In this episode Nicoleta chats with Ray Baron Woolford, a civil rights activist, broadcaster and author from London.

Ray shares his life story, how he came from nothing and created a life of service to pay back all those strangers that have been kind to him when he needed most. 

Born out of rape and abandoned by his mother, Ray has started his life in children’s homes, where he never felt love and where he was exposed to a lot of sexual abuse and violence. 

He run away from care to discover life by himself and ended up homeless on the streets of London where he was shocked to see that people who had nothing were the people that gave him the most.

Ray discovered his sexuality as a gay man in the 70’ when it was unlawful and, inspired by the epidemic of AIDS and the many people abandoned by their partners and families, he established the first non-for-profit estate agency in the UK that housed LGBT and queer people.

Later, watching men in suits looking for food in the street rubbish bins, also many pensioners forced into poverty by the high cost of living despite the fact that they have worked their entire life, he created the largest independent food bank in Britain.

Although not formally educated and dyslexic, Ray has written a few books and became a broadcaster and a film maker winning many awards with the recent short documentary “Feeding Lewisham” filmed during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Being a gay man struggling for 40 years to come to terms with his sexuality, Ray has fell in love for the first time at 35 and a few years later has been through a major mental breakdown watching his partner dying from AIDS. 

He found healing in the kindness of strangers that looked out for him and gained a sense of balance when he married his current partner in a civil partnership.

Over the past few years Ray has been in touch with one of his half-brothers and after he prayed every day of his life his mother walks through his door, when he was 57 his mother has also initiated contact. 

Ray understands that his mother was raped and might have been the victim, but he feels that he was the one to pay the price, the one that carried the pain with him. Deespite this, Ray and his mother are now on the path of reconnection. 

A beautiful life story and a captivating conversation with a man that has defied all the adversities that came on his path. 

Ray is still campaigning for the eradication of inequality and poverty which he believes is the cause of war, poor health, famine, misery, mass death, poor education and refugee crisis. 

He is determined to change the way activism is done and shift the narrative so people have more respect and understanding and less bigotry and ignorance around those in our communities who are poor and disadvantaged. 

In this episode Nicoleta chats about the research and policy making in mental health with Sarah Hughes the CEO at Centre for Mental Health UK which has been at the heart of some of the biggest policy changes and investments in mental health for the past 2 decades.

Having seen family members struggling with mental health distress, Sarah embarked on a career in mental health - now spanning over 3 decades - in both community and secure units settings and is today bringing her vast experience into making policies and ensuring that mental health remains a priority on the government’s agenda. 

Looking back at when she started her career, Sarah remembers the terrible articles published by the newspapers about “mad people” and can see that the world is changing and the language is more fluid, but feels that there is still a huge amount of stigma and we are slow in understanding the causes of mental health conditions.

Giving the example of people that have committed crimes and go to prison, it looks like the society doesn’t always acknowledge their traumatic past and the fact that someone’s journey is complex, so we need to ask what’s happened to people rather than what is wrong with them.

Sarah shares her own experience struggling with post-natal depression, the stigma and the internalised shame she felt which took her time to get help, despite the fact that she had worked for 2 decades in mental health at the time.

Find that mental health does not cast you aside, but it brings you closer to others because mental illness is more common than we think and maybe greater than the prevalence rates we see in the studies which are expected to increase post-Covid.

In a digital world, driven by the pressures of capitalism and consumerism, we need to acknowledge that the external factors contribute to our mental wellbeing and we all need to take a trauma-informed approach when we talk about our mental health.

The Centre for Mental Health has an ongoing and multi-faceted role, undertaking research, translating evaluations and lobbying to convey the important mental health message to decision makers. It tells the truth to the power, anticipating the need for mental health support over the next year and keeps an eye and ensures the government invests in mental health healthcare as promised in their long term plan.

Involved in the Equally Well campaign and the Social Contract, CMH gives the government the opportunity to think about prevention in mental health, what they need to do now and in the medium and long term to create a mentally healthy society. This includes the economic society (not only equality, but also racial justice and poverty), wellbeing style and budget and asks the government to take action now and not leave mental health problems for the next generation.

Whilst CMH voice has the power to influence the governments’ investment in mental health and offer support, it is ultimately a sign of self-care for each of us to take individual responsibility and prevent mental illness. Use online resources, ask for help, advocate and join mental health campaigns and by contributing to the society you will feel a renewed sense of purpose that will improve your mental wellbeing. 

In this episode Nicoleta chats with Milton Lopes, an award winning actor, musician, writer and director from London about performance and happiness.

Milton shares his fantastic life journey from being born in Cape Verde and raised in the artistic area of Almada in the 80’ when Portugal was struggling with high levels of heroin consumption which led to decriminalisation of drugs in the 90’.

He chose to do sports, music and theatre from early age and became an award winning actor in Lisbon before moving to London to expand his career 14 years ago .

Milton got involved in drama teaching, doing workshops for disable performers in circus with Extraordinary Bodies and the National Centre for Circus Arts (previously Circus Space) and was part of the team that performed in the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games in London 2012 .

Exploring what it means to be a performer, whether on a theatre stage, in a cinema production, teaching drama or doing a circus aerial, Milton talks about the powerful experience of connecting with the audience and the magical exchange of emotions in that vulnerable space.

Find out why fame does not feel well, about the distress and pressure it brings into personal life and why famous people get lonely and depressed. Learn how, as a Buddhist, he finds happiness in the presence and in gratitude.

Milton shares what is like to be a mixed race artist and how he was affected by the discrimination in the entertainment industry and media.  He plays the guitar without fingers and he feels that music allows him to express emotions he cannot find words for.

Looking at how Portugal is living 25 years in the past in terms of social equality and diversity, Milton is full of appreciation for the openness of London and this inspired him to write and direct his own show “The Elephant”, asking a profound societal question: Is identity defined first by race or disability?

An episode full of wisdom that encourages you to want more, to go for more, to permit yourself to express your Self, to allow yourself to feel free, to don’t take NO for an answer, to continue to dream and to go and take what’s yours in life. 

In this episode Nicoleta has a soulful conversation with Lourdes-Anne Requena, life coach and Tai Chi & Qigong instructor from London. 

Lou shares her personal story of clinical depression, anxiety, low confidence and double suicide attempt and how her healing journey unfolded. 

She tried different avenues including counselling, psychotherapy, body movement and energy, and ended up working in mental health and training in Tai Chi, Qigong and life coaching.

The conversation goes around our life struggles and explores why people are scared of self-discovery and change and how labels and diagnosis perpetuate the stigma in mental health.

A rich talk about the body - mind - soul connection and why the lack of spiritual connection leads to addiction and other mental health conditions. 

Depression and anxiety can happen to anyone and having a space to openly express the inner pain and someone to listen is so very important.

You’ll learn that relationship with your Self is everything as you are the creator of your own life. You can get to know yourself and learn to regulate your emotions and internal life and this way open to happiness and the infinite possibilities life has to offer.

Find how vital it is to give yourself permission to learn, to be in love, be more free, to create abundance and go beyond your self-imposed limits. 

This episode also teaches you to be open to experience everything, to listen to the messages your body, mind and spirit sends you, to be mindful, to embrace meditation, to create that space for being and allow the energy to flow through you.

In this episode Nicoleta has a delightful conversation with an inspiring accomplished entrepreneur, the CEO of Future Perfect Charles McLachlan. 

Listen to his journey from growing up in a professional academic family, his years of computer science degree at Cambridge University and his challenge with a psychotic episode that relapsed whilst being a student and how he managed to overcome his mental breakdown.

Charles built a successful software development business, became consultant to various senior executives and is currently growing CEOs helping them create a work environment defined by freedom and joy and move from the brink of a mental breakdown into liberation. 

We talk about the pressures we face from the society and from the corporate world to conform to a world of slavery and fear which make some people work themselves to death, destroy their marriages and disinherit their children, a competitive and endless performance culture starting in the first years of school.

Charles encourage us to take responsibility for our mental health because the “work harder and you will get everything you need is a lie, the future promise is not there for them, the future promise is more slavery or no opportunity and you have to create your own destiny, make your own choices and do your own business”.

In this 1st episode following the Pilot Season Nicoleta is doing her first solo podcast.

She shares what she’s been doing during the 6 months break following the Pilot Season and why she rebranded the podcast from Mental Wellbeing Journey into Open to Happiness. 

Nicoleta talks openly about her experience in the Pilot Season when she felt uncomfortable talking to the microphone and the screen and how she aims to make the Open To Happiness a permanent podcast.

Find out what she plans to talk about with her guests and why her podcasting is encouraging you to open to happiness and create the life of your dreams. 

Are you aware that your lifestyle can make you ill? From diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure to anxiety, depression or cancer, they can all be avoided by making behavioural changes that keep you fit and healthy.

In this 12th episode, the last in this 1st season, I chat with Patrick Samy, CEO at Span Health about the bridge between the old medical system and the pioneering digital medical care that helps us prevent illness and recover our wellbeing in our fast changing and demanding modern world.

A former Microsoft engineer and researcher at Stanford University, Patrick shares how his family history of chronic conditions has inspired him to link his passion for technology with his interest in biology, medicine and psychology and this way cofounded Span Health, a digital startup that delivers behavioural care to people that have lifestyle symptoms.

Whether it is high blood sugar, constant cravings or brain fog, Span is helping people reverse these issues with the help of a nutritionist, doctor, psychologist and psychotherapist to create sustainable changes and resolve underlying issues that prevent them from making progress in life. 

In a time when the old medical system established after the Second World War is struggling to help the increasing population stay well and healthy, we all aseem to find it harder and harder to source the right information and access the right science behind our conditions, whether they are physical ailments or psychological conditions.

This is why it is important to acknowledge that physical and mental health awareness are not just about knowing the signs and symptoms of illness, but also knowing ourselves well, understanding our identities and how we formed a belief system through external programing, as well as staying in touch with our bodies and permitting ourselves to enter a deeper level of consciousness to create a healthy and balanced life.

In this 11th episode Nicoleta chats with Wendy Harris, managing director at WAG Associates, a telemarketing training company from England about the Mental Health First Aid.
Since emotions and feelings always factor in business and work as well as in our all interactions in life, the question is: are we able to develop that awareness around our mental health and the wellbeing of others? 
Can you read other people's body language? Are you able to pick up on what is said between the words? Do you become mindful of what is happening within you when people express themselves?
The Mental Health First Aid training helps you look at yourself from a different perspective, to understand yourself and others better. It helps you see when people are struggling around you and it teaches you to offer them that initial support before they seek the professional help they need or until the crisis resolves by itself.
An empowering chat that sees the mental health first aid training necessary and highly beneficial during this coronavirus pandemic that has changed our lives in ways that we have not anticipated and have not been prepared for.
Also a reminder for the employers and other social actors of the 1 trilion dollars spent on mental health illness at global level each year, and an invitation to consider if the Mental Health First Aid training could reduce sickness in the work place.

Health is not the absence of illness, but rather a state of balance between the body, mind and our consciousness.
In this 10th episode Nicoleta chats with Xenia Bolomiti, ayurvedic therapist and wellbeing coach from London, about the benefits of ayurveda called the "science of life" in the Eastern world.
How has this eastern practice that preceded today's conventional medicine managed to preserve its wisdom and knowledge from ancient times and survived as a holistic therapy and medicine practice for 5,000 years?
Considered by many schoolers the older healing science, ayurveda aims to restore our natural balance applying methods and natural treatments specific to our body constitution ("dosha").
Listen to this episode and find out why medicine is of no use when the diet is wrong and how to follow the good diet and lifestyle for your particular body constitution with this alternative medicine and therapy.

The absence of someone or something that has been part of our lives for decades can be very upsetting and those feelings of emptiness can be perceived as a loss of purpose and meaning in life by some of us.  

In this 9th episode Nicoleta explores with her guest Willis Atherley-Bourne, therapist and supervisor from London, the loss of someone through death, breakup or divorce as well as the loss of a job, social status, home or an object, and how that loss taps into other wounds accumulated over the years.  

Can we still cherish the happy memories and celebrate the legacy left behind by those we lost? How do we manage the existential questions that arise? Is our attachment style playing into the grieving process? Can we manage those intense feelings of sadness, sorrow, anger, anguish and worry and can we deal with the prolonged mourning and complicated grief? 

Nicoleta and Willis answer all of these questions and many more and share how to find support and someone to lean on throughout this life-time journey of grieving, calling walking through grief like “learning to walk all over again”.