The Little Peace of Mind Podcast

In today's episode, Barb Patterson and I discuss the source of transformation. We ask (and answer) the following questions: How DOES change happen? What if we got as curious about mental health as we are about anxiety? What does it mean to 'rise to the occasion' and what do we do when we feel like that is beyond us? What do we need to do in order to cultivate resilience? And much, much more....

This week Jen Lucas returns for the final part in our three-part series on insomnia - this time to answer YOUR questions.... Do we really need 8 hours of sleep a night? Can we drink coffee late at night? What about bad dreams? The illusion of control. And the most helpful question that comes to mind for me these days.

As start to see changes in our own lives, the common question we often ask is: "Why didn't anyone ever tell me this before?" And we start our own personal mission to inform everyone we know and care for about this completely different way of seeing the world. And then we wonder why we get blank stares and 'Don't give me all that whoo whoo stuff' in return. So how do we become more impactful in our sharing? Michael Neill and I discuss in today's episode: What REALLY makes the difference to others?

In this episode I talk with Jamil Hai about his journey through anxiety and becoming medication-free after 10 years of Xanax medication. We share our journeys and the discoveries that have made such a difference to our lives and consider the question: "What if YOU didn't have to run the show?" Chills and goosebumps abound in this very special episode.

Today's guest is Steve Adair. Steve knows what it means to be a seeker of solutions to human happiness - he studied everything he could get his hands on for years in an attempt to work out how to help his clients suffer less. In this episode we talk about the pitfall of trying to fit this understanding into what you already know, how studying hard gets in your way and how to recognise if you're (metaphorically) repeatedly sticking your fingers in plug sockets! Just recording this podcast left me in a beautiful feeling and, as we discuss, the inevitable return of our sense of contentment and balance that never really leaves us, thought it does a great job of pretending to.

Today my guest is Elsie Spittle - if you haven't met her yet, you're in for a treat. We talk about Elsie's new book, about the simplicity of enjoying life, the practical nature of wisdom and whether or not we have any control over our thoughts. And if you happen to be agoraphobic, the best piece of advice I ever heard. Enjoy.

Today Jen Lucas and I catch up with what's happened to my chronic insomnia since we last spoke a month ago. This podcast is slightly different to our normal format as you'll hear me being the client - see how we all get caught up and manage not to listen (!) and one of the longest ever silences on air as the penny drops for me.

Here's how Vivienne introduces her story: "When I was about to turn 30, I left my marriage (I'd only been married for 15 months - scandalous) and after returning to NZ from Australia where I'd been living, I settled in to my new life. I fell in love with a man much older than me, who had already had his family and didn't want any more children. We went round the houses for a long time - I had hope that he would change his mind as he loved me so much (I didn't doubt he loved me) but nothing was happening. In amongst being the happiest I'd ever been in a relationship, I was also miserable because I couldn't see a happy ending - I was either going to have to 'settle for a lesser life' without children, or I had to end the relationship with someone I truly loved and wanted in my life. These were my perceived choices. I was driving myself mad and driving us apart. And no one ever told me there was any other way to feel. One day, I had the insight: "I have no idea what my future will look like". I had made up two options and neither of them looked appealing, but the truth was I had no idea. When I came across the Principles in 2009, I realised what had really happened when I had that realisation, and a whole lot of other realisations followed in its footsteps. I realised there was nothing to be scared of - I was no longer scared of my own emotions or of my thoughts. This was HUGE. I also realised I didn't have to do something 'instead of having children' to prove my worth or value in the world. The void I had thought existed in my life where children should have been, disappeared without a trace (because of course, I'd made it up in the first place, and once I saw it for what it was, it dissolved of its own accord). Now I freaking love my life, and when I look back, all that thinking seems so foreign to me. But it's such a wonderful example for me as I see how innocently we get caught up in the world of thought that's been created, when we don't see it for what it is." Listen to her story and you'll hear the myriad of ways that we make that we're not complete, just as we are in this moment.

Joe Bailey is a psychologist and author of some of the most life-changing books I have read. He is also a pioneer of this understanding and has been sharing and teaching since his encounter with Syd Banks in 1980. In today's episode Joe talks about how addictions are created and how although there's nothing to do to find peace of mind, there still might be something that needs doing. Listen. It will make sense when you do! He also talks about his recovery from Lyme disease - after suffering with pain, memory loss and exhaustion and having been told he'd never be well again; he had one simple insight that meant that today he is completely healthy and well.

Dicken Bettinger is currently my own mentor in this conversation about how all human beings really work. Today we talk about how incredibly simple it is to drop out of our frantic busy thinking, to stop trying to figure life out and how to be at peace no matter what is going on in your thinking. As one of my clients, who was invited to listen in on the call, remarked at the end of the creation of this: "Dicken is like happiness in form'. If you've heard the expression: Listen for the feeling - you'll understand what that actually means after virtually hanging out with Dicken for the next hour.