29. Dr Julie Smith: Train your mind

The UK’s favourite fitness coach is back with series three of his podcast. This summer, Joe will be speaking to inspirational friends and some of his favourite people to ask them what they do to keep themselves feeling mentally and physically strong in the face of life’s little challenges. It might be starting the morning in an ice bath or cosying up with a good book; every guest will share the one thing that works for them in the hope it might inspire you to try something new.

Joe's guest this week is clinical psychologist Dr Julie Smith. In November 2019 Julie started posting bite-sized videos explaining how the mind works and what we can do to change. These short insights into subjects such as depression, anxiety and our positive and negative inner voice have seen Julie amass over three million followers online, and Joe shared one of her videos about anxiety involving an inflating (and eventually exploding) exercise ball. Together they discuss the impact of Julie's work on mental health, how they both handle the messages they receive from people looking for help and advice, and Julie's response to Joe's documentary 'Joe Wicks: Facing My Childhood'. Joe's keen to find out why motivation isn't consistent, and they discuss the power of accepting your own thoughts and why negative voices are just repeated messages from the past that can be changed. Julie's first book is called Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?.

This is sunshine in a podcast. Joe Wicks is here for you, and he won’t stop until you’re fit and happy.

Producer: Toby Field Editor: Dimitri Houtart A BBC Audio Bristol production for Radio 4