Mind Brew

The New Zealand government have pledged that they want New Zealand to be the best place in the world for children and young people.. They have produced a Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy that sets out a shared understanding of what children and young people need and want in order to be well, and what we can and should be doing to support them. It’s been formed to guide our government in improving the wellbeing of all children in New Zealand. Jacqui Maguire talks to the Children's Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft to gain clarity on our countries progress.

What is the relationship between nutritional intake, gut health and our mental health?Jacqui Maguire is joined by Professor Julia Rucklidge, is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Canterbury, to pursue this fascinating and emerging area of mental health.Julia was named in the top 100 Most Influential Women in New Zealand in 2018. Her interests are centred on the role of nutrition in the expression and treatment of mental illness, from ADHD to depression, to stress following natural disasters. Her 2014 TEDx talk has been viewed nearly 1.3 million times.Julia leads the Mental Health and Nutrition Lab, whose aim is to find nutritional interventions that are effective in treating psychiatric/psychological illness. The Lab hosts free online courses, which you can check out here.Julia has also just released a book ‘The Better Brain: How nutrition will help you overcome anxiety, depression, ADHD and stress’. This can be found online and in all good bookstores.

Feeling disconnected is not a unique feeling, but it can be extremely harmful. Research continues to show that the most significant factor in longevity, mental health, disease prevention, and happiness is our relationships.Jacqui Maguire speaks with Shasta Nelson about the whys and hows of meaningful and intimate friendships.Shasta Nelson is a keynote speaker, author, and leading expert on friendship and healthy relationships at work. She is the author of three best-selling books: The Business of Friendship: Making the Most of the Relationships Where We Spend Most of Our Time, Friendships Don’t Just Happen! and Frientimacy: How to Deepen Friendships for Lifelong Health and Happiness.

Clinical Psychologist Jacqui Maguire speaks to Shirley Pastiroff, author of The Mindful Parent.In over-scheduled and frantic lives many parents have lost touch with their intuition around how to bring up their kids. Mindful parenting helps parents realise that their expertise to parent well is already within them, they just need to rediscover it.This episode takes an incredibly complex but hugely important subject and turns that into simple tools we can all understand and apply.Link to The Mindful Parent:https://renewyourmind.co.nz/themindfulparent/