The Diverse Minds Podcast

Welcome to the 153rd episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. This month’s theme is all about the arts and mental health. So, in today’s episode, I talk about how the arts boost our mental health. 

• Why I chose to talk about this topic. [00:44]
• The definition of the term "the arts" [01:28]
• Examples of "the art". [01:50]
• Some of the benefits of engaging in "the arts" for our mental health. [02:20]
• Some research that shows the benefit of engaging in "the arts". [04:35]

• Engaging in arts, social activities and interactions within our communities can really help with things like isolation and loneliness, premature ageing and feeling distance from the community.
• It has been shown that art engagement also alleviates anxiety, depression and stress.
• Research has shown that visual art promotes health, wellness and fosters adaptive responsive distress.
• Visiting museums can protect against Dementia development.
• Cultural activities encourage gentle movement, reduce social isolation and lower inflammation in the body.

Welcome to the 152nd episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast.

Today we're wrapping up the lived experience series, and I'm really delighted to be joined by Busayo Abidakun to talk about Impact Black and black leadership.

Busayo is a certified coach, trainer and founder of Impact Black a social enterprise aimed at mobilising people’s skills and talent to help end racial injustice.

He spent the early years of his professional career working in the non-profit sector supporting organisations in replicating and scaling services to prevent youth offending, helping develop radical approaches to maintaining health and wellness before moving into graduate recruitment helping people identify their talents and building fulfilling careers.

Busayo is deeply passionate about bringing his multidisciplinary experiences to help shape and develop training programmes at Impact Black.

• About Busayo Abidakun and the work he does. [01:54]
• How she became an academic. [02:59]
• What the term "leadership" means to him. [09:06]
• The barriers and challenges that are still there in the workplace for black staff. [13:28]
• His top 3 tips for looking after his mental health. [25:31]

• In the UK, a lot of organisations are becoming more premium or open to having conversations about the challenges that black staff have.
• I think that there's a potential for change there.
• Visions of being able to help other people actually come from the sacrifices of people before me,
• if people are not able to do their jobs effectively, because they're thinking about how they need to be and or show up in general, that places a lot of pressure on them,
• There are several threads that need to be unravelled, to create the kind of equality that is necessary to be able to facilitate the changes that are needed.

• Busayo on Twitter and LinkedIn
• Impact Black on Twitter and Instagram
• Impact Black website

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Complete the form to discuss your training needs: https://forms.gle/hgnYtmTu33Zeem489

Check out my FAQs here: http://diverseminds.co.uk/solutions/coaching/

You can learn more about the coaching I do to support your wellbeing here. 

If you enjoyed this episode, then consider subscribing on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you access your podcasts from.

If you enjoyed it, why not leave a review? 

You can also connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  

Remember to tune in next week, where I’ll bring you more insights on mental health and inclusion.

Welcome to the 151st episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast.

The month of July is all about looking at lived experiences, what they mean and how they shape the world around us. I'm joined by the amazing Maya Goodfellow on this episode of the show.

Maya Goodfellow is an author, academic and broadcaster, specialising in the relationships between race, bordering and capitalism.

She is currently Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow at the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Sheffield.

Her first book Hostile Environment: How Immigrants Became Scapegoats was published with Verso in 2019 and was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize.

Maya received her PhD from SOAS, University of London in 2019. Maya has written for The Guardian and The New York Times, among others.

• About Maya Goodfellow and the work she does. [01:35]
• How she became an academic. [02:59]
• What the term "racial capitalism" means and why it's important to understand. [09:02]
• What workplaces can do to have conversations about racism. [23:08]
• Her top 3 tips for looking after her mental health. [26:01]

• Racial capitalism provides us with the tools to think about how race can be produced through global capitalism.
• I like going open water swimming.
• If you can find anything in your life, that you can afford to do, do it.
• Burnout is real.
• One of the things that like keeps me going is finding people who are on the same page, and who want to fight for the same things.

• Maya on Twitter and, Instagram

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Welcome to the 150th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast.

This month, we're talking about lived experience, and I'm delighted to be joined by Alan Reed.

If you enjoyed this episode, then consider subscribing on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you access your podcasts from.

Download the EPS-130-TranscriptDownload

Allan is an experienced Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) professional, working to improve diversity and inclusion in a variety of spaces for a decade beginning at University. Allan was the D&I Officer for Network Rail Scotland before seeking more experience by joining The Equal Group as an EDI Consultant.

Allan identifies as non-binary and used they/them pronouns. They are passionate about ensuring that the world becomes a fairer and more just place for everyone. As a queer person with late-diagnosed ADHD, Allan has worked in a number of industries where they didn't feel safe to be themselves and couldn't access the support they needed, these experiences drive Allan to help organisations design and implement inclusion frameworks to improve the representation and wellbeing of their workers.

• About Alan Reed and the work he does. [01:58]
• The relationship between mental ill-health and culture. [05:27]
• Some of the biggest challenges for people who identify as queer when it comes to accessing support. [16:10]
• What workplaces can do to have conversations about toxic masculinity and combat the toxic masculinity narratives [21:56]
• His top 3 tips for looking after his mental health. [26:22]

• I don't think the west coast of Scotland is unique. I think maybe parts of how it manifests itself, and how it impacts people are potentially unique.
• I think the biggest challenge is not knowing where to get support.
• When you address the issue of toxic masculinity, you tend to get a lot of pushback.
• Exercise and eating healthy are top of my list.
• My mood has improved dramatically since I started exercising.

• Alan on LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok
• Ava's website
• Contact Alan: [email protected] and [email protected]

Welcome to the 149th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. This month's theme is all about lived experience, how it shapes policy, and our perspectives, and improves the way we do things.

• Why I chose to talk about lived experience. [01:07]
• What the term lived experience is all about. [02:02]
• The meaning of the word co-production. [03:20]
• Some gaps we see in workplace policies. [07:11]
• How we can use lived experience in the workplace. [09:39]

 Quotes

• Lived experience can also be used in academia and research, particularly in relation to health and social care.
• I think lived experience in the workplace should be about engaging a wider audience and range of perspectives to shape workplace practices, changing for the better and taking an intersectional approach.
• The term lived experience provides a unique person-centered approach in terms of knowledge, which can help to present important information that's often missing.
• We don't want people to feel they are trapped in a web of really difficult. Hard to navigate workplace policies.
• Return to work policies sometimes feel quite punitive or not fit for purpose.

• Leave me an anonymous message on my SpeakPipe
• Check out my course: The Mentally Healthy Professional
• Listen to Episode #79: Neurodivergent Support with Janette Beetham
• Check out Episode #119 Universal Design and why it’s so important
• Listen to Episode #97: The art of listening to support someone

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Join my mailing list here: https://bit.ly/DMMCHSU

Welcome to the 148th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. This month's theme is supporting your work-life balance or blend, and in this episode, I share with you an example of a work-life blend checklist.

If you enjoyed this episode, then consider subscribing on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you access your podcasts from.

• Why this topic was chosen. [01:43]
• About the knowledge element of the work-life blend checklist. [02:26]
• The application element of work-life blend checklist. [03:47]
• More information about the adaptation element of the work-life blend checklist. [05:26]
• Why taking care of yourself is very important. [06;03]

• Knowledge is about listening to how you feel and warning signs, and how you use this knowledge to guide actions that you take in relation to your work-life blend.
• We can have the knowledge, we can apply it, but we always have to adapt it.
• Celebrate success and acknowledge any achievements.
• Finding the right work-life balance is a journey because we're constantly reviewing what we're doing.
• As with anything, it's great to listen or absorb information, but what we do with that information is even more important.

• Leave me an anonymous message on my SpeakPipe
• Check out my course: The Mentally Healthy Professional
• 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think
• Listen to Episode #57: Assertiveness and Self-Care

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Join my mailing list here: https://bit.ly/DMMCHSU

Complete the form to discuss your training needs: https://forms.gle/hgnYtmTu33Zeem489

Check out my FAQs here: https://diverseminds.co.uk/solutions/coaching/

You can learn more about the coaching I do to support your wellbeing here. 

If you enjoyed this episode, then consider subscribing on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you access your podcasts from.

If you enjoyed it, why not leave a review? 

You can also connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  

Remember to tune in next week, where I’ll bring you more insights on mental health and inclusion.

Welcome to the 147th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. In this episode, we continue our series on this month's theme of supporting your work-life balance or blend.

Specifically, I talk about how to find the time - a key issue and something that seems to evade most of us.

If you enjoyed this episode, then consider subscribing on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you access your podcasts from.

• What is the definition of work-life balance or blend. [01:41]
• The biggest challenge of balancing or blending our work and life. [02:19]
• What is the ideal work-life blend? [02:53]
• What to do to create your ideal work-life blend. [04:26]
• About the 168 Time management method. [05;06]

• I think it's important to remember that we have still we have been through and we're still going through an enormous amount of flux.
• Work-life balance is the balance that a working individual needs between time allocated for work and other aspects of life.
• Work-life blend is not a one size fits all model as everyone will vary.
• Think about where you are now in terms of work in your personal life.
• A lot of our time is being sapped into scrolling on our phones. I'm certainly guilty of this, and it stops me from going to bed earlier.

• Leave me an anonymous message on my SpeakPipe
• Check out my course: The Mentally Healthy Professional
• 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think
• Listen to Episode #57: Assertiveness and Self-Care

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Join my mailing list here: https://bit.ly/DMMCHSU

Complete the form to discuss your training needs: https://forms.gle/hgnYtmTu33Zeem489

Check out my FAQs here: https://diverseminds.co.uk/solutions/coaching/

You can learn more about the coaching I do to support your wellbeing here. 

If you enjoyed this episode, then consider subscribing on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you access your podcasts from.

If you enjoyed it, why not leave a review? 

You can also connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  

Remember to tune in next week, where I’ll bring you more insights on mental health and inclusion.

Welcome to the 146th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. This month’s theme is all about tips to support your work-life balance or blend.

In this episode, I'm going to give you a framework to think about your mood and checking in with this.

If you enjoyed this episode, then consider subscribing on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you access your podcasts from.

You can also read the blog version of this podcast here.

• The meaning of the word mood. [01:26]
• Why is a mood tracker and why it's important to have one? [03:03]
• One particular mood tracker model that can really help you. [05:06]
• An example of how quickly our mood can change. [06:37]
• About the grey zone and why it's important to understand it [07:48]

• I think moods and emotions are interlinked.
• There are certain things that we have to do, or we have to partake in, it can put us in a bad mood,
• We can't always read our emotions,
• We're not meant to be in a positive happy mood 100% of the time.
• Unfortunately, life does throw curveballs at us, and we might be in a bad mood, more than we might want to.

• Leave me an anonymous message on my SpeakPipe
• Personal Resilience Training
• Listen to Episode #141: Loneliness and Mental Health

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Welcome to the 145th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. It's the month of June, and this month’s theme is all about tips to support your work-life balance or blend. 

If you enjoyed this episode, then consider subscribing on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you access your podcasts from.

You can also read the blog version of this podcast here.

• Why I chose to cover this topic today. [01:08]
• About the tea cup energy drainer. [05:35]
• How to apply the tea cup analogy in your life. [06:29]
• About the concept of eliminate, automate or transfer [09:16]
• The importance of delegation [13:03]

• It seems that hybrid working may be causing a lot of UK workers to ignore their mental health.
• It's really about making sure you have the right balance for yourself.
• Our professional lives are really tied up with identity.
• Balancing or blending our work and life is quite a delicate act,
• You cannot drink from an empty cup.

• Leave me an anonymous message on my SpeakPipe
• Episode #134: Recognising the needs of Carers
• Listen to Episode #18: Looking Beyond New Year’s Resolution
• Check out Episode #114: Identifying and Combatting Burnout

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Welcome to the 144th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. As we approach the end of Mental Health Awareness Month, I wanted to pick up on a topic I often get asked about - one that can link to people not being able to speak about their Mental Health at work - and that is, suspicion and thinking people are faking it.

If you enjoyed this episode, then consider subscribing on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you access your podcasts from.

• Why I chose to cover this topic today. [01:27]
• Some issues that could cause mental ill-health at work. [03:47]
• What we can do to support people struggling with mental ill-health at work [06:03]
• How to deal with people that actually open up to you about their mental ill-health. [08:03]
• What to do if people are actually faking mental illness. [10:56]

 Quotes

• In my experience, it's extremely rare that someone fakes mental ill-health.
• I think faking mental health to escape work or gain or redundancy package, is very bizarre to me.
• What I found is that staff don't ask for help when experiencing mental ill-health.
• It's better to try and have a conversation, even if it doesn't go perfectly than to jump to conclusions.
• We know that mental and physical health, are not completely distinct. They overlap, and they overlap significantly.

• Leave me an anonymous message on my Speakpipe
• Mental Health First Aid England
• Samaritans
• SANELine
• Mind
• Anxiety UK
• Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) 
• Mind’s WAP
• Remploy Support
• Listen to Episode 97: The art of listening to support someone
• Check out Episode 143: Why won’t they accept help?
• Universal Design and why it’s so important

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC