Where do you call home?
I live in a family home in Kensal Rise in London. I’ve been here for about 16 years, and many of the people I know around here have done the same. We’ve grown up and grown families together. It’s lovely. Probably the exact thing I moved away from the countryside to escape is now what I enjoy most.
What led you into the field of acupuncture?
It’s the same for a lot of people who work in these fields, I think. Personal experience. My dad died unexpectedly when I was a kid, and my mum recommended acupuncture for the heartbreak and shock. I went into the session absolutely broken and came out with a completely different feeling about what was happening to us as a family. I genuinely couldn’t believe the difference it made. I fell in love with it and wanted to do the same for others. It also seemed like a very cool job where I’d be able to drink a lot of tea.
You have an unexpected afternoon on your hands — how do you spend it?
Ahh, without a doubt, in the cinema. A pint of Guinness with my wife and then a film and some popcorn next to her. Coming out of the cinema when it’s still light outside gives me a similar feeling to how I felt coming out of a club at 3am in my twenties.
Are you a night owl or an early bird?
Early bird. I love being up before everyone else, when it’s still peaceful. I like going outside into my plunge pool for a minute before the sun and my kids are up. Doing my job has made me value sleep too much to stay up late now. The mild look of terror on my wife’s face when she realises that we’ve stayed up past 11pm on a school night is pure comedy.
What is your favourite hotel on earth?
Claridge’s in London. I’ve been lucky enough to travel a little with my work and I’ve seen some places I could never dream of affording. The thing I love most about Claridge’s (apart from its style and décor) is that it doesn’t matter if you can easily afford it or you have to save up to visit, everyone gets treated with the same magic. It’s a celebration. There is something very special about that building and the people that run it.
Do you have a skincare routine?
I do, aye. I’m a whore for a product! Few things please me more than shaving with my wife’s serums. I know a lovely person who works at Bio-Effect, a great Icelandic skincare company, and I use all of it, regardless of my understanding. She told me to keep it simple, and I do. My number one tip for men is to shave with a cleanser instead of shaving cream. I keep telling people in the hope that I’ve stumbled upon something new.
What is on your bedside table at the moment?
Until recently, I used to view the selection of books I have there as a small pile of guilt. But just last week, I discovered that there is a Japanese word for that pile and that it’s actually a pile of wonderful undiscovered pleasure or something like that. I always know that patients of mine are in a good place when they report reading books again after a long absence. It’s a great barometer for our internal peace, I think. My pile currently includes Orbital by Samantha Harvey, Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake and The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson.
What TV Series Are You Currently Bingeing?
On my own: 1923. I love the brutal wild west and that period. As a family: Celebrity Bear Hunt. Seeing my kids enjoy a show is often better than the show itself. I like watching them watch stuff. It sometimes freaks them out when they turn round to see me staring at them with tears in my eyes.
What was the last item of clothing you bought?
A really beautiful 1980s American-made Wrangler brown corduroy western jacket from a guy in California on Etsy. I love that feeling of a vintage risk paying off. When it turned up, I put it on and showed my seven-year-old daughter, and we both cheered and hugged. She loves the story of clothes.
What is your most prized possession?
An old Gladstone bag that was given to me by someone really special to me the week I started studying acupuncture. It’s about 110 years old and it fits all my acupuncture tools inside it. It eventually became the logo for my brand of supplements and patches. Every few months, I’ll take a day off just to clean and oil my old bags. They need a lot of loving. It always leaves me feeling peaceful.
