Christy Turlington’s “Non-Puritanical” Routine Is The Reason She’s So Glowy

Just as in her most iconic photographs, over Zoom, Christy Turlington’s face gleams – striking, happy and open. Arguably the most wellness-minded of the OG supers, Turlington has long been balancing her busy professional life with movement and spirituality. Now, through her work with Every Mother Counts (the maternal health charity she founded), and her newest role as a global ambassador for Lancôme – a brand she says she’d “grown up” around – Turlington is as longevity-focused as ever. “The brand has always been iconic. I remember walking through department stores, and the Lancôme counter was always the most aspirational.” To celebrate her newly minted role, Turlington sat down with British Vogue to share a glimpse of her wellness regimen.

Running in silence is her normal

“When I started running, it was on busy roads,” Turlington tells me, explaining the origins of her noise-free running routine – no AirPods here. “I didn’t like not knowing about what the cars and traffic around me were doing, so I started to get into a rhythm of just silence. So much of our lives are filled with noise and stimuli that I appreciate not having anything in my ears when I run.” She’s onto something. Constant noise and the inability to switch off can cause structural and functional changes in the Default Mode Network (the regions of the brain that activate when the brain isn’t focused on external stimuli), that can indicate depression and anxiety, among other things.

Running isn’t just for her mental and physical health, though. Turlington’s charity, Every Mother Counts, is based on the fundamental right to respectful maternity care, and champions marathons as a way to raise awareness (and money) of how distance can be a huge barrier to care for so many women. “I really do crave alone time. That’s probably why I like running so much. I go out for an hour or so with no music, just silence. I plan for that kind of time – it doesn’t create itself.”

Sleep is important, but not rigid

I’d expected Turlington’s wellness routine to include a strict sleep schedule. Mine does, and, admittedly, working to maintain it does cause me a certain amount of stress. Turlington, though, can roll with the punches. “I can handle a sleepless night here and there,” she says, breezily. “I can’t handle too many in a row, but one or two at a time is okay.” When I probe her on how she manages to be so relaxed about the number of Zs she’s getting, she says it’s down to being consistent with her sleep the rest of the time.

Everything in moderation, including moderation

Each time I ask if there’s anything non-negotiable in her regimen, Turlington Gentle Parents me, explaining that inflexibility really isn’t her thing. “I’m able to step outside of a completely puritanical lifestyle because my body’s healthy, and I can come back (to one) very easily. I’m a ‘when in Rome’ type of person,” she explains. “It gives me energy and brings life to my soul rather than, ‘I’ve got to go to sleep.’” It’s good advice. “I find balance in getting out of balance, and then coming back to a centre place.”

A riff on the Midline Theory, a wellness mindset that promotes focusing on what you do most of the time rather than some of the time, Turlington’s recipe for success is based on consistency – not perfection.

This article was originally published on British Vogue.