My Day, My Way
Daily moments that matter with Caggie Dunlop
The podcast host and author on tumultuous times, thinking positively and what she’d save in a fire
Caggie Dunlop burst on to our screens in 2011 as part of the original Made In Chelsea cast but has since pivoted from club-loving socialite to wellbeing devotee.
Hitting 30 was the turning point that prompted Caggie to dramatically shift her life, going from one filled with regret to a more authentic, centred one. Since her days on E4, she’s hosted seven seasons of her hugely popular podcast, Saturn Returns, written a bestselling book of the same name and continues to inspire her ever-growing community with titbits of astrology and spirituality in a digestible, relevant way.
Today, she talks to us about the routines that keep her grounded, the rituals that help her booming business stay, well, booming, and the lessons she’s learnt on how tumultuous times can actually have the most profound and positive impact on our lives.
On her morning routine
I recently interviewed Poppy Jamie for my podcast Saturn Returns and she said that the first thing she does every morning is move her body to help process her dreams and the night’s sleep. I’m guilty of jumping straight to my phone but that instantly starts my day in a panicky way. So now I get up and go for a walk (either in silence or listening to the day’s astrological information on The Pattern app) and then I’ll come home and have matcha, which has a slower release than coffee or tea.
On creating lists and using writing as an outlet
One thing I do every night before I go to sleep is create a list of exactly what I need to do the next day. If I don’t do this, I’ll wake up and just have no idea where to begin. When you run a business, there are so many moving parts, and if you’re not organised in laying out exactly what you need to achieve on a given day, you can end up without ticking anything off. I’m still quite chaotic and have 50,000 different lists on my phone but the intention is there.
When I was writing my book, I also followed a concept created by Julia Cameron from her book The Artist’s Way, which is all about writing three pages the minute you wake up. The idea is that it helps you get out of your own way so you can make room for your creative ideas.
On her (not so) average day in the life
We have so many different things to do on a daily basis and every week is different. My morning and night routines punctuate my day, but in the middle, no two days are the same. I like to get a lot done before most of my team are awake and, after a few hours of work, I’ll move my body before going into a full afternoon of work, content creation and meetings.
We’re working hard on putting together a set of courses, called The Foundations, which will be interactive online sessions with audio meditations, journal prompts, video and workbook content. It’s framed around people navigating through transitional periods and times of change – under the umbrella of Saturn Returns. It’s not an astrology course, although it does have elements of astrology in it, but the aim is for anyone who connects with it to discover their unique gifts and purpose.
On why the Saturn return is so powerful
For a long time, I felt as if things were happening to me, not for me. My Saturn return – which is a turning point at 29 or 30 where Saturn reaches the same position it was in when you were born – taught me that everything happens for a reason. It can be such a tumultuous time. It changed everything for me and taught me to be open to the possibility that big periods of change might actually be there to create something bigger and better for you. Things don’t narrow or close at 30, they actually open.
On how mindset shifts make a difference
Without realising it, our brain picks up so much more than we think. If your day starts off badly and you’re in a negative frame of mind, you’re giving yourself a framework for things to actually go wrong. Now, I try to figure out what the universe is trying to teach or show me. Shifting my mindset has been my biggest challenge; it’s a daily discipline to try and think positively rather than negatively and I by no means always get it right. But it’s really helped me come back from a place full of regret and shame.
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Quickfire questions
No 1 reached-for item in your fridge?
Bread. I go to a local bakery called Layla – it has delicious fresh bread which I have every day.
What would you save if your house was on fire?
My journals. I’ve kept journals and diaries for my entire life, so I have boxes of them. They are hilarious but give me such amazing insight into my entire life in a way that photos and memories can’t.
Where is your happy place?
With my boyfriend. And, physically, in Sydney. It’s my absolute spiritual home.
“It’s a daily discipline to try and think positively rather than negatively and I by no means always get it right”
What’s on your bedside table?
My Invisalign box! And a book of Marcus Aurelius meditations.
Any sleep rituals?
Yoga is great. Sometimes it’s hard if you’ve had a busy day and don’t like working out at night, but I love the idea of acknowledging the day.
If you had £100 to spend at John Lewis, what would you buy?
Diptyque candles. They are my absolute favourite.
A mantra that you live your life by?
I love ‘This too shall pass’. And it’s not really a mantra but I also love ‘All things run even’. I said it a lot in my book, but everything in life has its other side, whether that’s the sun and the moon, dark and light. And we’re like that too as humans. We all have light and dark in us; it’s something to think about and appreciate and it’s what makes life beautiful and interesting.
Listen to Caggie’s podcast Saturn Returns on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and find out more about The Foundations at saturnreturns.co.uk
