Life will shoot us with the first arrow - these are real injuries, setbacks, losses and pain.

But the greater cause of our suffering comes form ‘the second arrow’ - the fear, anxieties, ruminations, and other internal mechanisations that we dwell upon.

In this episode I discuss the concept of the second arrow, as well as how we can use it to eliminate significant amounts of excess (and useless) suffering.

In this session I share a guided meditation that I shared on the Insight Timer app.

What if you were to give thanks in advance for the wonderful things that were going to happen? - And what if you used that question to reframe your gratitude practice into the future? In this session we contemplate this concept and suggest how it could be adapted to reduce anxiety and increase positivity and presence, both now and into the future.

In this episode I discuss the impact of over-analysing emotions of others and how excessively reading into tone/facial expressions/word choice can lead to the exact opposite outcomes from what was intended.

I also discuss my positive experiences with the initial stages of EMDR…

Some of my responses to the current state of political turmoil engulfing the United States, as well as the potential flow on impacts for the rest of the world….

I have taken to doing 3-minutes of slow calm breathing during transitions as a way to reduce resting anxiety.

In This episode I share how this simple intervention has had a profound impact on my mental state as well as my ability to fall asleep at night. Try it, take a just one slow calm breath and see how you feel!

I also introduce my kids meditation series 'Silent Superheroes'

As a small thank you to my Patreon supporters, I answer their questions as a Podcast, Blog, or Video.

Today I am answering 4 questions here:
- How do you manage relationships when one person has a mental illness?
- I struggle to talk when I am depressed. How can I express myself better?
- What can I do if my illness cannot be treated?
- How can I find work with acquired brain injury, and how do I deal with societies focus on perfectionism?

Balancing mental illness with your identity can be quite hard - how much of yourself should you share?

The impact of stigma, judgement and the chance for a fall back into a mental health crisis all impact how you respond when someone asks if you are okay …

In this episode, I talk about my experiences with mental illness, recovery, psychologists, medication and overcoming the embarrassment of seeking help. 
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If you are struggling with anxiety, depression, self harm or suicidal thoughts, please seek help - there are support services and treatments options that work, as well as people that care. You just need to take that first step …

Mental illness can dramatically impact your ability to function. On a bad day, it is important to realise that a win may be as simple as having a shower and feeding yourself.

Writing therapy is one of the core components of my ongoing mental health plan. When I feel a build of of mental pressure - I write!

The page listens and does not judge, and therefore you can tell it anything without fear. Writing enables me to collect, organise and express my thoughts. By writing them down, I am able to detach from them and let them go.

Zachary reads a chapter of his first book: Under the Influence - Reclaiming my Childhood.

Chapter title: "Who Let The Bum In"

When I am depressed, the 'pointlessness of life' becomes overwhelming.

This episode addresses why life can feel pointless, as well as some of the ways that I overcome those feelings.

Zachary talks about his day off from life, spent in solitude meditating. No social media, communication, reading, writing or eating; just observing the mind.

"I noticed that my mind would throw up strong urges and emotions. I started to act on them before I realized that I was doing so. This led me to wonder (in normal waking life) how much do my emotions, thoughts and feelings control me? I always presumed that I lead them, but I think I am drastically wrong about that."

"I am planning on taking a day off everything to just meditate. I want to see what my mind throws up at me, and what I am often striving to avoid. I will spend a day with out technology, talking, writing, reading or eating - with the sole focus of meditating and facing the demons of my mind" 

"For me, a lot of the symptoms of anxiety are physiological: shortness of breath, headache, coldness, and clumsyness. I get trapped in rumination, often overthinking everything. This has an impact on my ability to cope in social situations as there is a lot of stimulus to take in and process.

I find myself creating multiple potential futures for each outcome and simultaneously contemplating the worst of each. This causes my mental state to be focused on the worst possible outcomes for futures that never eventuate."

Zachary reveals how he discovered his obsession with avoiding his own thoughts, the addictive pull of social media as well as how creativity can be stifled by too much external input.

"If you are always listening to other peoples words, you are always having an external person influence your thinking process ... by allowing for silence, you get to discover what you truly believe and feel about things."

"There is a risk of falling into the trap of defining ourselves based on our trauma. We might relive it over and over again -in our minds, contemplating what happened, wishing it was different.

Or perhaps we are the complete opposite - running and hiding from it, doing everything we can to not accept the event as part of our past. Perhaps we do both..."