June 19th 2025
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WellBeing Magazine
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Bright green, smooth and earthy, this premium organic matcha is made from young tea leaves grown in the rich soils of Kagoshima, Japan. A vibrant daily ritual, crafted the traditional Japanese way. No artificial colours, flavours, preservatives & no added sugar. Non GMO.
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June 18th 2025
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Dr. Will Cole
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The best evidence-backed tips and practices to optimize sleep and brain detox via the glymphatic system.
The post How to Optimize Your Glymphatic System For Better Brain Detoxing appeared first on Dr. Will Cole.
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How to Optimize Your Glymphatic System For Better Brain Detoxing
June 18th 2025
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WellBeing Magazine
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Imagine a treat that’s not just a delicacy but a delightful narrative of nourishment, wrapped in creamy white chocolate and sprinkled with nature’s most charming ingredients. I have just that for you this month, a white chocolate bark that isn’t just a recipe — it’s an edible love letter to wellbeing, family and those deliciously unexpected moments of joy.
Let’s talk about this little sweet treat that transforms simple ingredients into a haven of flavours and nutrition. White chocolate melted into silky smoothness, macadamias and pumpkin seeds punctuated across its surface, deliciously dried blackcurrants adding their deep, rich burst of antioxidant goodness with every bite.
Macadamias aren’t just nuts; they’re tiny balls of heart-loving monounsaturated fats, bringing a buttery richness that makes your taste buds and cardiovascular system equally jubilant. Pumpkin seeds? Those cheeky green gems are mineral magicians, packed with zinc and magnesium, perfect for supporting your immune system and helping you to manage stress.
I don’t often use blackcurrants but when I do I feel as though they are real showstoppers. Small purple jewels brimming with vitamin C keep your skin glowing like you’ve just returned from a sun-kissed holiday. They’re essentially nature’s most delicious shield against seasonal sniffles too, so are great for this time of year.
What makes this recipe genuinely special is its accessibility. In a world of complicated health trends and intimidating superfoods, this bark is refreshingly simple. No fancy equipment, no PhD in nutrition required — just a small pan, a bowl and about 15 minutes of your time. It’s the kind of recipe that transforms kitchen time from a chore into a moment of creative meditation.
I really love how cooking can become more than just preparing food — especially when it becomes a ritual of connection, of passing down simple skills and showing love through nourishment to others.
The beauty of this bark lies in its versatility. For families, you can make it with the kids and watch their eyes light up as they sprinkle seeds and fruits. Share it with friends during a cosy afternoon tea. Wrap pieces as a thoughtful homemade gift. Each bite carries not just nutrients but memories too.
But let’s be perfectly honest here — the “keeps for two weeks in the fridge” suggestion is adorably optimistic. In most households, this bark will vanish faster than you can say “seconds, please!” Its moreish quality is part of its charm, a testament to the fact that healthy food can be outrageously delicious.
So, here’s my lovely white chocolate bark, and to those magical moments where nutrition meets pure, unadulterated pleasure. Cooking isn’t just about feeding bodies; it’s about nourishing souls, one delectable piece at a time.
Serves 6
1 tbsp coconut oil
½ cup macadamias
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
2 large white chocolate blocks
½ cup dried blackcurrants
¼ cup puffed-rice cereal
Pinch of sea salt
Heat the coconut oil in a small pan over medium–high heat. Toast the macadamias and pumpkin seeds until golden, about 4–5 mins. Set aside to cool completely.
Once cooled, roughly chop the nut mixture.
Bring a pot of water to the boil and add a bowl on top. Add the white chocolate and melt, stirring frequently with a spatula.
Pour the melted chocolate onto a small, lined baking tray. Scatter over the nut mixture, blackcurrants, puffed rice and sea salt, then place in the fridge to set.
When set, roughly chop it or break it up into desired pieces. This keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge – if it lasts that long!
Article featured in WellBeing Magazine 216
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June 18th 2025
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WellBeing Magazine
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Every time you catch yourself thinking, “They’re doing it better,” your inner child remembers being told to be more like someone else. But what if this instinct to compare isn’t natural at all – rather, it’s a carefully constructed habit with roots in your earliest memories? Unpacking this inheritance might just be the key to reclaiming your sense of worth.
If you’re reading this, chances are you already know your childhood and social conditioning shaped who you are right now. Maybe you’ve met your inner child in a guided meditation, unpacked your past in trauma-informed therapy, or laughed (a little too knowingly) at a meme about ’90s parenting fails.
We have long known that big T trauma (formexample, abuse or neglect in the family of origin, racism, poverty or the loss of a parent) can create a lasting physical, mental and emotional impact on a person. But only in more recent times have we discovered that little t trauma (for example, harsh comments by parents, being bullied at school or reading toxic body-image content) can also leave an imprint, especially during formative years when we are developing our psyche and sense of self. The landmark book, The Body Keeps the Score, by pioneering psychiatrist and trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk has helped this important topic reach mainstream publications and conversations.
We now know that it’s quite possible that being told by your mother to “be more like your sister” or hearing your dad respond irritably to your tears with “toughen up” may have impacted your sense of confidence, self-worth, emotional safety and experience of belonging as an adult. Over time, these moments may have encouraged you to construct masks of self protection like perfectionism, people-pleasing, procrastination, pushing down emotions, self-imposed high expectations and numbing out.
One of the unhealthy habits so many carry from childhood (and subsequent social conditioning through friends, school, politics, television, magazines and social media) is comparison – the relentless practice of developing your sense of self-worth through reference to others.
It begins innocently enough, with parents making comments such as, “You are the sporty one, your brother is the funny one,” or “Why can’t you just do your homework like other kids do?” Add in some glossy fashion magazines and staged social media posts, you may find yourself as an adult interacting with friends, colleagues, family and even strangers through this lens of comparison.
When a work colleague speaks up in the weekly meeting with confidence and ease, a pang of envy might move through you: “Why is it so easy for her to contribute?” you can’t help but wonder. As you scan your eyes across the gym floor, you may automatically compare your body to the other women working out and feel less than.
“Upward comparison” is when you compare and feel inferior to another person. It’s not the only kind of comparison trap. It can be equally detrimental to “downward compare” and think of yourself as superior to another.
Like the time you listen to your friend complain about her boyfriend and think, “Wow, I’m glad my partner doesn’t treat me like that.” Or while having dinner with your family, you may make the quiet observation, “I’m more progressed in my career than my brother.”
Take a moment now to consider how long that injection of confidence (or subtle superiority) actually lasts. I’m guessing not long, because it came from judging someone else harshly and, if you’re honest, you’re probably more alike than you are different.
How can you begin to soften this unhealthy (and exhausting) habit so that you can return to a sense of safety and wholeness? The first step involves getting to know your unique habits of comparison.
Try answering these questions as a way to begin:
The second step? Unhook from these narratives and embrace our shared humanity – the universal need to be seen, heard and valued. The belief that= we all deserve freedom and purpose. The truth that joy and struggle are part of every life. Create a new individual and collective narrative. Say something to yourself like: “I am whole. I am safe and worthy.” Or: “There is enough love, success and happiness for everyone.”
Then look for ways that you and this person are more similar than different. For example, that confident colleague and you probably both want to feel like you belong and are appreciated at work. No doubt your friend and you both share the same desire for a loving and respectful relationship.
Extra points if you can extend this same generosity to your parents, teachers and anyone else who may have planted this seed of comparison in the first place. Watch the positive ripple that this new perspective has on all areas of your life.
Article featured in WellBeing Magazine 216
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June 18th 2025
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WellBeing Magazine
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The culture of ballet is rapidly evolving to include dancers of all ages and abilities, with research demonstrating wide-ranging benefits for physical and mental wellbeing.
Do you remember the freedom and joy of dancing when you were a child? Whether you took formal dance classes or simply enjoyed spinning and twirling across the living room to your favourite song, it’s likely that dance has fed your soul in one way or another.
However, as adults, we are usually rushing from one commitment to the next, driven by our endless “to-do” list with exercise often becoming another box to be ticked and the notion of engaging in an activity for the sheer joy of it seeming like an unnecessary indulgence.
Yet there is a growing trend of adults consciously pushing back on these pressures and defying ageist attitudes to pursue ballet in midlife and into their senior years. Not only are they reclaiming the joy of dance but they are also reaping a multitude of benefits spanning body, mind and soul.
Once seen as the domain of the upper class, with a narrow ideal of who could and could not be a dancer, ballet is rapidly evolving. While the pandemic has played an integral role in this evolution, with many elite ballet companies opening their digital doors to dancers of all ages and abilities through free online classes, ballet’s cultural shift has been building for a number of years.
In 2018, the Royal Academy of Dance, a globally recognised ballet education and training organisation, launched Silver Swans, a revolutionary program designed specifically for adults. Recognising the growing body of research demonstrating the benefits of dance, the Royal Academy of Dance developed Silver Swans as a fun and social method to improve mobility, posture and coordination. Although the program is aimed at dancers aged 55 and above, Silver Swans classes are open to participation in physical activity.
Martin reflects that although many of her friends have asked her whether her fitness has improved since starting ballet classes, she admits the physical benefits are secondary for her. “That’s not the point for me,” she says. “It’s just that it is fun!”
Having fun is an essential aspect when it comes to the psychological benefits of dance. A biomolecular study published in the American Journal of Dance Therapy found participation in organised dance increased the “happy hormone”, serotonin, by 10 per cent and reduced the “stress” hormone, cortisol, by 15-20 per cent.
Cooper recognises that ballet is many of her students’ “happy place”, where they come to relax and let go of the stressors of their lives outside of dance.
“Sometimes I’ll watch students in class and I can just see that they are having their moment for the week, it’s their time… It’s like mindfulness in a way because you have to focus on what you’re doing and so it allows you to let go of the rest of life.”
Martin is emphatic that joy is central to her pursuit of ballet. “It’s such a joyful experience and something I hope I can continue for many, many years,” she says. “As adults, there’s that sense of always having to be productive and doing something for an end point but you’re also allowed to do something just because it’s fun.”
In addition to the psychological feel-good aspects of ballet, Cooper keenly highlights the cognitive aspects that are also beneficial to brain health. “You are using both sides of your brain, which is not common in many other forms of exercise,” she explains. “You’re using the artistic side of your brain and the logical, mathematical side of your brain because you’re counting music and remembering patterns.”
The cognitive aspects of choreographic sequencing and repertoire is one of the many elements that support ballet as therapy. Programs such as Dance for Parkinson’s, Ballet for Brain Injury and dance4wellbeing have been built upon the research that demonstrates the benefits of ballet for people with conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, dementia, Alzheimer’s and brain injury.
These programs are designed to focus on the movement of dance, rather than approaching movement from a clinical perspective, and have a strong sense of musicality to guide and inspire. Importantly, participants are treated as dancers rather than patients, which in itself is integral to an individual’s sense of confidence, autonomy and wellbeing.
A study published in the Arts & Health journal recounts the almost magical effect ballet has on a male dance participant living with Parkinson’s disease: “M enters the room slowly, bent at the shoulders, shuffling then pausing… then eases himself into a seat with his wife helping. An hour later, the iconic, stirring music of Romeo & Juliet is being played on the piano. M strides forward from the corner in time to the music, digging his heel into the ground as he marches, head up, arms swinging, with his cane no longer in sight.”
Examples such as this demonstrate not only how therapeutic and transformational dance can be, but also that is an innate aspect of being human.
“If you look at dance in a broader social setting, everybody dances, we dance at parties, it’s part of our culture,” Cooper says. “There is this inbuilt need inside of us to move and to dance and to respond to the music, and ballet is a great way to express that.”
Despite the intrinsic nature of dance, Martin reflects that perhaps a lack of confidence is responsible for holding many people back from connecting with this inner desire and pursuing their ballet dreams as an adult.
“A lot of people have said how brave it is [to take classes as an adult], perhaps implying that they wouldn’t feel confident enough, so it’s nice to say to them that they actually can too,” she says. “It’s an accomplishment without risk, and I think that’s really unique as an adult. I feel proud of myself, and it’s tricky as an adult to find things to point your finger at and say ‘I’m really proud’. There are not many times in life where both your child self and grown-up self feels delighted, and I think that’s good for the soul.”
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