Lila Moss shares her wellness rituals for World Diabetes Day
“Night has fallen but the darkened skies alight with the magic of the aurora borealis,” Lila Moss narrates softly. It’s part of a soothing sleep story the model has created in collaboration with wellness platform Calm and wearable insulin pump Omnipod. In “Runway Beneath the Northern Lights”, listeners are guided down an imaginary catwalk while engaging in breathwork exercises.
“Walking down a runway is a great analogy for walking through everyday life,” Moss tells Dazed ahead of World Diabetes Day. “Putting one foot in front of the other, no matter if you’re nervous, stressed or anxious,” and knowing you’ll make it to the end is a relaxing thought. Instead of worrying about which direction to turn, all you have to do is “focus on going forward.”
Simple grounding rituals are a big part of Moss’s daily routine. “I love stretching in the mornings – my whole YouTube algorithm is lower morning cortisol frequencies and soundbaths in the woods,” she says. “I also light incense, gua sha and play music to start my day,” she adds. “It helps to temporarily switch off and take a moment for yourself,” especially if you lead a busy lifestyle. While travelling between fashion shoots, if Moss needs a moment to pause, she’ll always come back to breathwork. “Being a bit of an anxious person, I’ve learned to be present and breathe through those situations,” she says. Breathwork like parasympathetic sighing – an exercise where you breathe in twice and slowly exhale –– can calm your nervous system and take your mind off things.
In the story, Moss leans into ideas of growth, transformation and perseverance. “While getting diagnosed with type 1 diabetes changed my life, I feel like the little moments become the most transformative,” she says. It’s through the smaller challenges that you really grow and learn about yourself – whether improving a new skill, making connections with people or learning to slow down. “That’s what transforms [you], not necessarily the one thing, but all the little things together.”
Throughout the meditation there are also references to stumbling and continuing on the journey. For those living with diabetes, “it can feel like you’re stumbling a lot of the time because you’re trying to keep up with expectations,” she explains. It can be difficult to predict how your body will react in some moments, “even if you’ve done everything ‘right’.” An activity that you did today that didn’t affect your glucose levels in the moment could have an unforeseen impact the next day.
“I wish people knew the quiet decision-making that you don’t see,” she says of living with the condition. “The constant attention that you have to give; your mind can’t really switch off from it, it’s constantly there.” This is why meditation can be particularly comforting: “We have to make so many decisions during daily life, and it can take up a lot of headspace – which can be quite anxiety-inducing, especially when things don’t go as expected.”
Her sleep story intends to bring audiences to a zen state of mind through references to nature and the universe. The outdoors “can be a really helpful guide,” Moss shares. “It’s a nice way of reflecting and tuning [into] the world that we live in – bringing us back to ourselves.” Astrology, she notes, can have a similar impact. Plotting your big three (hers are a Libra sun, Gemini moon and Leo rising) is a fun way to “identify traits that you wouldn’t have pinpointed otherwise.” She mentions that we’re in the Scorpio New Moon window, which calls on us to manifest with intention, be proud of ourselves for pushing through life’s hurdles and exercise gratitude.
Having seen the aurora borealis up close, Moss can attest that it’s a surreal experience. “It feels like you’re on a different planet,” she says. “The colours… when that green and purple comes down.” Her personal memory is embedded in the mood of the narration. “Because it happens at night, everyone is so captivated by it,” she explains. “It’s a quiet, calm moment and you’re almost in a trance – just staring at [the lights] while they’re moving slowly.”
Lila Moss has partnered with Omnipod and Calm to narrate a sleep story as part of The Mind in Range Collection, that brings together free meditations, breathing exercises, and mindset tools to make emotional well-being easier to access. Learn more at
