I lived in Russia for 6 months in 1992, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. A few things I particular remember, from living out there at this distinct time in history, are hyper-inflation, limited goods and queues. I was studying Russian in a city called Voronezh, although I kept skiving to travel with my roommate to places like …

If you were to write a positive message to yourself for today (or for this week), what would it be? I would recommend creating a message for yourself each morning this week. See how this feels. If it has a positive effect, then this may be a practice you choose to continue ongoing. It will help to cultivate an inner …

I am a massive believer in setting the tone for the day. This is about giving a little time, before you get into the throes of your working day, to do something that is relaxing, enjoyable or nourishing This may be…. • Connecting to yourself and the moment with a few deep breaths. • Writing down 5 things you are …

Well-being is so important, yet often taken for granted. Things are working in our favour or not and maybe we don’t give too much time or thought to this. What if you did dedicate some time to this each week? What if you checked in on yourself, reflecting on what would be most useful right now? And what if you …

I recently returned to attending in person yoga classes, after a period of absence, and it was lovely to say ‘hello’ to the yoga teacher, to have casual interactions with others who were attending, and to express thanks to the teacher at the end. These may seem so little that it appears insignificant, but I feel it is important. Jon …

I just came back from a small festival and I felt more relaxed than I have in a good while, enjoying lovely human connections and great music. I had not actually realised how much my body, mind and spirit would benefit. Our state of being can creep in bit by bit and it may appear that we are feeling fine. …

We need to ‘cut the information umbilical cord’ – so says Tim Ferris, author of The 4-Hour Work Week. We can’t read and listen to everything, right? Although I sometimes seem to attempt this! Could we benefit from tuning out from the information overload and tuning in to ourselves? There is so much to know and to learn. We can …

Life can be a bit of an emotional roller coaster and it is normal to experience triggers – large or small. So, sometimes we might want to ‘ground ourselves’. But what does this mean? And how do you do it? Grounding ourselves is about re-establishing a feeling of calm, stability and composure. Anything that produces this effect could be considered …

‘Permission to be human’ is a phrase I have used for many years. It’s an antidote to ‘shoulds’ and self-judgment. I am a passionate advocate of this way of living. We can have a sense that we will be ok at some future point when we have achieved some particular inner state or outer goal. But, we are ok right …

Recently I looked a little more into the scientific reasons why being in nature feels so good. It was pretty fascinating. Here are some things I discovered… Microbes in the soil positively impact our serotonin profile. Being around, and touching, soil boosts our mood. In a forest, we breathe in phytoncides, airborne chemicals emitted by plants. Phytoncides help plants fight …