The Happy Pear Podcast

For our second episode in our Community series, we are delighted to present the magical Dan Buettner!Buettner is an explorer, National Geographic Fellow, award-winning journalist and producer, and a New York Times bestselling author. He discovered the five places in the world—dubbed Blue Zones—where people live the longest, healthiest lives. Buettner now works in partnership with municipal governments, large employers, and health insurance companies to implement Blue Zones Projects (well-being initiatives applying the lessons from Blue Zones) in communities, workplaces, and universities. The program has dramatically improved the health of more than 5 million Americans to date.In this podcast, we cover the main correlating factors for longevity in these Blue Zones, and how we can start to implement changes in our own lives to be healthier and happier.“If you are overweight in America and possibly Ireland it is probably not your fault. If you go back to the 1980s, in this country about a third as many people were obese and about a seventh as many people were suffering from type 2 diabetes. Back in the 80’s they didn’t have better diets or better discipline. What’s changed is there are about 20 times more fast-food chains now, we drive about 60% more instead of being on our feet, a full 40% of all retail outlets, pharmacies and gas stations... all have junk food. We are genetically hardwired to eat fat and sugar and take rests whenever we can, and that's okay when you live in an environment of hardship and scarcity like we have for 99% of human existence but now you throw that same genetic makeup into a cesspool of burgers, fries, pizzas, and package snacks, your genetics are going to win out all day long!”A great episode to follow from Helena Norberg-Hodge last week. We really hope you enjoyed it! Further information on Dan Buettner:His books:The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way, The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest PeopleThe Blue Zones of Happiness Reference:Richard Leider Calling Cards  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the first guest of our new season titled Community, we are delighted to give you “Mother Earth” herself - Helena Norberg-Hodge.To say we were blown away is an understatement - Dave announced at least three times that he was her new biggest fan!Helena is a pioneer of the new economy movement and recipient of the Alternative Nobel prize, the Arthur Morgan Award and the Goi Peace Prize for contributing to “the revitalization of cultural and biological diversity, and the strengthening of local communities and economies worldwide.” She is author of the inspirational classic Ancient Futures, and Local is Our Future (2019), and producer of the award-winning documentary The Economics of Happiness. The impact of the global market on food and farming has been a focus of Helena’s work for almost 40 years, including two books (From the Ground Up: Rethinking Industrial Agriculture and Bringing the Food Economy Home: Local Alternatives to Global Agribusiness, as well as a Local Food Toolkit, which won a prestigious UK award for investigative journalism.She is the founder and director of Local Futures and The International Alliance for Localisation, and a founding member of the International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture, the International Forum on Globalization and the Global Ecovillage Network.Helena speaks with such wisdom and compassion. Her response to the destruction globalisation has had by way of media, food production etc.. and the impact it has had on businesses and individuals, is truly inspiring. "I really wish before I die that we wake up to look at the bigger picture, which is the bigger system that has essentially imprisoned us and kept us running faster and faster, and as we are running faster and faster we are becoming more and more disconnected internally. We are becoming more and more disconnected from others and from nature, from the land..."There is so much we can learn from Helena, one podcast episode isn’t enough! We need to rethink how we have been programmed in order to recognise the flaws and make the necessary changes to save our own health and the health of our planet. This episode is the perfect start to kick off our series on Community. It leaves you wanting to learn more, which we aim to help you with, with our line of equally amazing and inspiring guests.Each speaker has their own unique experience and wisdom to share with us on a variety of topics, from indigenous tribes to the Blue Zones (areas with the most centenarians), building your own community, farming, and local economics. We cover it all!Stay tuned each Wednesday for the next episode.Big love,Dave & SteveReferences:World Localization DayDocumentaries:Biggest Little FarmThe Uber StoryPeople:Naomi KleinZach Bush MD Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's podcast is with the brilliant Professor Paul Dolan.Paul is a Professor of Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also is an author and hosts his own popular podcast called Duck-RabbitWe had a great laugh with Paul, our conversation focused on the many facets of Happiness and how one glove does not fit all.“This idea that one size fits all approach to living well, would be evolutionarily stupid. We would never evolve to be where we are if everyone was the same. So purely from an efficiency perspective, it makes sense that society has different types of people. So it’s about finding out where you are in that distribution…”Paul uses data and analytics to question our perceptions of happiness and the myths we have been fed or “narrative traps” around stories of love, marriage, ambition, and success. He has an amazing way of using everyday examples to convey his points, which makes his work so relatable and brilliant.“What you want money to be is like a referee in a football game. They always say referees have the best game when no one knows they are there. And that’s kind of how you want money to be, you want it to be there because you need it but not paying attention to it.”A great episode, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.Further reading by Prof Paul Dolan:Book: Happiness By DesignHappy Ever AfterPodcast: Duck-Rabbit Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wow, to say our minds were blown is an understatement! This week we are delighted to present to you our wonderful guest and friend, the mighty brain that is Zach Bush MD.For those who don’t know Zach, he is a renowned, multi-disciplinary physician of internal medicine, endocrinology, hospice care, and internationally recognised educator on the microbiome as it relates to human health, soil health, food systems, and a regenerative future.And if all that wasn’t a mouthful… Brace yourselves, you might need a pen and paper beside you for this one! Dr. Zach takes us through chemotherapy, death, the killing of intuition, soil degeneration, dinosaurs, our dying food system, energy, afterlife and somehow manages to link them all beautifully together in an episode that I repeat had us flabbergasted.“Her intuition was not to put those tablets in her mouth. Her intuition was that there was another cause for her cancer, there was another path she could have taken. And I wore her down over a 45 min period and broke her instinct. I broke her intuition not to take those pills. And when she swallowed those pills, it was probably the worst day of my life as a physician. It was the moment I realised I was breaking human beings intuition to follow my pharmaceutical pathway.”You won’t regret giving this episode a listen and if you want to find out more about Zach, ION and his work visit: www.zachbushmd.comReference:The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For any of you who haven't had the pleasure of listening to Doctor Alan Desmond, this is a real treat.In many ways, we feel he is our 'Father of Gut Health'! A great friend of ours that we have had the pleasure to work with on a number of occasions, including on our own Healthy Gut Course. For over 17 years Dr Al has been studying the gut. Not the easiest undertaking as you'll hear from this episode. He voices the connection between your gut, your immune system, your mental health and how the food you eat is the backbone behind your overall health."What should I eat could be one of the most important questions of the 21st Century... When you look at any gut health issue the evidence all points to the same thing, the emulsifiers, the junk food, the food-like substances that make up 60% of the food consumed in the western world, these have massive effects on our gut health and gut microbiome..."He has an amazing way of distilling information in a tangible and relatable way. We talk in length about the importance of gut health, nature, food, and questioning our western approach to health and our current state of affairs in this pandemic."The UN report published last August says the number one thing we can each do to reduce the risk of a future pandemic is by removing or reducing the animal protein that we eat every day. Our current western diets with high consumption of animal protein mean that we keep hundreds of millions of animals in badly sanitized closed confined spaces, which is a breeding ground for future pandemic virus"In 2019 we had the pleasure of going over to Devon where we assisted in the South By South West Plant-Based Challenge, a phenomenal challenge where Dr Al invited more than 70 medical professionals from the NHS to adopt a healthy plant-based diet to prove to them it would improve their energy levels, reduce their cholesterol, and overall make them feel good. It really was an amazingly rewarding experience that has done a lot of good for spreading awareness of our broken western health system. However, we have still so much work to do.This is an episode that packs a punch! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.Further Information:For those interested in learning more about Doctor Alan Desmond, he has a brilliant book called The Plant-Based Diet Revolution Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we are delighted to bring you, YouTubers and VanLifers, Eamon & Bec!As their title suggests, Eamon and Bec are a couple who spend their time traveling around in their customised van. Earning their money from their popular youtube channel which follows all their adventures.“The overnight success that took 10 years to build - that couldn’t be more true for us! You could look at our channel now and think wow that looks like a great living… for us it has been a very very slow burn. However, it has shown us that we love it enough to keep going.”However, it seems things are changing for our favourite Vegan nomads. As for most of us, covid has meant we have had to take a pause, reflect and rethink elements of our lives. For some these have been small reflections and for others, like Eamon and Bec's, it has meant standing still for the first time in years and investing in a solid foundation (one without wheels!).Eamon and Bec's have a wonderful appetite for life, they are a fascinating couple with an abundance of insights on creativity, living as a nomad, working and traveling as a couple, and now building their own cabin in the woods.We highly recommend giving this episode a listen, we had a great laugh and look forward to hosting the pair in Ireland again soon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This weeks podcast is with the delightful Dr Gemma Newman.Gemma is a friend of ours, a GP with a special interest in the environment, women’s health, and nature. We have had the pleasure of working with her on a number of health courses, including our recent The Happy Skin Challenge.This was a very informative chat to say the least. We covered so many topics from antibiotic resistance, agriculture and soil regeneration; to the importance of nature.“The UN warns us that by 2050 we could have 10 million excess deaths due to antibiotic resistant infections in humans, because the antibiotics that we are now using will become ineffective and one of the main ways that we are exposed to antibiotics is through the meat that we eat.”Dr Gemma is so knowledgeable and was such a joy to talk with. We really really enjoyed this episode and hope you got as much from it as we did. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Philippa Perry, what an amazing person. The type of person you always want on your side in an argument!She is a psychotherapist and author of many books, including the most recent no. 1 best selling “The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did)”I believe the title says it all! In our chat Philippa really puts us in our box and made us rethink our basic approach to parenting, which hopefully it's not too late to start implementing now :)“Teenagers biologically know they need to find a new tribe, because they know you are going to die first. In order for them to find their new tribe they are going to have to make you horrible, as they can’t leave their first tribe if they think their parent(s) are gorgeous and amazing. So they start picking fights with you… don’t take them hating you personally, they have to hate you to find their new tribe”We discussed teenagers to toddlers, boys vs girls to restrictions on social media and mobile phone usage.Again we cannot recommend listening to this episode and more of Philippa in general. A wonderful person and to top it all off she’s a great laugh! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This weeks episode is with our good friend Tony Riddle.Tony is a natural lifestyle coach, author and record-breaking barefoot endurance athlete.Regarded as a trailblazer within the field of natural movement and lifestyle, Riddle is the creator of the Natural Lifestyle Philosophy, that encourages modern urbanites to reconnect with certain innate, ‘wild’ behaviours in order to increase physical, emotional, social and spiritual wellness.Having overcome clubfoot as a child, which involved years of traumatic treatment, Riddle has devoted his life to physical training in various forms – whether it was serving in the army and later establishing himself as a respected personal trainer, pilates teacher and rewilding movement coach, or becoming an endurance athlete in his mid-40s, breaking records for running the length of the UK and completing the Three Peaks Challenge barefoot. While running his own successful pilates studio in West London, Riddle began to study the principles of natural human movement and wellness, including the works of Joseph Pilates, Erwan Le Corre, Lee Saxby and Dr Nicholas Romanov, as well as research into indigenous tribes. The resulting journey of discovery, which included extensive self-experimentation over 18 years, led to the development of Riddle’s Natural Lifestyle Philosophy, which combines his physical training expertise with learnings across science, social anthropology and eastern spirituality.A gifted coach and communicator, Riddle has taught the Philosophy to thousands of people worldwide, through talks, workshops, retreats, social media and the NatLife Tribe, an international subscriber-based community launched in 2020 as a result of the COVID pandemic. Riddle has been featured extensively in the press from The Times, Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Telegraph Magazine, New York Times, Men’s Health, Evening Standard, and on BBC Breakfast, Sky News, The Rich Roll Podcast and many others. His debut book How To Be More Human will be released in 2022. A proud husband to Katarina and a father of four, Riddle considers his family to be his greatest teachers.We had an amazing conversation with Tony, dare we say it may be our favourite yet! We talk about his past, from his childhood with club feet to his alcohol addiction, time in the army to eventually running the length of the UK barefoot.He speaks with such knowledge and wisdom that half way through, when Tony speaks of the benefits of deep squatting, we jump off our seats and squat for the rest of the conversation."You have just as many senses in your feet as you do in your hands. Up to 200,000 extra receptors reside in your feet. The more information you put between you and your foot, as in the more rubber, the more desensitised that information becomes."We should all take advice from Tony and remember to use our bodies, we are made to move. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did, there is a lot to be learnt here.Find out more on Tony Riddle and what he is currently working on: https://tonyriddle.com/nat-life-tribe/https://vimeo.com/thenaturallifestylistReferences:Book: Breath by Matthew WalkerBook: Born to Run by Christopher McDougallPhoto credit Christopher Bake @_christopherbaker Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What a story! Where to start? A 22 year old armed robber who ended up in highest security prison with two life sentences. Whilst in prison he broke two world records, eventually leading to becoming an ultra athlete. Now Nike sponsored and to top it all off he’s gone vegan!John has an amazing outlook on life, and is a true example of how the positive impact of sport and movement can have on your well being and even the choices you make.“If there is hope for me there is hope for everyone, I was in the deepest darkest hole you can be in and I managed to turn my life around.”In total John served 10 years, one of these years in solitary confinement. He has been approached by multiple directors and producers for the rights to tell his story, however John is reluctant to let it fall into the wrong hands. “When I got out of prison I promised myself money would never be my god ever again, I would never make decisions again based around money… film can glamorise crime, so I understand if you glorify criminality to people, some people can get sucked in.”So many takeaways from this episode. Really hope you enjoy it as much as we did.Big love,Dave & Steve Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.