“My religion is Kindness” HH The Dalai Lama You’ve probably heard of ‘The Selfish Gene’. Many have mistakenly taken this to mean than humans are naturally selfish. That’s not what the term ‘selfish gene’ refers to. Selfish gene really refers to the process of evolution where genes are copied and passed onto the next generation. […]
empathy
The power of a hug
A hug is wonderful when you feel sad, stressed, tired and even when you feel good. I love what the Free Hugs people do when they stand in a city centre holding a ‘Free Hugs’ sign. Their hugs produce human connection, vulnerability, smiles, laughter, positive emotion, and even sometimes tears, especially if it’s the first […]
A matter of perspective
I’ve always thought of myself as having a positive attitude. Not all the time, of course. I think we all have our good and bad days, the latter making positive thinking quite a bit harder, those days when if someone says ‘Think positive’, well, I’ll leave it to your imagination. But in many instances, whether […]
An experiment in interconnectedness
You know that I write mostly on subjects like the mind-body connection, self-love, my dog Oscar who passed away last year, as well as kindness and compassion and the science of how they affect our health. But also, from time-to-time, I write on more ‘out there’ topics, like synchronicities, the nature of consciousness, and interconnectedness, […]
Helper’s High
The term ‘Helper’s High’ was first coined by Allan Luks, in his book, ‘The Healing Power of Doing Good’. You’re probably familiar with the high. It’s that good feeling we get when we do something kind for someone or an animal. There are loads of ways we can help each other. Giving time to someone […]
6 fascinating facts about the love hormone… and what that means for you
I’ve written quite a lot about oxytocin, which also goes by the name of ‘love hormone’, ‘cuddle chemical’, ‘molecule of kindness’, or any other affectionate term that implies something about bonding and connecting. If you ever wondered about those names, it’s because we produce oxytocin when we’re feeling love or connection (with a human, animal, […]
The magic of vulnerability
I have found myself crying on stage a few times recently. One of these times was a couple of weeks ago in front of an audience of around 400 people at Hay House’s ‘I Can Do It! Ignite!’ conference in London. I was speaking about my latest book, ‘I Heart Me: The Science of Self-Love’ […]
“I’m Fine” – How you can sense when someone is lying
Have you ever spent time with someone who said they were fine, when they tell you that everyone was OK in their life, but after you left you had a nagging feeling that everything really was not fine? I’ve felt that on several occasions, usually with a friend or family member, and I’m sure they […]
Don’t judge a book by its cover
OK, this isn’t a blog about books or their covers, but have you ever made a judgment about someone’s behaviour then later realised you were completely wrong? While I was waiting in line at a coffee shop earlier, a woman drove alongside the queue in a mobility scooter. There was only a narrow space between […]
He’s not ‘the dog’, he’s family
Oscar is a Labrador. He came into our lives when he was just an 8-week-old puppy, although Elizabeth and I had visited him regularly since he was 2 weeks old. We instantly fell in love with him and made the 400-mile round-trip drive to visit him almost every week until we were able to bring […]