Alive and Kicking with Clare McKenna

Clare speaks to Derval O'Rourke on how to bring health to the forefront of busy family life, Vaughan Yates on why less people are drinking alcohol and discusses the new trend in mood boosting mocktails and is the fuss around menopause necessary with Oonagh O'Hagan of Meaghers Pharmacy and Catherine O'Keefe The Wellness Warrior

Clare is joined by Dr Kate McCann to speak about her mission to make lifestyle medicine more accessible in our healthcare system moving us from sick care to true health care. Emilie Pine talks about the healing power of writing and her latest project centred around The National Maternity Hospital. And Kylie O'Donaghue tells Clare about her journey building women's nutritional supplements brand Femfuelz

Lisa Brennan was born with mild spina bifida and hip issues, in foster care, she left care age 18 as many do due to support to their foster family being cut but as she spent much of her life in a wheelchair she found getting a place to live and a job nigh on impossible. Lisa has faced so much adversity but has such an incredible story and she joins Clare to tell it. And Brother Richard is a Franciscan Friar whose poem lockdown went viral during the pandemic – it led to his book Still Points - A Guide to Living the Mindful, Meditative Way and he joins Clare in studio to talk about the importance of making time for reflection

Kamal Ibrahim is an Irish television presenter, film and theatre producer, public speaker and he was also the winner of Mister World having won the competition held in South Korea on 27 March 2010. He's also an ambassador for Breast Cancer Ireland's Great Pink Run and he joined Clare to speak about the run and his family's experience of cancer. Pauline Rowdich started out as a Garda but her gut told her she should be on another path – after many twists and turns she has now made her career helping others tap into their intuition. She joins Clare to discuss her book "Just Trust"

Kyrie Farm is a proposed mental health recovery centre which will build a community on site allowing people to heal and integrate into a society away from a clinical setting. It's a concept which has worked well in the US and there is a similar farm in Cork. Clare spoke with John McKeon – founder, director and board member, Dr Eoin Galavan – Clinical Psychologist for HSE North Dublin & Director on board and Martin Rogan – CEO of Mental Health Ireland. Did you know that Irish women are 5 times more likely to die from heart related issues than breast cancer and so the 'Her Heart Matters' Campaign aims to encourage women to make vital, sustainable changes to their health. Clare spoke with JT Treanor, Health Promotion and Information Training Team at Irish Heart Foundation

The fabulous pharmacist Laura Dowling was working at a chemist counter for years and sharing her no-nonsense approach to health and wellness on her Instagram page. As her followers started to mount, she began to consider making a change. She joins Clare to talk about making the leap from the pharmacy to set up her own business. Brian Pennie, author, speaker, Ph.D. candidate, university lecturer, life-change strategist, and recovering addict joins Clare to talk about how change is possible.

Dr. Heather McKee is a behaviour change specialist and international keynote speaker. She has had several of her papers published looking at why we do, or don't, do what we do. She talks to Clare about why developing skill power over willpower will always go further. Dietician Orla Walsh joins Clare to talk about her experience of migraines and how sometimes we can mis-read the triggers. And psychotherapist Owen O'Kane was on the show a couple of years back talking about how ten minutes a day can really improve your mental health. He joins Clare to discuss his latest book 'How to Be Your Own Therapist'.

Purple House Cancer Support Centre is Ireland’s 1st Community based Cancer Support Centre, founded in 1990 by Veronica O'Leary after her own cancer experience made her realise that while she received excellent medical care, there wasn't much available by way of support for patients and their families to come to terms with the diagnosis and recovery. Clare went to Bray in Co. Wicklow to find out more about the work that they do. Breathwork expert and Wim Hof practitioner Neil O'Murchu has been a regular on this show and today he's back to talk about a personal journey involving his twin daughters which led him to retrain in breathwork for trauma and anxiety in children and teenagers And Niamh Malone had experienced social anxiety for as long as she can remember, when she found herself recovering from a stroke and faced with even more challenges she decided to set up an online platform to help people navigate common situations which can cause issue and urges family and friends to just listen.

Darren Kennedy is a TV presenter, columnist with the Sunday Independent and perhaps best known for his style and impeccable grooming. He spoke to Clare about what health and wellness means to him and a subject close to his heart, the Irish Cancer Society night nurses. Sinead Crowe runs Intuitive Eating Ireland with her sister Gillian and through their events and social media they spread the word of life away from diet culture and healing relationships with food and your body. She joined Clare to talk about how this can be applied to children, particularly when so many of them just constantly ask for snacks or treats – can you really introduce a life with no food rule? And Clare paid a visit to Drift Float Therapy and Salt Caves in Dublin for a few hours of bliss

As we start to get ready for back to school Clare meets a parent who's calling for a complete overhaul of how we treat neurodiversity as the current model isn't serving the teachers or the children. Michelle says her 9 year old said he didn't want to live as school caused so much anxiety and stress, she and educational psychologist Pauline Cogan will talk about how overwhelmed teachers and support assistants need to retrain to spot signs earlier and teaching methods will have to change to accommodate the now more diagnosed neurodiversity in each classroom. And Andrew Dunne is a healthcare professional who with this team help patients fight Arthritis, Atrial Fibrillation, Prostate Cancer, Breast Cancer, Parkinson’s Disease and other conditions by prescribing exercise, not more pills.