A New Way of Being

Are you someone who has a tracker to keep tabs on things like your sleep and calorie count?We are increasingly obsessed with data and tracking – and we are also increasingly out of touch with the signals of our body.Christie Aschwanden is an award winning journalist, Nordic skier and the author of the fascinating book - Good To Go: What the athlete in us can learn from the strange science of recovery.She emphasises the importance of getting in touch with our bodies and learning to directly heed the signals it gives us, and to be with our bodies and minds - without distraction. It’s the key to recovery, relaxation – and vital for a life well lived.**MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Email: info@simonmundie.comAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from four years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode - it makes a big difference in helping people find this podcast. Much obliged.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Psychological flexibility is often described as the ‘super skill’ of resilience, wellbeing and mental health. It is your ability to ‘make contact with experience in the present moment fully and without defence’. Research has found that it is associated with higher quality of life and wellbeing. As regular listeners will often hear me say, we are not our thoughts – we are aware of our thoughts. This is a profound insight that can have a huge impact on your experience of life, and is the cornerstone of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - and psychological flexibility.This week I am truly delighted to be joined by Steven Hayes, the founder of ACT. ACT is is all about developing Psychological Flexibility, and is one of the most profoundly helpful psychological interventions in the world. While so many other approaches focus on changing the content of your thinking, for example from negative to positive, this is all about changing how you relate to your thoughts and feelings.In this episode we discuss:How we lose touch with our innate belonging and develop the 'conceptualised self'Recognising the ‘I hear, nowness of awareness’ and its profound importanceSteven's panic attacks – which led him to develop ACT (and my experience with insomnia which ACT had a profound help with)Recognising the importance of not turning from the content of experienceFlow state and our true natureLearning how to put the mind ‘ on a leash’Walking through an exercise in self-compassionPsychological flexibility – just how important it isDeveloping it with the six steps of ACTMental Defusiuon techniques – 'Mental breaks to stop mental breaks'Living your values and how to uncover themSteven Hayes website, including his 'ACT toolkit': https://stevenchayes.com/Steven's TED TALK on Psychological Flexibility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o79_gmO5ppgSteven's TED TALK 2 on 'mental breaks': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnSHpBRLJrQ**MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from four years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode - it makes a big difference in helping people find this podcast.Thank you.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Olympic 2020 Tokyo 1500 metres silver medalist Laura Muir is one of the finest middle-distance runners Britain has ever seen.But there’s more – she is a trained vet too. Muir graduated from the University of Glasgow’s prestigious vet school in 2018 all while competing at the top level – winning her first senior outdoor gold medal at the European Championships that summer.How did she juggle both things? And what are the key lessons to take from her experiences about not overthinking things, and recognising that sometimes anticipation can be worse than reality?**MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Email: info@simonmundie.comAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from four years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode - it makes a big difference in helping people find this podcast. Much obliged.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this captivating discussion, Michael Pollan, an acclaimed author and journalist recognized for his influential work on food and psychedelics, dives into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics like psilocybin. He highlights their ability to alleviate mental health issues such as depression, PTSD, and anxiety. Pollan shares insights on 'ego death' and its benefits for terminal patients, as well as the evolving societal perceptions of these substances. He emphasizes the significance of responsible use and the transformative power of psychedelics in understanding consciousness.

A good night’s sleep can make you feel strong enough to take on the world. A bad nights sleep – well, let’s not go there.This clip is all about how to avoid falling down the insomnia gap. You see, one bad night’s sleep can quickly snowball – so it’s good to know how to stop that from happening and to recognise the signs. This is from my conversation with Dr Guy Meadows – the founder and clinical director of The Sleep SchoolMy full length conversation with Dr Guy Meadows is HERE: https://pod.fo/e/16ff87The Sleep School: https://www.sleepschool.org/**MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Email: info@simonmundie.comAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from four years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode - it makes a big difference in helping people find this podcast. Much obliged.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lawrence Dallaglio is an English sporting icon who understands the power of being driven by a higher purpose. He won 85 international rugby caps and was a crucial player in England's World Cup triumph of 2003. But Dallaglio is not cut from typical rugby playing cloth. It was the tragedy of losing his older sister in the Marchioness boating disaster of 1989 that ended up propelling him to pursue a rugby career. I am grateful to Lawrence for being open and vulnerable about his life and struggles, including the tragedy of losing his sister and the profound impact that had on him, while also sharing some gems around what it takes to win sports biggest prizes. In this episode:-         Becoming a rugby icon despite never having set out with rugby as a career choice-         The importance of belief in a competitive environment-         The power of vulnerability in a group - and embracing consistency & honest conversations-         Playing to honour his sisters memory & being driven by a higher purpose-         Why rugby was not an ideal catalyst to facilitate healing-         The difference between his private & rugby personas-         His one big rugby regret-         The gift of giving and setting up Dallaglio Rugby Works-         Reaction to his decision not to select Jonny Wilkinson for his all-time England 15-         The best rugby player he ever lined up alongside or againstDallaglio Rugby Works: https://www.dallagliorugbyworks.com/Simon Dent's Marathon Des Sables 'run in the sun' 2023: https://justgiving.com/campaign/simondentsruninthesunThe Jonny Wilkinson episode referenced: https://pod.fo/e/16fa31**MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from four years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode - it makes a big difference in helping people find this podcast. Thank you.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who doesn’t want to know how to stop unpleasant and even intrusive thoughts from bothering them? While lots of people talk about positive thinking, and training yourself to turn a negative into something upbeat – the truth is – that takes a lot of effort and doesn’t always work. Dr Russ Harris is one of the world’s leading psychologists. He shares a portable mindfulness technique that can sap the power out of any bothersome thought, at any moment – whenever thoughts are bothering you. This is seriously powerful, if paradoxical, stuff.My full length conversation with Dr. Russ Harris is HERE: https://www.simonmundie.com/blog/russ-harrisAnd a heads up - the full length conversations return on monday - kicking off with Lawrence Dallaglio: Harnessing Emotion**MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Email me: info@simonmundie.comAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from four years and 250 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode - it makes a big difference in helping people find this podcast. Much obliged.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s a saying that I’m confident you will have heard of – but which we can all too quickly forget when the mind starts taking off. And it is – what you resist, persists. One of my guests who has really internalised the wisdom behind that saying is Jonny Wilkinson. We all know his story – he was the darling of English rugby who kicked the World Cup winning drop goal in 2003, and whose mental health suffered in the ensuing years. So Jonny has been on quite the introspective journey – and he’s now learnt how to let go of resistance to allow life to flow as it can and should. Full Length Conversation with Jonny W is here: https://pod.fo/e/16ff5e**Date for your diary - full length conversations will return on MONDAY APRIL 17th****MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from four years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode - it makes a big difference in helping people find this podcast. Thank you.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gary Lineker has been in the news recently – more than usual – after a social media fracas that led him to miss a week of presenting match of the Day and which briefly dominated the news headlines. As we now know that situation was soon sorted – and Gary was quickly back alongside his chums on the MOTD sofa, looking as unruffled as ever. Being centre of the media glare as he was didn’t seem to knock Gary off his stride too much – and when you hear about his career playing football, you can understand why. Gary and I chewing the fat: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=500304600552690**HEADS UP - FULL LENGTH CONVERSATIONS WILL RETURN ON MONDAY APRIL 17th****MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Email: info@simonmundie.comAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from four years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode - it makes a big difference in helping people find this podcast. Much obliged.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all come into this world with unconditional worth – and then we lose sight of that and spend so much time running around trying to prove that we are enough. It’s part of the human condition – and has been something of a key theme running through this podcast.One of my guests I talked about this with was the 1996 formula one world champion Damon Hill, whose father Graham had also been a world champion – making them the first ever father-son duo to achieve the feat.In this episode:Why complete self-acceptance, and the joy of simply being, is the ultimate stateThe sense of lack that drives some people to seek fameThe impact that fame has on those who rise to acclaim, and the rest of society who put them on a pedestalThe value of looking inwards and developing self-awarenessGetting help on the journey of self-reflection - and the value of therapy**MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from four years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode - it makes a big difference in helping people find this podcast. Thank you.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.