The other day I was stunned when a good friend of mine revealed that he’s been struggling with depression. I’ve always thought of him as one of the most upbeat, funny, and joyful people I know and to learn that he’s been in a very dark place was a real shock. Given that research shows that most people don’t get support until ten years after their first depressive episode, I was relieved to learn that my friend was looking for help. He was interested in meditation as a coping tool and wanted to know what kind of meditation I practice.... Read full article »

When I first got sick and a doctor told me he thought I had Lupus, one of the first things I started asking was, why? Why me? Why now? What have I done to deserve this?  I’ve spent the last ten years searching for answers to those questions and as regular readers of this blog will know, I’ve found many of them in the latest science of mind body medicine where researchers are studying the way things like our thoughts and emotions, our choices and behaviours, and our life circumstances interact with our physiology to exacerbate or even cause illness.... Read full article »

I needed to pop to my local shopping mall yesterday to pick up a couple of final holiday gifts and found myself stuck in a traffic queue as I joined thousands of others intending to do the same. As we all converged on the shopping centre car park simultaneously, traffic came to a standstill. There was no escape. Given that I’m on a tight writing deadline for my book, time is not something I have to spare at the moment and as I inched my car forward I felt my blood start to boil. My stress response was kicking in.... Read full article »

If you’re anything like me and the 20 million other people who have now watched the YouTube video of Mick Fanning’s shark encounter during the J-Bay Open in South Africa, your heart started pounding when you first saw it. The huge dorsal fin of what experts estimate to be a 3.5-meter great white shark rises up out of the ocean taking Fanning by surprise.   By his own account on live television moments after it happened, the shark came from behind him and he instinctively lifted his leg out of the way before he started punching it. “I just sort... Read full article »

My heart was pounding and the butterflies in my stomach were more like tap dancing elephants. I was at the Sydney premiere of The Connection about to stand up in front of seven hundred people and introduce a film that had taken me three years to make - a film I had given my heart and soul to. The cinema was sold out. It was a big moment and my stress response was in overdrive.   Given that The Connection is all about the latest research demonstrating the link between our mind, body and health, and given all the evidence... Read full article »

A couple of nights ago I found myself witnessing an interesting exchange between a meditation expert and an accountant. The meditation teacher was encouraging us to stop at the beginning of each day to do a simple breathing exercise. But the accountant (my Dad) wanted to know why. “What’s wrong with just launching into the day? Why is taking a few breaths going to be good for me? I breathe all day every day and in my sleep, without needing to think about it.”   The exchange between my skeptical father and the meditation expert made me recall the interview... Read full article »