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Blog — mental health

What To Do About “The Social Dilemma"? A Netflix Film Review

Shannon Harvey

As a journalist who makes documentaries intended to spark conversations about our health and wellbeing, I’m very aware of the power of the majority. I believe that good old water cooler conversations and word of mouth are the crucial first step to creating positive, meaningful change. So when the third person in a week asked me if I’d seen the new Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, I knew I had to see what all the fuss was about.The film features interviews with social media entrepreneurs as they lament their role in developing an industry model that they believe has polarised... Read full article »


Is it Really Possible to “Boost” Wellbeing?

Shannon Harvey

There’s a strange paradox that took place in the years following the birth of my two sons. Although I discovered a new and delightful maternal love, along with a profound sense of clear-minded meaning and purpose, my mental wellbeing took a dive. All the caring, cleaning, cooking, washing, planning, and putting-on-a-brave-facing combined with chronic sleep deprivation and finding only rare moments of “me” time, took its toll.I wasn’t experiencing a full-blown depressive episode, but twelve months after my youngest son was born, I rated myself just below average on the Mental Health Continuum, which is a scale developed by Professor... Read full article »


To the World’s Loudest Critic of Mindfulness – A Health Journalist's Response

Shannon Harvey

I confess that I was terrified when I picked up Ronald Purser’s new book McMindfulness.It had been a long time coming after the management professor from San Francisco State University embraced the Mindful Crank persona in 2014 and wrote a series of provocative articles such as The Myth of the Present Moment, and Beyond Mc Mindfulness. During a period in which TIME Magazine was hailing the Mindful Revolution, when Google had started imploring business leaders to Search Inside Yourself and New Republic was declaring 2014 The Year of Mindfulness, Purser raised some thought-provoking ideas. In essence, his argument is that... Read full article »


There’s a Good Reason Meditation Is The Fastest Growing Health Trend

Shannon Harvey

I sat on the stage looking out at an audience of psychologists, mental-heath workers, educators, academics, and everyday folk looking for reliable ways to live better in this crazy, busy, mixed-up world. The event, which was called “Mind The Hype: Is Meditation All It’s Cracked Up To Be?” was hosted by the University of Melbourne as part of Melbourne Knowledge Week and was billed as a panel discussion about whether mindfulness has rightfully earned its place on the top of the global health trend charts.  Although the subject matter was the focus of substantial debate, the enthusiasm for the event... Read full article »


The Power of Purpose and Passion In Dark Times

Shannon Harvey

This time last week I found myself weeping in hotel room in the Middle East.I had just spent my day filming in a dusty refugee camp on the border of Syria and Jordan where I had interviewed a single mother of six children who’s answer to my question, “If you could wish for anything in the world right now, what would it be?” was “Anything? If I could have anything, it would be a tarpaulin for the roof because it leaks in the rain and winter is coming.”I was in Jordan; a country on the front line of a global... Read full article »

My Year of Living Mindfully (Book)

In the midst of a global mental health crisis, millions of people have turned to mindfulness. But does it actually make us happier and healthier? In a world-first experiment, journalist Shannon Harvey recruited a team of scientists to put mindful meditation to the test. But what began as a year-long self-experiment soon became a life-changing experience..

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My Year Of Living Mindfully (Documentary)

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The Connection: Mind Your Body (Documentary)

The Connection is a feature documentary that uncovers the latest science in mind body medicine and proves we have much more to say about our health than we thought possible.

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The Whole Health Life (Book)

This is a guidebook for anyone who wants to get healthy, find balance, and live better.

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