Move Yourself Happy: 21 Days to Make Joyful Movement a Habit

Product Information

Is the book a symbol of just how far Buswell has travelled since those dark days of her mid-twenties? You bet it is. Alongside a picture of the duo staring into each other’s eyes, Joe wrote: “I may not have won the glitter ball, but I’ve won something a million times more special.” I got well and rediscovered my drive,’ reflects Buswell, ‘and that was the nicest feeling, being able to say: “I’m so much better now”, because when things were the other way, it was so tough.’ Watkins Media has jumped for “Strictly” dancer Dianne Buswell’s début book, Move Yourself Happy: 21 Days to Make Joyful Movement a Habit, a body positive guide to transforming mental and physical wellbeing through movement.

I felt so sad, and that sadness became a big incentive to get my body better and healthier, so that I could keep dancing.’ Dianne Buswell We’re together, but we have our own lives as well as our own careers, which is really important for us. We try to keep a lot of our relationship private, and I think we’ve found a good balance with that.’ Dianne Buswell on her career journeyA fun and highly accessible guide to transforming your mental and physical wellbeing through joyful movement from TV personality and celebrity dancer Dianne Buswell.

He has the most understanding of my job, and he gets how much I love it, because he was there first-hand seeing my passion. But, more than that, he’s so creative, and we just bounce off each other. He’s so kind and gentle and caring, and just amazing.’ I love Strictly Come Dancing and so don’t see myself going anywhere – but I don’t have a five-year plan either.’ Dianne Buswell By July 2015, Buswell had landed a job on Australia’s Dancing with the Stars, which was followed in early 2017 by a successful audition for Strictly, which ‘changed everything’ in so many ways (we’ll come to that shortly). Dianne Buswell on her new bookIn this enriching 21-day programme, Dianne Buswell shows you how to make joyful movement a habit. Forget gruelling exercise regimes or punishing diets – Dianne’s unique approach nourishes your body and mind using her four pillars of health: rest, movement, nutrition and positivity. This book is a guide, not gospel. You are you, and life is about finding out more about what you enjoy, and what makes you feel good in your own way. The real secret to health is finding the joy in movement, and then enjoying and appreciating what your body and mind get in return. Who wouldn’t want more flexibility, co-ordination, balance, sleep and happiness?

I would finish the act so exhausted that I would pass out on the side of the stage. ‘It was destroying my body and destroying my mind. I never in my life thought there would be a time that I didn’t want to dance. But now I was actually saying that I didn’t want to do a show, that it was all too hard.’ Joe is Joe Sugg, the 31-year-old YouTuber and actor, and Buswell’s celebrity partner on Strictly in 2018. The two of them reached the final of that series (won by Kevin Clifton and Stacey Dooley who, incidentally, also fell in love) and now live together in the Sussex countryside, having escaped the hustle and bustle of London. It was my dream job, but I couldn’t do it anymore. I felt so sad, and that sadness became a big incentive to get my body better and healthier, so that I could keep dancing.’ My mum is quite a harsh critic,’ she says, ‘but she absolutely loved it, which made me very happy. I’m so excited to get the book out there now, because it’s something I’ve wanted to do for such a long time. Buswell started dancing at the age of four and became an Australian Open champion, turning professional at 21. Although she was used to travelling around the world for her career, taking the job on Strictly and moving to the UK felt completely different.This was a new beginning in a country where she didn’t know a soul and, although she didn’t realise it at first, a show that was going to give her overnight fame.Shaped by Dianne’s experiences as a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing and her training as a holistic life coach, Move Yourself Happy reveals Dianne’s wellness journey and the experiences that have shaped her own daily practices. It is a guide to stimulating and sustaining everyday routines that better nourish the mind and body. I think movement in general is something we can take for granted. My hope is that I can get people up and moving a little bit more, finding the joy in it and making themselves feel so much better in the process.’ Anya Hayes, commissioning editor, acquired world all-language rights directly from Buswell’s team. It will publish in the UK on 14th March 2023, with the US release in January 2024. I use my body so much that I’m very aware when something doesn’t feel right. For me, living a healthy lifestyle is what makes me feel great.’ Dianne Buswell

I was falling out of love with performing because I didn’t have any energy to do it. It all felt too much and too overwhelming, and my body just couldn’t cope. I’d always prided myself on having a lot of energy when I danced, but because I wasn’t fuelling my body, it was literally saying to me, “You can’t do this anymore”. Move Yourself Happy, from Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Diane Buswell, is a transformative body-positive guide celebrating the joy of movement and offering guidance on how to nurture and nourish our mental and physical health, and well being. She describes the relationship as ‘super easy going’, although says they are quite different characters: ‘I’m very carefree, whereas he’s a bit more of a worrier. He takes a lot of time to get things absolutely perfect, while I’m a bit more “rush and get it done and, oh yeah, that’s fine”. Buswell has just finished the Strictly Come Dancing Live tour and is also working with the Gymondo fitness platform, where she’s created a programme, Danceworks. She runs her own wellness platform, Buswellness, there’s work planned around the launch of Move Yourself Happy and, before long, it’ll be time for Strictly again, where she hopes to stay for the foreseeable.I wanted to look a certain way, so I told myself I was only going to have so many calories, and my brain was so focused on that, that it became really dangerous.’ Dianne Buswell I wanted to show that even though things can get tough, you can always come out of it. And if that can help even one person, then that makes me so happy. A lot of people go through stuff like I have – more people than you realise, because it’s often done in silence.’ Buswell bravely details some of her own journey in the book, writing about how she turned things around, and hopes her honesty will help others suffering similar troubles. Dianne says: “Movement and exercise are at the beginning and the end of how I live my life. They give me the energy to work and play and to feel good about myself, and the more ways I find to enjoy movement and exercise, the more my life is filled with joy. I want the same for you.” I love Strictly Come Dancing and so don’t see myself going anywhere – but I don’t have a five-year plan either. The diary is looking very full, but I try to take things month by month and job by job, so that I don’t feel too overwhelmed. I genuinely love being busy, but I also want to try and get some proper downtime in there and do a bit of travelling with Joe this year.’