A Life More Wild

As a young man, TJ Power developed an addiction to his phone that many of us would find familiar. Using his background in neuroscience, he managed to break that addiction, then go on to help thousands of others to live more connected, healthier, happier lives. Here he is with some simple advice on rebalancing your tired brain.

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild.

In episode four, we stop and take a breath, as so many of our guests have done as we walked. From the man who camped on every Wainwright fell but valued a quiet sunrise as much as the extreme challenge, to a writer who takes “mind meals” and a tv presenter who writes to his pet rock.

Sophie Pavelle spends her life travelling the British Isles, highlighting the beauty and brilliance of its wild spaces on a mission to inspire people to protect them. We walked with her in the woods near her home to find out how she feels our relationship with nature could be improved and learn a little about symbiosis through her stories of confused crabs and tricksy barnacles.

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild. 

In episode three, we talk to a few people whose passion for growing and getting their hands dirty has changed their lives, from a guerrilla gardener who looks at how soil changes our brain chemistry, to a model who became a food writer and a chef who’s leading his own vegan revolution.

Xanthe Ross went to Wales to get out of London for a while. She pottered around in her parents’ walled garden, trying her hand at growing some herbs and vegetables. A few years later, she’s released her first cookbook on the back of hosting the most sought after supper clubs in the city.

Join Xanthe now, back in that same walled garden, as she picks up some ingredients, makes a simple bruschetta style snack and looks back on a journey that took her from barely knowing how to cook, to hosting huge food events.

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with guests from A Life More Wild. In this episode, we look at how nature has helped some of our guests through the toughest moments of their lives.

There's an enormous amount of science surrounding the psychological benefits of being in nature, so much so that at times it can feel as if the whole idea has become over complicated. But as we found from so many guests on a life more wild, it really is simple to make yourself feel a little bit better.

Nature isn't the whole of the answer, but it is a start, or at least a place to find one.

Artist and architect Claudia Robalino grew up in Ecuador, with volcanoes, the ocean and the Amazon giving her a powerful connection to nature. It was only when she moved to London however, that she realised how much a part of her it was.

Join Claudia now in Battersea Park, as she talks about finding new ways to create that connection and how the contrast between those two worlds has inspired her art and her work.

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

One thing that comes up time and again on A Life More Wild is access to nature. Something that many of us take for granted was, to a lot of our guests, a complex social and cultural issue that had shaped their lives and work. On this Quick Stroll, we hear from Mya Rose-Craig, Lira Valencia and Ollie Olanipekun of Flock Together, on the challenges they faced from the traditional culture of the outdoors and how they each went about changing it.

Dwayne Fields moved to London from Jamaica when he was just a child. The contrast between the two places was almost too much for him to handle until a chance encounter gave him hope, a sense of belonging and eventually a purpose that would see him becoming the UK’s Chief Scout.

Join Dwayne now in Nene Park, a place that holds fond memories for him, as he looks back on an incredible journey that took him from Hackney to the North Pole, and forwards to a future inspiring the next generation to love the natural world.

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

It’s time to step back outside. A Life More Wild returns for season 5, when we’ll be taking a walk with more fascinating people and chatting about their connection to nature.

Episode one will be out on 20th March and we’ll be bringing you a calm stroll and a chat every month for the rest of the year.