Actress, film producer, director, human rights activist, environmentalist, organic farmer, and UNICEF Ambassador, Trudie Styler doesn’t stop moving. In 1989, she and her husband Sting started the Rainforest Foundation, an organization devoted to protecting rainforests and their indigenous peoples. In 1990, the couple moved to Lake House in the English countryside, determined to raise their four children in a natural environment. She spends a lot of her time at Il Palagio, a 900-acre eco-friendly estate in Tuscany, where she produces organic olive oil and honey, and most recently biodynamic wines.
Organic Spa Magazine: What inspired your family move to the country?
Trudie Styler: I was a new mom who wanted to raise my kids in the way that I was raised. I had a rural upbringing and we grew most of our vegetables. We lived in a tenement building that had a nice garden plot. I wanted to bring my kids up to understand the connection to nature. As an urban dweller, you can get very removed. I wanted my kids to have a big yard to run around in and flex their muscles and appreciate the land they ran around in.
OSM: What makes your Warrior Yoga DVD special?
TS: It was shot at Il Palagio and speaks to connecting to nature through meditation and yoga and eating better. It’s a lifestyle DVD as much as anything.
OSM: Why “warrior?” What inspired the name?
TS: It’s a good name that applies to most women in the world…women in refugee countries who are trying to survive…warrior women who are working full-time jobs and who multi-task all day long. This is a message to them to say, “You count!” Get on your mat and give yourself the gift of some time, and do some yoga or meditation to replenish your precious vehicle.
OSM: You’ve been practicing yoga for 20 years. What advice can you share with readers?
TS: First, commit yourself to putting on the DVD and sitting on your mat. Set the clock. Give yourself ten minutes if you’re a newcomer. Progress from beginner to intermediate. Begin slowly, build confidence and ability.
OSM: What is your personal fitness regime?
TS: I do a lot of different forms of movement—yoga, Pilates, and gyrotonics. I sometimes do ballet if I want a feminine infusion. Some days I want to get the heart going and do cardio. Or conversely, if I feel I have no energy and have a long evening ahead—I look at the clock and realize I’m flagging a bit—then I’ll put our Cardio Flow on and I’m ready to go out for the evening. I mix it up. Some days I feel like doing more, some days less.
OSM: Would you share some of your eating habits?
TS: I eat pretty well, actually. I have a really good diet, beginning with the precept of breakfast, “eat like a prince and dine like a pauper.” I eat well in the morning: grains or a Japanese breakfast of greens, rice, and miso soup; or porridge with raisins and stewed apples; or protein with organic free-range eggs. I eat protein and grains with veggies at lunch, and at night I’ll have soup. [Try Trudie’s super-healthy Green Juice recipe – see below.]
OSM: Do you have a favorite travel destination?
TS: I go to the Lake House for relaxation. My favorite destination is wherever my family is contained.
Move It with Trudie
Trudie Styler’s mind body and fitness series from Gaiam includes these DVDs:
• Cardio Dance Flow
• Core Strength Pilates
• Sculpt and Tone Ballet
• Pure Sculpt
• Warrior Yoga
• Weight Loss Yoga
All are available at amazon.com.
Trudie and Chef Joe Sponzo’s Green Juice
Makes 2 glasses
5-6 stalks of kale
1 6-inch piece of cucumber
1 cup of spinach
1/2 small bunch of lettuce
4 ribs of celery
1 medium Fuji apple
1 lemon
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 bunch of parsley
1 1-inch piece of ginger
½ green bell pepper
Wash all the ingredients and process vegetables, herbs, and fruit through a juicer.