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.

My guest today is a mental health advocate, campaigner, and writer. He knows first-hand what it’s like to reach rock bottom, but equally what it feels like to come through the other side. His writing is explicit and hits the reader hard, exactly how it should be. In one recent article he reminded us that 84 men die by suicide every week. Every two hours in the UK, a man takes his own life, affecting families, friends, and creating a ripple that will go on to devastate those who are left behind, leaving them weighed down with questions and heartache. My guest’s writing holds a mirror up to society, in fact, to us all. Asking us to not shy away from important conversations about our mental health. Conversations that we avoid, believing they are too difficult to have. But it is these avoided conversations that often come at a heavy price. Dare I say we had one of those conversations today. I was delighted to welcome to the show, Richard Taylor.

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 explored all things breath.  I was joined by a leading figure and evangelist for Breathwork; believed to be the next revolution in health and wellness. My guest is a Breathwork coach, author and speaker and it’s his mission to spread the life changing possibilities of Breathwork to this world. Having worn many hats, from a corporate management consultant to digital entrepreneur, Breathwork came into my guest’s life almost by accident when his father was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). When researching ways to help his father, he discovered the Wim Hof Method, a self-healing technique involving specific breathing techniques and cold exposure. After experiencing the incredible effects of this method in a week long training in Poland, he became obsessed with discovering what was possible just by breathing. My guest then spent years traveling across five continents learning from many of the modern day masters of Breathwork and continuously witnessed the transformative effects of when people became aware of their breathing and started to use it as a tool to create physical, mental and emotional benefits for themselves. This free medicine is available to everyone and it's my guests mission to remind the world how to breathe with purpose. I was delighted to share a conversation and welcome to the show Richie Bostock - THE BREATH GUY 

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.

My guest today, Dr Harun Thomas, is a surgeon. One of the first surgeons in the United Kingdom to successfully complete both the Masters in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery (Europe's highest qualification in Oncoplastic breast surgery) and the prestigious UK National TIG Oncoplastic fellowship. My guest specialises exclusively in breast surgery covering all aspects of breast care including breast cancer, benign breast diseases, family history of breast cancer, risk reducing mastectomy, breast reconstruction and implant based breast surgery. His special interest is therapeutic mammaplasty. His research interest is on using ultrasound during surgery to improve breast cancer outcomes and patient experience. Today we discussed all things surgery, his career, how he handles the pressure and of course… all things mental health, emotional well-being and what he does to make himself that little bit happier.

My guest today was Hope Virgo. She is an author, public speaker and campaigner for mental health. What led her to this path was a battle she fought for over four years A dark secret she managed to keep hidden from friends and family but this all came to an abrupt halt when on 17th November 2007, her world changed forever. She was admitted to a mental health hospital. Her skin was yellowing, her heart was failing. She was barely recognisable. Forced to leave her family and friends, the hospital became her home. Over the next year, at her lowest ebb, she faced the biggest challenge of her life. She had to find the courage to beat her anorexia. Since being discharged, she has fought to stay well. She now wants to use her experiences of mental illness to champion the rights of others, inspire them to get well, and help break the stigma of mental illness. In her book… titled ‘Stand Tall Little Girl’ she shares her harrowing, yet truly inspiring, journey. Through her letters and diary entries, her story tells us how she fought from rock bottom to beat the ‘friend’ that had controlled and nearly destroyed her life. The story of her recovery will inspire many.

Joining me in the studio again was the incredible George Bullard.  This is concluding part of my conversation with the world record breaking explorer, endurance athlete and speaker. He believes that through the outdoors we can change lives. His mission is to ‘rewild’ humans. To date, he has covered almost 2,000 miles on foot in the polar regions, spending more than 26,000 hours in isolation. If you believe Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule, that makes him a master of remote, hostile environments. At 14 years old, George was part of a team that swam the English Channel. Before turning 17, he’d swum the length of Lake Zurich,&circumnavigated Barbados and New York’s Manhattan Island. During this time George was also ranked #1 in the UK for Tetrathlon. At the age of 19 George completed the world’s longest fully unsupported polar journey, 1374 miles on foot. A feat described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the world’s greatest living explorer, as “genuinely ground breaking”. Since then, George’s expeditions have included the archipelago of Antarctica, cycling across Europe, climbing unnamed peaks, driving North West Africa and sailing the Southern, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. George has guided over 350 people of all ages in the Amazon rainforest, the Indian subcontinent, Greenland Icecap and Svalbard. September 2016 saw George complete a second world first`66 days in a kayak crossing the ferocious North Atlantic Ocean from Greenland to Scotland. The purpose? To test the theory that Inuits may have made the same journey in AD1700. George’s next project demands a return to sub -40°C temperatures for The Dark Ice&Project. A pivotal barometer to the health of our planet, more is known about the surface of the moon than the Arctic Ocean in winter. Decisions affecting our planet’s future rely on new data collected first hand by George and his team while surviving in a sunless, Arctic winter. The gathering of original evidence and the opportunity to share his own experience, motivates George to inspires others to embrace our natural world. Not everyone needs to tackle the worlds most hostile environments for an adventure. Everyone has their own Everest. George hopes to encourage people to understand that adventures will give them something that nobody else can.

I was joined on today show by George Bullard.  A world record breaking explorer, endurance athlete and speaker. He believes that through the outdoors we can change lives.  His mission is to 'rewild' humans. To date, he has covered almost 2,000 miles on foot in the polar regions, spending more than 26,000 hours in isolation.  If you believe Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule, that makes him a master of remote, hostile environments. At 14 years old, George was part of a team that swam the English Channel. Before turning 17, he’d swum the length of Lake Zurich,&circumnavigated Barbados and New York’s Manhattan Island. During this time George was also ranked #1 in the UK for Tetrathlon. At the age of 19 George completed the world’s longest fully unsupported polar journey, 1374 miles on foot.  A feat described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the world’s greatest living explorer, as “genuinely ground breaking”.  Since then, George’s expeditions have included the  archipelago of Antarctica, cycling across Europe, climbing unnamed peaks, driving North West Africa and sailing the Southern, Atlantic and Pacific oceans.  George has guided over 350 people of all ages in the Amazon rainforest, the Indian subcontinent, Greenland Icecap and Svalbard.   September 2016 saw George complete a second world first`66 days in a kayak crossing the ferocious North Atlantic Ocean from Greenland to Scotland.  The purpose? To test the theory that Inuits may have made the same journey in AD1700.   George’s next project demands a return to sub -40°C temperatures for The Dark Ice&Project. A pivotal barometer to the health of our planet, more is known about the surface of the moon than the Arctic Ocean in winter.  Decisions affecting our planet’s future rely on new data collected first hand by George and his team while surviving in a sunless, Arctic winter.  The gathering of original evidence and the opportunity to share his own experience, motivates George to inspires others to embrace our natural world.  Not everyone needs to tackle the worlds most hostile environments for an adventure. Everyone has their own Everest. George hopes to encourage people to understand that adventures will give them something that nobody else can.

My guest today has created an award-winning production studio, a pioneer of live video streaming from some of the largest music festivals.  He’s also the co-founder of branded entertainment agency Byte Entertainment. His back story, however, starts quite tragically.  My guest lost his father to suicide as a teenager and soon after starting his first job he was sectioned and admitted to hospital suffering stress and depression. Unlike his Dad, my guest was able to get the help he needed, including support from his employer, which enabled him to return to a new job the following year. However, my guest decided not to tell anyone for nearly 20 years that he had suffered with his mental health due to the stigma. It was after the suicide of a close friend due to postnatal depression in 2016 that my guest decided he had to speak out. He couldn’t have picked a more public platform to do so when he was asked to speak alongside the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as well as Prince Harry, at the launch of the Heads Together mental health campaign – not even his family or friends knew he was going to do this! My guest continues to speak openly about the importance of better mental health awareness and how talking can not only reduce the stigma but save many, many lives. I was delighted to welcome to the show, Jon Salmon.

My guest has spent more than ten years in teaching and education. She’s seen first hand the struggles, pressures and demands that both teachers and children face. She’s seen how quickly and easily children can become disengaged when faced with a challenging task; how they feel they CAN’T do something, simply because it’s more difficult to achieve. Sadly, she’s observed how anxious and overwhelmed children have become when faced with the ever-increasing demands from the curriculum and from society as a whole. The feelings that arise from the pressure to conform, to do what everyone else is doing, and the overriding desire to ‘fit in’. My guest witnessed children giving up too quickly. Beating themselves up because they made a mistake and got things wrong. Their confidence diminishing because they did not get the correct score or they are not part of the ‘in-crowd’. My guest says that because of these pressures, children lose trust in themselves… they’re unwilling to “have a go”, and as one child said to her, “my worries make me feel as if I’m a tortoise stuck in a shell.” This sadness spurred my guest on to develop POWER THOUGHTS an organisation specifically designed to help children arrest their negativity and anxiety when it comes to learning. POWER THOUGHTS is a teaching, coaching and mindfulness-based service which is aimed at empowering children to tap into the ‘power’ of their minds. Sessions teach them how to become confident, resilient, and robust, developing a ‘can-do’ attitude that allows them to flourish both in and out of the classroom setting. I was delighted to share a conversation with Natalie Costa.

Off the back of an extremely busy Mental Health awareness week my guest today is an award-winning mental health campaigner, film producer, public speaker, writer, and vlogger. At the age of 20 he was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar. Shortly after diagnosis my guest began to make films about his condition that have since go on and been watched by hundreds of thousands of people. He has tirelessly campaigned and spoke about living with mental illness. He’s written articles, books and given many interviews on TV and Radio around the world. All in the hope that it helps stimulate conversation, educate, and break the stigma around our mental health. Recognition came in 2017 when he was awarded an MBE for his services to mental health and suicide prevention. Jonny joined me and shared his experience; difficulties and successes.  We discussed the importance of being heard and the loss of humanness.  We explored suicide, shame, embarrassment and guilt all that came with a mental health diagnosis. We spoke about the importance of music, mindfulness and being kind to self.  

It’s mental health awareness week and what a way to mark it.  My guest today is from the beautiful Welsh town of Caerphilly. Since leaving school at 16 his ambition, drive and determination led him to a career in the heady world of show business. His Welsh charm has seen him become a viewer’s favourite on shows such as This Morning, Ok, TV! And The National Lottery Draws. Away from the cameras life has not always been easy, and it was in 2009 that my guest found himself making the most binary of decisions… choose life, or death. I’m pleased to say that he chose life… and from then he has gone on to share his story and make talking about our mental health as normal as talking about our physical health. He is an ambassador for the charity Mind and in 2015 was in the top 50 most in-demand charity ambassadors in the world. I was honoured to be joined by that in demand gentleman… Mr Matt Johnson.