This exercise will benefit desk-bound lower backs and hips – it’s low-impact, but you’ll feel the burn if you do it properlyA great glute-strengthening exercise that particularly benefits desk-bound lower backs; it will also improve hip mobility, which…
I have a good life. But how can I experience joy when there is so much suffering outside?
So much of our polity drenches us in pain, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, but even within torrential misery there are sparks of brightnessI had thought I had come to terms with suffering in the world. I have a good life, good husband, en…
The power of no: how to build strong, healthy boundaries
When we find it difficult to say ‘no’ at work or at home, our responsibilities can quickly become overwhelming. For good mental health, focusing on our own needs and capabilities is crucialNo. A tiny, yet mighty word. To hear it can make us feel childl…
The chronic stress survival guide: how to live with the anxiety and grief you can’t escape
Stress can feel like a baseline condition for many of us – especially during a pandemic. But there are ways to help alleviate the very worst of it, whether through support, sleep or radical self-careAt a time when all life’s challenges have been amplif…
I was a therapist to killers in Broadmoor – and felt ‘radical empathy’ for them
A forensic psychiatrist recalls her attempts to connect with some of society’s most damaged and dangerous peopleDuring my first week as a newly qualified forensic psychiatrist at Broadmoor, I had to visit one of the wards. At the foot of a staircase, I…
‘Sleep is venture capital’: employers wake up to benefits of a nap
After lockdown some businesses understand better how flexible working hours enhance productivityA three-hour break in the middle of the working day for a languorous lunch, followed by a restorative nap sounds like the Mediterranean dream, but employers…
I may never be cool again. And I’m cool with that | Hannah Jane Parkinson
One of the best things about growing older is leaving behind that teenage fear of liking things that are uncoolLast week I spent some time recording an audiobook version of these columns (cough, out in October, cough). One thing I noticed was the numbe…
Teenagers have taken up smoking in droves – and forgotten the lessons of the past | Zoe Williams
Young people don’t remember the 1980s at all, and the hard-won knowledge we gained from our nicotine habits. Primarily, that it really doesn’t help beat stressWe are as far away from 1980 now as we were then from 1939. I know that because I read it on …
The Mediterranean diet: why it could lead to a more satisfying sex life
Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables and cutting back on red meat can counter erectile dysfunction – and reduce fartingName: The Mediterranean diet.Age: Coming up for 60 years old. Continue reading…
Work your muscles and rethink your diet: how fitness can help you through the menopause
From the right way to exercise, to what to eat and drink and the case for HRT, experts explain how women can prepare for midlife changes to their bodiesSometimes your body notices things before your mind does: you might think you’re so far away from th…