Show Me The Way

Lucy Johnson is the CEO and founder of Green Salon, a company that helps people stick to their good intentions for good. She combines psychology and sustainability to make our lives and the planet better.

And the good news is that by doing it, we feel good about ourselves! New research from the household cleaning brand Ecover reveals that 66% of those surveyed find that taking measures to reduce their impact on the environment puts them in a good mood but 52% feel guilty about the amount of single-use plastic they're using.

Lucy explains that if we believe sustainability is about sacrifice, we're much less likely to embrace any kind of alteration in our lifestyles but celebration and compassion both tap into the reward centres of our brain. So it's important that we celebrate small changes and forgive the lapses.

Here are the Top 10 environmentally-conscious activities that put us Brits in a good mood: 1. Taking a reusable bag shopping 53% 2. Turning lights off when not in use 52% 3. Reusing food leftovers 45% 4. Washing out plastic containers and recycling them 45% 5. Turning things off at the socket when not in use 40% 6. Using a reusable water bottle 39% 7. Turning down the heating/using the heating less often 38% 8. Washing out packaging/ plastic bottles to reuse them 37% 9. Cycling or walking instead of driving somewhere 37% 10. Washing clothes at 30 degrees 34%

*Research conducted by One Poll with 2,000 UK adults, 25-28 January 2022

You can find out more about Lucy's work here: Green Salon websiteGreen Salon Directory Green Salon on Instagram

And more about Ecover's Refillery here

Content Warning: intrusive thoughts of harm

Being a new parent can be very, very tough. Amidst the delicious snuggles and downy smells can be upset, anxiety and sometimes even rage. This can be compounded by lack of sleep and it's quite common for women to experience intrusive thoughts of harming their baby. Often these thoughts are accompanied by intense emotions of shame, horror and fear.

Clinical psychologist Dr Caroline Boyd specialises in intrusive thoughts and anger particularly around parenting.

Her new book 'Mindful New Mum' helps women find more head and heart space to transform those early years of parenting with compassion and kindness.

In this episode she explains how common these thoughts are and explains that research backs up the fact that when women feel ashamed and horrified it's a strong sign that they're not going to hurt the baby.

Caroline's new book 'Mindful New Mum' goes deep into this stuff and helps the reader manage the muddle of motherhood through mindfulness and meditation. For Emmeline's bookshelf Caroline recommends The Tigon and the Liger by Keilly Swift - a story about appreciating your differences and learning to love the skin you're in.

Warning: in this episode we talk about depression, anxiety, and unwanted, intrusive thoughts including harming babies.

If you are in the UK and struggling with unwanted intrusive thoughts or are experiencing any other mental health challenges, please do speak to a trusted health professional or your GP who can refer you to further support.

The PND charity PANDAS is a great resource with a free helpline as well as free email and text support.

Or you can contact Samaritans whose 24hr free helpline as well as email and in person support options.

Or text the word 'SHOUT' to 85258 to start a conversation with a trained Shout Volunteer, who will text you back and forth, sharing only what you feel comfortable with.

Do people in your family say you look just like your great grandmother? Do you love to cook just like your great aunt? Do have a hot temper just like your father? In this episode of Show Me The Way we explore whether the past could be more than just a story book, whether it could be a manual for how things might play out in the future. And whether by recognising it, and honouring those who went before we can transform ourselves, our futures and that of our families.

This week Naomi speaks to Natalia O'Sullivan, a holistic therapist and spiritual counsellor.

Her new book Ancestral Healing Made Easy: How To Resolve Ancestral Patterns and Honour Your Family History explores how inherited wounds and traumas passed down by our ancestors can be healed to transform the present and stop repetition in the future.

Links: Natalia's book Natalia's website Discover more about your history Natalia's recommendation for Emmeline's bookshelf

For Emmeline's bookshelf Natalia recommends Women Who Run With Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Natalia says the book which is filled with fairy stories teaches women to connect with their wild selves.

As a child Caroline Hyde dreamed of being a diplomat but it was her Mum's obsession with the news and seeing strong female news anchors presenting it that inspired her to a take a different path - to becoming a TV presenter. "Joy of opportunity", as she says has taken her from London to Berlin to San Francisco to New York where she now lives with her two children and her husband Ben who works in tech. Together they have set up Inspire , a charity born out of the Covid-19 crisis to encourage kindness and to raise money for the most vulnerable families. Their first product is a beautiful Advent Calendar, rather than a chocolate, each day inspires an act of kindness.

Links: Caroline at Bloomberg Caroline's charity - Inspire Caroline's recommendation for Emmeline's bookshelf

Spending time at home as part of a hybrid working week is now a norm, not an exception. Yet apart from some beautifully curated framed art on your walls (we all envy a good Zoom backdrop) how much thought have you given to the space you're now working in and how tweaking it could maximise your potential?

That's where Zoë Vita James comes in. She's a classical feng shui practitioner who uses the centuries old practice to help women understand their true selves, desires and help make their dreams come true.

Classical Feng Shui is the very much tailored to the person, however there are still some tips that you can pick up and use straight off the bat and she shares some of those with us here.

Zoe spent 17 years in the professional services industry (PwC) advising internationally renowned investment banks (and as a Chartered Accountant). Now she brings that same clarity, calm confidence and gentle empathy to Astrology & Feng Shui work.

Ebinehita Iyere left school and went into care at 15 by that time she had lost five of her friends to violence. She was put in an 18+ hostel and says she was forgotten about.

Having been taken in by the system, she felt invisible to the system.

She turned into a nurturer looking after older males and females who were in the care system. Ebinehita thinks she was forced to become an adult too early but says she learnt from the people there how to protect herself.

And without that experience she believes she wouldn't be doing what she's doing now.

Ebinehita is a therapeutic, diversion practitioner working with boys and young women who come into contact with police custody as well as safeguarding issues.

She is also the founder of Milk Honey Bees, a black-girl led expressive safe space for young women to flourish and put H.E.R (Healing, Empowerment and Resilience) first. It gives them a safe space to express themselves and heal from their experiences of youth violence. Ebinehita was nominated for the 2021 Veuve Clicquot Bold Future Award. For Emmeline's bookshelf she recommends Look Up by Nathan Bryson and Dapo Adeola about little girls dreaming big.

The book is written and illustrated by two men which she thinks perfectly demonstrates the fact that it's not just about women understanding each other but about men and boys understanding the role they play in making women more visible.

Julia Yule is the co-founder of Bloom and Blossom which provides natural skincare products for the whole family.

She started the company 10 years ago with her sister-in-law Christina Moss. In that time alongside growing a business they have had 5 children between them. not to mention caring for a dog, cat and a tortoise.

She left her job at Glamour Magazine to start the business and has grown it from just two people with an idea to a large team with stockists including SpaceNK, Waitrose and Sainsbury's.

For Emmeline's bookshelf Julia recommends Roald Dahl's Matilda and Kindness Rules by Hello Lucky which she says is a particular favourite of her youngest daughter. She says it's about what truly matters and shows how we can teach our children about being kind.

Being a female bodyguard isn't one that was top of the list of potential jobs when I was speaking to my careers advisor at school but Kate Bright thinks it should be.

She is one of only a handful of female bodyguards in the UK.

In today's episode she explains how important safety is for the smooth-running of our lives and gives simple tips on how we can protect ourselves and our families.

The chance of you being born is 1 in 400 trillion and so I believe that everyone is on this planet for a reason and everyone has something remarkable about themselves

Holly Tucker MBE, Founder of Holly & Co

Holly Tucker is a woman on a mission to change business forever. The co-founder of Not On The High Street and creator of Holly & Co did an Instagram live every day during the first lockdown to help small businesses navigate the choppy waters of those times.

She believes there's a real opportunity to thrive despite the year we have had.

As the UK Ambassador for Creative Small Business, her aim is to empower everyone to turn their passion into profit.

Her new book "Do What You Love What You Do" is a love letter to the transformational joy that can come from running your own business because you get to directly tap into your creativity. Holly believes identifying your purpose will help you build a business that you love.

Holly Tucker MBE, Founder of Holly & Co

In this episode of Show Me The Way Holly tells her story of how she came to start Not On The High Street, the challenges she has faced and how she used creativity to overcome them and gives one of her 'Holly Hacks' to help you to identify your purpose.

Holly's new book Do What You Love, Love What You Do is out now.

In this episode of Show Me The Way Holly explains one of her 'Holly Hacks' which helps you to identify your purpose which in turn will form a foundation on which you can build your business.

For Emmeline's bookshelf Holly recommended Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman.

Holly's podcast is packed with inspirational guests who run their own businesses.

You can find out more about Holly on her website Holly & Co.

Every Monday we are treated to a new episode of Holly's Conversations of Inspiration podcast.

And on her instagram @hollytucker she does a regular Mastering your Money on Mondays and Holly's Business Pharmacy LIVE every Wednesday at noon.

Holly's book Do What You Love Love What You Do is out now.

Gillie Barlow had anything but a conventional start to life. She went from working in a fish farm to buying her first property in a French ski resort with no money at the age of 21. She then built a property portfolio and is now a successful mentor and coach teaching the property strategies she has learnt through her career.

In the latest episode of Show Me The Way she explains her assertion that our success must come from a belief in ourselves - if we do not like ourselves, how much harder is it to like other people and ultimately do business them. Gillie's book 'Understand Your Truth to Find Success' aims to help anyone who wants to excel and succeed. It is for those who feel something is holding them back from being the best version of themselves.

Gillie Barlow, property entrepreneur, coach and philanthropist