Since her breakthrough role as Claire in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, we’ve been just a little bit obsessed with the brilliant Sian Clifford. Her performance was so iconic that Clifford was of course was named Best Actor at this year’s Stylist Remarkable Women Awards. She also recently returned to our screens in hit-drama Quiz, and we’ll see her again later in the year alongside Maisie Williams in new Sky series Two Weeks To Live. 

In the meantime, fans can get to know Clifford a bit better by listening to the latest episode of the Thanks A Million with Angela Scanlon podcast. 

Clifford talks about Fleabag hysteria, her terrible time at school, meeting Leonardo Di Caprio and Brad Pitt at the Emmys and being lost without Waller-Bridge. But there is one particular discussion that will leave people wanting to listen closely. Sharing the new routine she has developed during lockdown, the actor say she takes around 30 seconds each morning to do an emotional and physical self-scan. 

“I’ll always have a little check-in with myself,” she tells Scanlon. “I might do that in bed. I might do that whilst I’m having some warm water. I might do that as a meditation. So that’s one of the ingredients. I just take a moment to notice how I’m feeling. 

“Before I check my phone, before I engage with anyone or anything outside of myself, I just do all sorts of scans. It might be – well, it will be – all of these, but a physical scan, an emotional scan and just noticing what’s going on with me.”

She continues to explain that creating this time for herself to look inward has had a huge effect, especially when you consider how little effort it takes to do so. 

“I find the more regularly I do that, and I’m all about consistency over doing this once a week for an hour, I think it’s better if you do have these tiny little moments throughout your day. And when you start doing that, you open up a dialogue with yourself that’s quite profound to be honest.

“You start learning things about yourself. You start noticing more subtle things and how your body’s communicating with you. What’s what I do, not in a heavy way. It’s just a really light 30 seconds. Sometimes I’ll take longer.” 

It sounds so easy but so effective: just taking half a minute each morning to check in with your emotions and body before doing anything else. There’s basically no reason to not at least try it during lockdown, while many of us continue to work from home.

Thanks A Million with Angela Scanlon is available on Apple, Spotify and all podcast providers. 

Images: Chris Floyd, BBC