Every time my students would take the VIA survey on Character Strengths and ‘Love’ would show up in their top 5, there was a mix of embarrassment and denial on their faces – almost as though a dirty little secret of their inner lives had just been revealed and they needed to distance themselve...

Part 2 of 2 – see part 1 here: Why Stress Is Actually Good For Us In Part 1, I wrote about the negative impact of stress on our health ONLY if we believe stress to be harmful for us. However, what is also becoming evident is that stress makes us more social, and for a species whose success lies i...

Part 1 of 2 – see part 2 here: Reaching Out and Reaching In Me and stress go back a long way. I was only 9 when my English teacher labelled me “the little worrier”. As I grew older “just relax” and “don’t you know stress is bad for you” became the way others most often related to me...

Isn’t it a joy to watch a baby learn to walk? The infectious look of glee on their faces? The beaming pride with which they look around and seek acknowledgement? The total oblivion to the ‘failure’ of numerous falls and the endearing scramble back to our lap of safety when the going gets reall...

It was a haunting interview - Clive Wearing, the brilliant musician who lost his memory, spoke of what life was like without any recall of life events: “One night 20 years long – with no dreams, that’s what its been like, just like death. No difference in day and night, no thoughts at all. An...