'Globally, mental health is a 1 Billion person problem'. In this episode we had the privilege of visiting Dr Willem at the Oxford Mindfulness centre. When we say Mindfulness is backed by the latest science, it is this centre that is playing a huge role.  We have been interested in the effective use of Mindfulness in people with depression and other debilitating illnesses which adversely affects their mental health and happiness. This was a great opportunity to get some insight into the process from an expert!

Podcast with Professor Lord Richard Layard about why happiness matters and how the Action for Happiness movement is working to change our culture for the better.

We speak with Claire Kelly who oversees the content and training for teachers and students at the Mindfulness in Schools Project.   The work is groundbreaking and their research so concrete,  that they have been successful in getting more and more schools to embrace and roll out mindfulness.  This is a great example of being the change you want to see.

With the upcoming Lion Fight 27 taking place on Jan 29th, Philip Tieu and I talk with Lion Fight VP of events, Christine Toledo.  We talk about the main event between UK's Charlie Peters, who won the MTGP 4 man tournament and the reigning champion, Fabio Pinca. We talk about Christine's fight career, her TV appearances on Ring girls and Fight girls.  We also talk about the current state of Muay Thai and what we can expect from Lion fight in 2016.

Listen to the lessons shared by author and traveller Leon Logothetis, who left his life as a broker to explore the world on the kindness of others.  His journeys have been filmed in over 90 countries and the success has spread virally on YouTube and to a huge global community.

We kick off the MTGP Podcast series with a great guest line up.  Joining Anh and I in the Renaissance Podcast studios are two of the Muay Thai Grand Prix founders, Philip Tieu and Kieran Keddle.  We are honoured to have Lion Fight CEO, Scott Kent join our conversation and he gives us a fantastic insight into the evolution of Muay Thai and of the meteoric rise of Lion Fight Promotions in the past 5 years.  Fresh of the press, we announce some big fights scheduled for next year featuring a certain John Wayne Parr and exciting collaborations for 2016.   Click on the media player to find out about the upcoming fights (Lion Fight 26 on the 20th Nov and MTGP 2 in London on the 22nd Nov).2:32 How has the Muay Thai fight scene changed in the last 5 years?5:38 How did the three of you get introduced?8:07 Why is the 4 man tournament so popular?11:03 Lion Fight 26 - fight talk19:27 - Special announcement - title fight in 201625:00 Fighters are great role models34:00 Scott talks about his time as an Arsenal fan living in London. Lionfight.com     @Lionfightofficialmuaythaigp.com   @muaythaigp

We speak with author Jo Marshall about the role mindfulness can play in helping us to understand where Anxiety comes from and what we can do to change our relationship with it.  We also look at the evolutionary roots of Anxiety and discuss some simple exercises people can do to help with this very normal issue.  We first met at an Action for Happiness event and Jo is a big supporter of this charity.  

Dr Danny Penman is the leading author for mindfulness in the UK with his best selling books being translated into over 27 languages and being used by many GP's to help their patients with anxiety and depression.  He joins Gui with Team Renaissance to talk about his current book which speaks about using mindfulness to unleash our creative qualities.

Conversation with Christophe Grigri, coordinator to the most influential eastern charity, Karuna-Shechen.  Find out the significant global role they play and about the work they did following this years terrible earthquakes in Nepal