Before cancer, it was like I was being chased by a tiger all day

JULIA Bradbury's stress hormones used to be so high that a doctor told her it was like she was being chased by a tiger all day.

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And then she got cancer.

Now, four years since she found a lump in her breast and had a mastectomy, the TV presenter, 54, has turned her life around and has finally got the balance right.

"I didn have a very balanced life before cancer," she admits. "Now, I really do feel grateful for every day - balance is very, very important."

Julia, who presented Countryfile and a number of other TV documentaries, many of them about walking, says: "I've had my cortisol [stress hormone] measured, and historically it's been through the roof. As one doctor described it, I appeared to be being chased by a tiger all day.

"It's something for everybody to be mindful of - we are human beings, not human doings. Even lions and tigers don't hunt all day, they rest a lot, and that's a good metaphor for us - you can't be in hunting mode or being chased all the time.

"You have to find some time to rest and be calm, and find a little bit of security and peace somewhere where you're not being chased."

So now Julia, who's written six books about walking, plus the forthcoming health tips book Hack Yourself Healthy which will be published in September, does breath work and meditation every morning at first light, meditates at night, and exercises regularly.

"I try very much to build peaceful, calm moments into my day, because it's very, very important for me, particularly post a cancer diagnosis," she explains.

"It's very important to keep your stress levels at a minimum, but not always easy when you're running around and trying to meet book deadlines and TV deadlines and all the rest of it.

"So I make sure I carve out those times in the day for me to do my nature walk, to do my breath work, to really calm my cortisol levels. And that for me, I believe, is life-saving."