Picture a blue whale, a creature perhaps over one hundred feet long and weighing one hundred and seventy tonnes, with a heart more than twice as heavy as me and possibly you. This is the largest animal that has ever lived on the history of the planet. It is the mass of about 2,500 average adult humans.

Blue whales depend on plankton to live. They eat Krill, small crustaceans, which in turn depend on phytoplankton, tiny plants that live in the surface waters converting the nutrients dissolved in the water to biomass using the energy of sunlight.

Phytoplankton are often…

Mind-body activities and wisdom traditions are fashionable these days. It’s easy to join the class, wear the t-shirt and spout the jargon. It’s possible to build an identity and a social life around it too — or to be repelled by the whole scene.

In this article, I explain a shift in perspective that is powerful, but easy to overlook between postures, breathing exercises and trending techniques. You absolutely do not need the t-shirt to try it, or to benefit.

Most people are fairly comfortable with the idea that as humans we have ‘an unconscious’. There are many definitions, many…

Health is a treasure and movement is a vital pillar of health. This article is a useful checklist that you can employ whether you know you that don’t move enough or if much of your life revolves around fitness.

I promise this will not be the standard cardio, strength, HIIT and mobility kind of list.

What do you get in this article then?

I will contrast the exercise industry with your innate abilities. Then there is the checklist, in which you can read examples and explanations of what is less often talked about.

Towards the end, I will touch on…

It’s Monday night and the beginning of a new tradition — whiskey Zoom with two old friends. The call ends. The effects of the whiskey don’t. Rather than do the wise thing — drink some water and go to bed I just check Facebook.

I read a post that I consider dishonest, disingenuous and likely to promote harm.

There is a rise in my heart rate. I refute the post, with logic if not diplomacy.

My refute is met with a mixture of denial and counter-argument.

I meet the counter-argument with more logic and facts.

The facts and logic are…

Many of us are stuck at home. For most of us, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. The time we might have spent on commutes, or work may be reduced. This means we can get on with all kinds of other projects that we have not managed to fit in, or have been putting off.

Right…

Enforced isolation can be a shock. There is the separation, the worry and uncertainty about what’s next. It can feel like we are in dark times.

Our best intentions may not be realised. This can be harder to deal with when the…

While there are still people who say that the world is overreacting to Covid19¹, the majority of us are swept up in either the actions of our governments, the people around us and the voices in our heads.

Clearly, this is not a drill. It is the real thing, but is also a warm-up. A warm-up for what? There are a lot of opinions about this. I will cover two, and leave you with a positive one at the end.

The people who talk about this all being over reaction currently still have an argument. At the date of writing…

Do any of these appeal? Rome for €40 return, Thailand or San Francisco for €400. Next week you could be on a beach in Zanzibar, shopping in Milan, floating among living gems in the Red Sea, or across the globe hugging a friend who you have not seen in years.

The hardest thing is not to fly*. If you struggle not to fly you are not alone. Here are some open questions about flying and tourism.

I have been flying as long as I can remember. In the seventies, we dressed up to fly. No sandals or shorts. …

The pain in my shoulder chased away sleep. No position was comfortable. It moved upwards to my neck, down my back, across my chest. The thoughts that went with it bounced between bleak and defiant. But I knew the next day I’d be back up on my gymnastic rings. I couldn’t see any alternative.

Arbitrary lines divide arms from bodies, muscles from tendons, people from animals and minds from bodies.

It’s that one last I want to talk about here: minds and bodies. …