# Stillness in the Storms > Honest conversations about anger, grief, pain and racing minds, from Steven Webb, a meditation teacher paralysed since 1991. No quick fixes, no platitudes. A podcast with Steven Webb. 181 episodes, the newest from 28 October 2026. Every episode below links to a markdown copy of its page: show notes, the longer write-up, common questions and the full transcript. The web page is the same address without ".md". ## About - [About Steven Webb](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/about): who he is and why he teaches - [Every episode](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episodes): newest first - [Browse by subject](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/browse) - [Podcast feed (RSS)](https://feeds.captivate.fm/stillness-in-the-storms/), also on [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stillness-in-the-storms-with-steven-webb/id1467889656) and [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5Q4LN7Ev2CwTMzxj8jlFmN) - [Inner Peace Meditations](https://innerpeacemeditations.com/llms.txt): Steven's other show, short guided meditations - [Weekly Calm](https://stevenwebb.com/newsletter/): one calm email from Steven every Sunday - [Support](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/support): no adverts and no sponsors; listeners keep it free ## Inner Peace Foundations - [Forget Resolutions: Why One Word Is All You Need This Year](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/forget-resolutions-why-one-word-is-all-you-need-this-year.md): What would your one word for the year be? Forget resolutions. One word does more work than a list you will have abandoned by February. (Episode 156, 15 min, 3 January 2026) - [The Truth About Inner Peace: 5 Myths Debunked](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-truth-about-inner-peace-5-myths-debunked.md): What does inner peace actually mean? It is what is left when you are not suffering. It is already there, and mostly we just forget it is. (Episode 154, 23 min, 30 October 2025) - [Beyond Happiness: The Importance of Nourishment for a Meaningful Life](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/beyond-happiness-the-importance-of-nourishment-for-a-meaningful-life.md): What is the difference between something that makes you happy and something that nourishes you? Fireworks are wonderful. They do not feed you for the week. (Episode 126, 18 min, 3 August 2024) - [Feeling Lost and Unfulfilled? Discover the Secret to Purposeful Living](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/feeling-lost-and-unfulfilled-discover-the-secret-to-purposeful-living.md): What if your purpose is much smaller than you think? Maybe today it is to give somebody a hug you have not hugged for a while. That counts, and it is available now. (Episode 120, 20 min, 13 April 2024) - [Voices of the Soul: Understanding and Embracing Internal Dialogues](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/voices-of-the-soul-understanding-and-embracing-internal-dialogues.md): How many voices are arguing in your head right now? I call mine the ten thousand, and I am tired. They do not go quiet just because you sat down to meditate. (Episode 106, 22 min, 30 November 2023) - [How the Thought Funnel Shapes Your Reality](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-the-thought-funnel-shapes-your-reality.md): Why does a small thought turn into a whole afternoon? Because it goes up a funnel, and the funnel widens as it climbs. (Episode 102, 19 min, 16 September 2023) - [Embracing Your Humanity: Discovering Peace and Suffer Less](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/embracing-our-humanity-discovering-peace-within-our-condition.md): What does it actually mean to be human? Nobody handed you a form to tick before you arrived. You are dealing with feelings that took millions of years to build. (Episode 101, 26 min, 7 September 2023) - [Unlock the Secret Army Inside You: How to Boost Health and Find Inner Peace](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/unlock-the-secret-army-inside-you-how-to-boost-health-and-find-inner-peace.md): What if your body has a workforce, and you keep giving it extra jobs? The soldiers have to clean the lungs, repair the cuts and process bad food. Something gets dropped. (Episode 99, 21 min, 25 August 2023) - [How to Embrace the Full Stick of Life](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-embrace-the-full-stick-of-life.md): Can you have the good bits without the bad ones? No. And a small pond muddies far quicker than a big one, which turns out to be most of the problem. (Episode 98, 13 min, 17 August 2023) - [Making Friends with the Present: A Life-Changing Shift](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/making-friends-with-the-present-a-life-changing-shift.md): Do you actually know that the worst thing that happened to you was bad? You never know what worse luck your bad luck saved you from. (Episode 95, 22 min, 27 July 2023) - [How to Harness Your 3 Core Values to Navigate Life’s Many Roles](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-harness-your-3-core-values-to-navigate-lifes-many-roles.md): How many roles are you playing at once? Employee, colleague, manager, mentor, parent. I was a councillor and a mayor, and I am loving not being one of those anymore. (Episode 92, 20 min, 16 June 2023) - [Why Tiny Experiences Can Change Your Life Forever - Find Out How!](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/why-tiny-experiences-can-change-your-life-forever-find-out-how.md): Which moments turn out to be the big ones? Enjoy the little things, said Robert Brault, for one day you may look back and realise they were the big things. (Episode 87, 22 min, 4 May 2023) - [Befriending Your Mind: The Secret to Inner Peace](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/befriending-your-mind-the-secret-to-inner-peace.md): Why does your mind do things you did not ask it to? Because three separate minds get the information before you do. (Episode 84, 26 min, 5 March 2023) - [The Ultimate Guide to Living: 10 Lessons We All Can Learn from Those Who've Lived It](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-ultimate-guide-to-living-10-lessons-we-all-can-learn-from-those-whove-lived-it.md): If you had ten lessons left to hand on, what would they be? Here are mine, and death is what made me write them. (Episode 83, 27 min, 24 February 2023) - [Deep Gratitude – If the Kettle Had Feelings!](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/deep-gratitude-if-the-kettle-had-feelings.md): What would your kettle say about you if it had feelings? That is not a joke. That is where deep gratitude starts. (Episode 80, 25 min, 28 January 2023) - [3 Things I Wish I Knew Years Ago](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/3-things-i-wish-i-knew-years-ago.md): What three things do I wish I had known years ago? The first one costs you nothing and almost everybody gets it wrong. (Episode 78, 22 min, 6 January 2023) - [Here's the Gap – and why it matters!](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/heres-the-gap-and-why-it-matters.md): Ever said something you regretted about three seconds later? There is a gap between what happens and how you answer it, and it is bigger than it feels. (Episode 73, 23 min, 16 September 2022) - [What Is in Your Control and Why It Is Important to Know](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/what-is-in-your-control-and-why-it-is-important-to-know.md): What is actually in your control? Far less than you think, and that turns out to be the good news. I spent my rock bottom trying to run the whole world. (Episode 71, 18 min, 23 April 2022) - [Thinking Positive Will Not Make You Happy – This Will!](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/thinking-positive-will-not-make-you-happy-this-will.md): Can you actually control your thoughts? No, and being told to think positive is exactly why so many people feel they are failing at it. (Episode 68, 23 min, 9 January 2022) - [2 Words You Should Stop Using AND What to Use Instead](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/2-words-you-should-stop-using-and-what-to-use-instead.md): Which two words are quietly framing your whole life wrong? Good and bad. I swapped them for healthy and unhealthy, and it took the harshness off everything, anger included. (Episode 64, 19 min, 30 August 2021) - [Should I settle for what I have? Can I dream and want more?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/should-i-settle-for-what-i-have.md): If I am grateful for what I have, am I still allowed to want more? Yes, and pretending otherwise is its own trap. (Episode 63, 17 min, 7 August 2021) - [I Know What You Are Searching For... Am I Right?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/i-know-what-you-are-searching-for-am-i-right.md): What are you actually searching for? I joined the clubs, the forums and the groups, and none of it delivered. (Episode 61, 16 min, 6 June 2021) - [Forget Gratitude – Do a Stock-Take Instead](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/forget-gratitude-do-a-stock-take-instead.md): Has gratitude turned into another thing on your to-do list? Try a stock take instead. Walk round the house and actually look at what is in it. (Episode 55, 10 min, 31 March 2021) - [My 25% Rule to Help You Grow Consciously](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/my-25-rule-to-help-you-grow-consciously.md): What happens when you sit and properly listen to people you disagree with? I ran out of excuses, went to the council meetings, and found it genuinely fascinating. (Episode 50, 17 min, 15 January 2021) - [Your Knowledge Is Worthless If You…](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/your-knowledge-is-worthless-if-you.md): Is your knowledge worth anything if you never use it? I have a confession, and it involves a shelf of unread books. (Episode 44, 14 min, 25 October 2020) - [How to Think Positive Even with a Negative Bias](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-think-positive-even-with-a-negative-bias.md): Can you think positive when your brain is built with a negative bias? Just think positive is the worst advice I ever gave, and I gave it for twenty years. (Episode 42, 21 min, 13 October 2020) - [What Is My Best Advice?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/if-my-last-podcast-what-is-my-best-advice.md): If I could give you one piece of advice, what would it be? You cannot change this moment, so what are you going to do with it? (Episode 39, 18 min, 28 September 2020) - [How to SOLVE 99% of YOUR PROBLEMS](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-solve-99-of-your-problems.md): Do you want to solve 99% of your problems? Then stop numbing them and go and find what is causing them. (Episode 30, 15 min, 17 June 2020) - [Finding Your CORE VALUES and Why It Is so Important](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/finding-your-core-values-and-why-it-is-so-important.md): What are your core values, and do you actually bring them into every room you walk into? (Episode 14, 13 min, 14 January 2020) - [How to Control Your Thoughts and Enjoy Inner Peace](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/8-how-to-control-your-thoughts-and-enjoy-inner-peace.md): Can you control your thoughts? Try this. What will your next thought be? You cannot know. So the control was never there to lose in the first place. (Episode 8, 21 min, 24 September 2019) - [Managing Expectations vs Your Inner Peace](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/managing-expectations-vs-your-inner-peace.md): Are your expectations quietly costing you your peace? Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. (Episode 3, 20 min, 20 June 2019) - [Building the Foundations of Stillness](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/building-the-foundations-of-stillness.md): Why does your calm hold in a traffic jam and vanish the moment your own family walk in? Because calm without foundations is just good weather. (Episode 2, 25 min, 13 June 2019) - [Stillness in the Storms of Life](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/stillness-in-the-storms-of-life.md): What does it mean to be still while everything around you is a storm? Picture a bar brawl, and one man at the end of it, quietly drinking. (Episode 1, 23 min, 13 June 2019) ## Buddhist & Spiritual Wisdom - [There Is No Steven in Here: What I Learned at the Bottom of a Swimming Pool](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/there-is-no-steven-in-here-what-i-learned-at-the-bottom-of-a-swimming-pool.md): Who are you, really, behind all the roles? Sit properly with that question and no answer comes. That is the answer. (Episode 175, 20 min, 22 August 2026) - [Finding Inner Peace: Do You Need to Be a Buddhist?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/finding-inner-peace-do-you-need-to-be-a-buddhist.md): Do you need to be a Buddhist to find inner peace? I am not one, and I do not think you need to be either. (Episode 161, 20 min, 29 March 2026) - ["Is This All There Is?" Answering the Quiet Question in Your Heart](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/is-this-all-there-is-answering-the-quiet-question-in-your-heart.md): Is this all there is? If that question keeps visiting you, it is not a fault. It might be the most important one you have asked. (Episode 160, 23 min, 15 March 2026) - [When Jesus and the Buddha Sit at the Same Table](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/when-jesus-and-the-buddha-sit-at-the-same-table.md): Do Jesus and the Buddha actually disagree? I do not think they do. You write the book for the audience in front of you, and that explains most of the difference. (Episode 155, 24 min, 16 November 2025) - [Enlightenment in 2 Minutes: How Micro-Moments Can Transform Your Life](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/enlightenment-in-2-minutes-how-micro-moments-can-transform-your-life.md): What is enlightenment, really? Waking up to what is true and suffering less for it. Not floating. And for me it started with a hundred and twenty year old book. (Episode 141, 26 min, 22 February 2025) - [Unveiling the True Self: Beyond Ego and Illusion](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/unveiling-the-true-self-beyond-ego-and-illusion.md): Who is the you underneath the you? There is a self below the ego, and the ego is the part doing all the suffering. (Episode 137, 21 min, 8 January 2025) - [Beyond Mindfulness: Deepening Your Spiritual Insight](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/beyond-mindfulness-deepening-your-spiritual-insight.md): What comes after mindfulness? Noticing the leaves is the start, not the finish. (Episode 133, 14 min, 13 November 2024) - [Ego vs. Essence: Finding Peace Beyond Your Labels](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/ego-vs-essence-finding-peace-beyond-your-labels.md): Who are you without your story? Take away the job, the labels and the roles, and what is left? (Episode 132, 19 min, 3 November 2024) - [Embracing Innocence: How I Was Wrong About Navigating Adulthood](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/embracing-innocence-how-i-was-wrong-about-navigating-adulthood.md): What would your seven year old self do with today? Mine would not know he was supposed to fix everything, and that turns out to be an advantage. (Episode 116, 16 min, 18 March 2024) - [Shining Your Inner Light: Exploring the Journey from Pure Thought to Complex Ego](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/unraveling-your-inner-light-exploring-the-journey-from-pure-thought-to-complex-ego.md): What is underneath the story of who you think you are? I took the whole thing apart, layer by layer, because I wanted to see what was at the bottom. (Episode 115, 27 min, 8 March 2024) - [Unpacking Truths: Politics, Ice Cream & Spiritualism Unite!](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/unpacking-truths-politics-ice-cream-spiritualism-unite.md): Can two people both be right when they completely disagree? Yes, and a mountain explains why. What you can see depends entirely on how far up it you are stood. (Episode 110, 18 min, 6 January 2024) - [The Kensho That Transformed My Journey: A New Year’s Message](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-kensho-that-transformed-my-journey-a-new-years-message.md): What one thing changed my life most? A book. As a Man Thinketh, and the line that I am not my thoughts, which raises a far better question straight after it. (Episode 109, 16 min, 31 December 2023) - [How to Suffer Less Embracing Change on the Spiritual Journey](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-suffer-less-embracing-change-on-the-spiritual-journey.md): How do you suffer less without going numb? Not by getting rid of the pain. By stopping the bypass. (Episode 94, 24 min, 7 July 2023) - [Embrace Nature’s Wisdom: Overcoming Stress, Anxiety, and Consumption](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/embrace-natures-wisdom-overcoming-stress-anxiety-and-consumption.md): Can you clear muddy water by stirring it? Alan Watts said muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone, and that is the whole of this one. (Episode 93, 19 min, 29 June 2023) - [Simplifying Your Spiritual Journey: Finding Peace Amidst Suffering](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/simplifying-your-spiritual-journey-finding-peace-amidst-suffering.md): What if the spiritual path is far simpler than everybody is selling you? I needed it simplified or I was not going to make it. (Episode 81, 23 min, 9 February 2023) - [Why Your Spiritual Journey is Incomplete](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/why-your-spiritual-journey-to-your-heart-is-incomplete.md): Is the spiritual journey really from the head to the heart? Partly. But most people then try to disconnect the head entirely, and that does not work either. (Episode 46, 9 min, 14 December 2020) - [The Middle Way | Life with less Suffering](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-middle-way-life-with-less-suffering.md): Should you cut the negative people out of your life? Everyone on the spiritual path says yes. I think that is how you end up unable to deal with anything at all. (Episode 34, 14 min, 1 August 2020) - [Why the 'Spiritual Journey' WILL NOT Reduce Your Suffering](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/why-the-spiritual-journey-will-not-reduce-your-suffering.md): Will a spiritual journey take your suffering away? No. Chasing one nearly made mine worse. (Episode 31, 21 min, 11 July 2020) - [The TRUTH behind your 'SPIRITUAL JOURNEY' and you may not like it!](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-truth-behind-your-spiritual-journey-and-you-may-not-like-it.md): Is my meditation even working? Toad read poems to his seeds and played them music, and they still would not grow. That is most of us, most of the time. (Episode 24, 16 min, 7 April 2020) - [The Three Cultural Poisons and Coronavirus Covid-19](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-three-cultural-poisons-and-coronavirus-covid-19.md): What can one person actually do when everything is falling apart? A lot more than you think, and it starts with picking up the phone and asking who needs something. (Episode 21, 22 min, 20 March 2020) ## Anxiety, Overwhelm & Stress - [Your Hands Are Full: Why You’re Not Failing at Meditation](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/your-hands-are-full-why-youre-not-failing-at-meditation.md): Why can't I stick to meditation when I know it helps? You're probably not lazy or broken. Your hands are already full, and practice shouldn't be one more box rammed into them. (Episode 181, 24 min, 28 October 2026) - [Why Is Everyone So Tired Right Now? How Awe Shrinks Worry](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/why-is-everyone-so-tired-right-now-how-awe-shrinks-worry.md): Why is everyone so tired right now? Not sleepy, world tired. Too much is changing too fast, our minds never come with an off switch, and we stay busy so we don't have to feel it. (Episode 180, 18 min, 11 October 2026) - [Overwhelmed by the News: Caring Without Drowning](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/overwhelmed-by-the-news-caring-without-drowning.md): How do you care about what's happening in the world without it dragging you under? Practice first, news second. Then do one small thing and put it down. (Episode 179, 14 min, 4 October 2026) - [The Mind That Will Not Be Quiet](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-mind-that-will-not-be-quiet.md): Why does your mind pick 3am? You have thirty to forty thoughts a minute and you asked for none of them. The mistake is deciding the goal is a blank, silent mind. (Episode 170, 15 min, 18 June 2026) - [Overthinking Is Not Your Fault (But Here's How to Stop)](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/overthinking-is-not-your-fault-but-heres-how-to-stop.md): Whose thoughts are they, actually? Mostly your parents', your grandparents', your teachers'. Overthinking is not your fault, which is the good news and the bad news at once. (Episode 148, 20 min, 8 June 2025) - [The Truth About Anxiety & Imposter Syndrome](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-truth-about-anxiety-imposter-syndrome.md): Do anxiety and imposter syndrome ever go away? No. Mine did not. What changed is that I stopped treating them as the problem and started treating them as voices. (Episode 147, 19 min, 1 June 2025) - [Transforming Your Thoughts: The Truth About Positive and Negative Thinking](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/transforming-your-thoughts-the-truth-about-positive-and-negative-thinking.md): Is there really such a thing as a negative thought? By the end of this I do not think you will say yes. (Episode 130, 21 min, 22 October 2024) - [Reducing Overwhelm: How to Simplify Life and Find Inner Peace](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/reducing-overwhelm-how-to-simplify-life-and-find-inner-peace.md): Why are you exhausted after the supermarket? Hundreds of tiny decisions. Overwhelm is rarely one big thing, it is the small ones piling up unnoticed. (Episode 125, 19 min, 8 July 2024) - [Achieving Calm by Trusting Your Body's Wisdom](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/achieving-calm-by-trusting-your-bodys-wisdom.md): Does this moment really need you to do anything with it? Usually not. A short one, and that question is most of the content. (Episode 124, 6 min, 14 June 2024) - [Mastering the Art of Questioning: Transforming Anxiety and Finding Clarity](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/mastering-the-art-of-questioning-transforming-anxiety-and-finding-clarity.md): What happens if you ask somebody how they are and actually mean it? Most of us ask and neither side expects a real answer. Your life is not your depression. (Episode 122, 17 min, 16 May 2024) - [Why Panic Attacks Happen (And How to Find Calm)](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/why-panic-attacks-happen-and-how-to-find-calm.md): Why do panic attacks arrive out of nowhere? They do not. Mine turned up on the way to buy a poppy, and it felt like the whole world was ending. (Episode 119, 22 min, 7 April 2024) - [Remaining Calm in the Festive Chaos: Plus Post-Hospital Update](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/remaining-calm-in-the-festive-chaos-plus-post-hospital-update.md): How do you get through Christmas when you do not feel like celebrating? You are not ruining anybody's Christmas by not being in the mood for it. (Episode 108, 16 min, 24 December 2023) - [Uncluttering the Mind: Finding Stillness Amidst Anxiety and Overwhelm](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/uncluttering-the-mind-finding-stillness-amidst-anxiety-and-overwhelm.md): Why are you so tired when you have not done much? Because your head is full. Lists you never finished, voices from things you binge watched, and visual noise you never notice. (Episode 89, 21 min, 18 May 2023) - [Simplify Everything to Reduce Anxiety](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/simplify-everything-to-reduce-anxiety.md): Are you overcomplicating it? Nobody noticed my dark green shirt today. Most of what we agonise over was never being watched in the first place. (Episode 74, 19 min, 24 September 2022) - [What to Do When the World Is Burning and You Feel Helpless](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/what-to-do-when-the-world-is-burning.md): What do you do when the world is on fire and you can do nothing about it? You work out what is genuinely at arm's length, and you start there. (Episode 70, 12 min, 27 February 2022) - [How to Deal with Life’s Pressures (Anxiety, Overwhelm and Stress)](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-deal-with-lifes-pressures-anxiety-overwhelm-and-stress.md): Where does the pressure actually build up? Not in the big things. In the notifications and the small unanswered stuff, in a cooker nobody thinks to let out. (Episode 57, 14 min, 16 April 2021) - [Why can’t I sleep? #1 reason you Cannot Fall Asleep!](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/why-cant-i-sleep-the-number-one-reason-you-cannot-fall-asleep.md): Why will your body not let you fall asleep? Because it is checking you are safe. Sleep evolved to happen in a cave, and your bedroom has to convince it. (Episode 52, 15 min, 6 March 2021) - [3 WAYS steps to DEAL with STRESS quickly](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/my-3-really-effective-steps-to-deal-with-stress-quickly.md): What is the first thing to do when stress has hold of you? Be quiet. Not deep breathing, not affirmations. Stop talking, and let the body come down a gear. (Episode 47, 17 min, 22 December 2020) - [I really didn’t want to do this](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/i-really-didnt-want-to-do-this.md): What does it look like when the person who teaches calm is the one having the panic attack? (Episode 43, 13 min, 22 October 2020) - [Dealing with OVERWHELMING THOUGHTS and EMOTIONS](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/dealing-with-overwhelming-thoughts-and-emotions.md): Have you ever shut the door, drawn the curtains and sat on the floor with your head on your knees? That is where this one starts. (Episode 19, 17 min, 1 March 2020) - [How to Sleep Even When It's Too Hot to Sleep](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-sleep-even-when-its-too-hot-to-sleep.md): Why can you not sleep when it is hot, and can you catch it up at the weekend? You cannot. Sleep is a skill, and most of us were never taught it. (Episode 5, 23 min, 1 August 2019) ## Hard Times & Resilience - [Part of You Doesn't Want the Pain to Stop: Here's Why](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/part-of-you-doesnt-want-the-pain-to-stop-heres-why.md): Why does part of you not want the pain to stop? Pain is inevitable. Suffering is the second arrow, and you fire that one. (Episode 172, 21 min, 26 July 2026) - [Waking Up to Body Betrayal: How to Find Peace in the Pain](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/waking-up-to-body-betrayal-how-to-find-peace-in-the-pain.md): Is your body letting you down, or have you been sold that story? Mine is not the enemy. It has always told me exactly what it needed, and I did not always listen. (Episode 167, 16 min, 17 May 2026) - [In a Hard World, Your Softest Skills Are Your Strongest Asset](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/in-a-hard-world-your-softest-skills-are-your-strongest-asset.md): What cards were you actually dealt? I never finished school, I was kicked out of sixth form, and I have never passed an exam beyond GCSEs. You play the hand. (Episode 153, 20 min, 20 September 2025) - [Finding Peace and Stillness in the Current Storms](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/finding-peace-and-stillness-in-the-current-storms.md): How do you stay steady when the news will not stop? Six weeks into the year and it is already relentless. (Episode 140, 13 min, 15 February 2025) - [Navigating Life's Struggles: Acceptance vs. Avoidance](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/navigating-lifes-struggles-acceptance-vs-avoidance.md): Are you accepting your life, or quietly avoiding it? I wrote this at two in the morning and it caught me out. (Episode 138, 13 min, 29 January 2025) - [How I Handle Toughest Times (probably shared too much here)](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-i-handle-toughest-times-probably-shared-too-much-here.md): Have you ever been so low that euthanasia started to sound reasonable? I got there this week, and I had never been there before. (Episode 76, 23 min, 7 December 2022) - [3 Things That Will Make You Happier In Difficult Times](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/3-things-that-will-make-you-happier-in-difficult-times.md): Would your life really have been better if the bad thing had not happened? Three things that keep me steady, and the first is that the alternative might have been worse. (Episode 65, 15 min, 30 September 2021) - [What Are Your HIDDEN Strengths?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/what-are-your-hidden-strengths.md): Does what doesn't kill you really make you stronger? Partly, and it also annoys me. Strength is the ability to deal with change, not the ability to jump out of aeroplanes. (Episode 60, 12 min, 31 May 2021) - [How You Choose Your Altitude](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-you-choose-your-altitude.md): What if this year you do not need a big change, just a slightly different altitude? (Episode 48, 12 min, 2 January 2021) - [Why Your BODY IS Your BEST TEACHER](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/why-your-body-is-your-best-teacher.md): What is your body trying to tell you, and why can you not read it? Mine speaks a language I had to learn from scratch. (Episode 38, 17 min, 17 September 2020) - [7 Things We and Governments Should Learn from 2020](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/7-things-we-and-governments-should-learn-from-2020.md): What should we and our governments actually learn from 2020? Seven things, and clapping is not one of them. (Episode 33, 26 min, 28 July 2020) - [Getting Out Of Your Comfort Zone](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/getting-out-of-your-comfort-zone.md): How do you actually get out of your comfort zone? Every quote online makes it sound easy. It is not. (Episode 28, 19 min, 2 June 2020) - [What to Do When Your Life Doesn't Go to Plan](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/what-to-do-when-your-life-doesnt-go-to-plan.md): Would the other version of your life really have been better? I spent three months not getting out of bed at all, and I worked out how to eat with a fork through my hand. (Episode 27, 19 min, 17 May 2020) - [3 Things We ALL NEED to GET THROUGH this Together](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/3-things-we-all-need-to-get-through-this-together.md): How do you stop an argument before it starts? Agree the rule in advance. Twenty seconds, which is three breaths, and anybody can manage three breaths. (Episode 23, 16 min, 31 March 2020) - [How to Save Someone's Life! The MOST DIFFICULT Story I've Ever Told](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-save-someones-life-the-most-difficult-story-ive-ever-told.md): Why is asking for help the hardest thing we ever do? Because shame is the lowest feeling there is, and shame does not ask. (Episode 17, 19 min, 19 February 2020) - [Dealing with Life's Knockout Blows](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/dealing-with-lifes-knockout-blows.md): Why do feelings come in waves? Because that is what they are. And the serenity prayer is not really about the big things at all, it is about the next five minutes. (Episode 12, 12 min, 7 December 2019) - [Things You Need to Know When You're Struggling](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/ings-you-need-to-know-when-youre-struggling.md): What do you do when you cannot pay the bills and you have stopped eating? I know, because I did it. The answer was the thing I was most avoiding. (Episode 6, 18 min, 20 August 2019) ## Working with Emotions - [If This Were My Last Podcast](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/if-this-were-my-last-podcast.md): If this were my last podcast, what would I want to leave you with? Let everything happen to you. No feeling is final. (Episode 174, 19 min, 11 August 2026) - [Happily Never After](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/happily-never-after.md): What if the thing you keep chasing is the exact reason you cannot catch it? There is no happily ever after, and that is good news. (Episode 173, 18 min, 2 August 2026) - [What Your Anger Is Really Saying](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/what-your-anger-is-really-saying.md): What is your anger actually saying? My teacher Jun Po told me he has never known an angry person who did not care. (Episode 171, 22 min, 28 June 2026) - [The First 30 Seconds: Why Every Feeling Is a Gift](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-first-30-seconds-why-every-feeling-is-a-gift.md): Where does a feeling actually come from, and what happens in the first thirty seconds of it? (Episode 168, 16 min, 31 May 2026) - ["I'm Fine": When It's Armour, When It's Honest, and How to Tell](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/im-fine-when-its-armour-when-its-honest-and-how-to-tell.md): When you say I'm fine, is it armour or is it honest? Both, depending on the day. And sometimes fine is genuinely the right answer, because not every conversation is one you want. (Episode 166, 22 min, 3 May 2026) - [Feel Deeply, Suffer Less: The Unexpected Power of Emotion](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/feel-deeply-suffer-less-the-unexpected-power-of-emotion.md): Can you detach from pain without going numb to everything else? No, and that is the catch. Deny the hard feelings and the good ones go with them. (Episode 144, 16 min, 7 April 2025) - [How to Stay Calm in the Face of Anger](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-stay-calm-in-the-face-of-anger.md): Why does a raised voice make you feel sick? Your nervous system is not overreacting. It learned that anger meant danger, and it is still doing its job. (Episode 143, 18 min, 29 March 2025) - [Emotional Connections: The Moments That Shape Us](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/emotional-connections-the-moments-that-shape-us.md): What do you actually remember of your life? Not the years. Just the moments. (Episode 139, 14 min, 7 February 2025) - [Unlock the Hidden Gifts of Solitude and Loneliness](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/unlock-the-hidden-gifts-of-solitude-and-loneliness.md): What is the difference between loneliness and solitude? One arrives and one is chosen, and knowing which you are in changes what you do about it. (Episode 121, 22 min, 27 April 2024) - [How to Turn Around Negative and Dark Thoughts](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-turn-around-negative-and-dark-thoughts.md): How do you break the cycle when dark thoughts keep coming round again? Ian emailed me these questions, so this episode answers them one at a time. (Episode 112, 26 min, 10 February 2024) - [Be Emotional Not Disturbable](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/be-emotional-not-disturbable.md): Can you feel everything deeply and still not be knocked over by it? That is the whole trick, and it is not the same thing as going cold. (Episode 79, 22 min, 13 January 2023) - [This Is Where You Will FIND Your PASSION](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/this-is-where-you-will-find-your-passion.md): Why do we avoid the exact thing we most want to do? Because wanting it means we could fail at it, and I have been doing that for years. (Episode 67, 18 min, 2 January 2022) - [The Paradox of Happiness](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-paradox-of-happiness.md): Why does happiness keep moving the moment you reach it? Because you are chasing an experience and calling it a state. (Episode 62, 18 min, 31 July 2021) - [Perhaps Happiness is NOT a CHOICE?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/perhaps-happiness-is-not-a-choice.md): Why am I so happy in a wheelchair? I get asked constantly. The honest answer is that I am not always, and I no longer think happiness is simply a choice. (Episode 54, 11 min, 20 March 2021) - [The Emotion That Stopped Me Living | What’s Yours?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-emotion-that-stopped-me-living-whats-yours.md): What has actually been stopping you asking for help? For me it was shame, and I had no idea until somebody put the word to it. The truth annoys you first, then frees you. (Episode 41, 18 min, 6 October 2020) - [Can you be ANGRY and KIND?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/can-you-be-angry-and-kind.md): Can you be angry and kind at the same time? The real question is how mature your anger is. (Episode 36, 19 min, 10 August 2020) - [When Hugging Your Dragons Is Not Enough](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/when-hugging-your-dragons-is-not-enough.md): What if you have hugged all your dragons and you are still stuck? Then the thing holding you is not the dragon. (Episode 26, 14 min, 5 May 2020) - [How To FACE Your FEAR And ENJOY Inner Peace](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-face-your-fear-and-enjoy-inner-peace.md): Is it weak to admit you are frightened? I said I was, and people rushed in to tell me there was no need. (Episode 22, 14 min, 26 March 2020) - [Where is HAPPINESS?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/where-is-happiness.md): Where is happiness, exactly? Try to point at it. It is not up at the high moments and it is not the thing you are chasing. It sits on the ordinary line in the middle. (Episode 20, 16 min, 9 March 2020) - [Best Way to COPE with LONELINESS?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/best-way-to-cope-with-loneliness.md): Where exactly does loneliness live in your body? Sit with it and find out, because that is more useful than any advice about getting out more. (Episode 18, 17 min, 24 February 2020) ## Love, Empathy & Other People - [Gates, Not Thorns: Are Your Boundaries a Prison?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/gates-not-thorns-are-your-boundaries-a-prison.md): Are your boundaries keeping you safe, or keeping you stuck? I have never liked the word. This week a reader called Katherine gave me a better one: gates, not thorns. (Episode 176, 19 min, 6 September 2026) - [Giving Space: Love Without Taking Over](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/giving-space-love-without-taking-over.md): What is the hardest kind of love? Giving somebody space. Not walking away, not going cold, not pretending you do not care. Space that still says I am here. (Episode 169, 17 min, 7 June 2026) - [Empathy vs. Compassion: What's the Real Difference?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/empathy-vs-compassion-whats-the-real-difference.md): What is the actual difference between empathy and compassion? Alan Watts called compassion the cosmic wink that says I see you, fellow player. That is the whole of it. (Episode 151, 21 min, 5 August 2025) - [How Big Is Your Circle? Let's Talk Love and Acceptance](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-big-is-your-circle-lets-talk-love-and-acceptance.md): How big is your circle, honestly? Not who you like. Who you would genuinely be there for. And most of us can accept a stranger more easily than our own brother. (Episode 145, 20 min, 30 April 2025) - [Navigating the Holiday Chaos: A Guide to Compassionate Mindfulness](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/navigating-the-holiday-chaos-a-guide-to-compassionate-mindfulness.md): How do you find any peace at Christmas when everybody expects you to be upbeat? (Episode 135, 21 min, 3 December 2024) - [Amae: The Art of Surrendering and Finding True Strength](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/amae-the-art-of-surrendering-and-finding-true-strength.md): What if giving up some control is a strength rather than a loss? The Japanese have a word for it, amae, and I live it every single day. (Episode 123, 16 min, 8 June 2024) - [It’s Not About Them, It’s About You: Embracing Inner Peace in Challenging Situations](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/its-not-about-them-its-about-you-embracing-inner-peace-in-challenging-situations.md): When somebody treats you badly, why does who you are matter more than who they are? (Episode 88, 23 min, 10 May 2023) - [Don’t Let Them Bring You Down: Strategies for Dealing with Rude and Aggressive People](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/dont-let-them-bring-you-down-strategies-for-dealing-with-rude-and-aggressive-people.md): How do you stop a rude stranger from ruining the rest of your day? (Episode 82, 22 min, 19 February 2023) - [How to Genuinely Take Someone's Perspective](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-genuinely-take-someones-perspective.md): Can you really know how somebody else feels? No. You can care deeply and still not be in their shoes, and admitting that is more useful than pretending. (Episode 75, 20 min, 19 November 2022) - [Are You a Healthy PEOPLE PLEASER?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/are-you-a-healthy-people-pleaser.md): Can you be a healthy people pleaser? Yes. The unhealthy version agrees to the tea it does not want, because disagreeing feels worse than eating it. (Episode 69, 21 min, 21 February 2022) - [Is it possible to Love Everyone?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/is-it-possible-to-love-everyone.md): How can I say I love you to somebody I have never met? Because your suffering is the same as my suffering, and once you see that there is nothing else to say. (Episode 58, 15 min, 29 April 2021) - [What Would You Teach the World? (I asked Twitter and got amazing answers)](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/what-would-you-teach-the-world-i-asked-twitter-and-got-amazing-answers.md): If you could teach the whole world one thing, what would it be? I asked Twitter and read out every answer. Not one person said maths. (Episode 56, 19 min, 5 April 2021) - [When Caring is Not Enough! Biden, Inauguration and Elvis](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/when-caring-is-not-enough-biden-inauguration-and-elvis.md): What does Elvis missing a word teach you about being perfect? If you never miss one, you practised too much, and it is probably not coming from the heart any more. (Episode 51, 17 min, 20 January 2021) - [‘Based on a True Story’ – This WILL STOP You ARGUING](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/40-based-on-a-true-story-this-will-stop-you-arguing.md): Do you actually remember it, or did you build it? Every memory is based on a true story, and the gap between those two things ends most arguments. (Episode 40, 19 min, 4 October 2020) - [The World DOESN'T NEED MORE LOVE #BlackLivesMatter](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-world-doesnt-need-more-love-blacklivesmatter.md): Does the world really need more love? I do not think so. I think it needs more understanding, and they are not the same. (Episode 29, 19 min, 12 June 2020) - [Is there a difference between CARING and EMPATHY](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/is-there-a-difference-between-caring-and-empathy.md): What is the difference between caring and empathy? They are not the same thing, and one of them is quietly about you. (Episode 25, 16 min, 29 April 2020) - [Don't let EMPATHY DESTROY YOU | Healthy vs Unhealthy Empathy](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/dont-let-empathy-destroy-you-healthy-vs-unhealthy-empathy.md): Can you care about somebody without drowning in it? Empathy is not something you are given, it is something you grow. And there is a version that eats you alive. (Episode 15, 11 min, 22 January 2020) - [How to live with a Big Heart without Suffering!](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-live-with-a-big-heart-without-suffering.md): Can you have a big heart without drowning in everybody else's pain? Yes, and the difference is where you put it down. (Episode 11, 16 min, 26 November 2019) - [Simple Ways You Can Change the World](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/simple-ways-you-can-change-the-world.md): Do you have to do something huge to make the world better? No. And the pressure to do something grand is exactly what stops most people doing anything at all. (Episode 7, 8 min, 16 September 2019) ## Self-Acceptance & Self-Love - [The Dignity of Being Tired: Give Yourself a Break](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-dignity-of-being-tired-give-yourself-a-break.md): Why is it so hard to say I am tired? Tiredness is not a weakness. It is your body telling you something honest, and ignoring it was never a strategy. (Episode 163, 16 min, 11 April 2026) - [Who Are You When No One Needs Anything?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/who-are-you-when-no-one-needs-anything.md): Who are you when nobody needs anything from you? One day you are wanted everywhere, and then almost overnight you are not. (Episode 158, 12 min, 26 February 2026) - [How to Be Your Own Loving Parent](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-be-your-own-loving-parent.md): Who is parenting you? Most of us need somebody to say put your shoes on and get out of there, and there is nobody doing it, so it has to be us. (Episode 152, 16 min, 5 September 2025) - [Self Acceptance – The Zen Way](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/self-acceptance-the-zen-way.md): What are you going to complain about once everything is fixed? If you sorted the entire world out tomorrow, what would you do with the rest of the day? (Episode 146, 24 min, 19 May 2025) - [Vulnerability: A Pathway to Courage and Wisdom](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/vulnerability-a-pathway-to-courage-and-wisdom.md): Is being vulnerable the same as being weak? Asking for help is the most vulnerable thing most of us ever do. (Episode 134, 16 min, 24 November 2024) - [Deep Wisdom: The Power of Knowing Yourself and Nurturing Inner Compassion](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/deep-wisdom-the-power-of-knowing-yourself-and-nurturing-inner-compassion.md): Why does everything feel so shallow? We consume thirty second videos and headlines at speed and never dig into any of it. Going deeper is the whole answer. (Episode 117, 27 min, 24 March 2024) - [Inner Harmony: The Art of Becoming Whole](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/inner-harmony-the-art-of-becoming-whole.md): What are you actually looking for in other people? Look at who you are drawn to and you find out what you think you are lacking in yourself. (Episode 111, 16 min, 29 January 2024) - [Learning to Love Yourself](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/learning-to-love-yourself.md): How do you love yourself when society keeps telling you something is wrong with you? I was sat in the cathedral last night, and even a perfect cathedral has flaws in it. (Episode 105, 22 min, 17 November 2023) - [Embracing Self-Love and Acceptance](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/embracing-self-love-and-acceptance.md): Why is your inner critic so much harsher than anybody else's? Because it has inside information. It knows what you actually think, and it uses all of it. (Episode 91, 19 min, 4 June 2023) - [Finding Confidence Amid Self-Doubt: A Discussion on Imposter Syndrome and Dunning-Kruger Effect](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/finding-confidence-amid-self-doubt-a-discussion-on-imposter-syndrome-and-dunning-kruger-effect.md): Do you feel like you should not be in the room? I had imposter syndrome for years without a name for it, and hearing that Richard Branson has it too undid most of it. (Episode 90, 23 min, 26 May 2023) - [Discovering the Real You: How to Break Free of Social Masks and Live Your Best Life](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/discovering-the-real-you-how-to-break-free-of-social-masks-and-live-your-best-life.md): What if you fit in everywhere and belong nowhere? Brene Brown said I may fit in for you, but I no longer belong to myself, and it landed hard. (Episode 86, 25 min, 18 April 2023) - [Breaking the Chains of Shame: One Man’s Journey to Self-Acceptance](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/breaking-the-chains-of-shame-one-mans-journey-to-self-acceptance.md): Do you know what your shame actually sounds like? Mine sounded like no, I am okay, thank you, said quickly, while backing away from anybody offering help. (Episode 85, 30 min, 15 March 2023) - [Becoming Whole - My Favourite Subject and Turning 50](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/becoming-whole-my-favourite-subject-and-turning-50.md): What does it actually mean to become whole? I turned fifty this week, which is something I never expected to see. (Episode 77, 22 min, 14 December 2022) - [Being Authentic and Genuine in a Non-Genuine World](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/being-authentic-and-genuine-in-a-non-genuine-world.md): What does being genuine even mean when everybody only puts their best self out there? I thought I was authentic until I looked properly, and I am not. (Episode 66, 16 min, 24 October 2021) - [Why Is It so Difficult to Love Ourselves?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/why-is-it-so-difficult-to-love-ourselves.md): Why is it so hard to love yourself when everybody keeps telling you to just do it? (Episode 53, 9 min, 15 March 2021) - [Why You Are Already Living Your Best Possible Life](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/why-you-are-already-living-your-best-possible-life.md): What if you are already living your best possible life? Not the nicest one. The best one available, because it is the only one that happened. (Episode 32, 18 min, 19 July 2020) - [Why BEING ENOUGH Is More Important Than Perfect](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/why-being-enough-is-more-important-than-perfect.md): What if you are already enough, and perfect was never the target? I had it engraved on something once, and the engraver emailed back to ask if I was sure. (Episode 13, 11 min, 8 January 2020) ## Steven's Story - [What Will I Miss? My Story for World Suicide Prevention Day](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/what-will-i-miss-my-story-for-world-suicide-prevention-day.md): What would you miss? This episode is about suicide, my granddad's and my own, and the one question that kept me here. If you need help right now, the numbers are just below. (Episode 177, 18 min, 10 September 2026) - [Apricity and the Calm After the Storm](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/apricity-and-the-calm-after-the-storm.md): How do you stay calm through the strongest winds Cornwall has ever had? You watch the news enough to know what is happening, and then you stop watching it. (Episode 157, 17 min, 17 January 2026) - [Moments That Matter: A Heartfelt New Year Message](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/moments-that-matter-a-heartfelt-new-year-message.md): Do you actually rely on anybody? I cannot put a jumper on without help, and it took me most of my life to stop saying no thanks. You rely on people too. (Episode 136, 9 min, 31 December 2024) - [Moments That Matter: A Journey Through Cornwall](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/moments-that-matter-a-journey-through-cornwall.md): What do you take away from 500 miles in a wheelchair? A hundred and forty parishes, three hundred places, thousands of conversations, and one question that stopped me years ago. (Episode 129, 16 min, 13 October 2024) - [A Special Update: 500 Miles and a Heavy Heart – Philosophical Musings from the Road](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/a-special-update-500-miles-and-a-heavy-heart-philosophical-musings-from-the-road.md): What do you do when a friend dies while you are out raising money in their honour? I was on the road doing 500 miles for the air ambulance when I got the message. (Episode 128, 16 min, 15 September 2024) - [3 Life Lessons (From hospital bed not edited)](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/3-life-lessons-from-hospital-bed-not-edited.md): What do you actually hold on to from a hospital bed? My paralysis taught me the alternative is not just irrelevant, it does not exist. There is only the ground under your feet. (Episode 107, 9 min, 12 December 2023) - [Update 2: I’m on my way back…](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/update-2-im-on-my-way-back.md): Am I back yet? Nearly. I am sleeping again and I am not falling asleep every two hours. (Episode 104, 5 min, 10 November 2023) - [Quick Update – and Thank You](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/quick-update-and-thank-you.md): Where has the podcast been for the last few weeks? Short answer: I needed to stop, so I stopped. (Episode 103, 3 min, 6 October 2023) - [100 Episodes, 32 Years On: The Most Important Message I Have](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/100-episodes-32-years-on-the-most-important-message-i-have.md): Have you ever thought about taking your life, or lost somebody who did? This is the most important thing I have to say, and it took me a hundred episodes to say it. (Episode 100, 21 min, 1 September 2023) - [Enough Is Enough - I need your help](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/enough-is-enough-i-need-your-help.md): What are you actually waiting for? I am 49, I have everything I need to do the work, and I am watching Netflix instead. So I am asking you to hold me to it. (Episode 72, 15 min, 2 September 2022) - [Be Your 7 Year Old Self – Day 2 #MayorOfTruro](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/be-your-7-year-old-self-day-2-mayoroftruro.md): What would today look like if you met it the way your seven year old self would? (Episode 59, 11 min, 19 May 2021) - [Reasons it’s Awesome to be Paralysed (DON’T LISTEN IF EASILY OFFENDED)](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/7-reasons-its-awesome-to-be-paralysed-dont-listen-if-easily-offended.md): Can there be anything good about being paralysed? Seven things, and I am only half joking about most of them. (Episode 49, 23 min, 10 January 2021) - [Today Is No Ordinary Day – 29 Years on](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/today-is-no-ordinary-day-29-years-on.md): What if today is the last day you can walk, or go to the toilet on your own? Mine was Sunday, 1 September 1991. (Episode 37, 13 min, 2 September 2020) - [Being vulnerable and I CANNOT BELIEVE I have been HIDING THIS!](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/being-vulnerable-and-i-cannot-believe-i-have-been-hiding-this.md): What have you been hiding without knowing you were hiding it? I found mine this week and I could not believe it. (Episode 16, 15 min, 10 February 2020) ## How to Meditate - [We're All Terrible Meditators: The Art of Doing Nothing on Purpose](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/were-all-terrible-meditators-the-art-of-doing-nothing-on-purpose.md): Are you bad at meditating? So is everyone. The mind wanders because that is its job. Meditation is not quieting it, it is noticing you have gone and coming back. (Episode 178, 17 min, 20 September 2026) - [8 Billion Minds. Why Meditation Doesn't Work for Everyone (And What You Can Do About It)](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/8-billion-minds-why-meditation-doesnt-work-for-everyone-and-what-you-can-do-about-it.md): Why does meditation work for some people and not others? Eight billion minds. You can only write the book from the altitude you are actually standing at. (Episode 165, 23 min, 26 April 2026) - [Demystifying Meditation: What You Need to Know](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/demystifying-meditation-what-you-need-to-know.md): Does meditation actually help in real life, off the cushion? That is the only place it counts. In the car, in the queue, and the second before you snap at somebody. (Episode 164, 30 min, 18 April 2026) - [The Art of Slowing Down: Spiritual Timeouts](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-art-of-slowing-down-spiritual-timeouts.md): Do you need an hour to reset, or would thirty seconds do it? (Episode 142, 10 min, 10 March 2025) - [Using Breath as the Gateway to Personal Connection and Calm](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/using-breath-as-the-gateway-to-personal-connection-and-calm.md): Why is the breath the one thing always available to you? Because if it is not there you have a much bigger problem. It even works on a stage in front of ten thousand people. (Episode 118, 20 min, 31 March 2024) - [How to Meditate: Even If You Think You Can’t](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-meditate-even-if-you-think-you-cant.md): Can you meditate if your mind never shuts off? Yes. The shutting off was never the point. (Episode 113, 23 min, 19 February 2024) - [How to Quieten Your Busy Mind](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-quieten-your-busy-mind.md): Can you actually quieten a busy mind? Not by switching it off. Asking your mind to stop is like asking your heart to stop beating. There is no off switch. (Episode 97, 21 min, 10 August 2023) - [Can Meditation Reduce My Stress and anxiety?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/can-meditation-reduce-my-stress-and-anxiety.md): Can meditation really reduce your stress and anxiety? Yes, but not by making the stress go away. (Episode 35, 19 min, 4 August 2020) - [How 5 Minutes Meditation can Help With Depression](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/9-how-5-minutes-meditation-can-help-with-depression.md): Can five minutes of meditation really touch depression? It will not fix it and I would not pretend otherwise. But it changes what you do with the thought. (Episode 9, 16 min, 1 October 2019) - [Can Over Thinkers Meditate?](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/can-over-thinkers-meditate.md): Can an overthinker actually meditate? I could not for twenty years, because I thought meditation meant no thinking. It does not, and that changed everything. (Episode 4, 25 min, 25 June 2019) ## Letting Go & Forgiveness - [What Rises When You Stop Pushing](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/what-rises-when-you-stop-pushing.md): What rises when you finally stop pushing? Something usually does, and it is rarely the thing you were forcing. (Episode 162, 21 min, 5 April 2026) - [When Letting Go Feels Impossible, Try This Instead](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/when-letting-go-feels-impossible-try-this-instead.md): What if letting go is the wrong instruction? Every time somebody says it, your mind grips the thing tighter. (Episode 159, 21 min, 6 March 2026) - [Attachment Isn’t the Enemy. The Struggle to Let Go Is](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/attachment-isnt-the-enemy-the-struggle-to-let-go-is.md): Is attachment really the enemy? No. It is the struggling to let go that hurts. (Episode 150, 23 min, 27 July 2025) - [Forgiveness Begins When the Heart Breaks Open](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/forgiveness-begins-when-the-heart-breaks-open.md): How do you forgive somebody who cheated on you? Not by understanding it. Something stopped me asking the questions, and that turned out to be the whole gift. (Episode 149, 18 min, 6 July 2025) - [Why Letting Go is Hard and How to Make it Easier](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/why-letting-go-is-hard-and-how-to-make-it-easier.md): Why is letting go so hard? Because your mind evolved to hold on. This is about what comes after forgiveness, when there is nothing left to do but put it down. (Episode 131, 16 min, 25 October 2024) - [The Art of Letting Go Without Losing Grip: Mastering Life's Balancing Act](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-art-of-letting-go-without-losing-grip-mastering-lifes-balancing-act.md): Is letting go of everything actually good advice? No. Hold it too tightly and it is a hot mess. Drop it entirely and nothing happens. The answer sits in the middle. (Episode 127, 23 min, 17 August 2024) - [Moving Forward: The Power of Forgiveness in Overcoming the Past](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/moving-forward-the-power-of-forgiveness-in-overcoming-the-past.md): Who is the hardest person to forgive? Usually yourself. The lad who used to beat me up on the way to school told me years later that I had saved his life. (Episode 114, 19 min, 1 March 2024) - [The Art of Moving On: Practical Wisdom for Life’s Toughest Moments](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/the-art-of-moving-on-practical-wisdom-for-lifes-toughest-moments.md): How do you move on from something that has broken you? Eight steps, and not one of them is quick. (Episode 96, 24 min, 3 August 2023) - [What to Do When LETTING IT GO Is Too Difficult](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/let-it-go-is-terrible-advice-do-this-instead.md): What is the difference between letting go and letting things be? One is a shove. The other is what actually works, and it took me a long time to tell them apart. (Episode 45, 23 min, 18 November 2020) - [How to Free Yourself and Become Fulfilled](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/episode/how-to-free-yourself-and-become-fulfilled.md): Why do you not recognise yourself any more? Because your glass got filled by everybody except you. (Episode 10, 12 min, 14 October 2019) ## Optional - [Suggest an episode](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/suggest): tell Steven what you are finding hard - [Privacy](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/privacy) - [Terms of use](https://stillnessinthestorms.com/terms)