The Heavy Mental Podcast

It's been a while, hasn't it? One whole month since our last episode in fact, so firstly we'd like to take the opportunity to say sorry about that folks!

Secondly, thank you for all of your kind messages of support and for being so patient with us — we're alive and well and back in front of the mics once more to talk mental matters!

In this episode, we chat about both of our mental health of late, but as always, this chinwag zig-zags into all sorts of themes. Here's a little cross-section of what you can expect:

Highs and lows, losing momentum, post wedding blues, relationships and mental health, SAD, routines, self care, getting back on track, toxic positivity, love languages, therapy and learning to honour your feelings.

A LOT.

We also take the time to talk about the future of Heavy Mental and what we have planned, so this is definitely an episode not to be missed.

Lots more to come on the horizon. Thanks again for sticking with us.

Much love,

Rhys

Hey gang, we're now wed, and as such, you can now collectively refer to us as "The Kings"!

We decided to take a little break from the pod to focus on finalising last minute wedding plans and enjoying our honeymoon, but now we're now back, suitably refreshed and sit before the mics once more, raring to get nattering.

Given that we JUST got married and it was the biggest (and best) day of our lives, we thought for this episode, we'd talk about our experience: primarily, the stresses, worries and anxieties that can come with planning a wedding — especially if you're prone to suffering with anxiety to any degree (Mr King).

(In the business of full disclosure: Leila planned it all down to the fine details, and I did very little and instead, worried about everything that could go wrong.)

Thematically, we cover: stress, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, arguing, medication, performance anxiety, catastrophising, last minute changes, worrying, post wedding blues and nerves. But ALSO the good stuff: love, family, friendships, excitement, celebration, community and...partying the night away.

We hope you enjoy the episode, people. Continue to like, rate, share and subscribe.

PS - We now have theme music thanks to Darren King of Buffalo Summer (and other such ventures). I'm sure you'll agree, it's a belter!

Leila & Rhys (The Kings) X

So, this episode is a little bit different to our usual recordings, in that Leila's not here and there are no guests. It's me (Rhys) all on my lonesome...so bear with me!

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about my hellish experience with health anxiety called: The Hypochondriac's Guide To Health Anxiety. I posted this on my personal blog and shared it on Facebook and Reddit — on the HA subreddit. The response I had from HA sufferers and non-sufferers alike was INSANE. I had so many emails, DMs and messages. For some unknown reason, SO many people connected with it. And I was completely blown away by the response.

On this basis, I thought I'd experiment by bringing the blog post to life with an audio version...and this very episode is in fact that version!

This is my no-holds-barred, unfiltered and personal take on my various health anxiety experiences, as well as some practical takeaway tips that helped me in my journey towards recovery. I discuss my experience in detail, so consider this a trigger warning!

I hope you enjoy and get some value from this one. Don't suffer in silence, folks. Reach out. Talk to somebody you trust. Seek professional help. See your GP if you're concerned. Don't bottle it up. You've got this. Help is out there.

And remember: don't Google your symptoms!

Have a great week everyone!

Rhys X

This week we sat down with the lovely Jack Walton. Jack is a mental health advocate, writer, author, podcaster and all-round positive ray of light from Birmingham.

Things got really tough for Jack when he began secondary school, when he started to feel like he was different. These differences are now something he's learned to celebrate, by embracing who he really is through self-love and acceptance.

As Jack says during the episode:

“For me it was always about fitting in. Now, I adore standing out and being different and I embrace it”.

In terms of themes, we talk: spirituality, sexuality, self-love, anxiety, PTSD, being bullied, self-belief, the power of the mind, the mind / body connection, positivity, mindset, manifestation, being yourself, living in the moment, social media, therapy, the law of attraction, and how Jack turned it all around by learning to think and speak to himself differently.

There's a HUGE amount to take away from this episode, so we hope you enjoy as much as we did. Have a great week people!

Well, where to start with this one: this one was a little bit different!

Last week saw some serious shifts in perspective, energy and purpose — particularly for Rhys. So, we decided to do what we love to do: sit down and have an open conversation about it, with the intention of making sense of what happened and sharing it with you guys!

We discuss choosing our focus, finding the right therapist, mental breakthroughs, gratitude, letting go, affirmations, meditation, manifestation, challenging negative beliefs, playing characters, creative pressures, change, the notion that we have the ability to choose who we want to be in life and the monumental impact that thoughts can have on your physical being.

We hope you're able to take some value from this one. Have a great week!

Peace.

Money is the root of all...*insert your personal meaning here*.

A while ago, one of our listeners messaged to say they’d like to hear an episode on mental health and finances. We both have completely different relationships with money, so when we started to unpeel the layers, we realised how much there was to say.

Though we only cover our personal experiences with (and without) money, we realised just how complex those relationships are.

From having money and feeling guilty about having more than others, to not having it and worrying about where the next pay check is coming from, we discuss the highs and lows that come as part of the financial ride; which, whether you like it or not, is a massive part of human existence.

Is money everything, is it nothing or is it somewhere in between?

A few weeks ago, we took our first ever pod road trip to sunny Brighton, and while we were there, we chatted all things mental health with Leila’s pals and creative couple, Dottie James and Patty Walters; Dottie is a writer and poet, and Patty is the frontman of Brighton-based rock band, “As It Is”.

Dottie was recently diagnosed with OCD and speaks openly about her experience with the illness, and Patty talks about anxiety, managing his mental health on tour and a whole lot more. They also both talk about how they both support each other during mental health struggles and how this strengthens their relationship.

In terms of themes covered in the episode, we cover everything from: OCD, mental health on the road, the creative process, creative expression, authenticity, introversion and extroversion, relationships, social media, existential crises, supporting each other during mental health struggles, finding your path and general navigating through life.

Thank you for inviting us into your home for a chat Dottie and Patty!

This week, we sat down with Abi Trotman; a Brand & Marketing Strategist from our fair city of Cardiff. Abi's a proud new mother to son Olin, and is also the wife of previous guest (and all-round good dude), Alex Sedgmond from Episode 17!

Abi is a long-term sufferer of a chronic illness known as "ME" (or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis). In this episode, she talks us through her illness from her initial diagnosis at just 11 years old, through to the present day, along with the reality of being homeschooled, losing numerous friendships due to illness, what a "flair up" does to her physical and mental health, the discrimination she's experienced throughout her life and on top of it all, how she manages to be a mum with so much else going on behind the scenes.

Abi's approach and attitude to ME was not only inspiring and educational for us both, but we were also struck by how articulately and openly she spoke about a chronic illness that we (the collective) still seem to know so little about.

Buckle up, gang. You're in for a good 'un. Thank you Abi!

So, we're back for our second series gang!

We thought we'd kick things off with something that Rhys and I have talked about A LOT over the past eighteen months or so, and that's GAMING — specifically, what it does to our minds.

While we know that there’s dark and light in every situation in this weird life, we personally find that gaming — on the whole (ooo-err) — isn’t great for either of us…and yet, we STILL find ourselves diving back in every couple of months.

We’ve recently just resurfaced from the "gaming haze" (as we like to refer to it) and after inspecting both our behaviours while in the midst of it, we’ve learned a fair bit about what it does to our brains...and we'd like to share that with you!

In this final episode of our first series, we answer listener questions on a wide array of topics, such as: change, loneliness, eating disorders, moving, jobs, relationships, periods, affirmations, habits, routines, gaming, breaking negative cycles and helping someone suffering with their mental health.

This is our 20th episode, and that now means that the first series of Heavy Mental has now drawn to a close…but fear not, we’ll be back soon enough.

We’re taking a little time away in order to book guests, plan episodes, create valuable content and work on a few other bits — like a website that we intend to fill with our written ramblings.

A HUGE, HEAVY THANK YOU to ALL of our listeners for every single listen, like, share, comment or DM — we’re so glad to have you along for the ride. It means the world to us to hear from you and know that we’re able to help in some way — any way we can.

We'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our amazing guests for being brave enough to share their stories. We honestly can’t thank you all enough. Every single one of those conversations will stay with us and hold a special place in our hearts.

Our new series will start in August, so keep your eyes peeled and your ears harked for more details on that. We’ll still be posting on IG though, in case you ever felt the urge to DM.

We’re here for you. And remember: it’s not all doom and gloom.

Much love,

Rhys & Leila X