I was floating in the open ocean in the South Pacific Island Kingdom of Tonga. Twenty meters below me a giant humpback whale was singing. The harmony of his song vibrated through my whole body and in that moment I was brilliantly aware of the vastness and depth of the sea and the immense size of the mammal below me. I was completely at peace with an understanding of my own smallness and filled with gratitude to be alive. The experience is one I will never forget.   A photograph of my breathtaking moment swimming with whales taken by Scott... Read full article »

Since I released my film in October 2014, I’ve had the privilege of attending countless screenings and speaking to people afterwards. After each screening people inevitably have questions. How has the medical community responded to the film? How do I learn to meditate? When will it all start working for me?   I am also asked at every screening what diet I follow and why. This has been the one topic that I have been reluctant to speak about. The reason is that diet is such a touchy topic. There’s a reason why the mainstream media refers to it as... Read full article »

A couple of nights ago I found myself witnessing an interesting exchange between a meditation expert and an accountant. The meditation teacher was encouraging us to stop at the beginning of each day to do a simple breathing exercise. But the accountant (my Dad) wanted to know why. “What’s wrong with just launching into the day? Why is taking a few breaths going to be good for me? I breathe all day every day and in my sleep, without needing to think about it.”   The exchange between my skeptical father and the meditation expert made me recall the interview... Read full article »

Last week I found myself caught up in an airplane boarding queue as my fellow passengers hustled and bustled to get settled in seats. The plane was packed full of corporate commuters traveling between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s two busiest cities. There was a sense of chaos in the air.   As harried passengers pushed and shoved their bags into tight overhead lockers, the line lagged and a flight attendant made polite small talk with me. “Hello, busy day?” he asked, expecting me to reply with the common response, “Yes, crazy.” But I wasn’t feeling stressed or rushed. “No, not... Read full article »

In the last few weeks I’ve been doing a social experiment unbeknownst to the people around me. My family, friends, colleagues and even total strangers have all been unwittingly drawn into the exercise. Inspired by the work of Professor Barbara Fredrickson, a leading researcher looking at the health benefits of positive emotions, I’ve been practising the ‘Three Loving Connections’ exercise. It involves consciously trying to boost my brain and body’s experience of the power of love by seeking out three meaningful interactions each day and reflecting on them each night. According to Fredrickson’s findings, it appears these micro moments may... Read full article »

I recently found myself in a health food store handing over my credit card to buy over a hundred dollars worth of supplements and food products promising to boost the health of my gut microbiome. In my basket was kombucha (fermented tea), kimchi (fermented cabbage) and a jar of probiotics promising ‘a range of health benefits supporting overall health and wellbeing'.   I had been reading about the amazing highly complex, highly diverse community of microorganisms that make the human body their habitat. The tiny critters living in our gut have been shown to play a key role helping us... Read full article »