I had been striving for conventional success my whole life. I believed that owning a business, a house, a car and having a family would bring me happiness. Id followed the socially accepted steps towards success, embodied the conventions: gone to school, a stint in the army, become a personal trainer, a Pilates teacher, a movement coach, set up my own gym. Id made it, lived and breathed the Human Laboratory and yet it wasnt working. Id watched my friends, family and community comply and suffer the same challenges, yet I still believed in the promised satisfaction that complying should bring. So, why did I feel so unsuccessful when, really, Id 100% achieved what from the outside looked like the definition of success? Yes, Id built a business, bought a house, had a family. But I felt like a failure. I couldnt help asking myself, was it just me who felt such disconnection?

I had set up my gym to help people strip back their lives and live more simply, as nature intended. But, as the train rattled overhead, I had to accept that I was failing. And I had to question why. I had to strip back my pride and ego to reveal my true, vulnerable self. The train forced me to ask myself: what is it that makes a successful human in the modern world? I had to face up to the fact that it sure as hell wasnt what Id been doing up until that point. I had been chasing the wrong sort of success the money-driven, modern-world view, which takes no account of true wellness, emotions or spirituality, yet each of these is needed to be a healthy, happy and truly successful human being.

At my moment of realization, I was 38 years old and feeling the consequences of my own unnatural lifestyle. I owned a gym, yet my finances were in a mess. In recklessly striving to stay afloat and maintain the illusion of success, I barely saw my wife and two small daughters. Any remaining energy outside of that was being driven into pacifying drugs and drink to numb the guilt, shame and pain. I was living the antithesis of everything I believed in, and worse still, I was misguidedly teaching others to do the same. I had let all of my needs slip aside in the pursuit of what I believed to be success.

There I was, in an artificially lit, underground room with poor air quality and filled with electromagnetic waves, espousing the pseudo virtues of rewilding in a completely unnatural environment that was in no way conducive to how human health works in nature. That day marked the beginning of my awakening. That train smashed through my fragile facade of success, exposing my hidden child self and his every unmet need. It knocked my ego into humility. Things had to fundamentally change.