“Strength is the ruling virtue. Think how many beautiful things must have died for the lack of strength to protect themselves.” Enter The Dragon Five mornings a week, I leave the house for boxing before the sun comes up. A few days ago, I started to notice that the only…

“The richest, happiest and most productive lives are characterized by the ability to fully engage in the challenge at hand, but also to disengage periodically and seek renewal.” Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz I’m very interested in recovery, both personally and professionally, possibly because my natural inclination is to go…

I recently read about the “pain of independence”, in a fantastically thoughtful book by Ozan Varol. Ozan writes: “Resisting conformity causes us emotional distress…[It] produces…”a pain of independence.” This idea particularly resonated with me as I seem to have adopted a number of beliefs that run counter to prevailing wisdom…

It’s alarming how often I’m wrong. I can think of countless examples-even very recent ones. I used to think I loved being alone. Then the pandemic hit and I lived with friends for the first time in years. It was fantastic. I was sure I was a reformed lonely person…

I heard a line on a podcast last week that has made an appreciable difference to my day-to-day life. In an interview with Tim Ferriss, the author Michael Lewis said, “I decided, at some point, that I was going to adopt, self-consciously as my narrative, that I’m the happiest person…

My mum and I are very different. She is slow, careful and creative and I am fast, consistent and impatient. Everything my mum creates is meandering and beautiful, whereas everything I do is optimised and on time. …

I recently listened to a great interview on The James Altucher Show with neuroscientist, Andrew Huberman. James and Andrew covered many topics but what interested me the most was a simple strategy that Andrew recommended, to mitigate stress during uncertain times. I’m still in Mexico, and incredibly happy to be…

Now might be the greatest time in history to start practicing yoga at home. Many of us are in lockdown, without access to gyms and yoga studios, and the circumstances of our incarceration make it even more important that we stay strong, sane and supple. Currently, I’m teaching yoga to…

The topic of self-care makes me a little uncomfortable, but I just listened to an interview with self-compassion researcher, Kristen Neff, on The One You Feed podcast, that helped me to frame it more positively. Kristen defines effective self-compassion as: “Treating yourself with the same kindness, support and care that…