Improving your wellbeing can feel like a monumental task. We pressure ourselves to make big lifestyle changes. But these big expectations are often not achievable, and this can lead to less motivation to make the changes we need. An alternative approach to behavioural change is to think small - make tiny changes to your life that become habits. Advocated by B.J. Fogg in his book, ‘Tiny Habits’, and Arianna Huffington at ‘Thrive Global’, this new approach to...

Your belly may not be an obvious place to look for help with your mental health. But the makeup of your gut microbiome - the bacteria, fungi and other microbes lodging in your digestive system - can affect your mental state. Because of the rise of processed food, most of us have fewer types of gut microbes than our grandparents and great grandparents. And this is one of the reasons there is so much depression and anxiety in the world. You can improve stress, reduce anxiety and mitigate the...

How does the life of a women sculpt her brain? And how does the brain influence her experiences across the lifespan? We talk to neuroscientist, Dr Sarah McKay, about what happens inside the brains of women as they cycle through the phases of life. She busts some myths about the effects of female biology and hormones and shares crucial insights about the different ways in which pregnancy, puberty, pre-menstrual syndrome and peri-menopause influence the female brain. Sarah’s...

Why do teenagers spend so much time on screens and social media? What is driving their seemingly addictive behaviour? And what can parents do to help their children? I discuss the psychological hooks embedded in games and social media that draw teenagers in and keep them playing and engaging online. A teenager’s disconnected brain makes them particularly susceptible to these stealthy psychological techniques and vulnerable to gaming and social media addiction. I finish with digital...

Exercising and eating the right foods both have positive effects on your brain and mental health. But If you can only introduce one of these lifestyle changes, which is better for your brain and mental health: regular exercise or a healthy diet? Both exercise and nutrition protect your brain from mental decline and dementia. And both are natural antidepressants and anxiety treatments that elevate your mood and control worry. Exercise is marginally more beneficial, but you can be safe in the...

Why do teenagers suddenly and unexpectedly become irrational, uncommunicative and emotional? If you’re a parent of a teenager, you may often wonder what happened that even tempered, happy and well-behaved child, who you’ve been caring for and protecting for more than a decade. Who is this person you don’t seem to know? Your child is changing, trying to figure themselves out.Their brain and bodies are undergoing extensive reorganisation. Their inexplicable habits -...

The entire world has been struggling to contain coronavirus for the best part of a year now. Understandably, many of us have found it really hard to maintain some semblance of a normal life, and this is really taking its toll on our well-being. So it’s perhaps more important than ever that we take some time to look after ourselves and those around us. As the UK and much of Europe, enters into national lockdowns, I share some simple strategies for looking after the health of your brain...

Stroke - the brain equivalent of a heart attack - will affect 15 million people in the world this year. Sadly, stroke is the fourth biggest killer in the UK. And almost two-thirds of people who survive a stroke will leave hospital with a disability. These are frightening and heartbreaking statistics. But there is some hope on the horizon with new knowledge and treatments for stroke survivors which harnesses the brain’s natural ability to repair itself. I discuss how the brain fixes...

A quarter of the world population are living with some form of mental illness. Globally, more than 264 million people are depressed. And these levels of depression are rising every year across the western world, despite the availability of effective treatments for both moderate and severe depression.

So why are growing numbers of people in the world becoming depressed? I discuss some of the reasons, including limitations with the current medical model for evaluating and testing treatments...

What is it that enables a mountain climber to reach the highest points on earth? And a free diver to reach depths of more than 200 metres below the sea surface? One of the most potent healing agents available to mankind - breathing! For something so simple, automatic, and unconscious, our breathing carries with it huge power and potential, not only for pushing us to our physical limits, but also for healing our mind and bodies and changing the way we feel. xI discuss the transformative...