If you’re anything like me and the 20 million other people who have now watched the YouTube video of Mick Fanning’s shark encounter during the J-Bay Open in South Africa, your heart started pounding when you first saw it. The huge dorsal fin of what experts estimate to be a 3.5-meter great white shark rises up out of the ocean taking Fanning by surprise.   By his own account on live television moments after it happened, the shark came from behind him and he instinctively lifted his leg out of the way before he started punching it. “I just sort... Read full article »

My heart was pounding and the butterflies in my stomach were more like tap dancing elephants. I was at the Sydney premiere of The Connection about to stand up in front of seven hundred people and introduce a film that had taken me three years to make - a film I had given my heart and soul to. The cinema was sold out. It was a big moment and my stress response was in overdrive.   Given that The Connection is all about the latest research demonstrating the link between our mind, body and health, and given all the evidence... Read full article »

It was 2am and I was lying in bed wide-awake. I couldn’t get comfortable. I couldn’t settle my mind. I felt agitated and restless with thoughts about my ruined day ahead plaguing me. How on earth was I going to function?   Part of my concern was that I couldn’t identify the source of my insomnia. I wasn’t especially worried about anything and I’d performed my usual bedtime ritual – no bright overhead lights after dark (only lamps), meditation, herbal tea… the works. So why couldn’t I sleep? I was confused because while I’ve suffered my fair share of sleepless... Read full article »

My two-year-old son was screaming. Lemon juice had gotten into a tiny cut on his finger and the sting in conjunction with a missed daytime nap meant he was feeling especially emotional and vulnerable. As far as he was concerned the pain in his finger signified the end of the world.   Luckily I’d just been reading about the power of placebo and I had an idea. I would ‘placebo’ my son. Before I tell you about what I did, let me explain a little about the placebo response.   In the last decade there has been an explosion of... Read full article »

I was floating in the open ocean in the South Pacific Island Kingdom of Tonga. Twenty meters below me a giant humpback whale was singing. The harmony of his song vibrated through my whole body and in that moment I was brilliantly aware of the vastness and depth of the sea and the immense size of the mammal below me. I was completely at peace with an understanding of my own smallness and filled with gratitude to be alive. The experience is one I will never forget.   A photograph of my breathtaking moment swimming with whales taken by Scott... Read full article »

Since I released my film in October 2014, I’ve had the privilege of attending countless screenings and speaking to people afterwards. After each screening people inevitably have questions. How has the medical community responded to the film? How do I learn to meditate? When will it all start working for me?   I am also asked at every screening what diet I follow and why. This has been the one topic that I have been reluctant to speak about. The reason is that diet is such a touchy topic. There’s a reason why the mainstream media refers to it as... Read full article »