A doctor friend recently messaged me to check I was still doing the odd plank or lifting the occasional weight. I confessed that I’d missed a few days in the aftermath of my father’s death. But explained that I’d also felt a strange compulsion to do bicep curls as I grieved. Lifting weights, I added,…
COULD WINTER SEA SWIMMING LIFT YOUR MOOD?
Last week Teenage Daughter asked me to go for a sea swim with her. It was February. It was cold. I had just rolled out of my deliciously warm bed. But having spent the last year saying ‘No’ to all her requests (Can I see a friend? No. Can I go out? No. Can I…
AGEING WELL ON YOUR SUMMER STAYCATION, RASPBERRY CAKE – AND INVITATIONS!
This is the summer of the staycation – while some are bravely jetting off, I’m not one of them. There are so many wonderful things to do on our doorsteps here in the UK, many of which are corona compliant and can help us age well too. In my day-to-day life I juggle TV producing,…
HOW TO BEAT STRESS, ENHANCE NEUROPLASTICITY AND A FABULOUS TREAT FOR YOU
These long months of uncertainty have left me feeling stressed and often unrested, even after a decent night’s sleep. How’s our current state of semi-normality impacting you? Reconnecting with life as much as we can, while knowing that it’s not the same, creates a constant, low thrum of stress. Everybody is facing uncertainty and challenge…
WHY WE NEED TO WALK BESIDE WATER
Three weeks ago I walked (backpacked actually, yes even at my age!) alone from Bordeaux to Toulouse. I cheated a bit and took a couple of trains, but I still clocked up between 20 and 35 kilometres every day, with a large pack on my pack. I’ll admit: I was very nervous before I left….
WISDOM, WONDER AND THE POWER OF WORK
Once upon a time there was an extraordinary musician called Pablo Casals. Pablo, a Spanish Catalan by birth, was a few weeks shy of his 97th birthday when he died in 1973. Still revered by many as one of the greatest cellists ever, Pablo dedicated his life to his two passions: music and justice. Whenever…
WHY WE NEED LIGHT
It’s exam season in the UK and all six of our children are mid-revision. We’re diligently feeding them blueberries, nuts, leafy greens and oily fish, not to mention our brain-improving coffee and chocolate biscuits. But there’s something else they need to perform at their best. And it’s something that’s often overlooked: light. Thank goodness the…
HOW TO BE HAPPY: GET HEALTHY, GET MARRIED AND GO OUT FOR DINNER
It turns out – as if we didn’t know – that health really is wealth. A report on personal wellbeing published by the ONS (Office of National Statistics) this week reveals we rate good health as the key to happiness. What the research doesn’t answer is what comes first: do we feel good because we…
