My Blog
Therapy updates, life hacks, helpful tools and advice, insightful articles and general scribblings about life and the world!
Bad Thinking, Illusions and Leaves on a Stream
How much of what you think is true? Have a think. How much has any basis in reality or fact?
It takes self-reflection and a certain distancing to really determine how much of our thinking is bad thinking – whether it’s true or useful. Because our thoughts are a curious mix of hypotheses, musings and what ifs. Yet we take them as real …
Bedtime Breathing Exercises for Better Sleep
We spend a third of our lives asleep. Or at least that’s the aim. For many these days it’s not as easy as it should be. Our busy western lives, stresses and worries can cause racing thoughts and untold struggles when in bed trying to drift off. If you suffer too, here’s where your breathing could be your life saver. Below are some simple bedtime breathing exercises …
Positive Upward Spiralling towards Happiness
We’ve all been trapped in a negative thought spiral, where one negative thing happens and we start heading down a rabbit hole with it – overthinking it all. What we need is some positive upward
spiralling instead. One of the obvious examples of a negative thought spiral is when a friend doesn’t reply immediately to a message …
5 Steps to Overcoming Anxiety and Stress – by Accepting it
Anxiety seems to lurk behind every corner we turn. We worry about our identity, the environment, economic uncertainty, conflict, our own expectations and those of others on us. But there’s a well-known secret in third wave therapy and cognitive therapy that helps us in overcoming anxiety – stop fighting. The question is how. (And indeed why, when fighting is what we’re taught to do.) …
Why Does Deep Breathing Help Anxiety? The Science Explained
It seems the vagus nerve acts a bit like an information superhighway running from your brain to your lungs, heart and digestive system. When you take slow, deep breaths, most particularly focusing on long exhales, you are stimulating this nerve. It sends a comforting message to your brain: “We’re safe. All is OK.” …
HEAL with the Power of Now in 5 simple steps
Our minds – our thoughts about the past or future – can make us anxious, worried, frustrated, angry, depressed.
But if we can stay present and still everything can calm and be OK.
This nugget is one of 50 from my book, ‘Unlocking My Greatest Self’, a practical guide to surviving and thriving in a crazy 21st century world…