Episodes
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Story: Depression and a Cat Called Doris
In this short episode I tell an autobiographical story about depression and a cat called Doris. As humans we like to share stories, and when it comes to mental health and wellbeing being able to share our stories is so valuable. When we can discover the gift in seemingly negative experiences…
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Liz Slade: Spirituality, Community and Collective Wellbeing
In this episode I chatted with Liz Slade - the Chief Officer of the Unitarian Churches in the UK - about different interpretations of spirituality, being supported to find our own way in the world and the power of mixing with people with different beliefs to your own. If you enjoy the podcasts…
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Ani Lhamo: Buddhism, Compassion and Loving Kindness
This episode features a conversation I had with Ani Lhamo, who has been a Tibetan Buddhist nun for over 30 years and who is also the secretary of Lama Yeshe the abbot of the Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Scotland (featured in the previous episode - I'd recommend listening to that one...
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Lama Yeshe: Tibetan Buddhism and Compassionate Change
For this episode I traveled up to Scotland to meet Lama Yeshe, the head abbot of the Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery to talk to him about the role of Buddhism and spirituality in connection with mental health, environmental and social change. If you enjoyed the podcast and would like to...
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Radha Mohan Das: Hare Krishna and Social Change
In my on going exploration into how we can navigate the difficult bits of life and what it means to be human, I have been searching out people who have dedicated their lives to answering these questions through walking a spiritual path. This episode is a conversation I had recently at the Hare...
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38 Remembering Polly Higgins: Ecocide and Protecting the Earth
A conversation recored in 2017 with Ecocide Lawyer, Polly Higgins, who sadly passed away at the weekend
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37 Sally-Anne Airey: How To Be A Mindful Leader
In this episode Sally-Anne shares her story of transitioning from her role as a commander in the Royal Navy to her work as a Mindful Leadership coach in the French Alps.
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#36 Anneli Roberts (Pigletish): You Are Not Alone
Anneli Roberts from the Pigletish Podcast discusses mental health, social media, PTSD, Anxiety and the fact that whatever you are feeling like, you are not alone
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#35 James Arnoldi: The Messiah Complex & Growing into the Unknown
In this episode I chatted with James Arnoldi about a period in his life a few years ago when he experienced a spiritual awakening / psychotic episode where he believed that he was Jesus.
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#34 Lucy Purdy: Positive News and How To Change The World
Lucy Purdy (editor of Positive News Magazine) and I chat about positive news and how to change the world
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2019 Update: What's Next For Ministry of Change?
An update of where Ministry of Change is now and where it is going as we enter 2019
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#33 A Year On The Road: Ministry of Change 2018 Review
Adam Bates interviews me about the evolution of Ministry of Change over the past year
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#32 Kai Brouwer: What Happens When Adults Forget to Play
Kai Brouwer from Funbase talks about depression and what happens when we forget to play as adults
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#31 Chrissy Kelly: No One Is Broken
Chrissy Kelly is a wonderful person and she does lots of amazing work around the psychology of thinking with children in the care system and teenagers, to empower them to access their wisdom and use their own agency.
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(Interlude) Is this the real life or is this just fantasy?
Interlude: Are you Freddie Mercury?
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#30 Bipolar Barbie: Mental Illness, Social Media & Your Authentic Self
In this episode I chatted with Bipolar Barbie - a mental health advocate and social media influencer from Australia, who blogs and vlogs about her experiences living with Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, and Generalised Anxiety Disorder.
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#29 My Story: Depression, Anxiety & Learning that I am Enough
People often ask me if I'm going to share my own story on the podcast - well here it is. Last week I had the opportunity to speak at an event in Brighton run by Dave Perrins (featured in Ep.5 of the podcast) called Share Your Story.
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#28 Kitty's Story: A Change of Perspective
Kitty's story revolves around depression, anxiety, PTSD and the road to rediscovering herself and using her second chance at life to make the difference she wants to see in the world.
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#27 Dara Blumenthal: What Does it Really Mean to Be Human in the 21st Century?
Dara is a facilitator and coach, but more than that, she is someone with a deep love for people and the planet. We talk about how to self-author your life, the power of vulnerability and how we can change the world through having open conversations and allowing ourselves to experience pain and...
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#26 Kitchen Table Chat: On Anxiety with Steph, Charlie, Dave and Marcus
“Anxiety is trying to tell you something I think. I think that's why it's so different for everyone. It's not this one size fits all ‘this is an illness’. It's about what's behind it.” Earlier in the year I was sitting at my friend Steph’s house in Bristol, having a cup of tea and a chat with…
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#25 On Anxiety and Wild Swimming with Joe Minihane
In this episode I chat with Joe Minihane, author of 'Floating: A Life Regained' about anxiety and wild swimming
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#24 Mark's Story: A Powerful Story of Addiction, Recovery and Transformation
A few months ago I was on the Isle of Wight and I was fortunate enough to meet Mark Langford. Mark has a powerful story about his struggles with addiction and his mental wellbeing. A word of warning, Mark is very open and honest, and his story contains some difficult parts regarding drug taking…
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#23 Transforming the Way We Live and Learn with Nadežda & Justus
Exploring how alternative education and community can create a healthier society. A conversation with Nadia and Justus from DNS Necessary Teacher Training College, Denmark.
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#22 Charles Eisenstein: Mental Health and Interbeing
In this podcast I chat to Charles Eisenstein about mental health, wholeness and the deeper social, political and economic problems that lay behind the high levels of depression and anxiety in our culture today
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#21 Reclaiming Cornwall From Depression (an audio adventure)
This episode is a bit of an experiment - earlier in the year I filmed a mini 'documentary' about a journey I made to reclaim Cornwall, UK from the dark and stormy memories of depression that I had associated with it on a former trip while depressed a year or so earlier. I decided it worked quite...
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#20 Kim Brown's Story: Wolf Medicine and Connecting with Nature
Kim talks about her work with wolves, mental health and helping people to connect with themselves through nature
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#19 Bethan Christopher's Story: Grow Your Own Gorgeousness
A few years ago Bethan wrote a book called ‘Grow Your Own Gorgeousness’, with the mission of tackling body image issues and empowering girls to be and to love themselves. Bethan has since developed this into the ‘Grow Your Own Gorgeousness Programme’ which she delivers directly to schools.
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#18 The Neanderthal Bard's Story: Borderline Personality Disorder and the Spoken Word
In this episode spoken word artist Stephan Gambrell, a.k.a The Neanderthal Bard, shares his experiences of his diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, over stretched and under funded mental health services and the power of the spoken word, interspersed with some of his amazing poems.
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#17 Esther's Story: Addiction, Recovery and Yoga
This week Esther shares her story of alcohol addiction, recovery and how yoga helped her stop looking externally for answers and to start looking inside to find more peace.
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#16 Scott's Story: Depression and the Journey of Self Discovery
"Why is this happening FOR me" - Scott shares his story about depression, grief and the journey of deeper understanding of the self that this has allowed him to take
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#15 Sian's Story: Alcohol Addiction and beyond
Sian tells her story of moving from being a functioning alcoholic with a young child to being sober, and the journey of discovery and understanding things about herself this has led her on
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#14 Monique's Story: Growing Up with a Bipolar Parent
Monique shares her experience of growing up in Canada with her mum, who has Bipolar II, and the highs and lows that came with that for her and her family.
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#13 Mental Health Stories: Living with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DiD)
A story about living with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DiD)
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#12 Simon's Story: Acute Anxiety Following a Car Crash
Simon Richards shares his story of dealing with acute anxiety following a car crash 7 years ago
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#11 Depression, Confronting our Fear of Death and Grieving for our Planet with Simon Medhurst
Exploring difficulties accessing statutory mental health services, why we need to confront our fear of death, and how we can heal the planet with Simon Medhurst in Thanet
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#10 Qigong and Connecting with Your Self with Max St.John
Max discusses his relationship to depression and how martial arts and his Qigong practice have helped him navigate life more easily
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#9 Finding Strength in Grief with Toby Moore
Toby Moore shares his experience of losing his father and we discuss how we deal with death and difficult emotions as a society
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#8 Finding Your Own Rhythm in Life with Henrietta Jadin
Hen and I discuss how to stop following your 'shoulds' and find your own rhythm in life and how to slow down and improve your mental health
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#7 How To Go Slow And Avoid Burnout with Rik Turner
At the end of the month I had to opportunity to go to Portugal for a retreat organised by two friends Henrietta Jadin and Rik Turner, which was very appropriately a Slow working retreat, focused on just that - slowing down and reassessing our priorities.Wow - what a week - it was just what I...
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(Bonus: Walking Interlude) The Importance of Space and How to Use it
A short bonus interlude. 5 minutes of musings on space, slowing the pace and listening to your deeper self, as I walk through the fields of rural Buckinghamshire, UK
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#6 How to Build a Happy Business with Laurence McCahill (The Happy Startup School)
The startup world can be a real minefield when it comes to creating a work life balance. Being an entrepreneur can be quite a lonely experience, and there can be a lot of pressure for people who are starting their own businesses - a feat which requires you to go out on a limb and put your...
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#5 The Importance of Sharing the Difficult Bits with Dave Perrins
For this episode I went for a chat with my friend Dave Perrins at his house in Brighton. I first met Dave a couple of years ago, at an event run by our mutual friend, Adam. Over the past few years we’ve had many a chat over cups of tea about mental wellbeing, productivity and getting stuff done,...
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#4 Permaculture: Reconnecting With What Being Human is All About (with Shift Bristol)
As part of my mental health trip around the UK I’m keen on getting off the beaten track, and exploring projects that may not immediately shout, “Mental Health!”, at you, but are in some way looking into the way we live our lives or have structured society.Permaculture is something that has been…
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#3 "Helping Young People Talk About Mental Health" with Off The Record Bristol
Discussing our mental health can be hard at the best of times. We are in a world that is increasingly hard to navigate. For young people especially talking about what they are experiencing on the inside, social pressures, misconceptions and lack of understanding can make it seem nearly…
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#2 Mental Health In The Work Place with Sanctus founder James Routledge
A few weeks ago I travelled to London to meet James Routledge, the founder of Sanctus, an organisation who focus on improving mental health in the workplace. There mission is to change the brand of mental health and bring awareness around it into the mainstream. In the interview, James discusses...
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Anxiety Interlude: It's Okay to Cry in Screwfix
This is a monologue I wrote about an anxiety attack I had in the UK DIY shop Screwfix. This isn’t a very polished piece — it’s really a stream of consciousness I just wrote without much thought for editing and making it logical and beautiful. Maybe that is quite apt, as what goes on inside my…
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#1 A Space for Men to Talk and Celebrating Mental Health with Kate Mabbett and Ella Marshall
I recently took the Ministry of Change down to Bristol to Freedom of Mind, a festival designed to celebrate mental health, conceived two years ago by Ella Marshall when she was just 16 years old. One of the most captivating events I attended was 'Creating a Space for Men to Talk' organised by…
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