Anatomē tackles our vital need for quality sleep head on

Most of us have had a lot more time on our hands since the nation went into lockdown back in March, while we’ve outwardly posted ‘candid’ shots of our happy families in isolation and flicked through tinted filters to swipe over our perfectly risen sourdough, the relentless home schooling and another failed baking attempt has us reaching for the chardonnay and the empty biscuit tin. The last 11 weeks has been a rollercoaster of emotions, overwhelmed as the pandemic took a grip on our daily work and home life and disrupting our sleep patterns in the process. Adjusting to this ‘new normal’ has led to a negative effect on our well being, both physically and mentally. The world we currently occupy is agitated, our natural rhythms replaced with anxiety and uncertainty. No wonder our once perfect 8 hour nighty kip feels like a distant dream.

Despite this rather solemn opening paragraph, one brand is focused on having our backs during this stressful time. Anatomē was created by founder Brendan Murdock only two years ago with his team of aromacologist, Anatasia Brozler and nutritionist and sleep expert, Winder Ton RD MSc who began to research the best botanical extracts for optimised performance and balanced emotional wellbeing. Creating a range of essential oils and supplements that are ‘situation specific’, so whether you have trouble getting to sleep at night, staying asleep or lack focus during the day, your anxieties are calmed from a carefully balanced range of botanical extracts whether the sedative Himalayas Lavender grown from high altitudes or the tenderness from Provençal French Lavender. This is as much about your psychological state as any physical symptoms, driven by a simple belief that nutritional and emotional balance is the key to a healthy, fulfilling life and that a healthy, nourished body will support a healthy mind. 

So how does it work?

The anatome oils are created through a process called Aromacology, the study of observable influence of aromas on human mood and feelings. This is affected by the profile of bioactive molecules present in plant extracts and oils. Meaning the provenance of where the plant is grown, from soil type to climate is fundamental on how we respond to the carefully blended oils. Clever stuff indeed. I can personally recommend the Recovery + Sleep Oil, its been a game changer for me over the last few weeks and this comes from someone that’s been known to fall asleep against a booming speaker in a nightclub. Falling asleep has never been an issue for me, but like so many of us during these unpredictable times, our brain goes into overdrive trying to marry rational solutions with an irrational world. It’s not just Anatome who understands how important sleep is to our health. Only this month a sleep study  International COVID-19 Sleep Study (ICOSS) was commissioned from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Oxford to establish the effects from the pandemic on our sleep behaviour. Professor Colin Espie will lead a team of Oxford researchers on how social isolation has effected our sleep patterns. ‘Particularly in times of high stress and disrupted daily routines sleep its all the more important for our overall well being. Sufficient good quality sleep helps us cope’ explains the Professor. Sleep is at the heart of physical and mental health, essential for tissue repair, cell regeneration and immune functioning. The hope is the nationwide study will help the medical team understand the challenges and figure out the solutions to keep the population well slept and healthy.

The therapeutic oils that support sleep, stress and anxiety has been a core focus for the Anatomē team, since day one, with poor sleep effecting our emotional and physical health. Although Anatomē have a dedicated store in London’s St James, the health pandemic has meant customers have had to stay away. Undeterred, they found a smart way to connect with their customers through their online A+ consultations. Advice is given on how to sleep better, how to manage stress, optimise your diet and support your immune system. The process is refreshingly straightforward. I took up the service with Winder Ton, a sleep and nutrition expert, filing out an online questionnaire detailing my personal needs and current emotions. A virtual face to face appointment followed which humanised the whole experience and a bespoke wellness plan was put in place, addressing my dietary, emotional and physical needs. This innovative approach means that Anatomē look at each person individually, allowing the team to prescribe in a holistic manner the best nutritional and emotional support possible. The website really takes the customer by the hand and leads them through each of the supportive oils and supplements with clear explanations of their benefits, without blinding you with baffling science. 

Its been a little over a week now since I received my bespoke health and wellness plan. I can honestly say I’m feeling the green shoots from its advice. Sleeping better, eating better and exercising a little more consistently (still baby steps on that front). I’m generally more focused and productive thanks to Winder’s recommendations and the Anatomē products. 

Extracting the positive benefits from a diverse range of plants has been used by doctors, healers and therapist’s for centuries. Anatomē’s approach is refreshingly modern and given we’re all living through the uncertainty of a health pandemic, its range of treatments couldn’t be more relevant and in demand.

https://www.anatome.co