Healthy Beast

Bestselling author Dacher Keltner - Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley - says a sceptical medical profession now accepts clinical data showing the transformative power of wonder. His new book, Awe, is a great read and it is out now. 

Businessman and martial artist Trent Scanlen. Co-Founder and CEO at Kurk. Chairman of REORG charity.

Police officer and former Royal Marines sniper Keith Hughes.

Nobody brings more energy into a room than fitness pioneer Rowen Aida, official Nike trainer and founder of Elevate by Rowen.  

A British police officer talks about the importance of learning to defend yourself, when every shift can see confrontations that turn physical.

Top ranked fighter Michelle "The Karate Hottie" Waterson talks about fighting through adversity, learning to embrace vulnerability and her journey from Hooters to the UFC. 

Army veteran Paul Skivington lost his leg in a motorbike accident while serving with the Royal Engineers. A chance meeting got him back on track and he now competes in jiu-jitsu and puts a lot of us to shame with his training regime. 

Alan was part of an elite US Special Forces unit undertaking missions against high-value targets in Iraq. He talks about what it takes to make it as a Green Beret. He was the first Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in the Special Forces and has trained everyone from Navy SEALs through to UFC fighters. He started the We Defy Foundation to help support combat veterans suffering physical and mental health problems. 

Our last guest said you don't need any training to become a life coach. This week, a very different approach. Executive coach Lisa Quinn has many qualifications and gives some very useful techniques for getting control of your temper and not allowing negative thinking to hold you back. Now who couldn't use a little bit of that? Find out more at Lisa Quinn Coaching. 

Who needs a life coach? A lot of people, according to the endless numbers offering their services. In a competitive market, Michael Serwa stands head and shoulders above the others. He started small, and built up to the point where he charges eye-watering sums to a list of very well-heeled clients. His approach may not for everyone, but he is definitely on to something.  His book, From Good to Amazing: No-Bullshit Tips for The Life You Always Wanted, is available from all good sellers.   

Pioneers of the acid jazz movement, Andrew Levy and Simon Bartholomew of The Brand New Heavies talk about finding their groove, breaking America, and going on tour in their fifties.  Intro track: For The Dancers from The Brand New Heavies Presents The Elephant In The Room. Band sponsored by Truth Naturals CBD.   

What do you know about ketamine? That it's a party drug, and an anaesthetic for horses? Both are true, but this is not helping it get taken seriously for other potential uses. Ketamine has huge potential as a treatment for depression, according to Dr Tiago Marques, a psychiatrist and senior clinical fellow at Imperial College London. He talks about rising mental health problems over the lockdowns, how ketamine and other drugs could help, and the important steps to take before starting any treatment for depression.  Tiago is also CEO of Pasithea Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on mental health.   

Hannah Deacon's son Alfie Dingley was the first person to receive an NHS prescription for medical cannabis. Sadly other children with severe epilepsy have not been so lucky. Hannah has written to Boris Johnson urging him to "stop the suffering of children" whose desperate families are left either raising money for expensive private prescriptions, or having to buy cannabis on the black market. Hear her inspiring story of how cannabis saved her son's life. To urge your local MP to take action, please go to the Change.org campaign with 650,000 signatures and counting.   

If you think open-water swimming is difficult, imagine doing it with just one arm. Mark Ormrod MBE is a former Royal Marine who lost both legs and his right arm in an explosion in Afghanistan. He talks about going from being a strong swimmer, to someone who nearly drowned in an indoor swimming pool. But with the same determination that saw him refuse to spend his life in a wheelchair, Mark's swim, together with a 5k run on prosthetics, has raised almost half a million pounds for REORG, a charity that helps military personnel and first responders keep on top of their physical and mental health.  Mark is an ambassador for Truth Naturals CBD.      

Medical cannabis is technically legal in the UK, but that does not mean you can get it. For thousands of children with epilepsy, this can be a matter of life and death. For millions more, cannabis represents a far healthier alternative to medicines like opioids. Today I am joined by Professor Mike Barnes, who secured the first NHS prescription for cannabis in 2018, and Ricardo Geada, a lawyer specialising in the field. We talk about what is stopping cannabis prescriptions, and why there is cause for hope. 

Mo Morris is mental health resilience lead for the Royal Marines, and talks about how you can see someone every day and have no idea what kind of issues they may be having. A lot of the focus around mental health is about the treatment of problems. Mo's job is prevention, rather than cure. And taking care of yourself follows the same principles whether you are serving in Afghanistan or sitting behind a desk.  Find out more at CANTCANWILL.  

Would you take a psychedelic to help treat depression? Dr Carol Routledge is the chief scientific and medical officer for a company called Small Pharma that is working on innovative treatments for depression and other mental health conditions. Anti-depressants have their place, but they take time to work and often do not get to the heart of the problem. Early trials with DMT-based treatment have shown incredibly encouraging results.   

As his friends went off to university, Sam was writing a will and heading to Afghanistan. On four tours of duty he lost many close friends, but the toughest thing for Sam - like so many others - was leaving the military behind.  Sam has turned his experiences into a positive and now coaches and mentors a wide-range of people, using his incredibly determined mindset to help others benefit from the dark and the light that comes from what he has been through.  With thanks to everyone at REORG - a charity that uses martial arts and other activities to help veterans and others improve their mental and physical health.       

When Vicky Rees-Davies - aka The Fitness Mum on Instagram - was diagnosed with Parkinson's aged just 46, the first thing she did was ask her husband if he wanted to leave. As a personal trainer with an extremely positive attitude, Vicky has been inspiring clients by continuing to teach ‘even when her left hand can’t keep up with the right’. On Saturday 14th May, Vicky is doing a 24-hour fitness challenge with a former England rugby player to raise money for Parkinson’s research. 

Darren Hardy served 15 years in the British Army before being discharged with PTSD. After suffering suicidal thoughts, he turned to extreme endurance challenges to keep him focused and positive. His latest mission is to run five marathons in 50 hours non-stop for a 12-year-old girl called Aggie, who has been diagnosed with H-ABC - the world’s rarest brain disease. Darren talks about meeting Aggie for the first time the day before this podcast and about how he’s getting ready for his extreme race to find a cure.  To find out more please visit justgiving.com/fundraising/darren-hardy123  

Clare Brenner is CEO of the genetic testing company Myogenes. Fifteen years ago, Clare lost her sister to mental illness. Her sister's life could have been saved if she had been given the right medication, and Claire says genetic testing is the answer. For psychiatric medication, for cancer treatment, and so much more, testing can save billions of pounds and more importantly save many lives. Myogenes provides tests that tell you what food and exercise is most suited to your genetic makeup, and also which medicines may not work for you. 

You don't expect a 3,000-mile unsupported row across the Atlantic to be easy, but this trip got incredibly rough very quickly. The four Royal Marines - two serving, two veterans - were forced to rely on grit, teamwork and some improvised surgery on each other's battered bodies. The enthusiasm in telling their story is a great example of how tough experiences bring out the best in people.  The boys are well on the way to a target of raising £100k for the Royal Marines Charity. They are also supporting REORG, a charity promoting mental and physical recovery through martial arts.  To help them hit the £100k target, please go to instagram.com/rm_cockleshell_atlantic and click on the link in the bio.  

The first person to be crowned world freestyle champion five times, Andrew Henderson starting honing his incredible skills after an injury so bad he thought he may never walk again. Now Andrew has decided to instead focus his sporting obsession on the unforgiving world of mixed martial arts. With talent and dedication like his, he could well go all the way. 

How do we combat the innate desire to do things that are bad for us? Dr Harry Weisinger is a doctor and university professor who specialises in nutrition and recovery, with a focus on little changes that can make life healthier and happier - and hopefully last longer. As well as helping a whole range of athletes (and normal humans) to perform better, Harry uses his own body as a test tube, putting himself through the mill as a competitive cyclist who shows no signs of slowing down as he prepares to sprint past his 50th birthday. Dr Harry is medical adviser to the premium CBD company Truth Naturals.    

Professional dancer and choreographer Sarah Kleio danced her way all around the world before starting Studio K in Richmond. They teach high-energy streetdance moves to everyone from tiny children through to people who are old enough to know better.  Sarah talks about the challenge of keeping the business going through the pandemic, having a baby in the middle of the lockdown, and how dancing is the easiest and most fun way to get yourself back in shape. 

The Indonesian martial art of Silat is beautiful to watch, but deadly. Grand master Steve Benitez teaches people to fight, but first he shows them the importance of finding peace through stillness. 

Leon Taylor broke a British diving-medal drought of 44 years when he won silver in the 2004 Athens Olympics along with diving partner Peter Waterfield. In the process, Leon also broke quite a lot of his body. The gruelling training, not to mention somersaulting from a very high platform, left him with multiple reconstructive surgeries, before the doctor decided to put Leon out of his misery. But he fought back, and Leon has turned the highs and lows of Olympic diving into a successful career coaching, speaking and mentoring. I highly recommend his TEDx speech, which you can see here. Not before listening to the podcast, obviously, in which Leon talks about staying lockdown healthy, and treating movement as medicine for both our physical and mental health.

Robin's daughter Jorja was just 10 months old when she started having terrifying epileptic seizures. They got so bad that doctors told her parents that Jorja was going to die. Refused a second opinion, Robin began to campaign for medical cannabis to get the seizures under control. After a tireless campaign, with help from the charity End Our Pain, Jorja became the first child to get a UK prescription for cannabis. Her seizures reduced dramatically and the joy came back to her face. Medical cannabis is legal in the UK, but Jorja has no option but to get an expensive private prescription. Robin is working with Brains Bioceutical to increase awareness of cannabis to make sure that other children can get access to the life-saving medicine they need.

Being told he was going to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair didn't wash for Mark Ormrod. The former Royal Marine Commando lost both legs above the knee and his right arm above the elbow in a blast in Afghanistan in 2007. Not only did Mark learn to walk again, he has won medals at the Invictus games and driven fast cars. And now he trains Brazilian jiu-jitsu. His work as a motivational speaker makes total sense - he has certainly made me think differently about the so-called injuries I have worried about.  Find more about REORG, the Royal Marines charity that teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu to serving personnel and veterans to help them overcome mental and physical health challenges.   

Hypnotherapist and mind mechanic Vinny Shoreman has a no-nonsense and often humorous approach to fixing problems. He helps a wide range of clients deal with grief, fear, anxiety and depression. He has many years of experience and has learnt to be patient with people's misunderstandings about hypnotherapy. He makes the point that hypnotherapy is a very useful therapeutic tool that can help people overcome severe trauma. Stage hypnosis, on the other hand, can only help people "make dicks of themselves", something they have "no problem doing all on their own".

Kelda Wood was hoping for a career as a show jumper when a one-ton bale of hay fell on her, crushing her leg. Through this life-changing accident she grew even more determined, starting the charity Climbing Out to help people who have survived injury and trauma. Last year Kelda spent three months in total isolation, becoming the first para-athlete to row solo across the Atlantic, driven on by thoughts of the many people her charity is helping. It is an incredibly inspiring story of pushing through pain and loneliness, day after day, as strong winds threatened to push her right back where she came from. Just the sort of thing you need to hear if life's little problems are getting you down.

Pensioner Tony Bevington has stage-3 kidney failure and he started growing cannabis to ease the stabbing pains caused by his condition. He is very forgiving of the neighbour who shopped him, less so of the police who threatened to kick his door in and have him evicted. And Tony is now suffering from terrible anxiety about the legal proceedings stretching out in front of him. It is hard to believe that we would go to the trouble of punishing someone like this. He doesn't seem like a terrifying gangster, but have a listen and see what you think.  Find out more on Tony's Facebook support page here. 

Chana Studley worked for years as a special effects expert on Hollywood movies. But violent assaults in her twenties had left her with years of pain and PTSD. She did extensive research into the mechanisms that cause physical and psychological trauma and discovered that she was able to leave her suffering entirely in the past.  Chana is an author and has lectured around the world on pain. Raised in the UK, she now lives in Israel and works as a first responder for the World Health Organisation, providing psychological assistance to people who have suffered or witnessed traumatic events.  It was fascinating to talk to her and she has already got me thinking differently about how I personally experience pain. Find out more at chanastudley.com.   

Hannah Deacon petitioned the government for her son – who suffers from a rare, debilitating form of epilepsy – to be given cannabis on the NHS. In 2018 Alfie Dingley made headlines when the pioneering prescription was granted. Hannah talks very movingly about the difference cannabis has made to her son’s quality of life. He went from having regular, terrifying seizures to living with a condition that is now far more manageable. But for thousands of other children who could also benefit from medical cannabis, it is a very different story. Visit the Alfie's Hope Facebook page to see more about Hannah's campaign. You can find out more about Hannah’s work with Professor Mike Barnes to increase awareness of medical cannabis at mapletreeconsultants.co.uk.

As an MMA fighter, Jack was known for his ferocious style. As a coach he said it was "a lot tougher watching someone go into the cage than walking into the cage yourself". Now no longer starving himself to make weight, Jack has turned his back on cardio and committed himself with equal ferocity to the sport of powerlifting.  Jack Toczydlowski is a much easier to pronounce Jacked_T on Instagram. His inspirational powerlifting team is barfight_team.   

Danielle Barnett is the lead singer of the Urban Cookie Collective. She is also a qualified NLP coach and helps people overcome their anxieties, whether they want to sing in front of thousands, or simply stand up and give a wedding speech. She is also one of the most positive people you could ever meet and I thoroughly enjoyed having my negative thought patterns gently coached away.  Find out more at daniellebarnett.coach.   

One of the original black belts under the late Rolls Gracie, Mauricio is now an 8th degree coral belt. He talks about a lifetime of jiu-jitsu, and seeing his son Roger Gracie go from “chubby teenager” to becoming the greatest of all time.

Two years ago medicinal cannabis was legalised in the UK after Professor Mike Barnes secured the first NHS prescription for Alfie Dingley, an epileptic boy having dozens of seizures a day. Thousands of children like Alfie need cannabis, but despite promises from the Health Secretary, no prescriptions are being written. Private cannabis prescriptions for pain and anxiety are rising rapidly, Prof Barnes says. But if you go to an NHS doctor, you will be offered OxyContin, never cannabis. Prof Barnes is urging patients not to give up, to put doctors under pressure until they start prescribing a medicine that improves quality of life immeasurably for so many people. 

Jeremy Hackett, the self-deprecating creator of global menswear brand Hackett London, has survived lockdown by living healthily and not using Zoom. The most stylish man I know - even in shorts - it’s incredible to hear his recent tale of being turned away from a London hotel for not meeting the dress code. What hope is there for the rest of us? @mrjhackett  

Clinical psychologist and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) specialist Tamara Cilliers is in the studio to discuss the best ways to bring balance into your life, minimise harmful thought patterns and avoid falling out with people in this intense post-lockdown world.  As well as her role training NHS psychologists, Tamara works for the private London clinic Psychiatric and Psychological Consultant Services.   

Stop fretting about the global chaos. Psychotherapist Noel McDermott talks about the simple steps we should all be taking to keep our own mental health on track, no matter what state the crazy world has got itself into.     

Fight fans can now watch the UFC every weekend, but as martial arts practitioners we are all stuck in limbo. The gyms are still closed and there is no clear information on when they can reopen, and under what conditions they may be able to get back to business. The owner of Elevate Martial Arts & Strength - an affiliate of Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Roger Gracie - gives us the lowdown on the Covid body blow that has been dealt to the fitness industry and when we might be able to get back to training in the disciplines we love. 

Whether you are a professional athlete, or haven't done a day of exercise since you left school, at some point everyone gets injured.  Physiotherapist and mobility specialist Lawrence Fenton is in the socially distanced Healthy Beast studio to talk about reducing the risk of injuries happening in the first place, and how you can recover from the inevitable niggles as we start to get back to something like a normal life after the lockdown.  Find out more about Lawrence's work here: @rollsandrehab.

Welcoming fighter and brand-new father Nathan Jones to our makeshift lockdown studio.  Probably the hardest-working fighter in London, Nathan talks about the mixture of fear and determination that brought him into the mixed martial arts cage. Fans who watch him compete in organisations like Cage Warriors and Bellator know him as Mr Bag & Tag. Nathan, who unbelievably made a late start to martial arts, is also a dedicated youth worker and personal trainer with a mission to help others find peace through the delicate art of fighting.

Psychiatrist Dr Donald Holt talks about the psychological effects of lockdown and the need to make sure the younger generation doesn't suffer unnecessarily. 

Former soldier and security adviser Jordan Wylie has run and rowed across some of the most dangerous parts of the world to raise money for children in areas devastated by war. In his book Running For My Life, he talks about his treks across Afghanistan and Somalia, as well as his own struggles with mental health.  Whether or not you are in a war zone, sometimes the best plan is just to put your head down and keep going.  Great talking to Jordan, a very inspirational man. His charity Frontline Children is halfway through building a school on the Horn of Africa, with a few thousand pounds more they can get it finished.  Jordan is also an ambassador for the Army Cadets and for the luxury watch brand Bremont.    

Medicinal cannabis is legal "in name only" in the UK, as doctors continue to prescribe opioids and anti-depressants in industrial quantities.  Dr Fisher is one of the founders of Hanway Associates, a consultancy that specialises in cannabis research, and is working towards a future where all cannabis prohibition is lifted.   

How to deal with injury and train to the best of your ability, with qualified doctor and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Marc Barton. Marc is head instructor at Kingston Jiu-Jitsu.  Find out more about Marvin Reid's yoga for BJJ at chillwinstonuk.com.

A very warm welcome back to the author and journalist Nick Duerden. He spent years practically housebound with chronic fatigue and wrote a book called Get Well Soon about his attempts to cure the condition with alternative therapy. Well something must have worked, because for a man who has just passed his half century he is looking great.  Find out more about all of his good work at nickduerden.co.uk. 

Welcome to the amazing mind coach, hypnotist and NLP practitioner Vinny Shoreman. Vinny has prepared legendary UFC fighters like Eddie Alvarez and Cody Garbrandt for battle. And now he has given me the gift of not worrying about getting an embarrassingly sweaty head when I'm under pressure.  Anyone interested in clearing out whatever bullshit might be cluttering up your head, have a listen. You can find out more at vinnyshoreman.com. 

I was never sure about mindfulness - always suspected it was hippie nonsense. Turns out I was completely wrong. Please have a listen to the brilliant clinical psychologist Dr Cinzia Pezzolesi. We all feel pressure of work, family, money - perhaps a killer combo of all three. But whether or not this pressure becomes stress that can affect our happiness and long-term health is entirely up to us. I spent less than an hour talking to Dr Pezzolesi and it has already made a massive difference to how I view stress. Can't argue with that. Find out more about her work at The Mindfulness Project.