5 herbs for happiness
My friend Sorrell at the Chamomile Clinic has sent me something to share with you: her five herbs for happiness. Lemon balm – a truly balancing herb, whether you are anxious or depressed this herb can bring back a sense of balance into your life and it tastes delicious as a herbal tea. Valerian – […]
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Solitude
We’ve been a bit quiet here on the Mindapples blog (my book coming out, Lauren’s MA due in, Tessy on holiday…), but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. One of the things I’ve been up to is contributing to a new Channel 4 programme, Alone in the Wild, in which Ed Wardle will […]
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Celebrities – your votes are in
Mindapples volunteer Heleana has done a marvellous job of tallying up all your answers about which celebrities you’d like to hear from. Here are the top 20 people whose five-a-days you’d like to know: 1. Stephen Fry (we love you Stephen!) 2. Barack Obama 3. Gordon Brown 4. Dalai Lama 5. Nelson Mandela 6. Richard […]
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Daily Routines
A delightful blog I found called Daily Routines through One Floor Up, collects the stories of daily routines of ‘How writers, artists, and other interesting people organize their days.’ Example: P.G. Wodehouse “On most days, he would get up at half past seven, go out onto the porch at the back door, and do the […]
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Resolutions for your Mind
Mental Health charity, MIND, warned yesterday that New Year’s resolutions could be bad for your health – particularly when we are armed with self-improvement resolutions. Mind chief executive Paul Farmer said focussing on problems or insecurities can lead to feelings of hopelessness, low self-esteem and even mild depression. “We chastise ourselves for our perceived shortcomings […]
Continue reading Alastair Campbell’s five-a-day
Yesterday, Jo and I went to Stand to Reason’s ‘Celebrating Recovery’ conference at City Hall to pester politicians about Mindapples. And within five minutes of arriving, we’d already got Alastair Campbell’s five-a-day! In case you can’t read that, it says: Sleep Family / home Exercise (including playing football) Bigger cause (including Burnley FC) Laughter (see […]
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Tal Ben Shahar
Tal Ben Shahar, Harvard positive psychology lecturer and author, has been kind enough to send through his five-a-day: Time with people I love – usually with family members. Doing something that is meaningful and pleasurable to me professionally (usually writing). Quiet listening to favorite music. Physical exercise for 30-60 minutes (running/yoga/etc). Gratitudes before going to […]
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Calling all bloggers
Dear blogosphere, It gives me great pleasure to invite you to join the Mindapples project and tell the world, what’s your five a day? Here’s how it works: Write a post telling your readers five things you do that help keep you mentally well (and answer any of the other survey questions too if you […]
Continue reading Five things happy people do
And here’s another expert list of “things we should do to be happy”, this time from neuroscientist Gabrielle LeBlanc who has “canvassed the leading experts on what happy people have in common”. Well okay, actually it’s from Oprah.com. 🙂 Here’s a quick summary… Find your own golden self Eudaimonia means striving toward excellence based on […]
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12 steps to happiness
Here’s another take on the “things you should do to be happy” riff, this time from the Care Services Improvement Partnership. Interestingly they reference the economic crisis – which is funny because the economic crisis is also referencing us. Here’s a summary of their, erm… twelve: In situations of sustained social, economic and psychological stress, […]
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