I got The Secret last year and shared it with my friends. Though excited at the time - we loved it and got very fired up - some months later, I see no real change in my buddies - if anything their old cars are older; they are still in the same houses they’d rather not be in given an option and they still need me to buy them a pint from time to time. You get the idea.

Don’t get me wrong, my love affair with American-style personal development programmes isn’t over and this isn’t a bad case of sour grapes. It’s just that - as the pumped-up vapours of passion-driven law of attraction and manifestation energy have evaporated - the good sense I’m occasionally fortunate to glimpse has returned to the landscape of my perception.

And no, I’m not criticising The Secret as some others are because it’s not right to not work hard to get what you want or because it panders to the most basic, materialistic urges in pseudo-spiritual new-agers. No, not either of these; because focussing on your intentions - for as long as is required to make them manifest - IS hard work; and wanton satisfaction of your most basic wordly desires can work wonders for spiritual development (see: “Buddha”).

For me, The Secret fails humankind (yes), because it creates wanting. Whilst posing as a way to happiness, it creates the exact opposite - a state of mental unrest and longing - however pleasurable or modest.

When we want, we are no longer content in the moment where we belong - where all happiness is. Put another way: you can’t be happy later on in your life (when all that stuff you are busy manifesting shows up); you can only be happy now. In this moment - NOW!

And by the grace of God (or whatever other thing you beg to or praise in your worst and best moments respectively) that is only right. All have access to the joy of the moment right now - whatever their circumstances - regardless of what the future (and past) hold.

So please don’t wait to be happy - when pay day comes or when the mother of all manifesting gives birth a la Secret - do it now.

Love that strawberry!

Check this out: http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/…jan07_booklet.pdf

“Hedolism gives people permission to enjoy their lives” – Quality Craig, Hedolist

The hedolists’ handbook is about getting high ON life – not high IN life.

Many approaches exist that help you get high in life, mostly unsustainable, though fun at times. But that’s not what this is all about. We’re hedolists not hedonists.

Many spiritual and religious paths exist that can help you find a high outside your living life – in a church, in a retreat or in a cave somewhere. But what sort of life is it if you have to retreat to bring your mind, body and spirit together? That’s why we’re hedolists and not holists.

We feel the time has come to re-discover the very purpose of life; that is to bring joy to every moment, because life is good – even if we forget that in the midst of the sometimes immense pressures we face.

It’s not an easy way out; it’s not a drop-out cop-out. Hedolism is a seemingly hard, yet delightfully yielding path, once you’ve got a few human misunderstandings out of the way – those awful misunderstandings upon which most western institutions are founded such as religion, government, jobs, marriage and so on.

But hold on. We’re not saying any of those things are bad. It’s just that when you worship, are ruled, are enslaved or emotionally imprisoned without love or understanding – which the aforementioned institutions seem to specialize in, you are lost.

And boy, are people lost. Lost, imprisoned and alone – quietly wondering if there’s’ more to life than the living legacy handed to us by our forefathers to whom it seemed like a good idea (they did their best).

But don’t worry. Because the ironic beauty of this prison – in which many of our kind appear to be wasting away, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually – is an illusion and the key is locked inside the cell with you.

Reach for the key my friend. Turn the key; turn the page…

Welcome to Hedolism!

The word “healing” really seems to push people’s buttons. Just recently, I heard a BBC Radio 4 guest - on one of those hot-air opinion-based programmes - slam anything to do with healing (i.e. “run a mile”) based on the merest mention of the word. Fair play I suppose, it does conjure up images of eccentric characters standing over or behind those in need, with their hands hovering mysteriously in the air, eyes closed and an atmosphere of mystical expectation.

In fact, when I once questioned a person who asked “would you like some healing?”, asking her: “what is it?”, she replied “well, it’s healing,” in a way that suggested everyone knows what healing is and what’s more it can only be for the good. So I do understand widely-held discomfort, but feel I must challenge the widely-held ignorance that tends to go with it.

In the last few weeks, BBC2 did the concept of healing no favours either, with its series “Trust me I’m a healer”. A predicatble stitch-up that’s thrown together a random bunch of “healers” and given them the usual media treatment - opinionated skepticism and understated ridicule - and an all-out effort for a cheap laugh about something most people don’t understand. Of course, making fun of what you don’t understand is something “foreign” people used to endure in pre-multicultural days, but let’s not open that can of worms here.

Sadly in this recent BBC2 hatchet job, the inference, as with most mainstream programme-making is that all healing is suspect, which to any intelligent person is like saying all eating is somehow bad or all medicine is wrong. Healing is an activity which, like eating and medicine, can go a number of ways in the hands of any number of people.

Here’s some help for those who haven’t dismissed it out of hand based on sloppy media portrayal and a few eccentric or rogue practitioners they’ve experienced third-hand on the telly, down the pub or at a mind, body and spirit fair…

There’s “Spiritual Healing”, which the National Federation of Spiritual Healers (NFSH) says is: “a generic term used to describe various forms of holistic healing across the world.” They claim there are “more than 15,000 healers operating in the UK, of which 5,000 belong to NFSH but many others work independently and in their own way.”

Add to these thousands those who do not use the prefix “spiritual”, which might include many complementary therapists not uncomfortable with the term healing (which after all, must surely mean “to make whole”) and you get a potentially huge heal-th boosting army, who get written off by the prejudice that surrounds that simple, yet deeply powerful, h-word.

As the NFSH say, “healers come from many different backgrounds and belief systems. The source of healing energy is open to interpretation and varies depending on the individual.” So for heavens sake, do see for yourself and quiz anyone who calls themselves a “healer” until they satisfy any qualms you have. Because that’s where I would advise caution; anyone who does call themselves a “healer” as opposed to someone who facilitates “healing” should be carefully examined.

Use the 3 ‘i’s that I often recommend - intelligence, instinct and intuition - but please don’t get hung up on a word or your old ideas and pre-conceptions. You colud be missing out if you do. If I’m not mistaken, the NHS has spiritual healing in its vast and diverse armoury these days.

“People who receive healing often experience profound benefits. Healing should always be considered a complementary therapy, not an alternative to conventional treatment.” the NFSH reminds us. “Spiritual Healing can help on many levels as it treats the whole person, mind, body and spirit. Remarkable changes can occur but a physical cure is not always a certainty. (NFSH) healers should not offer false hope.”

Of course they shouldn’t. But that’s not a reason to not give healing a chance. You might be surprised.

Not wanting to sound too pathetic or even prophetic, I’ve got something of a confession session for you today; a few words that I trust will help you understand not only where I’m coming from and where I’m at, but may also shed some light in your life if you’ve ever wondered: “Is there more to life than this?” and “What’s the point of my existence?” (It’s not too late to turn the page now, if you can’t bear such lightweight issues!)

Now I know it’s hard to not sound like a misguided messiah or even just like a plain old loser when tackling such big ideas and delving behind the screen of normal life, which we all secretly know isn’t working. But bear with me, as in the midst of environmental catastrophe, economic uncertainty and on-going qualms about quality of life, I share my view on why there must be more to life than we tend to be “fine, thank you” about, whilst we get busy in our lives, hoping for the best.

If you need any proof that “it’s not working”, consider for a moment bestselling author and world-renowned psychologist Oliver James whose new book “Affluenza”, looks at the obsessive, envious, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses lifestyle so prominent in our culture. In a nine-month journey around the world, James tries to figure out why the affluenza epidemic has resulted in huge increases in depression and anxiety among millions.

“Never before have I read a book that so precisely captures the way we are all being emotionally snookered by the demands of 21st-century living… read this book,” says the BBC’s Jeremy Vine, whilst Oxford University Professor Avner adds: “James is excellent at showing why social scientists think that the surge in material affluence can produce the opposite of happiness.”

Put another way: “cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, this life. Trying to make ends meet, you’re a slave to the money then you die,” say band The Verve in their powerful indictment on modern existence (which I deliberately do not call modern “life”) in their song – “Bittersweet Symphony”.

You get the picture. But what does it all mean? And what on earth can we do about it?

Well, let me take you back a few years. The young Munson boy is looking at his parents’ way of life and a mutual misunderstanding develops: As much as mother can’t understand why this boy doesn’t want to be a doctor, lawyer or prime minister and father can’t relate to a young lad not that keen on football or boxing, the young lad is looking back wondering why on earth life as an adult is such hard work and so painful.

Forty plus years on, with still no ill-feeling towards my folks, just a feint lingering pang of disillusionment, plus a trail of broken relationships, big debts and still no career to speak of, it’s all starting to make sense. More accurately, the lack of sense is starting to make sense.

The system my parents laboured under, or within, is inhumane – and that’s no overstatement. And let’s face it – as Oliver James will attest – it really hasn’t improved since the sixties. It’s got worse.

The rational system that fired the starting pistol on the rat race, is a hard nut to crack. It’s a losing game that says: “If I DO this, I’ll HAVE that, then I’ll BE happy.”

Trouble is, the time and effort it takes to do what you have to do, to get what you want, in order to be what you want to be i.e. at peace, contented and happy, increases by the day. Currently standing at a cold 60ish years if you take the most traditional route.

Studying takes longer and costs more. Houses are more expensive and take longer to buy (you pay about more than three times the purchase price of your house before you own it). And the cost of living always gently nudges ahead of pay and wages.

Does that sound sensible to you? Are you up for that? The “indigo children” don’t seem to be, nor do the “drop-outs” from school, college, university, work and every other walk of life that just can’t make it add up – financially, emotionally or spiritually. Because it doesn’t!

Sadly, and throughout the history of this western, rational and de-humanising no-win game, they’ve tended to blame themselves. They’ve felt like failures and they’ve got depressed.

So what’s the alternative? Do you know what? I’m not entirely sure. But the first step – if you are any sort of sentient being, rich or poor who just can’t make it all add up – is to know that you are not alone. Secondly, realize it is not your fault. And thirdly hold the possibility of a new way open for those in your enlightenment consciousness.

Please don’t pretend everything is ok. Be honest and, whilst looking after your interests and your loved-ones, acknowledge that we cannot go on living like this. Something, many things, are unsustainable right now. But stuck as you may be in some aspect of the rat race (where some win, but all are rats!) all is well.

For in the knowledge that there IS a better way – a better way can and will emerge.

Get your priorities right: BE first. HAVE the happiness you seek NOW and DO what you need to do to get by…

A Totnesian (Totnes - “funky town” in Devon, UK) friend of mine, having heard a radio phone-in that posed the question: “Can healthy eating make you ill?”, told me he didn’t get through, but was ready to say: “most definitely YES! I live in Totnes and I know”.

Totnes is surely - when it comes to healthy living and foody fads - the “been there, done that and spilt organic, free-range, raw gravy down my T-shirt” capital of “worried wellness”.

But it’s not a joking matter. OK, well it’s only partly a joking matter, because a ten-year old idea - orthorexia nervosa - has resurfaced in the midst of the healthy living revolution that we are all being pushed into.

Look around and you’ll see there’s no escape. Supermarkets have harnessed the sales potential of organic and healthier produce, the government and NHS are urging us to eat more wisely to ease the public purse, kids in school have been programmed with the 5-a-day mantra and of course my living - like the livelihoods of most holistic practitioners and pundits - is based on healthy living and eating concepts.

I have to say I can’t blame you if you are sick of it.

That said, you’re probably not as sick as some of the aforementioned Totnes folk and those who may actually be dealing with orthorexia nervosa, because they really are sick; that is if you concur with the founder of this condition, one Dr. Steven Bratman.

Bratman, a Colorado-based physician came up with the term in 1997 to denote what he considers to be an eating disorder characterized by a “fixation” on eating healthful food. From the Greek orthos, meaning”correct or right” and orexis for “appetite”, this doctor describes orthorexia as “an unhealthy obsession with what the sufferer considers to be healthy eating. The subject may avoid certain foods, such as those containing fats, preservatives, or animal products.”

Though not officially recognised as a condition it seems in psychiatric circles and criticised, in the early days, by those who feel that focusing on healthy eating is generally beneficial and does not indicate a mental imbalance, it must surely now demand greater examination.

“Twenty years ago I was a wholehearted, impassioned advocate of healing through food. Today, as a physician who practices alternative medicine, I still almost always recommend dietary improvement to my patients. How could I not?“ wrote Bratman, nearly ten years ago in the October 1997 issue of Yoga Journal.” A low-fat, semi vegetarian diet helps prevent nearly all major illnesses, and more focused dietary interventions can dramatically improve specific health problems. But I’m no longer the true believer in nutritional medicine I used to be.”

“Where once I was enthusiastically evangelical, I’ve grown cautious. I can no longer console myself with the hope that one day a universal theory of eating will be discovered that can match people with the diets right for them. And I no longer have faith that dietary therapy is a uniformly wholesome intervention. I have come to regard it as I do drug therapy: as a useful treatment with serious potential side-effects,” he added.

“Many of the most unbalanced people I have ever met are those who have devoted themselves to healthy eating. In fact, I believe some of them have actually contracted a novel eating disorder for which I have coined the name “orthorexia nervosa.”

Saying “diet is an ambiguous and powerful tool, too complex and emotionally charged to be prescribed lightly, yet too powerful to be ignored,” Bratman makes a powerful point. Food is powerful medicine. But more powerful and seriously disease-forming are obsession, anxiety and guilt - that evil three headed trio - which sadly lurks in the slipstream of any advice and guidance we are given about healthy eating and living.

I say run any such information past your own instincts, intuition and intelligence. Trust yourself and your body; do your best. And don’t beat yourself up. But above all, get and have a life!

Oh my God. Oh your God even. It seems Big Brother has caused worldwide controversy because some of its inmates have racist ideas.

Well blow me down.

Let’s get real about racism shall we? Racism is a symptom of ignorance and a lack of intelligence. It’s not a cause. And any holistic-thinking person goes to cause and not symptom.

(By way of a little philosophical detail: if a racist is someone who judges by a set of criteria around the victim’s race, is the person who identifies a racist, a racist-ist? And therefore no better in their superficial judgements? Don’t worry too much about that - it just occured to me.)

If you’ve found yourself angered by the “racism” on Big Brother, please get a life. In fact, get that the world is full of ignorance and its many inhabitants will therefore fall into the racist trap (set by high-minded, liberal conceptualists). It’s a fact of living life. And it’s an energy we can all tune into (or not).

Now that’s not to say racism or ignorant behaviour is OK. It most definitely is not. But these political issues are a smokescreen that in my view encourage anger, division and - naturally, as day follows night - more (entrenched) ignorance.

Where - for God’s sake - is the love? Forget about racism and, where you are able, just love. Love is the answer; love conquers all. Talk of racism just gets everyone cross, hot and bothered. STOP IT!

And don’t try to love everyone in some sort of global village love-fest. If you watch Big Brother, you might want to get a life and start by switching your TV off - loving those nearest and dearest to you. There’s enough to be getting on with there in this loveless, ignorant and racist world…. 

Whilst on a recent trip to Thailand researching new treats and treatments, I had the chance to check out Healthlands, a small chain of spas, with branches in Bangkok and and Pattaya.Rushed there after a sumptuous seafood dinner (yes I know I did it the wrong way round), I was ushered into a lift and led to a delightful minimalist bodywork suite complete with oversized massage table draped with thai silk, a James Bond shower with more jets than I could be bothered to count and carefully designed lighting that had my blood pressure lowered on entry.

My tiny masseuse, Tina, invited me to take a shower and as I alerted her to my for-what-I-am-about-to-receive-may-the-lord-make-me-truly-thankful state of readiness, she re-entered the room and greeted me with “underwear - no!”.

Thoughtfully and dramatically turning her face to the wall, Tina’s limited grasp of English was immediately transcended into a clear communication - hurry up and get naked.

I needed no further invitation, and throwing British reserve along with my boxers to the floor, went for the birthday suit option and delighted in the combination of crisp white linen and soft silk against my skin as I hit the pleasure plinth face-down.

Tina’s smoothing moves took me down another octave on the relaxation scale, my bliss interrupted only by my own foolish gluttony and timing as the preceding seafood feast made its presence felt - pushing back from the depths of my belly.

In no time, Tina was up on the table with me in true Thai style, not sparing the horses and putting an ant to shame in terms of bodyweight leverage. As she commented “very hard” (which I took as a comment on my muscular tone; not a prescription) she seemed to morph into an eastern European weightlifter, certainly in terms of pounds per square inch pressure.

Pampering quickly turned to my new discovery pain-pering’, a concept me and my hedolst buddies are not too familiar with. Hedolism by the way, is my own hybrid lifestyle that marries hedonistic pleasure to holistic principles (for life and not just for Christmas). (see: www.hedolistic.com)

So hedolistic it wasn’t, but I’m not complaining.

Childbirth-like specialist breathing got me through the toughest parts of this wellbeing workout, along with the gentler parts of Tina’s routine that had me purring like a kitten. Knuckle cracking was complemented by luxurious long strokes, which reminded me that massage is the ‘mother of all therapies’ (even if at times it appeared to be an over-strict, disciplinarian father).
Incidentally, this mega-massage - billed as aromatherapy - was not preceded by any sort of consultation, or perhaps more appropriately, riot act. No western style contra-indications were discussed either; it was straight down to business at this urban oasis where it’s a matter of buyer beware.

Dispensed with too were the prissiness and discomfort of the sensuality/sexuality issue. Certainly in my experience of British therapy rooms, the boundary is so clearly marked that it becomes an issue in its own right. While I’m not suggesting protection for therapist and client alike are important, I am saying the Thai approach - that allows massage of the chest, buttocks and high thighs without inhibition or embarrassment - is something we repressed Westerners can learn from. In other words “Get over it!”.

Anyway, enough body politics.

Finishing with some deep pressure from Tina’s elbows into my now ‘throw whatever you have at me’ shoulders and some implausible stretches that made me quite proud of myself, my Thai tormenter turned tension-tamer gently called time and suggested I take another shower.

Back on my feet, the world assumed that lovely, a little mushy, ‘there is a god’ feeling and back in the decompression lounge, I sipped warm fragrant tea as well as chilled water amid thoughtfully designed water features, floral arrangements and other post-massage guests. Massage therapists lined the inviting corridors with Thai-style grace and greetings, making you feel like a king or queen, yet I couldn’t help feeling I should be the one bowing in respect for the skills so gratefully received.

Chilled to the max, it occurred to me that the suitably named Healthlands, a country within a country, a numinous nation state that all should be lucky enough to visit at some time in their lives, was the perfect blend of original barefoot healing arts, contemporary styling plus heart-warming Thai service and attention to detail.

I’m applying for citizenship.

Predictably, the opening of 2007’s starting gates saw the cream of the UK’s health and personal development celebrities stepping up for their share of the “New Year – New You” market.“Straight-talking nutritionist Gillian McKeith is back with a brand-new series - You Are What You Eat: Gillian Moves In,” says Channel 4. “The dinky diet detective has travelled the UK to find some desperate cases. Now they’ve got a big shock in store as they will be living under the same roof as Gillian, following her house rules, with no escape!”

In print, The Times wisely promotes mind-worker Paul McKenna, whose work – under the banner “I can change your life in five days” - is serialised throughout this week in five key areas: weight loss, giving up smoking, health, motivation and sleep.

Meanwhile, the smooth, rather than straight-talking nutritionist Patrick Holford tells us that “there is only one person who can change all this - and that is you”, as he promotes his 100% Health workshops that “make it virtually impossible for you not to jump your level of health.”

It’s Paul McKenna that I’d like to dwell on as he makes most sense to me, focussing as he does on positive modes of change and transformation, rather than nutritional and lifestyle terrorism like Doctor McKeith. Apart from jaw-dropping, freak show TV, what possible long-term merit is there in bullying people, who presumably already have self-esteem issues, and making them feel bad. To me that’s not real change; that’s just tidying your room to keep your mum happy, yet remaining a slob for the rest of your adult life after you’ve left home.

And as for wholefood-Holford, for my money, he’s not holistic enough, focussing mainly on the physical plane. That’s not to say his information isn’t useful, it’s just that McKenna takes us closer to the powerhouse of transformational power – the mind.

Among McKenna’s most valuable offerings are: ”a startling study edited by Dr Bernard Stewart recently released in the UK predicts that unless people begin taking responsibility for their health, global rates of cancer could rise by 50 per cent to 15 million new cases a year by 2020. The study went on to say that as many as two in three of these cases can be prevented and/or cured through “lifestyle changes”.“

“Research has indicated that generally optimists live longer, happier, healthier lives, partly because optimum states enhance our immune system. Studies in recent years have proven that we can dramatically enhance our immune system by actively choosing our beliefs and consistently practising visualisation techniques,” he adds, leaving us with the big question: “if the secret to good health is a positive perspective, what’s causing all the disease?”

“Simple,” he claims, “studies have suggested that the major threat in modern life is being killed by our own defence system being triggered too often — by our response to stress.”

Now that’s a great insight in a week when M.E. (more cruelly known as “Yuppie Flu”) is back on the agenda, also thought by some to be the result of overtaxing our stress responses.

Sure, environmental toxins play their part – as McKenna happily points out. But the growing realisation that stress could be the incubating or disabling factor in disease, rather than a cause specifically, must surely warrant some consideration.

This of course brings me back to Gillian McKeith who stresses her “victims” into making seemingly positive changes. Whilst their conversion to fresh and even raw foods might make them feel better within the scope of a 30 or 60-minute TV show (along with healthier stools, as is McKeith’s preoccupation), I dread to think what the shame, stress and ridicule must be doing to their psychological wellbeing and consequential physical health months or years later.

McKenna seems to know that positive change can only last when good and positive feelings are deeply associated with the desirable outcomes we seek. He vindicates my “hedolistic” view of living well that combines a holistic understanding with hedonistic motives.

I maintain that shame, stress and conscription (via prescription) have no truly worthwhile place in health education and the pursuit of wellness. When will we realise that feeling good is the very essence of being well and well-being? When will we relax and enjoy our food without being faddy or fussy. It’s Pareto’s 80/20 rule for us hedolists, where alcohol and coffee have a guilt-free place alongside well-researched and tasty dietary choices – not a painful struggle for ‘nutritional correctness’.

Sadly, Gillian McKeith’s shows may never carry the disclaimer: “No human beings were harmed in the making of this programme” – why is bullying OK on TV when at the same time we are doing our best to drive it out of our schools and workplaces?

Hopefully, more of us will turn our minds to the liberating approaches of those in the know, and the know-how, like Paul McKenna, who are really beginning to understand the awesome power of the mind and its effect in all – and I mean everything - that we do.

By way of some light relief try this: http://www.stablesound.co.uk/poo.php

After three (four, if you take supplements - maybe) score years and ten, could we not have something a bit more meaningful than “grumpy old men” as the philosophical vanguard of those who go before us?

I’m new into my 40s and I want to be able to give something of worth to those coming along behind me, not whingeing frustration, dressed up as humour.

Instead of complaining about loud music, spitting and declining values, tell me something that will help me understand and enjoy life MORE. Don’t depress me with a potentially gloomy inheritance - what the hell happened to you?

  Pictured: Will (not quite feeling him-) Self - one of BBC TV’s Grumpy Old Men

You’ve been there; you’ve done it. Now say something wise based on your experience that will help us - your juniors - on our way. The hedolists especially know that life is good (even if living can be challenging at times).

Show us the way to more juice. For God’s sake lighten up and give us some glory to look forward to…