When I asked Matt if he would record a podcast with me, it was after receiving a text from him, when he was in the mountains, clearly loving the total experience, the mountain lake, the sun, the mountains rising around him. He sounded very joyful, therefore I anticipated our podcast about his sabbatical from teaching, much of it spent cycling up 15 of the Tour de France cols and following the tour itself in his camper van to be about just that.

But as he spoke, it became apparent that the time away from teaching, the time meeting other adventurers ‘There are only nice people at the top of a mountain’ has effected a shift within which has meant he cannot be in the education system in the same way as he was before. He is unable to ‘join in’ with the group karma around result driven teaching. He spoke about how he is is passionate about education being about developing the individual and allowing them the freedom to know who they are and live fully rather than emerge with a list of results that may or may not reflect them in the truest sense.

Jacky Chapman

http://www.brightestblessings.co.uk

I love going into Jacky’s shop which has appeal for most spiritual communities – spiritualists, pagans, wiccans, buddists and she sells a large range of spiritual and ritual items. Jacky has been involved with all things spiritual for almost thirty years and I love going in to browse  and buy (I am one of her best customers she says!) and to chat to Jacky. She is creating a Spirit Roadshow that is opening on October 2nd here in Eastbourne,  and she then intends to take it out on the road to educate people into other possibilities and ideas about ‘all things spiritual’.

http://juliaarmstrong.com

http://www.onemilerunner.com/

When we spoke David had just returned from running round the world in less than 30 minutes! It was inspiring to talk with him, he is a coach, a speaker, an author and an athlete. His latest adventure running 6 one mile races in six different continents in a combined time of 29.25 – achieving his goal of running them in a total time 30 minutes or less. One of them was a straight mile into a headwind! By following his own passion and finding out about himself through having to dig into the unknown to keep running fast, without injury and with joy – he inspires and teaches older athletes how to recover more quickly, how to run fast and free and how to develop functional strength. Like Lee Saxby, who I have also recorded a podcast with, he mirrored the message that it is about technique and looking after the body at a physiological level and that at an emotional and spiritual level it is about seeking and expressing our own truth and finding out about our own amazingness. He writes about this in his book ‘Creating Amazement’. Recognising that we are all unique, with a unique spark of light that needs igniting to its full power – and that if we don’t fully express then the world misses out!

I met Andy at an SOS networking event and he recorded a little podcast with me. He is doctorpod, the king of podcasting and he inspired me that day into starting to do my own podcasts.

A few months later, met for a coffee and a chat about ideas on being healthy and fit, as he wanted to be fitter. A year later we met again, in the same cafe in Brighton and Andy is now fit! The secret – he started to run and he also found a running buddy to encourage him.

He looks great, running clearly suits him and has benefitted his life in more ways than the obvious physiological and health benefuts. Running has helped Andy to think differently and to live with more ease, it has helped him to connect to his true self as part of a spiritual awakening - and he looks great too!

I asked him if I could record a podcast with him and so it seemed fitting that we met again in the same cafe….

I had arrived back from my trip to Africa the morning that Leonie was scheduled in my diary for our podcast later the same day. I had ordered her book ‘Love Unlimited’ the hope it would arrive before my trip and the intention therefore to read it while away, neither of which had happened!

I dipped into sections of the book, before our conversation and was instantly interested and absorbed. She writes with wisdom and compassion and without judgement. The book is exploring how to be in polyamorous relationship, but the core message seemed to me to be one of teaching clarity and openness in dialogue with those we are in relationship with. The book leads us to believe that it might be safe enough to explore our yearnings and desires with our partners and lovers, in a way that allows fro growth creativity rather than hurt and destruction.

When we spoke, I found her to be in person as she had seemed to me from her writing. I really enjoyed my conversation with her, she was open and warm and easy to connect with and willing to share her own experiences in her own love life as well as give guidance as to how to be ourselves in relationship. The essence of her work is how to grow as individuals in our closest relationships, through truthful dialogue and in the honouring of ourselves and one another.

http://www.veranderjewereld.nl (I think she has another website that she mentions in podcast?!)

I went up to London to meet four of the Gumpathon team http://www.thegumpathon.com to record this podcast with them. The team are running across America from New York to LA – it’s called the Gumpathon because the idea was inspired by Damian who when he watched the film ‘Forrest Gump’ thought that running across America  was something he would like to do someday . Ten years later and he is doing just that.

He found a reason to put his plan into action when his friend Mark, who was also there for our interview, was left with serious permanent disability following his tour in Afghanistan. Mark is now a triple amputee and speaking with him was an inspiration. From the beginning when it seemed there was nothing he could do – that he had lost so much – he has worked and worked to relearn how to do things that before he took for granted.

Now he is part of the team running across America and is intending to cover a mile a day himself – he said that when he first went from being in a wheelchair to using his prosthetics, he could only manage a few steps before being exhausted and having to rest. He has even had to learn to write with his left hand, being originally right-handed. He has written a book called ‘Man Down’ and I asked him to sign my copy and wondered when I watched him writing whether he was originally left-handed, but then he said ‘I’m afraid the writing isn’t great as I was originally right-handed’ – the writing is very neat!  The team are raising money as they run for http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk Help for Heroes, the Royal Marines charitable trust fund and the US injured Marine http://www.semperfifund.org/ Semper Fi Fund.

I loved being with the guys – especially as they said I looked like Britney Spears – but I bet they say that to all the girls! I was struck by their spirit of enthusiasm and determination and by the relationships between them all – a strong bond born out of sharing in adversity, seeing their friends go down and staying to support and help and work together for everyone to live fully whatever their circumstances. Mark spoke of his new job working with injured soldiers, some who are only 18 or 19 years old with their lives irrevocably altered. He said that before his own injuries he had not even met a disabled person and now he is part of helping them to walk again and even to run again.

I had an amazing experience with Lee, he helped my body remember how to get into alignment in a way that allows for natural and free running. I started my running career as a barefoot runner and with Lee’s guidance it felt like an unravelling of some of the adaptions I have made to shoes and I released and ran free. Lee’s philosophy is that running barefoot reconnects us to our truth and to all that is real, to our needs, emotional mental and spiritual at a profoundly real level. However he is keenly aware of the responsibility of encouraging people to run barefoot as it is about technique as much as about simply shedding shoes – there is a need for patience to ensure you allow your body to remember ‘how to’ again.

I would highly recommend a session with Lee (http://www.thebarefootclinic.com) – it was fun, but also I felt safe and supported and his eye is so accurate and insightful – our ’stuff’ – our wounds and imbalances all show in how we move, so it follows that if we realign and reconnect to our natural self then we are in a position to start to release the stuff rather than keep it blocked in – or worse hurt ourselves even more!

Highly influenced by Eddie Izzard's fantastic feat of 43 marathons in 52 days, and one man's innate desire to "do something a bit different", the question "would it be possible to run a relay around the Coast of Great Britain?" was posed. The departure of a baton named Barry from Blackpool Tower on the 9th May gave us part of the answer.

Find out more about the relay at www.coastersgb.co.uk

Lyz has been working in the complementary health arena since 1981 and has studied many aspects of this field. In 2004 she graduated from University with a Certificate in Education (Cert.Ed) and is now taking a Masters Degree in Education – researching the effectiveness of sound on learning ability, social skills and the immune system.

In 1995 she began researching sound therapy and developed an effective technique for improving health and well-being. Her work has produced excellent results and received very positive support from the media with features in magazines, newspapers, radio and television in the UK and overseas.

In 2000 Lyz formed the first sound therapy training establishment in the UK to offer a professional qualification in sound therapy. She is a consultant to the Institute for Complementary Medicine and a member of the British General Council of Complementary Practitioners, an organisation formed to represent the complex profession of complementary medicine through elected and appointed representatives.

Lyz gives performances and runs talks, workshops and presentations in the UK and overseas. She has also composed two CD’s – Chakra Balance and Crystal and Stone – and performs with her group, Soundscapes, in wonderful locations such as Stonehenge. In June 2006 Soundscapes released their first CD Emergence which has received excellent reviews.

www.sacredsound.net

I met Andy at an SOS networking event and he recorded a little podcast with me! He is doctorpod – so he is the king of podcasting and he inspired me into starting to do my own!

We then met for a coffee and for a chat about fitness – as he wanted to get fit – a year later we met again in the same cafe in Brighton and Andy is now fit! The secret – he started to run and found a running buddy to encourage him. He looks great and running clearly suits him and has benefitted his life in more ways than the obvious physiological and helath benefuts. Running has helped Andy to think differently and so live with more ease – and he looks great too!

I asked him if I could record a podcast with him and so it seemed fitting that we met again in the same cafe….

www.podcastingadvisor.com