The Happiness Algorithm

‘It’s impossible to admire the beauty of the natural world without also reflecting on it’s vulnerability’ - Sophie Green Today I was joined by the award winning animal and wildlife artist, Sophie Green. On today's show we discussed how its' important to find joy in the present moment.  How in the current climate it's easy to be caught up in negative thinking but how we can shift and change our perspective to recognise what we do have, rather than what we don't. Sophie highlighted how it's dangerous to deny ourselves the permission to feel certain ways.  Why observing and noticing our thoughts and how we're feeling is an important skill to learn and how certain feelings can have an impact on our physical well being. We even discussed woodpeckers!

At the heart of today’s show is laughter. Science has proven that laughter is one of the best medicines. The benefits of which include stress reduction, strengthened social connections and the release of your body’s “feel good” chemical, endorphins. Researchers have also validated the pain-relieving effect and benefits of laughter. Studies have shown that laughter strengthens the immune system due to the fact that laughter, like other forms of happiness, triggers the nervous system’s relaxation response – it is said that a good laugh relieves physical tension and leaves the muscles relaxed for as long as 45 minutes. With today's show being the best part of 1 hour 45 mins I was banking on my guest bringing his best material - which he certainly did! He is a man of many talents, comedian, presenter, actor and amazingly successful podcast & YouTube channel host. It is of course… Mr Jim Daly!

Today I was joined by the founder of ispace wellbeing an exciting, interactive curriculum, aimed at preparing children with understanding, knowledge, strategies and tools to take care of their mental health and wellbeing, helping them to live life well. ispace curriculum's integrate evidence based, fun to use strategies, a common language, positive psychology and mindfulness tools to help support children’s wellbeing and personal development. Born out of a passion for children’s mental wellbeing my guest pulls on her knowledge,  experience and expertise as a registered nurse in both adult and paediatric care, as well as being a mindfulness teacher. We discussed all things mental health, emotional wellbeing and learning how we can all nurture ourselves in this crazy world we’re currently existing in! I was delighted to welcome to the show Paula Talmin

Celebrating our birthday month it was a real privilege to invite back onto the show The King of Kindness, The General of Generosity, The Captain of Care, The Brigadier of benevolence, The Colonel of compassion, The hope in humanity, The giver of good will The pharaoh of friendliness, Mr Giles Paley-Phillips.  We discussed lock down, managing our own well-being and identifying the good, the bad and what we can be grateful for! 

My guest today is  a Meditation Teacher. Her work is based around guiding people back to their natural energetic rhythms, working with the elemental energies in nature and the cosmos to realign and nurture our bodies energy centres. She is also the founder of Virtually Mindful, a business that specialises in virtual consulting and support services for wellbeing businesses.  The fact that she’s an Evolutionary Herbalist, Energy Practitioner and Intuitive Guide enables her to support business to strike the right work life balance. I was delighted to welcome to the show Rachael Morley.

It was in 2018 and my guest found herself being rushed to hospital after collapsing at work. After a stay in ICU and then remaining in hospital during her recovery. She says, her days were made easier by the lucky and rare views she witnessed from her hospital bed. The beautiful mountains and woodlands of mid Wales surrounding the area, somehow gave her hope and perspective. Seeing the trees, green space and the view of the natural world, reminded her to let go of all the things that were unimportant and trivial. Instead she began to focus on all that matters - life, love, family, friends and nature. Upon discharge she knew the road to recovery was going to be a long and interesting one. It was during this period that she kept reminding herself of what she had discovered whilst laying in that hospital bed. She needed to be closer to nature to fully heal herself. Step by step she got from the front door to the garden, to the drive, to the street and finally up the street and into the woods. The woods became her sanctuary. Soon she was managing long slow walks surrounded by the trees and the birds. She felt supported, happy and able to breathe. Her lungs still stiff and creaking from the damage done, began to inflate with more ease and joy at the fresh forest air. And so began her research and practice into the power of healing in nature. To find out more about natures healing properties and how we can all benefit from being outside more, I welcomed to the show Ruth Mortimer from Forest Clouds nature therapy.

On today’s show we are talking all things addiction.  My guest is co-host of the ‘All Bets Are Off’ podcast.  A show designed for those in or contemplating recovery from gambling addiction.  The show launched in April this year and my guest, along with his fellow co-hosts, have shared their experiences and journeys to date. My guest placed his last bet on 29th October 2017 when he was 35 years old.  You’d be surprised to hear that he didn’t even gamble until he was 30. It was another beast he fought years, alcoholism.  He says that gambling provided a new platform to escape from his emotions. From having a bet for fun at the age of 30 to seriously contemplating suicide at 35. Debt became crippling and he didn’t like who he’d become.  We took a deeper dive and heard more about the frightening and tragic world of addiction as I had the pleasure to share a conversation with Chris Gilham 

My guest today is a psychologist, author, and fellow podcast host. She has spent her career working with some of the world’s most successful business leaders and prominent individuals from across many different industries and platforms. More recently she has combined this experience with a focus on sharing psychological principles with a broader population.  She is on a mission to use her knowledge and expertise to make our lives just a bit better, easier, and healthier. My guest believes passionately that psychology can be an invaluable resource – part of an everyday toolkit that we have available to help us understand our own and others’ behaviour and how we can positively influence it. She launched the podcast ‘Dot-to-Dot, Behind the Person’ as a body dedicated to this work and you can listen back to previous episodes on all good podcast platforms. Not only does my guest positively shift and cultivate a better world for us all to live in, she has even found the time to document her knowledge and write two exceptional books: Defining you and Mirror Thinking: Why Role Models Make Us Human To explore and delve into that wonderful brain if hers a little more I was delighted to welcome to the show, Fiona Murden

My guest today is a mental health blogger from Hampshire.  She’s also a qualified mental health nurse and runs a successful Etsy shop selling small items designed to reduce the stigma around mental health problems, promote self care, body positivity and feminism. She has struggled with anorexia on and off, for about 17 years and it was 5 years ago she was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder.  After long periods of depression she started to experience bursts of mania. It was not long after this she started to blog.   Her excellently written blog shares her journey from being a newly qualified mental health nurse (who has mental illnesses), to now talking about her career, personal recovery journey and experiences, alongside discussing general mental health and wellbeing. It was last year when tragedy struck again and my guest was again diagnosed with anorexia, after a very quick and severe relapse.  Her blog has again captured the subsequent recovery journey through day patient to outpatient.  She is passionate about raising awareness and speaking on these two very misunderstood illnesses.  She hopes that her platform will contribute to a growing understanding giving others the confidence to access help and not feel so isolated. I was delighted to welcome to the show Cara Lisette.

On today's show we discussed all things resilience and hope.  Sadly, every year around 55,000 women and 370 men are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK.  Breast cancer is now the most common cancer with one woman diagnosed every 10 minutes. It’s a sad a worrying statistic that one in seven women in the UK will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Research continues to fight this vicious disease and in turn helping many recover.  One of those in recovery was my guest today; NHS worker, radio presenter  and soon to be published author, with her very first book… ‘Bald, Brave and Bloody Beautiful’ I was delighted to welcome to the show Danielle McDermott.