I’d like to tell you the story of an apprehensive pack of lab rodents that have been able to teach us something profound about stress. If you’ve seen my film The Connection you will have heard a little about these animals, which were studied by scientists at the National Centre for Biological Sciences.   In a series of studies, the Indian researchers took lab rats and restrained them for two hours a day, for ten days to stress them out. The scientists observed that the animals started acting anxiously even when they weren’t being constrained. When they were placed in... Read full article »

You would expect the business card of a man who was one of the first people to be employed by Google to read Head Programmer or Manager of Digital Innovation, but when Chade-Meng Tan handed me his card, it gave him the title of ‘Jolly Good Fellow’ with a subtitle ‘Which nobody can deny.’   Meng’s job description at Google is to enlighten minds, open hearts and create world peace. He was awarded this noble position after he spent his 20% time - the time Google engineers are allowed to spend on something other than their regular job, developing a... Read full article »

In just seven days I will be competing for a coveted prize. Like many challenges worth setting one’s mind to, the actual winnings are not as valuable as the prestige of triumph. The competition will be fierce and although to a certain extent the outcome will be out of my control (I have my suspicions that it may be rigged), I will compete wholeheartedly in hopes I am victorious.   To win, one must be the recipient of a whole almond in one’s Christmas rice pudding. One must consume one’s pudding in its entirety without chewing too vigorously or one... Read full article »

Last Thursday night I was exhausted. The last thing I felt like doing was getting dressed up and heading out. But this was an engagement I had to keep. Not because it had some important work purpose or because I was obligated to go. It was for my mental health. I hadn’t caught up with a particular group of women for over a month. The instant I saw them, I knew I wanted and needed to be there.   If you’ve seen my film The Connection you may recall seeing vision of women with their babies sitting happily in a... Read full article »

A few months ago my life was getting hectic.   I was juggling the demands of my small business, the pressure of trying to finish the film, childcare and the usual weight that comes with surviving every day modern life.  My regular yoga practice was compromised and I wasn’t meditating enough. My self-care rhythm was being sacrificed because ‘there was so much to do’. My friends were being neglected. I was eating on the run and not taking time out.   And I knew better. I was just about to lock off the edit of my film about how important... Read full article »