I saw Dr Phil Hammond (doctor and comedian) on TV recently. I love this concept of his – simple and memorable.
As he says:
“The daily habits of healthy, happy people are easy to say but harder to do. Try to do your daily CLANGERS, and help others to do theirs. Changes in lifestyle are far more powerful than any drug we have to offer.” Continue reading “CLANGERS for all…!!!”
I read an interesting BBC article recently: ‘Why paper is the real killer app.’ 
Even though I use my laptop, phone and tablet a lot for work and socially, writing the old-fashioned way – using pen and paper – still has its place in my life.
And it seems there are plenty of people who agree with me. Continue reading “Paper Still Has a Place in Our Digital World”
You might expect that the title of this campaign would appeal to me – and it does. So does the purpose.
Launched for World Mental Health Day, #IAMWHOLE is fronted by Jordan Stephens, the hip hop star from Brighton – one of the Rizzle Kicks duo – who lost someone to suicide and who’s had his own mental health issues, too. Continue reading “#IAMWHOLE”
“Dear Mum, I wasn’t meant for this planet. You did everything you could so please don’t panic. No one likes me so I might as well vanish….”
The opening line of a fictional suicide letter from a boy to his Mum, this is an extract from the keynote speech given last year in Thailand to 1,300 One Young World delegates by Hussain Manawer, a 24-year-old poet and activist from Ilford – which won him a trip into space in 2018.
He says he’s dedicating the trip to “every single person who has suffered from mental health [problems]”. Continue reading “Dear Mum, I wasn’t meant for this planet…”
A close friend of mine recently sent me a link to the You Tube video of Carole King performing ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ in Hyde Park. Watching this (which I really liked) made me think of the words of another favourite song: ‘Lean on Me’ by Bill Withers:
“Lean on me, when you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on
For it won’t be long
‘Til I’m gonna need
Somebody to lean on”
What does it mean to be a man in today’s society? The age-old ‘nature versus nurture’ debate rages on, as does to what extent we all can (or want to) overcome any of the predisposition or (pre-)programming that exists from either source. Some of what’s out there may be generalisation but, even then, I quite often find ‘nuggets’ that might hold true. Continue reading “Men and Masculinity”
I’ve been on a few courses on mindfulness in recent years – it seems to be a bit of a buzzword at the moment, and in danger of being promoted in some circles as a bit of a ‘cure all’ perhaps? There’s a good deal of research being done with the aim of demonstrating how mindfulness might help us increase our alpha brain waves which could increase our creativity and also help relieve the symptoms of conditions such as depression, anxiety and chronic pain. Continue reading “Mindfulness – My Way”
I was talking to someone about resilience recently and was reminded of a CIPD branch event I went to a couple of years ago. The speaker was Andy Gibson, ‘Head Gardener’ at an organisation called ‘Mindapples’. Continue reading “Mindapples: five-a-day for our minds”
This is a book that was recommended to me a few years ago. It’s by James Hollis, is rooted in Jungian psychology, and has the tagline “from misery to meaning in midlife“. Sounds a bundle of fun, I know!
It’s not a very long book, but it’s packed with insight for anyone who thinks they might be having a mid-life crisis and I’ve recommended it to friends, family and clients. Continue reading “The Middle Passage”
Whole People 