Beyond the basement

If you’ve ever thought, “I’d love to try improv, but never have the time,” this episode is for you. Improv isn’t just a fun extra—it enriches and enhances the things that matter most in your life, from your career to your relationships.

In this episode, I break down three surprising benefits of improv—joy, growth, and connection—and why they make improv more than worth your time. If you’re a busy person who wants to feel more alive, adaptable, and connected in daily life, this is your invitation to rethink how improv fits into your world.

Listen in and discover why improv isn’t just a hobby—it’s a transformative way of life.

What if you could listen so deeply that you hear why someone is saying what they’re saying—not just the words, but the essence of who they are?

In this episode, I explore the three levels of listening from Authentic Relating, with a special focus on Level 3: deep, intuitive listening. This is the kind of listening that goes beyond understanding words and instead seeks to uncover the deeper truths beneath them. It’s about offering honest reflections, sharing impressions, and sometimes even naming the things that feel obvious to us—but may never have occurred to the other person.

This is powerful. It can be transformative. It can deepen relationships and help people feel profoundly seen.

But it’s also risky.

Because when we reflect back what we sense about someone—their unspoken motivations, their deeper ‘why’—we’re taking a leap. It involves guesswork. It might land beautifully… or not at all. And yet, when done with care, this kind of listening is an act of love and service. It has the power to bring people closer to themselves and to each other.

Join me as I dive into the magic, the vulnerability, and the life-changing potential of deep listening.

Recorded in the cold grip of winter, this episode is all about deepening your relationship with that thing below your neck. Do you take your body for granted? How do you speak to or with yourself? Why would you even bother with any of this. I share some rantings from my recent journey inwards, on this ongoing investigation into self-leadership, care and what some people might even call self LOVE.

Oops! I accidentally discovered the meaning of life, in this glued-together mantra of both new and ancient wisdom. In this episode I explore what it means to follow your bliss at your own pace and welcome everything in life and improv. And how these guiding practices can help move us toward a richer, more vibrant experience of life. I recorded this for both improvisers and non-improvisers; and felt inspired participants at my recent ‘Openhearted play for grown-ups’ workshop.

OK, maybe the title’s a bit dramatic but this one is an exploration of how to navigate and support yourself through scary, painful, uncomfortable challenges in life. Are you there for yourself? Perhaps you’ve heard this called ‘self-care’ or ‘self-love’ - but I think there’s way more to this than wellbeing. It’s being in charge of your own experience, stepping in and rescuing yourself instead of waiting for a saviour or feeling adrift and abandoned. Be your own pet.

I hear this from clients. People are lonely and hungry for connection, yet it’s SO tricky to build new relationships as grown-ups. Why? The odds may be stacked against you… In this episode I try to diagnose the problem and give language to what’s really going on.

This word, ‘range’ comes up a lot, when it comes to meaning in life - for me, my clients and people like me. I struggle to define what I mean by it though. So here I work out loud what I think I mean by seeking a fuller, richer, broader experience of the human experience - why we need highs, lows and everything in between.

This is a love-storm of questions and provocations to help you notice, understand or just identify the extent to which Perfectionism affects your life. In it, I share a few examples of how it shows up and what’s really going on.

Reassurance if you’re self-conscious in this episode. I explore the stories we tell ourselves and project onto others, and their perception of us. Chris goes into town to watch improv “…where there’s music and there’s people and they’re young and alive” and discovers no one really cares or notices.

Here’s what should have happened: you and I take a lovely autumnal walk where I gently yet clearly reveal my new project - Letters to Perfectionism. Love letters, thank you notes, complaints and memos to help people like us explore our relationship with perfection’s many fixations and gifts.

Here’s what actually happened: my dog went rogue - trying to get kidnapped, then stealing a ball.

Then I got stung by nettles.

Oh, and my central heating system broke, the day before I leave home.

It seems the universe was listening.

Join me for a live-streamed experience of perfectionism, and witness its anger, judgement and humour unfold.

You’ll also learn more about the project, why I’ve created it and what to expect.