Mind Insight

16/10/2026

When I left the corporate world to train as a chiropractor, I kept repeating one line to myself:

"Whenever there is forward movement, there is turbulence."

It was the right decision. I knew that. But it still felt shaky, and some nights my mind had a long list of reasons why I shouldn't do it.

That line helped me then, and it helped me again years later when I finally left India.

Think about it.

Planes shake on take-off. Rivers are roughest where they're moving fastest. Doubt often turns up precisely because we're heading somewhere new.

Here's how mindfulness helps me through it:

• Expecting the turbulence, rather than treating it as a sign something's wrong.
• Coming back to my why, over and over.
• Not judging myself for wobbling. Kristin Neff's research shows self-compassion makes us more resilient.
• Trusting myself, because I've got through hard times before.
• Being patient while the way forward becomes clear.

Mindfulness isn't a wellness fad. It's a tested way to stay steady and keep building the life you want.

If you're feeling the turbulence right now, maybe it just means you're finally moving. 💛

14/10/2026

“I can’t sit for hours.”

I hear this a lot. It’s one of the main reasons people dismiss mindfulness: the time commitment. And if you live with pain or stiffness, the idea of sitting still for long stretches is a non-starter.

So what if you didn’t need hours a day? What if mindfulness wasn’t another item on an already full to-do list?

You can train your brain with short, regular habits built into what you’re already doing:

One conscious breath before you open your inbox
One pause before you speak in a tense conversation
One moment sensing your feet on the floor while the kettle boils
One look up and out of the window between tasks

This isn’t a watered-down version of the “real thing.” It’s how the brain changes. Donald Hebb’s principle, that neurons that fire together wire together, explains why repetition matters more than duration. Small, frequent practice strengthens the pathways that help your nervous system return to steady more quickly.

One small act at a time.

What’s one thing you could do today to train your brain for more calm and ease? I’d love to hear in the comments.

09/10/2026

Do you ever make a big decision, feel completely sure it's right… and then lie awake at night listing every reason not to do it?

I've been there. I started seriously considering leaving India in 2017, and I finally left in 2023. Covid certainly got in the way, but honestly, a lot of that time was me arguing with myself.

Mindfulness is what helped me move forward. Not as a nice idea, but as something practical I used every day:

• I accepted that doubts were going to come. That's just what happens with big change.
• I kept bringing myself back to why the change was right.
• I stopped judging myself for having doubts. Kristin Neff's research on self-compassion shows that kindness towards ourselves makes us more resilient, not less.
• I trusted myself. Most of us have already been through hard times and found our way.
• And I was patient while the path became clearer.

Mindfulness isn't a wellness fad. It's a tested way to stay true to yourself and create the life you want to be living.

Is there a change you've been putting off? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

07/10/2026

How much lighter would things feel if you stopped expecting yourself to have all the answers?

Here's the thing: your brain is a prediction machine. Neuroscientist Karl Friston's work on predictive processing shows we're constantly trying to reduce uncertainty, which is why not knowing can feel so uncomfortable, even threatening. When you're running a business, leading people, or managing your health on top of everything else, that discomfort can quietly drive you into over-planning, overthinking and stalling.

But you don't need the whole map. Nobody has it, however confident they look.

What you need is the next step. And then the next one.

The Spanish poet Antonio Machado put it beautifully over a century ago: we make the path by walking it.

What's one small step you could take today? Share it below if you'd like. You're not on your own with this. 💛

30/09/2026

How many steps have you taken today without noticing a single one?

We walk constantly: to the car, round the supermarket, back and forth to the kettle. And for most of those steps, our minds are somewhere else entirely, running through the to-do list, replaying a conversation, planning tomorrow.

That isn't a personal failing. It's the default. Research from Harvard (Killingsworth and Gilbert, published in Science) found that our minds wander for close to half of our waking hours, and that we tend to feel worse when they do.

The good news is that those autopilot moments are also the easiest place to train attention.

Next time you're walking anywhere, try this for just one minute:

Notice your feet making contact with the ground
Feel the air on your face
Tune into the sounds around you

That's it. You don't need to slow down, close your eyes or find somewhere quiet. Nobody around you will have any idea you're doing it.

Each time your mind drifts and you bring it back, you're strengthening the neural pathways that support focus. Attention behaves like a muscle, and everyday walking is a gym you already belong to.

Where do you walk most often in a normal day? That might be your best place to start.

29/09/2026

Back pain getting the better of you?

Try KCR to get back to more of what you love.

Appointments available in Cheltenham.

Link for more information in the comments.

When they said, “Choose a pumpkin for the school,” he may have misunderstood the assignment… 🎃😂

Good job he knows someone who does KCR!

24/09/2026

You learn a lot about yourself when you're running.

I ran the Run Cheltenham 10k at the weekend, and it went badly. I felt awful from the start, and it didn't get any better. My training had gone well and I'd prepared properly on the day. Sometimes running is just like that.

I came in five minutes slower than last year. I was frustrated at first, but my time is still right where it should be for my age, experience and ability as a dedicated recreational runner.

What got me round was a good dose of "I've started so I'll finish" and a lot of smiling. That's a tip from Eliud Kipchoge. Change your facial expression and posture, and your brain takes it as a sign that all is well, which then reassures your body. There's research behind it too. A 2018 Ulster University study found runners who smiled used energy more efficiently and found the effort easier.

Did mindfulness help? It's probably the main thing that got me through. Jelly Babies helped too.

Will I do it again next year? In all likelihood, yes. It's wonderful to be part of such a great community event. (Once it's over!)

Were you running on Sunday, or cheering from the side? I'd love to hear how you got on. 👇

23/09/2026

"Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience." — Jon Kabat-Zinn

If a friend came to you exhausted, overwhelmed or in pain, you wouldn't tell them to stop making a fuss and get on with it.

So why is that the voice so many of us use on ourselves?

For those of us carrying a lot, whether that's running a business, leading a team, or managing a chronic condition alongside everything else, self-criticism often feels like the thing that keeps us going. The research suggests otherwise. Professor Paul Gilbert's work shows that a harsh inner voice switches on the brain's threat response, keeping the nervous system braced and depleted. Dr Kristin Neff's studies on self-compassion link a kinder inner voice with greater resilience and motivation, not less.

Kindness towards yourself isn't softness. It's how you give your nervous system the conditions it needs to recover and perform.

Today, try this: notice how you speak to yourself. Is there one moment where you could choose curiosity over criticism?

I'd love to hear. What's the phrase your inner critic uses most? 👇

16/09/2026

I've been doing a lot of thinking about letting go recently.

It started with something small — training for a race and running slower than last year — and turned into a much bigger reflection on the last six years: leaving India, retiring from chiropractic, and slowly putting down the "push on through" mentality that got me through so much, but no longer fits who I want to be.

I've written it all up, with the psychology behind why midlife brings this up so strongly, some lessons from watching the trees do their autumn thing, and a few practical ways to work with letting go rather than fight it.

New post is live — link in the comments. Would love to know if any of it lands with you. 🍂

11/09/2026

How often does your own creativity surprise you? Mine does, often.

I wouldn't call myself a particularly creative person. But recently I was asked to do a member slot for Women Mean Biz, and I decided to try something different.

I used books I love to illustrate themes from my work, and to introduce who I work with and what they get out of it.

I opened with an apology to Julian Barnes — his book is A History of the World in 10½ Chapters. I only had time for 5½.

His theme is the unreliability of history. That it's not objective fact, it's a construction.

The same is true of our own histories. The stories we tell ourselves.

Notice what I did at the start of this post — I called myself "not particularly creative." That's a story. Not a fact.

Mindfulness helps us see our stories for what they are: just stories. And then choose whether we still want to believe them.

We get to decide when a story is helping us, and when it's one we've outgrown — something that might have served us once, but doesn't any more.

So I'm curious: if you picked a book to illustrate your work, what would it be? And why?