A new season is upon many of us at this time of year. Summer shifting into Autumn, the beginning of a new school year, a new work cycle. Maybe just returning to work after a rest. In all of the excitement of 'beginning again' there often comes also a slight pause within us all, asking us "Am I wanting to keep doing this? Is this allowing me to be all I want to be?"

This week, Rachel shares a poem from John O'Donohue called 'For a New Beginning' inviting us to listen to that quiet voice deep within us. We look forward to being back together for Season 4 of Two Inconvenient Women next week.

For a New Beginning

by John O'Donohue

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety

And the gray promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

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Our August break continues here at ThoughtBox, so this week we're sharing a short collection of previous episodes where we dive into the nuance of environmental wellbeing and what it means to learn to care for our planet. Some of the highlights from our past three seasons are this mini-series are below:

• Season 1, Episode 4: Falling in love with the world
• Season 2, Episode 7 (Exploring the inconvenience of nature connection): Are we connecting with nature, or just using it?
• Season 3, Episode 4 (Exploring the inconvenience of trees): What can a tree teach us about relationships?
• Season 3, Episode 12 (Exploring the inconvenience of earth-care): Why is caring for the planet essential for all life to flourish?

If you'd like to join us for any of the Triple WellBeing opportunities mentioned in the podcast, you can find more information at:

• Triple WellBeing Introduction workshop: a free, one-hour session (Wednesday 27th August 2025, 1pm-2pm BST)
• Triple WellBeing Practitioner Course: a one-day, online workshop (Friday 26th September 2025, 10am-3pm BST)
• Transforming Education Retreat: a three-day residential programme (Monday 6th - Wednesday 8th October)

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Our August break continues here at ThoughtBox, so this week we're sharing a short collection of previous episodes where we dive into the nuance of social wellbeing and what it means to learn to care fully for our communities, both local and global. Holly also shares a poem by Rosemary Wahtola Trommer called 'Belonging'.

Some of the highlights from our past three seasons are this mini-series are below:

• Season 1, Episode 14 (Gathering): Why do we gather—and what are we losing when we don’t?
• Season 2, Episode 3 (Empathy): Is the modern world making us less human?
• Season 3, Episode 1 (EDI): How do we hold onto humanity when the law lets go?
• Season 3, Episode 11 (People-Care): What can happen when we look to find our shared humanity in others?

If you'd like to join us for any of the Triple WellBeing opportunities mentioned in the podcast, you can find more information at:

• Triple WellBeing Introduction workshop: a free, one-hour session (Wednesday 27th August 2025, 1pm-2pm BST)
• Triple WellBeing Practitioner Course: a one-day, online workshop (Friday 26th September 2025, 10am-3pm BST)
• Transforming Education Retreat: a three-day residential programme (Monday 6th - Wednesday 8th October)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This August, we're taking a break here at ThoughtBox, so we're sharing a collection of previous episodes where we dive into the nuance of personal wellbeing and what it means to learn to care fully for ourselves. In this mini episode, Holly shares a poem on the theme of personal wellbeing, and introduces some of the highlights from our past three seasons, which make up this week's mini series:

• Season 1, Episode 2 (Rest): What if rest is the most radical thing we can do?
• Season 2, Episode 10 (Spirituality) Are we living in a spiritual vacuum?
• Season 2, Episode 12 (Resourcing): What does it mean to re-source ourselves?
• Season 3, Episode 10 (Self-care): What is self-care was actually a self-less act?

If you'd like to join us for any of the Triple WellBeing opportunities mentioned in the podcast, you can find more information at:

• Triple WellBeing Introduction workshop: a free, one-hour session (Wednesday 27th August 2025, 1pm-2pm BST)
• Triple WellBeing Practitioner Course: a one-day, online workshop (Friday 26th September 2025, 10am-3pm BST)
• Transforming Education Retreat: a three-day residential programme (Monday 6th - Wednesday 8th October)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when we allow ourselves to fall back in love with the world?

For many people it may feel obvious why we need to protect the earth and prevent run-away climate change and species extinction. Yet it may not be so clear as to how changing our relationship with the natural world is just as pressing – if not more so – than any environmental activism. When we take time to notice how incredible the natural world is, to understand and witness how the thriving of nature enables the thriving of ourselves, our appreciation of the importance of earth-care naturally grows. It’s hard to ‘stop and smell the roses’ in a culture that continues to celebrate ‘doing’ over ‘being’ and being in domination over nature, rather than being in relationship with nature. And yet when we start to see ourselves as part of nature, and allow ourselves to feel genuine connection with the more than human world, everything changes.

In this episode we talk about the inconvenience of earth-care and what it means to rewild ourselves, regenerate our thinking and reconnect with the whole of life.

We reference the following:

• It's a wonderful world - David Attenborough (BBC video)
• Is it time to reassess our relationship with nature? Open University (video)
• Incredible Edible (movement /website)
• Birds of paradise mating dance (BBC video)
• Why is environmentalism failing - Morgan Phillips (TedX Talk)}
• Wilding - Isabella Tree (Book / film)
• Nature Connection activities - ThoughtBox (free resources)
• Earth in mind - David Orr (book)

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Humans are a social species by design, with an inbuilt need to be with others, whilst qualities of care and kindness are innate in us all. Many of us are, however, living in a hyper-individualised world which encourages us to 'other' and separate from our communities, creating a culture of segregation and loneliness. In response, tides are turning across the world, as more and more people choose to look beyond the mainstream media stories and start instead to connect with our common humanity. We cannot be human alone - and it is our differences which make us so fascinating, and our diversity which allows our societies to flourish. And so what does it look like to live a life of care for others, and why is this in fact deeply good for us too?

In this week's episode, we explore the inconvenience of 'people-care', and the importance of nurturing caring and healthy communities in our lives - both near and far. We explore our connection to the behaviours of chimpanzees and bonobos; think about how to hold a deep legacy of colonialism within many cultures and reflect on some of the ways that acts of care for others can generate a deep sense of growth, healing and connection with ourselves.

In this conversation we reference the following:

• How to Citizen podcast - Barathunde Thursston (podcast)
• Who we are - or could be - in times of crisis - Rebecca Solnit (article)
• Jon Alexander - Citizens (book / movement)
• Bonobos & chimps - what our closet relatives tell us about being human (article)
• Watching the English - Kate Fox (book)
• Stories of Triple WellBeing - ThoughtBox (podcast)
• Dr Ezideen Shebab - Doctor / writer (linktree)
• Permaculture Principles (website)
• Brene Brown on empathy (video)
• The philosophy of ujamaa (article)
• Interpersonal Neurobiology - Dr Dan Siegel (website)
• Long for the Coast - Jamie Gould, musician (album)

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Self-care gets a bad wrap. It's often at the very bottom of our agenda, seen sometimes as self-indulgent - selfish even. And yet being aware of ourselves, being present in our emotions and actions, being kind and caring to our own needs is far from selfish. When we tend to our selves - the analogy of the 'oxygen mask first' we are able to better support others, as we are more resourced and resilient to do so. The growing appreciation for us to look after our personal wellbeing is growing - and is now becoming a conscious part of educational spaces - and yet too often it sits as an add-on or 'bonus' element of how we live and learn together. So how can we learn to embed habits and practices of self-care into our daily rhythms in a culture fixated on more, more, more?

In this week's episode, we dive into the depths of personal wellbeing and acts of self-care, exploring what it means to drink deeply from the 'well of our being' and how we can bring self-care to the top of the agenda.

In this episode we reference the following:

• The Triple WellBeing Framework (PDF download)
• Why resourcing ourselves is key to a sustainable future - Rachel Musson (blogpost)
• Mental Health First Aid (training course)
• Interpersonal Neurobiology - Dr Dan Siegel (website)
• MHFA Mental Health Continuum (website)
• DfE's new RSHE Guidance (website)
• Stories of Triple WellBeing (podcast series)

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For reasons known and written about by many, there's been a shift over time which has enabled 'learning' within educational contexts to be mainly focused on the head and often ignoring the heart or the hands. With a knowledge-saturated curriculum and a mainstream structure built around sitting down at desks and absorbing information, we're recognising the absence of a holistic focus for many of the learning contexts around the world. Which is ironic and unhealthy, for all of us as humans learn best when we are engaging all of our senses, all of our being as it were.

Head, Heart and Hands is a handily alliterative phrase coined to refer to a more holistic style of learning, and a way to enable a pedagogy of connection to our whole self. So why don't we bring more of this into our lives and learning spaces? In this week's episode, Holly and Rachel dive into the nourishing feeling of head, heart, hands learning, exploring where opportunities for this sort of connection to life are already happening and how we can embed a more holistic approach to learning across our communities.

We reference the following:

• Waldorf Education - Rupert Steiner (a philosophy and pedagogy)
• Montessori Education - Maria Montessori (a philosophy and pedagogy)
• Schumacher College (a learning institute and movement)
• Triple WellBeing Framework (a framework and pedagogy)

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In a world that glorifies busyness, rest can feel inconvenient—even rebellious. But what happens when we stop doing and simply allow ourselves to be? This episode explores rest as resistance against the belief that worth is tied to productivity. What happens when we slow down? Who benefits when we pause? And how might reclaiming rest help us build a healthier, more human way of living? This week's conversation is all about slowing down and redefining what it means to be a 'human being' rather than a 'human doing'.

In this episode, we reference the following:

• PACTS (a new education initiative empowering UK students to engage in democracy)
• The Rebelliousness of Rest by Rachel Musson (blog article)
• Rest is Resistance: Free yourself from grind culture and reclaim your life by Tricia Hersey (book)
• Bayo Akomolafe (writer and speaker)
• Frederick by Leo Lionni (children's book)
• The Language of Emotions by Karla McLaren (book)
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck : A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson (book)

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The Inconvenience of Joy

“I will never apologise for embracing joy and beauty - even when the world is falling apart – for joy and beauty are the fuel for my activism”. 

These words by Karen Walrond are one of the inspirations for this week’s conversation on 'Joy', exploring how cultivating joy is both a way to resource ourselves and build the resilience needed to meet the challenges of our world. Joy is often seen as being the same thing as happiness, and yet these two emotions are profoundly different; one coming from external sources, one being cultivated from within. It is not a surprise that the practice of joy is embedded into all world religions as it can become a deeply spiritual practice – as well as a beautifully infectious state to find ourselves in.

In this week's conversation we dive into the meaning of joy, how it shows up in our lives; how activists across history have cultivated joy in their lives and work and what happens when we learn to practice joy as part of our daily rhythms.

In this episode we reference the following:

• Mission: Joy – Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu (video)
• Habits for practising joy - ThoughtBox (PDF)
• Seeking Language Large Enough – David Whyte / On Being (podcast)
• Climate Courage Campaign – Climate Majority Project (website)
• Joy Over Fear – St Ebbe’s School (website)
• Schools of Dreams - Kimberley Oliff Cooper TEDx Talk (video)
• The Fun Habit - Mike Rucker (book)
• Glorious – MaMuse (Rachel’s current favourite joyful song)

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