The Heavy Mental Podcast

In our first podcast of 2021, our theme is: ACCEPTANCE.

The theme of this episode — as the name suggests — is: NEW YEAR.

Leila and I are feeling a little sluggish and unmotivated after Christmas, but we wanted to touch base with you and have a little chat.

It’s that weird limbo week before normality resumes again — although, I don’t know if I’d call 2020 normality.

In this episode, we have an impromptu chat about the looming new year and briefly reflect on 2020.

We chat about how we can either see the new year as an arbitrary passing of time or as a kickstarter to try to make a positive change — it’s all in the mindset.

We talk resolutions, goal-setting and not being too hard on yourself.

We also chat learning to minimalism, being grateful for what you have and learning to appreciate less.

We talk continued uncertainty, taking each day as it comes and not setting yourself up to fail.

We also talk about our Christmas Day antics which included a lot of boozy DIY (not recommended and luckily, nobody was hurt during this process).

If you’re in the haze of the in-between week (along with us), grab a cuppa and enjoy our little new year ramble.

Oh, and, thanks for all of your support during 2020. You’ve been amazing.

Much love.

Rhys & Leila X

In this episode, Rhys and I speak to Harmony Nice.

Harmony is a YouTuber and author of the book “Wicca: A Modern Guide To Witchcraft & Magick”.

Harmony started her YouTube channel in 2013, originally creating beauty-related videos, but she soon discovered people were interested in her life as a Wiccan, so she began to talk about her faith in order to interest and educate her viewers.

Since then, Harmony has grown her following to over 700K subscribers and created hours of video content talking about everything from spirituality, beauty and self-care, to personal growth, self-esteem and mental health.

In our chat together, we talk about: being authentic online, boundaries, healing, technology, living a simple life, meditation, downgrading to a flip-phone, looking within, vices, creativity and the ups and downs of social media.

This is a great one people and you won't wanna miss it!

Love ya.

Leila X

The theme of this episode — as the name suggests — is: CHRISTMAS.

We chat specifically about managing your mental health around the festive season.

About eating disorders, food issues and ways to cope.

About understanding, establishing and communicating your boundaries.

We also talk about being around people in your family that might have contrasting beliefs to you and how to navigate those conversations.

About loneliness, financial pressures and covid restriction chaos.

About establishing support networks with your distant friends and checking in with your mates.

Similar to last week, comparison comes up again, specific to Christmas, though. In that you might be feeling great about your own Christmas only to find out somebody close to you has had a brand new BMW X5 bought for them, that then in turn, makes you feel crap about having a PS5 — this is not a real life example folks, although I’d be stoked on either a BMW or PS5. Whatever’s going.

We also cover: being gentle and kind to yourself, engaging with your inner critic, understanding and communicating your needs, health anxiety (an old fav topic of mine), the media always keeping the people down, honouring your feelings and maintaining your self-care routines.

We also talk about our fav Christmas films and songs, as well as plenty of the back and forth banter you’ve come to associate us with.

IT’S (NEARLY) CHRISTMASSSSSSSSSS.

So, cosy up and get some self-care goodness audibly poured into your lugholes why don't cha.

Enjoy!

Rhys

In this episode I (Rhys) talk with Jose Lugo.

Jose is the co-creator of We Are All One Story: an online platform that teaches people the value of their own story and empowers them to share it.

Their message is a simple one: we all have a story to tell and they really matter, because we matter.

In this episode, we discuss Jose’s story.

After growing up in a home where violence was normalised, at aged 16, Jose joined an LA street gang.

A couple of years later, Jose was sentenced to 5 years in prison aged 18.

Upon release, he vowed that he’d never go back, but at the age of 31, he found himself incarcerated again, this time for a DUI.

Shortly afterwards, and despite making some positive changes and starting to head in the right direction, Jose plunged into a deep depression.

He contemplated taking his own life, but something inside of him told him to hold on.

After the weight of his past started to become too much for Jose to bear, he surrendered and cried out to a higher power in desperation for help.

It was from this low point, that he started to slowly build a new version of himself. The one that'd been inside all along that he was almost discovering for the first time.

At age 33, Jose now travels the country listening to and sharing the stories of others.

Thematically, we talk about:

Depression, moving city, having a tough upbringing, faith, prison, community, belonging, forgiveness, prayer, getting in touch with your emotions, coping mechanisms, pride, ego and finding a way through tough times.

This is a really powerful episode and highlights the power of story. Most importantly, that we have the power to rewrite ours at any point.

From hereon, each week will have a theme for Leila and I to ponder about and natter over.

These episodes will be released every Monday and our social posts will reflect this theme too!

This week’s theme — as the title of the episode suggests — is: COMPARISON.

In this episode, we talk about our own experiences with self-comparison, how comparison can sometimes be positive, the different types of comparison we all partake in, why we feel the need to compare, how easy it is for us all now to compare and fall into the comparison trap.

As ever, we go off on rambling tangents and you can hear me talking about dodging puff adders in Kenya and Leila mocking my ever-changing accent because we’ve watched too much of The Crown.

We also leave you with practical tips that have worked for us on how best to stop comparing yourself to others.

The old team is back together babay!

We hope you enjoy!

In this episode, I have a casual catch-up with my mate Ryan Evans.

Ryan is a registered nutritionist, personal trainer, gut health specialist and proponent of holistic self-care, based in New South Wales, Australia.

In our last episode earlier this year (Episode 40), we talked about Ryan’s personal healing journey and then in turn, how he started to help other people to do the same.

In this episode, we hit the ground running and pick up where we left off.

I find out what Ryan’s been up to these last few months and it involves everything from shamanic plant-medicine ceremonies to silent retreats — which involved 10 hours of meditation PER DAY, not being able to make eye contact or engage with the other people there and of course, not speaking.

AT. ALL.

We also talk about purposely doing uncomfortable self-work, in order to ultimately, live a more meaningful and purposeful life.

We chat meditation, following your intuition, and checking in with your inner child.

We talk wearing a mask — not a covid one — and hiding behind a facade, and learning how to drop that gradually over time and be yourself.

We also talked Ryan’s predictions for the future, because if you listened to what he said in the last episode we did together, it was pretty bang on in predicting the covid pandemic…Nostradamus lives.

Enjoy!

In this episode, Leila and I speak to Claire Farren.

Claire is a productivity expert and founder of Farrens – a company dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs and businesses with everything from productivity and time management, to reorganisation and the streamlining of processes.

During this episode, we talk about:

Structuring your day, working smarter not harder, maintaining boundaries so you don't burnout, being mindful of mental health and wellness when you work, optimising productivity practices to suit the individual, managing to-do lists, not setting yourself up to fail, being fluid with your planner and allowing for curveballs and how the 8-hour working day should now be a thing of the past!

We know this is going to be a very valuable episode for a lot of folks. Particularly freelancers, self-employed, people with small businesses and budding entrepreneurs.

Leila and I really enjoyed this chat and took a lot away from it and we know you will too.

Hope you enjoy our chat.

In this episode, I'm joined by Joshua LeBreton.

Joshua is a musician hailing from the Southern US in Louisiana, and his current musical project is named The Canary Yellow.

Throughout his life, Joshua has struggled with both OCD and anxiety, as a result of trauma experienced growing up.

With The Canary Yellow, Joshua uses song to navigate the darkness — to light the way almost — and starting this project has been somewhat of an anchor for his mental health. Especially during such an uncertain, chaotic time in the world’s history.

More than that though, with The Canary Yellow, Josh aims to shine a light on others. He hopes that by sharing parts of his story - expressed via song - that he’s able to help people feel less alone with their problems. He wants those people to feel heard and seen. To let them know that there are others that feel the same way.

One thing I’ll say about Joshua straight off the bat is, he has such a calm, gentle energy. Such a relaxing tone of voice as well. I could even feel that digitally and I found myself subconsciously mirroring that energy throughout.

During our chat, we talk about Joshua’s struggles with his mental health — namely OCD and anxiety. We talk about Joshua’s passion for music and the craft of songwriting: his process and his intentions. We talk about the gratitude and love he has for his family, and how important this has been in helping his mental health.

We also cover the importance of doing our bit to give back to the world, in the way that we’re most led to doing so, creating art with a mind of attempting to help or move one person, rather than trying to appeal to the masses and practical ways in which Joshua has been able to manage his OCD.

Finally, we also cover time, procrastination and the importance of planning, as well as a whole lot more.

Please enjoy my conversation with all-round nice dude, Mr Joshua LeBreton.

This week's guest, is Joshua Parry.

Josh is a fellow welshman and weightlifter, hailing from my hometown, South Wales steel capital, and my hometown, Port Talbot.

In 2018, Josh represented Team GB at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, the 94 kg Men’s weightlifting category.

In this wide-ranging, funny, insightful and inspiring chat, we talk about Josh’s journey from casual gym-goer to Commonwealth Games weightlifting competitor.

We talk about masculinity, weightlifting and the fitness community at large. We delve into eating disorders (something Josh and I have both struggled with), male body image and feeling the societal and cultural pressure to look a certain way and uphold a certain image.

We also talk goal-setting, focus and determination. As well as performance anxiety, panic attacks and learning to cope under pressure. As this was something Josh struggled with on his journey, we also talk about managing your mind, thoughts and the importance of being in touch with your emotions.

Another key theme that was interwoven throughout our chat, was learning to be yourself and stop caring what other people think about you, because ultimately, it does not matter!

The world needs you, exactly as you are.

I really want to commend Josh for speaking so openly about his eating disorder journey, because speaking from experience, it ain’t easy. Especially with a lot of the rhetoric in gym-going circles and the fitness community is to appear larger than life and bulletproof. But I think it shows a different type of strength to expose what we perceive to be our vulnerabilities. That's true courage and fortitude.

Anyway, please enjoy my conversation with Josh Parry!