The Best You July/August 2016 by The Best You Magazine

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR EVERYONE - EVERYWHERE

MAGAZINE

THE BEST YOU ISSUE 44 | JULY/AUGUST 2016 | THEBESTYOU.CO

Be Inspired

Robert

Downey Jr.

HOW THE HOLLYWOOD STAR CAME BACK FROM THE BRINK JESSICA ENNIS-HILL ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS THE ATHLETE PREPARES TO GO FOR GOLD ONCE MORE IN RIO

FROM #MICROADVENTURES TO ROUND THE WORLD, THE ADVENTURER TELLS ALL

JIMMY DOHERTY THE CELEBRITY FARMER'S

BIG FESTIVAL MOMENT

PLUS: FOLLOW THE OOLA VAN...

MAGAZINE

THE BEST YOU

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR EVERYONE - EVERYWHERE

ISSUE 44 | JULY/AUGUST 2016 | THEBESTYOU.CO

Be Inspired

Robert

Downey Jr.

HOW THE HOLLYWOOD STAR CAME BACK FROM THE BRINK JESSICA ENNIS-HILL ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS THE ATHLETE PREPARES TO GO FOR GOLD ONCE MORE IN RIO

FROM #MICROADVENTURES TO ROUND THE WORLD, THE ADVENTURER TELLS ALL

JIMMY DOHERTY THE CELEBRITY FARMER'S

BIG FESTIVAL MOMENT

PLUS: FOLLOW THE OOLA VAN...

EDITOR'S LETTER | BERNARDO MOYA

Bernardo Moya Editor-in-chief

TWO SIDES TO A STORY Today I was thinking of a discussion I had with a close friend about the outcome of a particular day. The fact is, we have known each other for years, but we see the circumstances of that day in a completely different way - and that's OK!

Remember, too, your life is your story. What you want to make it of it and what type of story it is depends exclusively on you. Orson Welles said: If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.

In life, the saying goes there are at least two sides to every story. With our recent referendum and "Brexit" there were two completely opposing sides to the Brexit story. Some wanted out, some wanted in – and yet at the same time, we both wanted the same thing!

If you’re headed away for a summer break, The Best You’s bumper issue of inspiration is your perfect inspirational read.

We both wanted what we believed was The Best for the country, even though we saw it in completely different ways... Our days, our present, our life or our future can also be seen differently depending on how we want to see it. At this time, where there is so much division, it's vital to remember there are always two sides to every story and, there is always more than one way to see things. That's why right now I encourage people to stay focused, remain positive and "Look on the bright side of life..."

Twitter: @Bernardo_Moya

This issue, we profile Hollywood actor Robert Downey Jr and Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill, who is preparing for Rio. We chat with celebrity farmer Jimmy Doherty, adventurer Alastair Humphrey, media expert Fiona Harrold and hot property The Oola Guys. Discover how to realise your dreams with advice from Cissi Williams and Steve Consalvez, discover health and wellbeing advice from Kirsten Hartvig, Lisa Lister and Dr Sarah Myhill, and learn how to stand out from the crowd with advice from Paul Boross. Wherever you are going and whatever your dreams, The Best You is your passport to happiness.

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

THE BEST YOU MAGAZINE CONTENTS | ISSUE 44 | JULY/AUGUST 2016

REGULARS 03 EDITOR’S LETTER Bernardo Moya welcomes you to this month’s issue of The Best You 72

WE SUPPORT... Refuge, the UK national charity supporting abused women and children

BOOK REVIEWS A few of our favourite recently published books – plus your chance to win some great reads

FEATURES 22

ROBERT DOWNEY JR From bohemian childhood to twice-made Hollywood star

THE REVOLUTION BEGINS HERE Got a dream? Share it with the Oola guys and make it happen

JESSICA ENNIS-HILL

NO MUSIC REQUIRED

Fantastic festivals with a difference

The Olympic Gold medallist prepares for her toughest test

INNER YOU 10

MANIFEST YOUR DREAMS Cissi Williams explains why following your heart's desire has the power to transform who you are, as her own life experience demonstrates

ENJOY LIFE 16

TOP 6 FESTIVALS WITH A DIFFERENCE Decidedly different, here are six fab festivals to head to

THE GOOD NEWS

With so much of what we read in the papers being negative, The Best You brings you some good news

ARE YOU EARTHED?

Patrick Holford explains why our connection with the world counts

22 To enjoy additional digital content, interactive design, video and online galleries, please download The Best You App

ROBERT DOWNEY JR

Hollywood's bad boy turned good

THE BEST YOU MAGAZINE CONTENTS | ISSUE 44 | JULY/AUGUST 2016

LIVE LOVE LEGACY 40

INSPIRATIONAL STORIES

Rita Edah shares her story from abuse victim to published author

FEELING ADVENTUROUS

Alastair Humphreys wants us all to embark on an adventurer, however big or small

10 WAYS TO TELL YOU'RE BEING LIED TO

Human lie detector Darren Stanton explains how to tell when you're being duped

WHAT DOES IT TAKE…

…to be a farmer? Television celebrity farmer Jimmy Doherty talks about life on the land, ahead of his Festival of Sausages and Beer

FEEL & LOOK GOOD

ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS

Go explore the great outdoors!

FEEL-GOOD FOOD

Kirsten Hartvig on the healing power of berries and spices

CRACK YOUR LADY CODE

Lisa Lister explains why understanding and working with their bodies can empower women to healthier, happier and more successful lives

BEATING DIABETES

Dr Sarah Myhill writes about the importance of beating diabetes

WEALTH & RICHES 58

Fiona Harrold talks getting media coverage and why life coaches need to reinvent themselves to succeed

7 STEPS TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE AND BUILD A BUSINESS

Steve Consalvez says firewalking can help you achieve your goals

STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD

Paul Boross sets out how we can make a positive impact

THE ROCKY ROAD TO SUCCESS

FIONA HARROLD

The media guru shares her success secrets

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN

The Best You looks at people, past and present, who worked hard for their moment in the spotlight

21ST CENTURY LIVING 68

VLOGGERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE The Best You recognises vlogstars doing good

SUMMER LIVING

Bryan Szabo reviews the latest gadgets

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

THE BEST YOU MAGAZINE | JULY/AUGUST 2016 | CONTRIBUTORS

DASKA DAVIS

is deputy editor at The Best You. This issue she chats with Alastair Humphreys, Jimmy Doherty, Kirsten Hartvig, Lisa Lister and Fiona Harrold. "Summer's here and we've created a bumper issue of ideas, inspiration and interesting interviews with those who believe in the power of personal development. Let this be the moment you make your dreams a reality." @TheBestYou

DARREN STANTON

is affectionately known as the Human Lie Detector thanks to his ability to instantly unravel the tics that give away our lies. Aside from this unique attribute he hosts an array of other skills including predicting and influencing human behaviour, motivation, deception detection, body language and public speaking. @Darrenstanton

CISSI WILLIAMS

is an osteopath, cranial osteopath, naturopath and a trainer of NLP specialising in holistic osteopathy, osteopathy for babies and children, coaching for the mind and soul, and energy medicine. An author and editor of holistic health magazine Inspired Wellbeing, she shares her life journey with The Best You's readers. @Inspiretidning

LISA LISTER

is creatrix of The Sassy She and helps girls and women to physically, energetically and spiritually reconnect with their body, creativity and SHE Power through the wisdom of their womb, menstrual cycleâ&#x20AC;Ś in fact, their entire lady landscape. She shares her philosophy that women really can have it all with The Best You. @lisaclark

BRYAN SZABO

is a Canadian-born freelance editor and writer who specialises in helping authors realise their full potential as writers. He believes that everybody has a story that should be told. His appearance on the acknowledgement page of dozens of titles proves that the voice he is helping budding authors to find is a precious thing indeed. @eidolonink

STEVE CONSALVEZ

is the world's only master firewalking instructor and business coach. He has personally taught all aspects of the curriculum and certifies trainers under the Firewalking Institute. He coaches people and businesses in the UK and US, teaching them how to develop 'power and courage'. @SteveConsalvez

EDITOR/PUBLISHER BERNARDO MOYA info@thebestyou.co DEPUTY EDITOR DASKA DAVIS editorial@thebestyou.co GRAPHIC & DIGITAL DESIGNER MONICA NOTARNICOLA design@thebestyou.co THE BEST YOU EXPO, PARTNERSHIPS & ADVERTISING LOUISE DOCKERY louise.dockery@thebestyou.co | LUCIANO MOYA luciano.moya@thebestyou.co THE BEST YOU ADVISORS STEVE KELLY steve.kelly@thebestyou.co

Be Inspired

JULIAN DALEY julian.daley@thebestyou.co | MARVYN EBANKS marvyn.ebanks@thebestyou.co OFFICE MANAGER FRANCESCA GUIDALI francesca.guidali@thebestyou.co

ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS

MATT WINGETT

PAUL BOROSS

FIONA HARROLD

is a British adventurer and author. He spent four years cycling round the world, walked across southern India, rowed the Atlantic Ocean, ran sixÂ marathons through the Sahara desert, completed a crossing of Iceland, and participated in an Arctic expedition and was a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2012. @Al_Humphreys

is passionate about communication. Drawing on a career that has seen him move from primetime TV and stand-up comedy to trans-Atlantic development deals, media consultancy and motivational psychology, Boross has worked with such power players as the BBC, Google and MTV. @PaulBoross

is a Portsmouth-based author who is also an NLP master. He uses skills learned from hypnotist Paul McKenna and NLP co-creator Richard Bandler in his work. For The Best You, he writes about the life and careers of Robert Downey Jr and Jessica Ennis-Hill in this issue. @MattWingett

is one of the UK's most successful life coaches. She is the author of Coach Yourself to Success (McGraw Hill); The Power of Self-Coaching (Wiley); and Kiss Theory Goodbye (Golden Pen/Ingram). In this issue of The Best You, she challenges life coaches to reinvent themselves as problemsolvers. @FionaHarrold

The Best You Magazine is published by The Best You Corporation Ltd, 5 Percy Street, W1T 1DG. TEL: +44 (0) 207 927 6502 EMAIL: info@thebestyou.co Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect The Best You Corporation Ltd, policy. The Best You Corporation Ltd accepts no responsibility for views expressed by its contributors. Advertisements and reader offers are not endorsed by The Best You or The Best You Corporation Ltd.

REACH PEOPLE

INTERESTED & PASSIONATE

ABOUT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT. ADVERTISE

ONE MONTH, Be Inspired

GET ONE FREE

Call today + 44 (0) 207 9276500 or email us at advertising@thebestyou.co

Be Inspired

INNER YOU Connect with the wonderful, special and powerful inside. Learn ways to get your mind and body in balance, bringing out the rich core of your being. Discover the secrets that will enable you to take charge of your inner life and become The Best You.

ARE YOU ON THE RIGHT PATH?

Why our soul is our inner compass

PUT YOUR COMPANY IN THIS SPACE! TO SPONSOR THIS PAGE AND BE PART OF THE BEST YOU, EMAIL US AT ADVERTISING@THEBESTYOU.CO

To manifest our soul’s dreams we need to take the time to truly get to know our soul, by tuning into its divine energy, wisdom and love. Doing this, we allow our soul to become our own spiritual coach, who can answer our questions and help us solve any problems which we face. This sounds easy enough, but how do we actually do this in real life? Well, fortunately our soul has a highly refined way of communicating with us, and that is through our feelings. And not only our positive, happy and loving feelings, but through the whole spectrum of emotions. Have you ever experienced trying to create a positive attitude, where you repeat several positive affirmations per day, yet despite your best efforts your negative emotions will eventually surface? When that has happened, have you assumed that you were doing something wrong or that positive thinking just isn’t working? Some of us may even have believed that a spiritually-evolved person never suffers negativity, and that a spiritual master should be a loving, compassionate angel at all times who is never frustrated, angry, sad, worried or anxious. But how long can we sustain this angelic state whilst still in a human form? And at what price? How true are we actually being to ourselves if we deny ourselves the experience of the whole emotional spectrum of feelings available to us in this human body – from love, happiness and light, to darkness, sadness and anger?

I PERSONALLY BELIEVE OUR EMOTIONS ARE OUR DIVINE GUIDANCE SYSTEM THAT HELPS US NAVIGATE THE ROLLER-COASTER RIDE THAT WE CALL LIFE."

Let me explain what I mean by starting with the way in which we focus our thoughts. Of course it works to change negative thoughts into positive ones, as we naturally feel happier and lighter when we choose to say to ourselves: 'I love life and life loves me', instead of saying, 'I hate life and life is just too difficult for me to handle'. This is because when we choose to focus on the positive we initiate an inner healing process, where we begin to let go of old, stagnated, heavy energy, and this release makes us feel so much better and lighter. We literally change our energy and start to

vibrate at a higher frequency, which causes us to feel happier and more hopeful. Our expanding energy (love and positivity expand our energy, whilst fear and negativity contract our energy) allows us to open up to receiving even more of our soul’s amazing life-enhancing, healing energy, which strengthens our connection with the divine even more. We become filled with light and we start to radiate and glow, as if we have flicked an inner switch. But what happens when we switch on a light in a previously dark space? It lights up, allowing us to see more clearly – including everything that needs cleaning out. It is important here not to become overwhelmed by the task at hand, and instead enjoy this divine spring-cleaning, because our soul wants us to become aware of what is blocking us from living our life fully in light, happiness and love. So, with much compassion for us, our soul directs our attention to all the heavy, dark and old energy that needs to be purged, so that this too can be transformed into light. This is an ongoing process: as we focus on being positive, we start to shine with an inner light, which causes us to become more aware of the next layer that needs to be cleaned out. We transform again and start to shine with even more light, causing us to become aware of the next layer to be healed, and so it continues. One of the ways our soul draws our attention to what needs to be transformed is through our feelings. Perhaps we start to feel low, worried or irritable. We might be feeling that something just isn’t right, that something is off. What is important here is to not react to this feeling by blaming it on others or on circumstances: rather, we should reflect upon what this feeling is trying to tell us. Where is this feeling coming from? What is it this feeling wants us to learn and know so it can heal? What does it want us to pay attention to? Is this feeling connected with a pattern in our life? And if so, which pattern, and what are the positive learnings here for us so we can heal and let go of this pattern? When I feel sad, I know that this feeling is a message from my soul that my life is out of balance, so I don’t try to immediately change my sad thoughts into positive thoughts. Instead, I first listen to what it is my sadness is trying to communicate. Often I feel sad if I have been working too much, and the feeling is then an attempt from my soul to get my attention so I can address this imbalance. In the past my sadness was more about healing childhood wounds, whilst these

MANIFEST

YOUR DREAMS

INNER YOU | CISSI WILLIAMS

Cissi Williams is an osteopath, naturopath, NLP trainer, transformational coach and energy medicine practitioner. For more information visit INSPIREDWELLBEING.NET

How can we learn to listen to our soul, so that we can be guided by our own unique, divine GPS? www. t he b e s t youm ag azi n e . c o

days it is more about living in the here and now. So I know my sad feeling is not the problem; instead it is a messenger from my soul, wanting to help me live a happy and fulfilling life. When we learn to listen to the guidance from our soul we become more aware, and we then realise that our emotions are not our enemies. Instead, they are an effective way for our soul to communicate with us whether we are in balance with life and fully connected with our soul’s energy – such as when we feel happy, inspired, enthusiastic, hopeful, trusting and loving – or whether we are out of balance with life and disconnected from our soul, such as when we feel depressed, low, fatigued, anxious, worried or sad. When we do not listen to our negative feelings we miss this amazing opportunity to learn to become more aware of whether we are in alignment with our soul, or out of alignment, and then our soul only has one option – it has to strengthen the signal. It will then draw us to more circumstances that cause us to feel even more negative, until eventually we stop resisting, and start paying attention to what it is we need to know and learn so we can fall back into alignment. When I was young, I never listened to this inner sadness; instead I had an uncanny ability to always be happy and cheerful, no matter what was going on in my life. In the end my soul increased this inner sadness to the point I ended up in a severe depression and started to have suicidal thoughts. I suffered from bulimia – a clear indicator I was out of balance.

situation, and as soon as I could I left home. I even left the country. I travelled around Asia for over five years, which gave me the time and the space I needed to feel all the negative emotions I had bottled up when I was younger. I knew I wanted to give my future children a different childhood than the one I myself had experienced, and I dreamed of one day meeting a man with whom I could share a happy and healthy relationship.

THIS DREAM BECAME MY OWN GUIDING LIGHT, WHERE MY DIVINE GPS STARTED TO BRING PEOPLE, SITUATIONS, BOOKS AND COURSES TO ME, TO HELP ME HEAL MY FEARS SURROUNDING LOVE."

Initially I healed my depression and bulimia, then I healed various dysfunctional relationship patterns, and four years after having reached rock bottom, when I had finally surrendered and asked my soul for help, I had a new clinic tutor walk into my treatment room. As soon as I saw this tutor I heard a voice in my head say: ‘That's your husband!’ As Mr Williams asked me what was wrong with my patient, I could not say a word. All I could think was: ‘I am going to marry you!’ My soul’s voice was certainly coming through loud and clear!

Eventually, at the age of 24, my inner pain brought me to my knees and I prayed to something bigger than myself and stated I was willing to change. The next day my soul started communicating with me, in the form of guiding me to various books to read, meditations to listen to, and step-by-step I began to heal.

My divine GPS then went into full throttle, guiding me towards all sorts of therapy sessions and courses over the following months – there were goddess retreats, past-life regression, hypnosis, body harmony; you name it, I did it! I knew I did not want to mess up this relationship – and we still had not even been out together!

After six weeks my depression had gone and after four months my bulimia was healed. My soul continued to guide me on my path forward and a year after having reached rock bottom, I started studying osteopathy and naturopathy, and many other healing modalities and esoteric traditions. But none of that would have happened had I not been willing to listen to what my emotions were trying to tell me.

A few months later we went on our first date, and we both knew we were meant to marry. I remember how I, on that first date, told him about all the bad things I had done in my life, because I really wanted him to know me, warts and all. I could not look at him as I told him, but my divine GPS urged me to be truthful with him, and to trust him.

These emotions stemmed from when I was a young child, but at that time I did not have the resources to know how to deal with them. What happened in my childhood was that I had a father I totally adored, but he had been brain-damaged in a car accident before I was born. This injury caused him to lack impulse control and he became angry at the slightest thing. I could see that he was deeply troubled, but I did not know how to help him. In order to subdue his inner pain he turned to drinking, which caused him to become violent. When I saw him go into a rage, I would feel helpless as there was nothing I could do. As a teenager I rebelled, which in many ways made the situation worse, as my father then directed his anger towards me. But even though the abuse escalated, my own anger towards what was happening was actually good for me. I was no longer helpless: my anger fuelled my actions to get me out of that

After I had finished, I anxiously asked: ‘What are you thinking?’ And I will never forget his words. Full of compassion he said: ‘I think you are really brave for telling me this.’ That set the tone for our relationship, where we could be totally honest with each other, and he has taught me so much about total acceptance, commitment and love. We moved in together three weeks later, and were married six months after our first date, and we have now been married for 18 years. We have two beautiful daughters, who have an amazing dad, and I am so grateful that I learnt to listen to my emotions and my divine GPS, so I could be guided towards manifesting the dream I had of finally living in a really happy family unit. By finding the dreams our soul wants us to manifest, and learning to listen to our own divine GPS, our soul can guide us to the manifestation of our dream. Our job is not to figure out the whole

INNER YOU | CISSI WILLIAMS

THE BIGGEST ADVENTURE YOU CAN TAKE IS TO LIVE THE LIFE OF YOUR DREAMS" Oprah Winfrey

process, but to stay tuned in, and listen, so we can become aware of the steps we need to take, as well as become conscious of what may be blocking our dream from becoming reality. Usually these blocks are the wounds, limiting beliefs and old patterns we have, but our soul knows how we can heal these, and will send us tools, people and insights that can help us transform and shift. We also have to pay attention to the choices we make, and ask ourselves: ‘Will this choice move me in the direction of my dream, or away from my dream?’ Sometimes we just know the answer to that question, but at other times we may not know it logically, but we can feel it: where one choice makes us feel lighter and freer, and the other choice makes us feel heavy and blocked.

I made a particular choice then, I can now see that those choices were instrumental to my being able to manifest my dream. And I can see how a divine intelligence has been watching over me my whole life, nudging me forward, cheering me on, supporting me when I felt at my lowest. This is true for all of us. We are so loved by the universe and we are meant to manifest our soul’s dreams and wishes, because these dreams are not just for us, they are meant to be gifts to others. They are simply flowing through us, on their way to be expressed in this physical reality. The universe wants us to grow and expand, because as we do, so does the universe. And so, dream big; plant the seeds of your soul’s longing and wishes; nourish these seeds; give them time, love and light; and have faith that when the time has come, they will blossom.

TRUST YOUR FEELINGS, BECAUSE THEY WILL ALWAYS GUIDE YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION."

And know that you have many, many dreams that are waiting to be born through you, and enjoy each step: the dreaming, the planting, the fertilising, the waiting, and the blossoming.

When I look back at my life I can see that when I trusted my feelings and listened to my divine GPS, even though I could not understand logically why

The journey never, ever ends. We are eternal beings, constantly wanting to express the next grandest version of ourselves we can possibly imagine ourselves to be. How amazing is that!

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

w w w . thebest y oumagaz ine.co

Be Inspired

ALL ABOARD

Find a festival with a twist

ENJOY LIFE

THE GOOD NEWS

Enjoy a six-pack without any snags

GET CONNECTED

Patrick Holford explains why

Laughter, humour, travel, love – these are the things that add the sparkle that makes life worth living. Climb a mountain, give to others, start a family, embrace life. What are the things you wish you had done but haven’t yet? Life is no rehearsal – enjoy life every day.

PUT YOUR COMPANY IN THIS SPACE! TO SPONSOR THIS PAGE AND BE PART OF THE BEST YOU, EMAIL US AT ADVERTISING@THEBESTYOU.CO

TOP 6

FESTIVALS KIRKPINAR OIL WRESTLING FESTIVAL, 18-24 JULY, EDIRNE, TURKEY Believed to be the world’s oldest annual sporting event, the origins of this curious festival date back to the 14th century when an Ottoman raider and local man wrestled to death. Their bodies were buried beneath a fig tree and a crystal clear water source sprang up. Today a festival has sprung up with many participating wrestlers apprentices of those who have fought before them, and regarded as heroes in local culture.

DARWIN BEER CAN REGATTA, 17 JULY, DARWIN, AUSTRALIA Now here’s a festival with a difference. Launched down under in 1974, entrants to the Darwin Beer Can Regatta handcraft boats out of recycled beer cans before taking to the water to test their tin tubs’ buoyancy and stability. The locals call it ‘can-struction’ and we say cheers for being bonza!

COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL, 21-24 JULY, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA Having moved way beyond its geeky image, Comic-Con is now an enormous event packed with celebrity appearances, film screenings and out-of-this-world costume competitions. With 600 separate events taking place within the convention, across four locations, it’s the perfect place to discover your super-hero!

...WITH

ENJOY LIFE | TOP 6...

A DIFFERENCE DIRTYBIRD CAMPOUT, 7-9 OCTOBER, SILVERADO, CALIFORNIA Launched just last year, The Dirtybird Campout combines summer camp fun that includes s’mores, sack races, rowboats, tug-of-wars and dance-offs with funky house music. It’s a campout that’s über cool and well worth planning ahead for.

WICKERMAN FESTIVAL, 22-23 JULY, DUNDRENNAN, SCOTLAND

If you enjoyed the movie, The Wickerman Festival is one for you and comes complete with a giant man-beast effigy that’s as impressive as it is eerie. Dubbed Scotland’s Alternative Music Festival, the event makes use of a natural amphitheatre on Galloway’s grazing land and has a cult following. The festival ends with the burning of a 13-metre Wickerman at midnight, a stunning scene that harks back to pagan times.

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, INTERACTIVE DESIGN & SHOTS ON IPAD, IPHONE & ANDROID DEVICES. THEBESTYOUMAGAZINE.CO

LISDOONVARNA MATCHMAKING FESTIVAL, 2 SEPTEMBER – 9 OCTOBER, IRELAND

Dating back 150 years when, during the Great Irish Famine, there was a mass emigration from the area’s farms and families would pay large dowries to matchmakers to lure a wife for their son. Today, the local horse dealer, farmer, publican and third-generation matchmaker, Willie Daly, leads proceedings over a month of pairing, accompanied by gypsies reading crystal balls, tea leaves and palms, Irish jigs and plenty of native oysters to munch.

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

ENJOY LIFE

GOOD NEWS

UNDER THE SEA We’ve seen dreadful images of marine wildlife tragically trapped by plastic packaging that’s been carelessly left to pollute the oceans, but Florida’s Saltwater Brewery has created the world’s first sustainable, edible six-pack ring. Made from wheat and barley beer production waste which is completely biodegradable, compostable and edible for marine life, it’s hoped that big beer manufacturers will follow the lead to address the damage being done by man to the environment.

SALTWATERBREWERY.COM

COOL IDEA A clever idea to transform waste material into a low-cost air conditioning unit has been developed by a creative supervisor at advertising company, Grey Group. Ashis Paul has developed a system which uses plastic bottles cut in half – the necks are inserted into holes in a board which draw in hot air that is then converted as the air pressure changes, releasing cool air into the room. Initially used in Bangladesh, where many people live in tin homes, the resulting five degree change creates more comfortable living conditions.

MODERN MOVERS Paris has taken action to reduce pollution by banning cars registered before 1997 from the French capital. Going forwards, the new legislation will continue to ban cars older than 10 years. It follows moves by capitals around the globe to address smog levels that can impact the health of the population.

DRINK UP! It can be a challenge to encourage youngsters to drink enough water, particularly during the summer months. A new interactive water bottle from Gululu introduces a Tamagotchilike game where a character evolves and goes on adventures, according to how much water the child consumes. MYGULULU.COM

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

How well connected are you to the Earth and your body’s needs? When we surveyed the habits and beliefs of the superhealthy in my 100 per cent Health Survey online at PATRICKHOLFORD.COM, which has involved more than 100,000 people to date, most had good relationships, kept fit, did vital energy-generating exercise such as yoga or t’ai chi, meditated or had some kind of spiritual practice, considered their relationship to nature important, had a good diet and took supplements. The key seemed to be connection, be it to others, the Earth or a higher purpose. One of the five keys for connectivity is body and earth connection – being in touch with, respecting and nurturing your body with good nutrition and energy-generating exercise, and respecting and protecting the Earth through conscious living.

IN OUR FAST, MODERN WORLD WE HAVE BECOME SO DISCONNECTED FROM THE EARTH. "

This disconnection has led to factory farming (intensive animal-rearing with little to no respect for the life of the chicken, cow or pig), GM crops, pesticides and chemical fertilisers. The ‘sell’ is that this is the only way to feed the masses, but it isn’t true. This is the way for big farmers to own food production and make more profit. In the meantime we have become so alienated from the Earth that misshapen food is discarded and everything is over-sanitised. We are germ phobic, not realising that a far greater danger is created from chemicals designed to kill nature’s pests and weeds. We are bug-phobic too. Yet, our sterile environments have disrupted the complex microbiome. Many urban children no longer have the resilience and the gut intelligence to know how to react to foods, so are becoming increasingly allergic and asthmatic. For them, the modern world has become toxic. Most children don’t even know where food comes from, let alone how to grow it. But there is

w w w . thebest y oumagaz ine.co

something wonderful about growing our own food and eating it – the miracle of seeds turning into food on the table. I live in London and grow what food I can in my garden. Today I ate home-grown rocket. Tomorrow I’ll pick an artichoke. Another simple way to connect with the Earth and the food it produces is to say grace, however you choose to do it. It also connects you with the people you dine with. I have met quite a few ‘transcendental mystic’ types, often vegan, who are barely ‘on the Earth’. They live in lofty realms, often disconnected from what we might call ‘reality’. Such people don’t always want to be here at all, let alone be here now. Although often pitched in the guise of being connected to higher realms, this can be another way of being disconnected. We are not just spiritual beings. The physical realm exists too and we all need to deal with life in this world. Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it. Accumulating evidence also shows that we actually need ‘earthing’. That is, to ‘plug in’ to the Earth itself. If you think about it, all electrical devices are ‘earthed’, which allows an exchange of electrical charge in the form of charged particles, known as negative ions or electrons, with the Earth. We need this connection too. Every day the Earth receives something like 50,000 lightning strikes and consequently has a supply of ‘free’ electrons that will change the electrical charge of our body if we make contact with it for long enough. Our ancestors would have been ‘grounded’ naturally, all day long, because they would have either walked barefoot or worn leather shoes, and both allow the exchange of charged particles. Today we wear shoes with rubber or plastic soles, neither of which allow this exchange to happen. Earthing by doing something as simple as walking barefoot, or lying on the ground, improves sleep, reduces inflammation and pain, and protects you from electro-magnetic radiation that we are all bombarded with from wi-fi signals. You can buy earthing ‘sheets’ that plug in and earth you while you sleep. The Earth also has a natural frequency, that is, an electromagnetic vibration, to which our body naturally synchronises if

we spend enough time earthed in a natural environment. In a deeply relaxed, or meditative state, our body literally vibrates at about eight cycles per second (known as Hertz, or Hz). At the same time, our brainwaves shift from their everyday beta range (13 to 40Hz) into the same 8Hz deep alpha range. When this occurs, it creates an electromagnetic field around the head and the heart. The heart’s electromagnetic field actually extends for several metres. The Earth’s electromagnetic field also has a frequency of around 8Hz. When we are in nature, without any other interfering signal and hopefully no phone signal, it changes our brainwave pattern. We become in sync with the Earth. There are plenty of ways to spend more time in natural and wild environments. Here are some ideas to help you to reconnect: 1. Swim in the ocean and walk barefoot on the land. 2. Don’t bombard yourself all day long with electromagnetic radiation. Turn off your mobile phone while you sleep and don’t sleep next to the digital phone base-station. 3. Choose the food you eat carefully and be grateful for what you are about to eat. Grow your own food where you can. Eat less meat and only sustainable fish. 4. Be mindful of the Earth’s resources and, where you can, choose more sustainable methods of energy production. 5. Make less waste, recycle, fix things and buy things made from recycled materials. 6. Respect the Earth and nature and get involved in campaigns to protect it. Your life, and the life of your children, depends on it.

Patrick Holford is author of Chemistry of Connection – Five Keys to a Richer, Happier, Fulfilling and Meaningful Life

ENJOY LIFE | PATRICK HOLFORD

Connection with the world around us could be key to improving our health and wellbeing, says Patrick Holford

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, INTERACTIVE DESIGN & SHOTS ON IPAD, IPHONE & ANDROID DEVICES. THEBESTYOUMAGAZINE.CO

ARE YOU

EARTHED?

COVER STORY | ROBERT DOWNEY JR

Robert Downey Jr is a man who has succeeded as an actor, despite being blessed with talent, parents in the business, natural charm and a photographic memory. It sounds like a paradox, but The Best You explains why, in his case, it is not

ROBERT

DOWNEY JR

AGAINST

ALL ODDS Chaos

is probably the best word to describe the early years of Robert Downey Jr. The son of an underground film director and an actress, Robert grew up in an a deeply unconventional environment that was edgy, exciting, highly creative and devoid of boundaries. His dad, Robert Downey Senior, began making films in the 1960s. His mum, Elsie Ann Downey was his muse, and the couple hung out in the creative ferment of Greenwich Village, just as the counterculture was taking off. Robert Downey Senior turned out eccentric movies for his peers, experimenting with form and occasionally producing counterculture gems. It was into this creative milieu that the Downeys brought two kids, first Allyson, and then Robert, in 1965. Surrounded by artists and poets who were only interested in following their dreams, young Robert grew up with a wayward streak that came very close to

being his downfall in the years that were to follow. Central to the problems he encountered later, would be one event that strongly shaped his life. When he was just eight years old, he challenged his dad why it was okay for him and his friends to smoke marijuana, yet tell his son he could not. Downey Senior, perhaps feeling a hypocrite, relented and gave him his first joint. Though marijuana is not addictive in the way heroin is, it gave young Robert a taste for drugs, and the experience of a lifestyle that would eventually nearly destroy him. From early on, young Robert appeared in his dad's films. His first appearance was playing a dog in a movie called Pound in which the five-year-old Downey asks a bald man if he has, "Any hair on your balls?" Early on, Downey began to show character traits that would mark his later work â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the desire to be spontaneous and an extremely low boredom threshold. In one film, he refused to reshoot a scene â&#x20AC;&#x201C; informing his dad that he'd done it right the first time. His dad gave him a talking to and a slap; Downey acquiesced and did the take again.

At home, the camera was continually rolling while he and his sister played together. His schooling was often interrupted by his dad's trips all over the world to go on film shoots. He even spent several months in London, England, where he was placed in a school that he hated. The constant interruption to education would leave him feeling inadequate in later life. He and Allyson later attended Stagedoor Manor – an upstate New York acting school, where they were considered cooler and more mature than the other kids around them. His attitude to schooling was lax. After his parents split in 1978 – partially due to Downey Senior's drug's problems – young Robert lived with his mother in a cramped apartment in Manhattan, where she fell into depression. He lived between his mother's and father's homes in New York and LA, and continued his own slide into increasing drug use. Experiencing a growing desire to be in the movies, he eventually enrolled in an LA High School, often climbing the 20-foot high fence around the school and bunking off to the local park to drink beer and smoke drugs, returning in the evening for music or drama classes. In his drama classes, he began to show real skill.

THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT HIS PERFORMANCE THAT WAS SPONTANEOUS, WILD AND BRILLIANT, WITH AN UNBEATABLE ABILITY TO IMPROVISE A CHARACTER AND MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH UPROARIOUSLY."

His spontaneity showed in other ways. One girlfriend remembers him as a teenager, unexpectedly walking through a fountain at a shopping mall on their first date. This was Downey all over – goofing around and being both charming, funny and at times deeply annoying in his unpredictability. Another time, he stole a friend's car and drove it two blocks. The car was undamaged, but that crazy side in him was looking for kicks and excitement from early on. His boredom, his desire to experience the world intensely led him to quit school in 1982, before graduation. He returned to New York at 17 and began appearing in plays off Broadway, including a short-lived musical.

In 1985 he was cast in that year's season of Saturday Night Live, in which he bombed, but went on to appear in his first film role, Tuff Turf and next, Weird Science. By now, Downey had started a relationship with Sarah Jessica Parker. All the while, Downey continued to be a hell-raiser away from the film set. Parker, coming from an organised background, dedicated to work, was often the reason he managed to hide his drug-taking from the rest of the world, and crucially, film directors. She would clean him up and get him into film sets after a night of drunken carousing. One account talks of him sleeping in make-up in the back of a car, being asked by the director to come on set. He woke up, delivered his lines perfectly, then collapsed back into the car to sleep. Other accounts reveal that he has a photographic memory, and is able to deliver his lines after just one brief look at a script. He appeared in a series of roles in various films – some of them looking like he was taking the next step towards fame and fortune, others instantly forgettable. But even in the more mundane films there was something about Downey that made reviewers sit up and notice. His really big break came in 1992 when he appeared in the David Attenborough biopic, Chaplin. It was a role Downey viscerally wanted, and after the audition he went on to give a brilliant short physical comedy routine with a ladder. Attenborough was deeply impressed, and he won the role. His extraordinary precision in playing Chaplin was legendary. The real Charles Chaplin's daughter, Geraldine, also appeared in the movie, playing her own grandmother, Hannah. After studying footage of Downey as Chaplin, she commented: “That young man was Daddy!” For the extraordinary job he did in bringing Chaplin back to the silver screen he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Leading Actor, as well as a BAFTA. For many actors, this would have been the start of a fabulous career. But for Downey, great fame and great money were his enablers to follow a debauched and drug-filled life. His early introduction to drugs would soon catch up with him.

Robert Downey Jr (right) hangs out with Brat Pack actor Judd Nelson

w w w . thebest y oumagaz ine.co

A certain level of drug-taking is tolerated in Tinseltown – but when it becomes public knowledge, then it is a liability for the studios. By the mid 1990s, Downey was a heroin addict, on top of his drinking, cocaine, valium, mushroom, speed and cannabis use.

COVER STORY | ROBERT DOWNEY JR

Jessica Parker quit him, begging him to get help for his growing addiction. Later, Downey met and married fashion model Deborah Falconer after knowing her for just 42 days. She also was a drug user, and though they started off with the intention of helping each other to go straight, it was not long before they were both living the, literally, ‘high’ life. He was arrested after being found by shocked house-owners, asleep in their son's bed. In fear, the houseowner called the police. A taxi had dropped him off at the wrong part of his street, and, completely high, he hadn't realised he was in the wrong house.

Robert Downey Jr in Chaplin

The following decade amounts to a long story of drug abuse, arrest, prison, rehab, escape from rehab, brilliant film performances, announcements that he had finally gone clean, promises to judges that he would never touch drugs again – followed by relapses, further prison or rehab, more film performances and prison again. During that battling time, Downey was beaten by fellow prison inmates, attacked and held in solitary confinement where he was forced to hang his food up in his cell to stop rats getting to it.

It finally happened for him in 2003, when he met Susan Levin. With addiction, sometimes it isn't only reaching rock bottom, it's also having the support to go on. With Levin behind him, Downey found a combination of meditation, 12-step programme, exercise and kung fu, which has freed him from his addiction. Since then, he has gone on to become one of the most famous actors of his generation, famously playing Sherlock Holmes and Iron Man in blockbuster movies. Downey's life has been a battle, despite having so much in his favour. This is what we mean when we write that he has succeed despite having so many advantages. Finally, he appears to have put his demons to rest.

" Jude Law (left) and Robert Downey Jr (right) at the Sherlock Holmes premiere in New York

SOMETIMES, HE LOOKED LIKE HE HAD GONE CLEAN – SOMETIMES, AN INCREASINGLY EXASPERATED JUDGE LOOKED HELPLESS TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE."

With then girlfriend Sarah Jessica Parker in 1986

Robert Downey with his wife Susan Levin

and later with Deborah Falconer in 1992

To find more about Robert Downey Jr download a digital version of THEBESTYOUMAGAZINE.CO or get The Best You App from Apple Store or Google Play Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark in Iron Man

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

FEATURE | THE OOLA GUYS

THE

REVOLUTION

BEGINS

HERE

There's a movement spreading across America. It's called Oola, and it was created by the Oola Guys – Dr Dave and Dr Troy. With its simple methods of finding balance in an unbalanced world, it looks set to grow and grow. Bernardo Moya speaks to The Oola Guys

Find out more at OOLALIFE.COM

WHAT IS OOLA? "OOLA," Dr Dave tells me, "is that place we all shoot for in life. That feeling we experience when you get the successes along the way – even if it's simple stuff, like reading a book on a beach, or playing with your child." Dr Troy adds, with a twinkle in his eye: "In short, Oola is cool." They describe Oola as that state of awesomeness, when your life is balanced and growing in the seven key areas of life – the seven F's of Oola, which are fitness, finance, family, field, faith, friends, and fun. It sounds simple – it is simple – and maybe that's why the Oola movement has been taking the US by storm. The Oola Guys have made it readily available for you to make the changes you want. With their guidance, you reflect on how you can improve the seven Fs of your life. Then you write down one thing you'd like to change in each area. After that, you write down the next 7, and the next 7, until you have 21 goals to aim for.

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

BUT OOLA ISN'T JUST GOAL-SETTING. Along the way, the Oola Guys are there to help. They break it down for you, so you can get to each goal. The effect is transformative. Dr Dave and Dr Troy first met at Uni in the US, Dave says. "I was finishing my doctorate and I interned with Dr Troy. We met in 1997 and hit it off. He became my friend, boss and mentor all at the same time. He introduced me to the concept of balancing your life in 1997. We sat down at the Hard Rock Hotel and went through where we are with seven areas of life. What kind of dad did I want to be, what kinda business did I want to have, how much money did I want to have – and how were we gonna do that? Troy adds: "We set goals in seven categories, and then we kept each other accountable by phone. We’d just keep each other on track, like, 'Dude you’re drifting from this,' or whatever. It was that simple.

Dr Dave adds: "We were thinking we’d sell about 40 books but – it would be a fun project. We had no idea it was gonna take off. The first, like, 10,000 copies of the book is a picture of the back of Dr Troy's head, because he’s like I’m not gonna come out of retirement, no-one is gonna know who I am. The book just started to take off."

SO WHAT WAS THE ROOT OF THE BOOK'S SUCCESS? Dr Dave answers: "I think a lot of it was just going against the grain, like, we didn’t listen when we went to an editor in New York. They came back and they said, 'Okay first of all it’s a really well written book, it’s simple principles but get rid of the word Oola, because it doesn’t make any sense.' We just didn’t care. We’re like, 'Screw it we’re doing it our way.'

JUST A GROUP OF GUYS TRYING TO BE BETTER GUYS IN ALL SEVEN AREAS – NOT JUST WINNING IN BUSINESS AND MONEY LIKE MOST PEOPLE."

"Then I went overseas, to do some business in 1999 and we drifted. He got busy with his family, I got busy with my work and family and we didn’t connect on these principles." While things worked out for Dr Troy, who continued to apply the principles they'd worked out to his life, things were different for Dr Dave. At first it all appeared to be working – but as time went by, he lost connection with Oola. "One day a couple of years ago, Dave popped up. He'd been super-successful in all seven areas – a beautiful home, beautiful family, beautiful business, was in shape. But now he was desperate, in a motel, bankrupt, divorced." It was then that Dr Troy started to help him apply the seven Fs again to his life. Immediately, it started to work. It was extraordinary. Seeing him put his life back together, the two of them decided to write a book about how Oola can help so many others.

The birth of Oola: Find Balance in an Unbalanced World was not a normal bookwriting experience. "We wrote it in three days," says Dr Troy. "Neither of us had written more than a five page paper in college!"

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, INTERACTIVE DESIGN & SHOTS ON IPAD, IPHONE & ANDROID DEVICES. THEBESTYOUMAGAZINE.CO

Dave and Troy are convinced that the word Oola really made it take off. It was intriguing – a brand all of its own.

I THINK, ESPECIALLY IN THE US EVERYONE IN THEIR HEART FEELS THIS IMBALANCE THIS DISCONNECT. THEY’RE SO BUSY TRYING TO ACCUMULATE MATERIAL THINGS. I THINK WE STRUCK A NERVE WITH PEOPLE," HE ADDS. "

"And it’s simple to tell people about it, it’s simple to follow, the word is sticky. People use it in sentences. We have fifth graders going, ‘Hey that’s not Ool’a.

FEATURE | THE OOLA GUYS

Or, ‘Don’t do this, this is Oola’. We have plastic surgeons saying, ‘This is my Oola’." As word about the book spread, Dr Dave and Dr Troy were soon being asked to speak at personal development events. It's gone on from there, growing massively, partially because of the completely fresh approach the pair takes to teaching. They incorporate films, games and much more. The atmosphere is informal – not like a traditional seminar. It makes for fun, which is a great way to do personal development. It doesn't have to be serious dedication. It needs to come from the heart, for a person to find their own way. The heart of Oola is a cool approach to the world – working out the changes you need, and then overcoming blocks to get what you want.

Dr Dave and Dr Troy have a surferdude attitude at heart, and that's why they decided to take to the road, spreading the word of Oola in a VW camper. Covered in stickers where people have written out their seven Fs,

THE IDEA OF OOLA IS TO GET PEOPLE TO SIGN A CONTRACT WITH THEMSELVES TO DO THINGS BETTER."

People see it, they're intrigued and they write out the changes they want. Then, amazingly, they see those same people later on, telling them that changes have happened.

Dr Dave and Dr Troy have done so many miles in the Oola bus that they've had to put three new engines in it. They want to get all the states of the US covered. And still the energy goes on. There are events happening right now, and merchandise available that helps you stay on the Oola path. For the future, there are going to be more corporate events, too – because, with a happier, fitter workforce, business is more successful. Wherever they go, people tell them the changes they have made thanks to Oola. Focusing on fitness, meeting that deal they signed with themselves, overcoming blocks in all seven key areas of their lives, people are transformed. So, from a fresh idea, a new perspective, a movement has been born. And what's more, it works!

The Oola Guys: Dr Dave/Oola Seeker (left) and Dr Troy/Oola Guru (right)

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

Jessica Ennis-Hill wins a medal at the upcoming Rio Olympics, she will be only the third track and field athlete to hold on to an Olympic title after giving birth. Her own thoughts mirror how hard the task may be: “To win again in Rio would be unbelievable... it is going to be a really big challenge.”

remained calmly detached, refusing to be drawn on her thoughts despite the media-created storm around it. "I’ve not made any comments on it and I’m not going to," she told the press.

But if there is any quality that marks the rhythm of her life, it is consistency and dedication – and for that reason The Best You think that if it can be done – then EnnisHill has all the right traits.

THERE IS ALWAYS NOISE AROUND YOU AND YOU JUST HAVE TO KEEP FOCUSED ON WHAT’S IMPORTANT."

Let's look at the facts. She is blessed with great biology and genes. Judging by the past performance of her father, who was a great sprinter and sportsman in his day, EnnisHill very likely inherited ACTN3 – the highly sought-after ‘sprint gene’ common among Jamaicans. From her mother she also draws a powerful competitive streak.

SHE’S REALLY COMPETITIVE!" ENNIS-HILL LAUGHS. “EVEN LITTLE THINGS LIKE, 'I’VE MADE A NICER SANDWICH THAN YOU.'" Ennis-Hill slotted straight into the world of athletics as soon as she started to take part – showing a flair for athletics when she first took part in a race at the age of 10, netting herself a pair of trainers as a prize. Her near-perfect hurdling technique was spotted early on. Other sides of Ennis-Hill’s personality reveal that desire for continuity. From the age of 13, she was coached by Yorkshire-based coach Tony Minichiello – the same coach she has to this day. In 2013, she married her childhood sweetheart, Andy Hill, adding the ‘Hill’ surname to her maiden name to create a double-barrelled sobriquet. She still lives in Sheffield, though now her home is a more luxurious place than her childhood, with fantastic views over the moors. Consistency, too has been the byword for her training regime. She has spent 15 years of highly disciplined dedication to perfecting her fitness and taking her to becoming a Olympic Gold medallist in the heptathlon. Her body is testament to her dedication, famously toned and highly defined, it is the result of a near-obsessive desire for perfection. Ennis-Hill also knows how to keep her focus and not be distracted by the tangential and irrelevant. When British boxer Tyson Fury commented that, "She slaps up well. When she's got a dress on she looks quite fit," she

w w w . thebest y oumagaz ine.co

So how does she keep the focus. The words themselves tell some of her strategy. “I use visualisation to think about the perfect technique. If I can get that perfect image in my head, then hopefully it’ll affect my physical performance," she reveals, of the way she primes herself to succeed. She also admits she thrives on pressure – but keeps her thoughts to herself, not feeling the need to tell others how great she is, but letting her performance speak for itself. She also admits to being impatient – another trait of people who are often highly motivated. “I can’t even stand waiting for a cab and I’m always early for everything,” she says. “In training it means I want to run my personal best every session – but it takes time.” These internal drives were complemented by her parent's early support for her – keeping her interested in sport by encouraging her in her early years. There have been tough times since. She famously crashed out of the 2008 Olympics after getting a stress fracture. It was her first setback – but she kept at it, and went on to win gold in 2012.

JESSICA ENNIS-HILL

Another change that has brought a new dimension to her career was giving birth to her son, Reggie. Now, she juggles the two sides of her life. "I still want to be the best athlete I can be, but not at the sacrifice of seeing my son. I want to see him as much as I can," she admits, telling how for months she suffered severe sleep deprivation because of his strange sleeping patterns as she breastfed him. Her body, she says, took about a year to come back into shape. But now it's as honed and sculpted as ever. She's a fantastic individual – and we hope she comes back with something gold that she can dangle in front of Reggie's smiling face!

She is currently preparing for her latest challenge – defending her title at the Rio Olympics this summer, after victory in the 2015 World Athletic Championships. The Best You looks at the power and the glory that is Jessica Ennis-Hill

SPORT FEATURE | JESSICA ENNIS-HILL

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, INTERACTIVE DESIGN & SHOTS ON IPAD, IPHONE & ANDROID DEVICES. THEBESTYOUMAGAZINE.CO

HILL

OF GOLD

B O O K C L U B This issue we are giving away a wide range of fantastic books. If you’d like to be in with a chance of winning, simply email your name and contact details to PRIZEGIVEAWAYS@THEBESTYOU.CO with the name of the prize you would like to win in the subject title before 31 August 2016.

NEED SOME INSPIRED THINKING? ENTER OUR LUCKY DIP AND WE’LL SEND ONE WINNER A BOOK FROM THE BEST YOU’S BOOKSHELF.

WARRIOR GODDESS TRAINING: BECOME THE WOMAN YOU ARE MEANT TO BE by HeatherAsh Amara This is a book that teaches women to see themselves as perfect just the way they are; to resist society's insistence that they seek value, wholeness and love through something outside themselves. Drawing on the wisdom from Buddhism, Toltec wisdom and ancient earth-based goddess spirituality, Amara combines them all with the goal of helping women become empowered, authentic and free.

WIN!

We have one copy of the book to give away.

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, INTERACTIVE DESIGN & SHOTS ON IPAD, IPHONE & ANDROID DEVICES. THEBESTYOUMAGAZINE.CO

w w w . thebest y oumagaz ine.co

THE ARCHANGEL GUIDE TO ENLIGHTENMENT AND MASTERY: LIVING IN THE FIFTH DIMENSION by Diana Cooper In this book, Diana Cooper and Tim Whild share their incredible knowledge of the Golden Era of Atlantis and offer information, exercises and meditations to become an Enlightened Master in this lifetime. They connect you to the highest frequency dragons, unicorns, angels and great Ascended Masters who are assisting you from many universes to move into your true potential.

WIN!

We have one copy of the book to give away.

MOONOLOGY: WORKING WITH THE MAGIC OF LUNAR CYCLES by Yasmin Boland Did you know the cycles of the moon have a huge effect on our health, our mood, our relationships, and our work? By understanding these phases, we can work with them to improve and empower every aspect of our lives. This is a book for all those wishing to deepen their connection with nature and take their spiritual practice to a new level.

WIN!

We have one copy of the book to give away. We have one copy of the book to give away.

EATERNITY by Jason Wrobel Vegan chef and wellness expert Jason Wrobel offers up a comprehensive recipe and lifestyle book with practical tips for creating drool-worthy dishes with specific nutritional benefits. While at its core Eaternity is a cookbook, it's so much more than that. Unlike most cookbooks that merely tell you what to eat and how to make it, Eaternity gives you the current research and science behind our major health concerns and explains why you should eat certain foods based on your individual goals – whether it's to lose weight, have more energy, sleep sounder or feel stronger.

WIN!

We have one copy of the book to give away.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

One entry per household. Entry implies acceptance of rules and conditions. No purchase necessary. Open to all UK residents aged 18 years or over, other than employees of The Best You and companies associated with it. Draw will be conducted by The Best You Corporation. Prize is as stated and will be awarded to the entry drawn at random on the draw date. No cash alternative is available. No correspondence will be entered into. Delayed entries will be deemed invalid. Winners’ names may be published and the winners may be required to participate in publicity. Promoter: The Best You Corporation.

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

BOOK REVIEWS QUICK

READ Forget speed reading, JOOSR is an app that condenses books into 20-minute read. With more than 100 non-fiction titles it breaks content down into ‘blinks’, screen-sized summaries which make short work of digesting a title. Purists might object to this new way of cracking through chapters, but it could just be the way to increase your literary knowledge this summer.

With the power to entertain, enrich and empower your life, books are as important today as they have been for millennia. Here’s what’s catching our eye at The Best You this month…

THE MORE THAT YOU READ, THE MORE THINGS YOU WILL KNOW. THE MORE THAT YOU LEARN, THE MORE PLACES YOU’LL GO." - Dr Seuss

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, INTERACTIVE DESIGN & SHOTS ON IPAD, IPHONE & ANDROID DEVICES. THEBESTYOUMAGAZINE.CO

BOOK REVIEW 1 | THE OOLA GUYS

1 OOLA: FIND BALANCE

IN AN UNBALANCED WORLD DAVE BRAUN & TROY AMDAHL

OOLA is not your typical self-help book. Oola is a ‘state of awesomeness’. When your life is balanced and growing in the seven key areas of life (fitness, finance, family, field, faith, friends, and fun). Oola reads more like a collection of kick-butt anecdotes and sincere stories that just happen to have meaningful messages. Co-authors Dave Braun (The OolaSeeker) and Troy Amdahl (The OolaGuru) have been there and done that. Need 7 more reasons to read this book: 1. Learn the three simple steps to balance and grow your life in an unbalanced world. 2. Uncover what blocks you from the life of your dreams and what can get you there faster. 3. Find out what you can learn from a drunken Thai monkey, a black Ninja, and zebra-striped underwear. 4. Why no matter what you have done or have failed to do, you deserve a better life. 5. Become inspired to take the steps, reach your milestones, and achieve your OolaLife. 6. Discover the seven key areas of life you must balance and grow. 7. Unlock the secrets to taking your life to the next level.

WHAT I HAVE BEEN SEEKING, AND WHAT I BELIEVE EVERYONE IS SEEKING... IN AN OOLALIFE." - Kurt Warner, NFL MVP

BOOK REVIEW 2 | ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS

2 GRAND ADVENTURES ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS

Adventure – something that’s new and exhilarating, outside your comfort zone. Adventures change you and how you see the world, and all you need is an open mind, bags of enthusiasm and boundless curiosity. So what’s a Grand Adventure – it is the most life-changing, career-enhancing, personality-forging, fun adventure of your life. Following on from his popular Microadventures, in Grand Adventures Alastair Humphreys shines a spotlight on the real-life things that get in the way: stuff like time, money or your other commitments. Grand Adventures is also crammed with hard-won wisdom from people who have actually been there and done that: by boat and boot, car and kayak, bicycle and motorbike. People who had one epic trip then returned to normal life, or who got bitten so badly by the bug that they devoted their life to the pursuit of adventure. Young people, old people. Men, women. Mates, couples, families. Extraordinary, inspiring people. People like you. Saving your pennies, overcoming inertia, generating momentum, getting out the front door: if you want it enough, you can do it. Tiny steps to a grand adventure. Are you in?

ENORMOUS DETERMINATION, LATERAL THINKING, AND A LOVE FOR LIFE AND ADVENTURE." - Sir Ranulph Fiennes

BOOK REVIEW 3 | KIRSTEN HARTVIG

3 HEALING BERRIES: 50 WONDERFUL

BERRIES AND HOW TO USE THEM IN HEALTH-GIVING FOODS AND DRINKS KIRSTEN HARTVIG

Berries are among the healthiest foods on the planet – and more and more people today are becoming aware of their miraculous health-giving properties. For centuries, people all over the world have relied on them both as food and as medicine. Packed with goodness as well as flavour, they exude the freshness and romance of the great outdoors. Most berries are easy to store and use out of season: they can be dried, preserved with alcohol or sugar, or frozen, and most of us can now find a wide selection of berries in supermarkets and specialist healthfood stores. Every month, new research is published describing the health-giving properties of a well-known or recently discovered berry, and there is extensive literature to support the medicinal importance of a wide selection of species. This book is a celebration of the health-giving properties of berries, as well as a treasure-trove of fabulous ways to use them in your cooking. Renowned nutritionist and naturopath Kirsten Hartvig offers more than 100 recipes, from breakfasts and preserves to juices and liqueurs. Also included in the book is a detailed directory of berries, including fascinating profiles of the healthiest, most popular species, including açai, cranberry, blueberry and redcurrant. This is a wonderful addition to the literature of healthy eating.

A FANTASTICALLY DIVERSE GUIDE TO GETTING THE MOST FROM THESE POWERFUL, FLAVOURSOME FRUITS WITH INSIGHT INTO THE HEALTH BENEFITS FOR NATURAL WELLBEING." - Jo Smith

BOOK REVIEW 4 | LISA LISTER

4 LOVE YOUR LADY LANDSCAPE:

TRUST YOUR GUT, CARE FOR 'DOWN THERE' AND RECLAIM YOUR FIERCE AND FEMININE 'SHE' POWER LISA LISTER

There was a time, roughly 5,000 years ago, when SHE Power reigned and lady landscapes were revered. A time when the space between a woman's thighs was considered a power portal with a direct hook up to Source. But for the last 2,000 years, the potent powers of our wombs, our cyclic nature and our menstrual cycles have been disregarded. In modern times, this disconnect from the feminine cyclic experience is causing an epidemic of stress, emotional depletion and frustration, infertility and 'down there' pain and disease. In Love Your Lady Landscape, Lisa Lister takes us on a revelatory journey through the terrain of what it is to be a woman. Packed with tools and practices to reconnect women to their feminine wisdom, this book will help you to: - release guilt and shame from the past - explore selfpleasure and sensuality - learn about your menstrual cycle and its connection with the rhythms of nature discover the sacred art of receiving  - unleash your creativity - find your voice to communicate your needs, wants and desires This book will move you into a fiercely loving and healing relationship with your body, and teach you how to use its cycles and signs to create a life of vitality and fulfilment.

LISA KNOWS THE TRUE IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN LOVING AND HONOURING THEIR BODIES EVERY DAY. LOVE YOUR LADY LANDSCAPE IS LIBERATING, FIERCE AND FASCINATING – AND PACKED WITH INFORMATION THAT ALL WOMEN SHOULD KNOW." - Mel Wells, author of The Goddess Revolution

Be Inspired

BEAUTIFUL LIFE

An author who writes from the heart

LIVE LOVE LEGACY

IS IT REALLY TRUE?

How to tell fact from fiction

VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

Adventurer Alastair Humphreys

What do you want to be remembered for? What are your relationships like with those around you? How does life treat youâ&#x20AC;¦ and how do you treat your life? There is so much good in you. Enrich your life with the passion you feel and the connections you make.

PUT YOUR COMPANY IN THIS SPACE! TO SPONSOR THIS PAGE AND BE PART OF THE BEST YOU, EMAIL US AT ADVERTISING@THEBESTYOU.CO

TELLING

BEAUTY’S STORY Beauty’s Story is bigger than me. That is why I am able to tell it. Even now, I recall the tears rolling down my cheeks as I typed the very first lines for the very first time: ‘I know the every imperfection of my face…’ I love writing. Always did. And I always ‘knew’, as a little girl, that I was going to be a published writer. Practising as a journalist for a few years partially satisfied that appetite, only partially. I just always ‘knew'... Then I got married and that relationship very nearly wiped out everything I knew to be true about myself. For many years, I bought into his lies and battled the paralysis, confusion and utter terror that domestic abuse can engender in its victims. I was saved by a book. Literally. I read Patricia Evans book on The Verbally Abusive Relationship and began to understand what I was experiencing. I then started to watch my relationship and saw that the signs and patterns she spoke about were there in abundance. I did some more studying, some more observing, and began to directly challenge the abuse as abuse, rather than buying into the excuses that were usually offered. It only got worse. It got to a point where I decided to make a choice: either to stay in a relationship that was abusive and toxic; or to get out of it, recover myself and begin to function again as a full and free member of the human race. I chose the latter. It was during the horrendous period of my separation and subsequent divorce that I wrote Beauty’s Story. I had come to see that domestic abuse (especially with no or low physical violence and so no physical scars) didn’t seem to be understood in society. I was surprised and

w w w . thebest y oumagaz ine.co

dismayed by how widespread it was, and still is – it cuts across race, culture, age, social status, religious affiliations and sexual orientation. As I shared my experiences, I saw others opening up to share theirs, even if it was with a resignation to it; an encouragement for me to persevere; an admonition for me to not rock the boat, to stay for the sake of the children… I was astounded at the lack of understanding of all what was at stake in the situation. Part of why I wrote Beauty’s Story therefore was to raise awareness. I have often been asked whether it is fiction or factual. The story lines, the characters, the plot, those are all fictional. The themes and the essence of Beauty’s experiences, are all factual. They are very real to me, and to every woman who has suffered abuse at the hands and mouth of somebody they loved and who may have claimed to have loved them. A follow up question tends to be: “Why didn’t you write it as non-fiction?” My answer to that is because many great lessons have been taught and learnt through the use of fictional stories. And, more importantly, the scourge of domestic abuse in society is more than my own personal experience. Thankfully, I lived to tell the tale. Some don’t. Sadly, some do die, either at the hands of their abuser (it often escalates), intentionally or otherwise; or their body succumbs to some terminal illness due to all the stress induced by the abuse. Some take to drugs and alcohol to mitigate their sufferings and end up with a different, often, compounded set of problems; some suffer intense mental and emotional health challenges for very many years. How did it end for Beauty? How did she deal with it? Well, you will have to read the novel to find that out! Writing Beauty’s Story was part of my survival strategy. I didn’t

consciously know this at the time. What I did know was that I had this story going on in my head and it simply had to come out. (Thank you BookMidwife for helping with that!) The step before that was where I’d sought out a professional who chose to believe in me, at a time when I found it extremely difficult to believe in myself… Looking back, the one common factor that helped me write Beauty’s Story while my world was falling apart was exercising my choice. I chose to say ‘no more’ to the abuse. I chose to believe I could get support and I chose to ask for it. I chose to listen to my inner voice and to reconnect with her... And now I have also chosen to support others in their journeys of transformation into living authentic and fulfilling lives irrespective of whatever difficulties they may have encountered in the past.

MY ENCOURAGEMENT FOR YOU TODAY IS TO BE WHO YOU ARE. DO WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO TO FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE, TO BECOME COMFORTABLE IN YOUR OWN SKIN, TO BEGIN TO LIVE A LIFE THAT LINES UP WITH YOUR VALUES, YOUR GIFTS AND YOUR CALLING – THAT IS WHERE THERE IS FULFILMENT. AND, YOU HAVE THE GIFT OF CHOICE. USE IT!"

LIVE LOVE LEGACY | INSPIRATIONAL STORY RITA EDAH

Rita Ese Edah, author of Beautyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Story is a mother, life coach, practitioner of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), trainer and speaker. She has a passion for helping those who feel lost and stuck to regain a sense of identity and direction.

For abuse survivor Rita Edah, writing her first novel helped her recover her life and move forward

She loves working with women to help them regain their voice and sense of self which can so easily get lost in service to others. She believes that we serve best when we are being true to who we are and are speaking our own truths without fear, with confidence and in grace. Contact Rita at HTTPS:// WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ RITA-EDAH-COACHINGTRAINING-1690471904529511/

LIVE LOVE LEGACY | ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS

In 2001, Alastair Humphreys set out to cycle around the world. Today he wants each of us to find the big adventure inside of us, and achieve it!

FEELING

ADVENTUROUS

Grand Adventures by Alastair Humphreys is published by William Collins. Visit THEBESTYOUMAGAZINE.CO to watch Humphreys’ TEDx Talk 'Why not start today?'

Throughout history, adventurers have dared to be different, explored parts of the world that most of us will never see, stretching their levels of endurance and realising lifetime achievements.

Then again in 2009, he rowed across the English Channel with Major Phil Packer to raise £1m for Help for Heroes. Later that year, he walked across India, and in 2010 packrafted across Iceland.

In more recent times, we’ve been lucky enough to share many of these – with a growing number of television celebrity adventurers bringing their epic journeys to the screen, we live vicariously through their daring. But what if we challenge ourselves to live the big adventure ourselves?

Named Adventurer of the Year by National Geographic, he spent 2011 experiencing smaller achievements, coining the #microadventure ,which went viral on social media. The concept was to encourage people to get outside, out of their comfort zone and do something.

One adventurer urging us to seize the day is Alastair Humphreys, whose own adventure started in 2001 when he set off from his Yorkshire home to cycle around the world, travelling 46,000 miles over four years. For most people, this experience alone would be enough to dine out on for a lifetime, but in 2008, Humphreys embarked upon the Marathon des Sables, a 150-mile run across the Sahara Desert, completing the race even after her broke his foot.

Firmly believing the first step is the biggest challenge to doing more than we believe we are capable of, his book Microadventures was a global phenomenon. In 2012 he joined a team to row across the Atlantic Ocean, walked across the Empty Quarter desert – documented on film – and took an expedition across Greenland. These experiences set him apart as a remarkable individual, yet Humphreys says he had to consciously become the person he is.

Find out more at ALASTAIRHUMPHREYS.COM

AS A KID, I WAS PRETTY NORMAL AND AS A YOUNG ADULT I RECALL CONSCIOUSLY REMODELLING MYSELF. CHILDREN THESE DAYS ARE MASSIVELY WRAPPED IN COTTON WOOL, BUT I THINK IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT TO SCARE AND CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN LIFE."

Part of Humphreys’ journey has been connecting with other adventurers and creating an online community of microadventurers, who share their experiences on his website and via social media. Although his own story began on the cusp of the digital age, the internet has allowed him to share his adventures with a global audience. “I began my first big adventure as the internet

began,” he says. “and I planned my journey the old-fashioned way with books, not via the web. “Now that I’ve made adventuring my career, social media has been invaluable. It does sometimes strike me as incongruous that I’m an evangelist for adventures but need digital channels to share them, but I encourage people to share their adventures and then shut their phone off and live the moment right in front of them.” So, having seen the world, where’s home for Humphreys? “I feel very much that England is my base. I love being at home but I also love travelling and I get itchy feet, but I spend months at my desk, writing to pay for it.” The challenges for the modern adventurer may have changed, but the pleasure of living in the moment and seizing the day remains as timeless as exploration itself. We just need to make a start.

10 WAYS TO TELL

YOU'RE BEING

LIED TO These giveaways are pretty much a cert that you're not being told the truth #DETECTIVE

Darren Stanton is known as The Human Lie Detector. He is one of the world's leading body language experts, and is a master of uncovering deception. Here are his ten things to look out for to tell if someone is lying to you…

1. THERE'S NO EYE CONTACT

For the most part, people are uncomfortable when it comes to deceit. These persons will be bad liars and will not be able to look you in the eye. They will use tactics such as touching their eyes, yawning or simply keeping their back to you.

2. THERE'S TOO MUCH EYE CONTACT

Unfortunately, there are those people who are comfortable with lying, however, they are just as easy to spot. These tricksters will overcompensate and maintain eye contact for too long

w w w . thebest y oumagaz ine.co

as if determined to convince you that they are telling the truth. If they hold eye contact with you for more than six seconds, alarm bells should start to ring.

3. WHERE THEY'RE LOOKING

It is a little known but useful fact that when right-handed people are lying they will look right and when left-handed people ﬁb they will look left.

4. WHAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY SAYING

Mimicking is often one of the key tell-tale signs that someone is being deceitful. When a liar is put on the spot he or she will have very little time to plan a response, therefore they resort to mimicking the language of their accuser. For instance, if a truthful person were asked, 'Are you cheating on me?' they would respond with a simple, 'No' where as a liar would mimic and say, 'No, I'm not cheating on you’.

5. HOW THEY'RE STANDING

Crossed ankles and arms are key indicators of someone who is lying to you. However, many people are aware of this trait and will try and overcompensate by being overtly open with their body language. Similarly, liars tend to position themselves at right angles to the person to whom they are telling a lie. Also when it comes to spotting a female ﬁbber, their biggest giveaway is blushing.

6. HAND MOVEMENTS

We pick up many of our habits when we are children. When children ﬁb they, generally speaking, cover their mouth or touch their face. When it comes to adults, any type of hand gesture that revolves around the upper body, chest or face, such as rubbing their nose or scratching their head indicates deceit. Also if someone is holding an object, as they lie they will tighten their grip and hold it closer to their body.

LIVE LOVE LEGACY | DARREN STANTON

Check Darren Stanton's coming soon seminar here WWW.DARRENSTANTON. CO.UK/#!EVENTS/JJHJX

By doing this they are creating a subconscious barrier to hide behind.

7. THEIR LIP COLOUR (YEP)

If their lips are pale and their face is either bright red or as white as a ghost, this can be a key sign that they are lying to you. The origins of this stem from the body's natural ﬁght or ﬂight instinct in times of pressure.

8. A TWITCH, BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Liars often twitch when they are being untruthful. If recognised this can be one of the easiest giveaways to identify. Sometimes it can be a particularly long blink, or it could be a tiny muscle in the cheek or neck. Men in particular have an area at the bottom of their nose that twitches when they are ﬁbbing.

9. SWEATY PALMS

As a general rule of thumb, we sweat more when we are lying and in particular on the palms of our hands. If you suspect someone of lying, shake their hand, if it is dripping with sweat the chances are that you have just been lied to.

10. SARCASM

Liars will have very little time to continue fabricating their story if questioned about it. Therefore using sarcasm is one of the ways they bluﬀ. If you are getting sarcastic answers to your questions then you are most likely being the victim of a liar.

Keep an eye out on Darren’s website under the events page for details of his upcoming Deception Detection shows being held in London in conjunction with The Best You. DARRENSTANTON.CO.UK

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

What’s the story behind the Festival of Sausages and Beer? We started the festivals ten years ago and they’ve grown bigger and bigger naturally. We have a permanent infrastructure with the farm and everything else has just grown around it. It’s also extremely good fun and an excuse to have a party!

Give us a flavour of what’s going to be happening, and who’s coming? People have a passion for great food when it’s combined with a festival. I think it’s in our social psyche and county shows play a part in this, but when you combine music and food it takes on a whole new form. We’ve got all sorts going on at the farm with the animal park open, a wandering theatre group, plus JB Gill from JLS on the farm too – ticket sales have been flying! There’s also a rare breed pig show and sheep shearing, so plenty of traditional farming entertainment, a great big food market area and, of course, an array of sausages and beer. We’ve got an acoustic stage in the garden, and on the main stage Chas & Dave will be appearing, it’s going to be fantastic.

Supermarkets are disengaged from the process of where food comes from, but when you shop at a butcher, fishmonger or greengrocer you can find out about its origins. Increasingly, people want a shopping experience that includes an education and even a bit of entertainment too!

MY ANCHOR IS THE FARM, IT KEEPS MY FEET ON THE GROUND."

I constantly drive my wife and general manager mad because I come back from doing television shows and travelling around with big ideas. I’ll want to put in an apiary or try aquaponics on the farm, but it’s the perfect blend.

What can we do to support UK farming? Always source locally and buy British where you can. Often the person making the cereal earns less than the person who designs the packet, and farmers are operating on really small margins, so look for the Union Jack and support growers direct.

What’s it like to be a modern man of the land? The whole celebrity chef thing has been massive but there’s been a leap from just cooking food to looking at the origin of food. People are more in tune with where their food comes from. We can see this in the rise of farmers’ markets, gastro pubs and street food too.

To find out more about Jimmy’s Harvest Festival of Sausages and Beer on 23-24 July, visit JIMMYSFESTIVAL. CO.UK

LIVE LOVE LEGACY | WHAT DOES IT TAKE

Suffolk farmer Jimmy Doherty captured the nation’s imagination with his show, Jimmy’s Farm, sharing the world of his family-owned Essex Pig Company. This month, he opens the gates for Jimmy’s Harvest Festival of Sausages and Beer on 2324 July. We chatted with him about life on the land

WHAT DOES

IT TAKE TO BE A...

FARMER?

Be Inspired

GO-TO GIRLS Wonderful women vloggers

BERRY BURST

Fruits and spices for good health

FEEL & LOOK GOOD

WAKE UP!

Work in tandem with your monthly cycle

SWITCH IT UP

How to tackle diabetes

Feeling good about yourself has a hugely positive impact on your appearance, persona and the response you ignite in others. Explore new ways to enhance the impression you make and enjoy the benefits of a positive self-image.

PUT YOUR COMPANY IN THIS SPACE! TO SPONSOR THIS PAGE AND BE PART OF THE BEST YOU, EMAIL US AT ADVERTISING@THEBESTYOU.CO

You are what you eat is a saying that has been with us for centuries, and so it makes absolute sense that eating naturally and seeking goodness from simple, unprocessed foodstuffs is the right way to ensure our bodies get the best benefit. Nutritionist, naturopath and author Kirsten Hartvig speaks to the merits of berries and spices as a source of healing and health in her new books, Healing Berries and Healing Spices.

Acclaimed nutritionist Kirsten Hartvig says berries and spices have the power to heal and improve our wellbeing

With practices in East Sussex and Denmark – where she is a government adviser on natural health – she also runs regular retreats in the French Pyrenees. “I lived in the mountains for ten years,” says Hartvig, “and during that time I used very little conventional medicine. By connecting with the natural environment and getting to know the plants intimately, I found the most effective treatments to be all around me. I studied naturopathy and herbalism and for 25 years I have combined these to create an holistic approach to health.” In the new books, Hartvig examines the historical use and healing properties of 100 berries and spices to demonstrate how these simple ingredients can be used to boost nutrition and health. With recipes alongside, this knowledge can easily be incorporated into tasty and delicious recipes which are easy to recreate at home. In Healing Berries, Hartvig shares a host of ways to use the fruits in cooking, from fresh, frozen, dried and preserved.

" Healing Berries and Healing Spices by Kirsten Hartvig are published by Watkins Publishing

w w w . thebest y oumagaz ine.co

MOST OF US RELY ON SUPERMARKETS IF WE LIVE IN AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT AND BERRIES ARE PERFECTLY ACCESSIBLE, BUT IT’S WORTH LOOKING FURTHER FOR SOME REAL GEMS.

“Aronia berries and barberries are common in hedgerows. Aronia is also available from healthfood shops as a juice, full of antioxidants and minerals. Barberries are used in Arabian cooking and you can buy them in Asian stores. I love to add a handful to a casserole, sprinkle them on a salad or enjoy them in a smoothie. When wildcrafting berries, it’s important not to eat what you’re not 100 per cent sure about identifying. Mind you, the same could be said when you look at a packet in a supermarket that’s full of additives!” Hartvig also organises herb walks to educate people on nature’s bounty and to help them reconnect with their local environment as they discover free foods on their doorstep. In Healing Spices, she examines the powerful health-protecting and immune-stimulating properties of ingredients which have been used throughout history as natural medicines. “I’ve always loved using spices,” she says. “I’ve been vegan for 30 years so I have explored many different plant-based foodstyles that have well-established spice traditions, and they are wonderful to use both to enhance the food we eat and as remedies for common ailments. "Cardamom, for example, is a traditional cure for reflux and it is possible to avoid over-thecounter medicines by chewing it whole as an alternative. Cloves contain eugenol and are a natural local anesthetic. You can understand why they were a popular remedy for toothache. In fact, modern dentistry still uses eugenol. Star anise is a wonderful anti-viral flu medicine and appears as an ingredient in today’s Tamiflu. It has a lovely sweet licorice taste, try it in an infusion as a herbal tea and give it to children to combat sniffles. I’d always wondered why people fought wars over spices, but when you see how powerful they are, you can understand it.” Intended as seasonal references, Healing Berries and Healing Spices are valuable additions to any bookshelf for those looking for a natural approach to health.

FEEL & LOOK GOOD | KIRSTEN HARTVIG

FEEL-GOOD FOOD

Lisa Lister believes a womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s menstrual cycle has the power to reveal superpowers that can be used to enhance relationships, build businesses, improve our sex lives and get the most from every month

CRACK YOUR

LADY CODE

FEEL & LOOK GOOD | LISA LISTER

It’s not uncommon for many women to have days when they feel on top of the world, days when they could do a pretty good job at organising world peace, and days when, quite frankly, it’s not worth asking them how they are because evidently they’re not feeling it at all. It’s entirely logical when you think about it, but rather than battling our body’s menstrual cycle, we’d get far further by working in harmony with it – taking the highs and lows as a powerful internal indicator of how we need to respond to our body. That’s the advice of writer, menstrual, fertility and reproductive health practitioner Lisa Lister who has penned a new title, Love Your Lady Landscape. Lister’s own experience of female hormonal health problems and subsequent 11-year journey of healing led her to retrain as a health practitioner and to truly understand how our cycle can play a positive part in our wellbeing, despite the negative connotations of PMS, cravings and anger. “For a long time I had debilitating periods,” says Lister. “I couldn’t leave the house and I think one of the worst moments was sitting on a sofa interviewing S Club 7 and leaking all over it. I was having a real problem but I didn’t really understand what was going on and I thought, as a woman, I just had to get on with it. “Eventually I was diagnosed with PCOS and endometriosis and it was only when a doctor suggested a hysterectomy that I thought I had to have a better understanding of my body and what was going on. Since then I’ve been on an 11-year adventure and exploration of my own lady landscape.” In her writing, Lister explores spirituality, psychotherapeutic and shamanic teachings, movement, breath and sound work to help women reconnect with their body. As one of the book’s themes, she breaks down the 28-day menstrual cycle into ‘seasons’, each of which have characteristics which we can use

to work in harmony with and get the most from the way our body is feeling. “We all have a map built into us each month,” she explains. “Every month there are four phases which start with spring, when we’ve just stopped bleeding and are pre-ovulating. We are supercharged with energy, our hormones are rising and we can get sh** done, it’s the time we can say yes to a few more things.

“

THEN THERE’S SUMMER WHEN WE ARE THE QUEEN OF EVERYTHING! OUR HORMONE LEVELS ARE AT THEIR PEAK AND SEX IS MOST DEFINITELY ON THE TABLE AS AN OPTION."

of clarity and it’s a good idea to take a day out – it’s a big ask but even an hour dedicated to yourself is important, so ask your partner to cook dinner. "Advertisements tell us to roller skate on a beach or go partying, but we need to tune into the cyclical nature of our bodies and do something for ourselves.” So, with the body’s natural cycle mapped, how can we use this guide to improve our performance? “My husband and I use our cycle together to plan a date, have great sex,” says Lister, “but we also know that day 24 or 25 is not a day to start a fight! This work has saved our relationship and if you and your partner are involved it becomes a fantastic way to map and enhance your life.” With Lister’s book informing us, women can reclaim their ‘shepower’ and let their bodies help them get the most out of each and every month.

"It’s the time to socialise, make presentations at work and knock it out of the park. Our vocabulary flows perfectly and it’s a superb time go on dates and make things happen as we are feeling at our most confident. “Autumn is the time that we’re pre-menstrual, and it has a really bad rap. We realise we’re not the queen of everything, and our energy dips with our hormone levels. We just need to rein it in a bit, not make plans and enjoy a period of introspection. Socially, it’s not acceptable to take time out for ourselves but it’s a complete necessity. It’s actually a really great time to get super domesticated. In fact the nesting urge usually highlights that things aren’t OK and we need to take some time out. It’s the time of the month that if my husband leaves wet towels on the bed it drives me crazy! Our tongue becomes sharp and we’re less articulate but when you know that you’ll go, ‘OK!’ “Then in winter, as we menstruate, it’s time to shed things and let go. It’s a great moment to edit or clear out work. Your energy levels call you in and it can be a time when splits occur. It’s also a period

Lisa Lister is a health practitioner and author of Love Your Lady Landscape, published by Hay House.

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

BEATING

Diabetes For decades, dietary advice for diabetics has concentrated on alleviating immediate symptoms rather than addressing the underlying disease mechanisms. This has led to a culture of managed decline for diabetics, resulting in multiple illness complications and an early and unnecessary death for many sufferers.

A new book by Dr Sarah Myhill examines the harmful effects of sugar on the modern diet

It does not have to be this way. A recent combined report by the National Obesity Forum and Public Health Collaboration has, at last, seen a schism within the medical establishment’s status quo on guidance for diabetics. ( www.theguardian.com/ society/2016/may/22/officialadvice-to-eat-low-fat-diet-iswrong-says-health-charity) Dr Aseem Malhotra, consultant cardiologist and founding member of the Public Health Collaboration, has stated that dietary guidelines promoting low-fat foods are,

w ww.t hebest y oumagaz ine.co

“Perhaps the biggest mistake in modern medical history, resulting in devastating consequences for public health”. He continues, saying that, “Sadly this unhelpful advice continues to be perpetuated. The current Eatwell Guide from Public Health England is in my view more like a metabolic timebomb than a dietary pattern conducive for good health. We must urgently change the message to the public to reverse obesity and Type 2 diabetes.” In her new book, Prevent and Cure Diabetes - delicious diets not dangerous drugs, BMA awardwinning author, Dr Sarah Myhill addresses these issues head on. Dr Myhill, known for her accessible, easy writing style, informs the reader of what this metabolic timebomb is, and why modern diets and lifestyles are leading us all there. She goes on to give detailed guidance on how to prevent and

FEEL & LOOK GOOD | DR. SARAH MYHILL

reverse this progression into disease. The book follows a logical progression as Dr Myhill explains clearly why sugar is a dangerous and non-essential fuel and how it damages our body. She explains the addictive nature of sugar and simplifies the biochemistry of the normal mechanisms by which the body controls blood sugar levels so that the lay-reader gains a full understanding.

metabolic syndrome, or even undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes. Finally, Dr Myhill provides all the tools that you need to prevent, treat and reverse the progression of metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes.

From here, Dr Myhill goes on to show how these normal control mechanisms become overwhelmed by modern diets and lifestyles and how this leads to the development of metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes.

Dietary advice and conveniently laid out meal plans provide a key part of the ‘Myhill Protocol’. Type 1 diabetics could also gain by employing the various elements of the protocol, resulting in minimal use of insulin. You are empowered to take control of your own health and the tools and interventions recommended by Dr Myhill can all be done by you, on your own, in your own home.

In clear language, Dr Myhill lays out how to diagnose that you have, or are on the way to developing,

In the words of Dr Damien Downing MB BS, MRSB president, British Society of Ecological Medicine,

“

DR SARAH MYHILL PROVIDES A CLEAR, AND OFTEN ENTERTAINING, EXPLANATION OF HOW SUGAR POISONS US, HOW WE BECOME ADDICTS, AND HOW TO GET OUT OF THIS ‘JAIL’ FREE.”

Prevent and Cure Diabetes by Dr Sarah Myhill is published by Hammersmith Press

www. t he b e s t youm ag azi n e . c o

Be Inspired

40 58

GO-TO GIRLS Wonderful women vloggers

PROBLEM SOLVED

How to reinvent your coaching business

WEALTH & RICHES

WALK THIS WAY

Building your career or business can bring both financial reward and personal growth in every aspect of your life. Seek out advice and support to ensure your success today and for the future.

How firewalking transforms you

STANDING OUT

Make your pitch stick for good

PUT YOUR COMPANY IN THIS SPACE! TO SPONSOR THIS PAGE AND BE PART OF THE BEST YOU, EMAIL US AT ADVERTISING@THEBESTYOU.CO

WEALTH & RICHES | FIONA HARROLD

Want to be a successful life coach? Experience and results are key, says ‘queen bee of coaching’ Fiona Harrold

LONG LIVE

THE QUEEN

“Life coaching is saturated to bursting point, and the market is over,” opens Fiona Harrold, as we sit down to talk about her own incredible career which has mentored and created wealth for hundreds of clients. Of course, as with everything that Harrold touches, there is an upside.

THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO WILL SURVIVE ARE PEOPLE WITH EXPERTISE AND WHO CAN OFFER QUANTIFIABLE RESULTS."

Harrold experienced the market shift herself in late 2008, when the credit crunch bit into the personal development industry. “Up until that point I’d had daily enquiries for life coaching and overnight that stopped,” she says. “I even checked to see that the website was working, it was so sudden. People got scared and so I decided to take a break for several years. When I came back in spring 2011, the world was a different place and people were far more aware of how they spent their money. “I saw that I could not sell the same product I once had. I was a life coach, selling personal fulfillment dreams, but people wanted me to solve their problems and so I changed how I positioned myself. Lots of people think they can sell general life coaching, but they need to get clear on their expertise and credibility because unless they do, they will be invisible.” It’s a profound statement for the personal development sector, but one Harrold is wellpositioned to make, given her reign at the top of the industry for almost 30 years. It’s a far cry from her childhood growing up in Northern Ireland, a Catholic at a time when, as Harrold says, “Catholics were treated as secondclass citizens”. She describes her father as her first coach, a man well-read and who attended Dale Carnegie seminars in Belfast. Moving to London as a young woman, Harrold became an activist protesting at Greenham until she felt the negativity of the movement was making her unwell, and she turned to therapy, discovering the personal development industry along the way. Subsequently setting up a massage school, she began ‘self-esteem coaching’ and when media interest followed, Harrold became a ‘star’, called upon and consulted by politicians and big business, while coaching a broader audience with her columns in national press. When asked to write a book in six months, Harrold dug deep into her self-belief once

more and delivered – it was the last milestone in establishing herself as an indomitable force in the personal development industry, and her place at the top has never faltered. Today she helps a diverse range of clients, people looking to regain focus and confidence, and to overcome self-limiting beliefs that keep them from achieving their goals.

I SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF INVISIBILITY,” SAYS HARROLD. “I SHOW PEOPLE HOW TO STAND OUT AND HELP TO GET THEM INTO THE MEDIA." While social media has a role to play, Harrold says traditional press is the key to achieving profile. The trick? “Solve a problem that’s a pressing concern for a journalist’s readers,” she says. “Media professionals are not interested in flag waving. Be canny, study the newspaper or magazine that you want to appear in and see what problem comes up time and again. Come up with your solution. “I had a client who is a relationship counsellor and wanted to reach the Daily Mail. When an article came up revealing that the UK has the highest divorce rates in Europe, with couples spending less than half an hour of quality time with each other, we came up with the concept of a marriage ‘away day’ which can set partners up for the next six months. We worked out which journalist would be interested and approached them to try it for themselves. The result was coverage and massive exposure for the client.” It’s the perfect example of Harrold’s approach which combines expertise, knowledge and quantifiable results. “I see people who will do a course and then leave their precious experience on the table. They want to leave their heritage behind but clients will be interested in your credibility and how you can help them with their transition. The challenge is to position yourself and decide which problems you want to solve – you’ve got to bring something different to the story.”

Fiona Harrold will speak at The Best You’s Turning Pro seminar on 3-4 September – find out more at THEBESTYOUSEMINARS. CO/EVENT/TURNING-PRO-6STAGES

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

WEALTH & RICHES | STEVE CONSALVEZ

Steve Consalvez explains how firewalking could help you achieve your life goals in seven easy steps

STEPS TO

TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE

& BUILD A BUSINESS STEP #1: KNOW WHAT YOU WANT Most people have a general idea of what they want, but a great many more of what they don’t want. They say, “I just need to get out of here and get a new job!”, or “I need more money”, or even, “I’d like to pay off the mortgage”, or “Get more new clients or customers”. Psychologists and NLP modellers all know that things need to be framed in the positive. But what does that mean? We now know that there is a specific part of the brain that tracks your unconscious awareness, searching for things that you’ve asked it for, and leading you toward them. The problem is that your unconscious, is non-judgemental, so it has no idea until you embed something very specific, what to look for, and doesn’t know that the thing you’ve put in there, isn’t really what you want. It’s often what you don’t want, and as I’m sure you know, the old cliché that, ‘What you resist, persists’, allows people to stay exactly where they are, doing exactly what they don’t want to do. When you are taught the mechanics of firewalking and experience the fact, the fiction, the mystical and the truth, you learn at the deepest level of your anatomy and psyche how to control your conscious thoughts. We teach you how, in any moment, you can take control of your thoughts, concentrate on what you want, then use this and your NLP, or even if you’re not NLP-trained, just this, to get going. It’s also what you’ll learn to teach. When firewalking, you’ll need to be able to focus your mind and body in unity. You’ll need to be able to repeatedly focus on the positive.

STEP #2: DISCOVER WHAT IS NEEDED TO START EXPERIENCING AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE Many people know what stops them from being the best they can be. They have reasons, situations, previous experiences, background stuff. But there is one truth that you will learn that you cannot get anywhere else other than by putting into action what we teach, and that is what needs to be there for you to start on your journey. It’s not about finishing, that’s way down the line but more than that, it’s about what’s at the start of the start. Yes, you heard it right. Sometimes you need to understand what stops you from starting. Experiential learning is why we have fears, but it is also our own source of strength, and cannot be explained in logical terms because the effects and the processing is done at every level of our thinking. That’s why one-off incidents can often define people’s lives, and why our empowerment intensive creates massive personal enhancement to everyone who attends.

STEP #3: WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS AND THEIR BLOCKS Then answer these questions: Are they real? Is it just me? Can someone else with my capabilities start their journey? If I was truly committed, could I? Are they personality-based? This last question is critical, because in the last 25 years, I have found that people judge their future abilities based upon spurious knowledge or experiences from their past. We use personal descriptors about who we think we are to define what our abilities are. For more than 35 years, Tolly Burkan (our teacher, Tony Robbins’ teacher, T. Harv. Eker’s teacher), has used the acronym FEAR to depict, False Evidence Appearing Real. In other words, your reasons for not doing something are probably just pure rubbish! When we teach personal power, it’s instantly there!

STEP #4: DO SOMETHING THAT YOU FEAR Does the first step seem too big? Have you created scenarios that are scary and that lead to where you don’t want to be? What about your clients and seminar customers? If you are already coaching, just how big do clients make these things? In that case, do something small. In a recent book on attraction, the author referenced a group of guys who were teaching timid, shy introvert guys, to become super-confident ‘lady magnets’. How did they start this process? Well, they got the guys to ask random girls for directions to a shop. Next, they asked for the best shop in the area, then lastly their opinion about where he should shop – three separate exercises, building confidence in easy steps. This is what Tony Robbins calls building the emotional muscle and what Ziglar calls boiling the frog. In the FIT, we teach you from experience, this emotional and psychological ‘sequencing’ – how to create it and how to ensure its effectiveness.

STEP #5: TAKE POSITIVE ACTION NOW! The author I spoke of earlier implements a rule in all of their ‘in-field’ experiments, or coaching. That is, if you see someone you like, you have three seconds to think about it, before you actually move, take action and go for it. The important thing is to do something, and to do it now. When you do it straightaway, your brain is still focusing on the question of whether and why and so doesn’t get bogged down in the outcome, or the what. This is important, because no matter how much we prepare, we simply cannot predict accurately what the outcome will be. You just need to take your best step. Once you have taken enough positive steps, fear will no longer stall you, and your goals will become way more appealing and easier to achieve. ‘Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain’ said Ralph Waldo Emerson.

STEP #6: REPEAT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE Do not take initial success or defeat and analyse it. That is not as important as simply taking the steps, especially if you’ve taken ‘baby’ steps. Simply repeat it and make it easily the right activity, until the decision to do it or to not do it, is based upon elements other than fear, procrastination or any of the items you identified in step #3. This is why, during our training, you’ll walk on over 120 firewalks in four days. That’s right, over 120, and typically it’s more like 130. You’ll repeat it so many times, you’ll be completely impervious to mental interruptions that stop you moving toward your goals, and understand at the central nervous system level, the power of momentum. I call it quantum empowerment, because it becomes intrinsic to who you are. Repetition is the key.

STEP #7: LIVE AT 100% In other words, create a habit of activity. Thinking about things that you can do, and aren’t doing is spiritually regretful, whereas if you want a life where you get to experience all of the juice and everything you can be, you owe it to yourself to live it at 100 per cent. You will get to see physical examples of where delegates don’t give something 100 per cent. You’ve seen it in others; you’ll know what it feels like in yourself. If you can take everything that you and others really know that they want to do and get them to take the appropriate action at the appropriate time, then that’s where the magic begins. All the books written in the last few years, The Secret, The Alchemist, The Celestine Prophecy, to do with the law of attraction, all converge on this fact: if you know what you want, and are clear on what it is, and take action constantly to achieve it, very few things can stand in your way. So finally, step #7 is create a new habit of doing what could make your life better, and every time you hear yourself using disempowering internal dialogue, or disempowering pictures or feelings, take action immediately to move forward towards your objective, and these feeling will change, and the results in your life will be massively different. If you do this enough, your life will change. If you do this constantly for four days, your life will change so much you’ll affect other people in ways you could never imagine.

WEALTH & RICHES | PAUL BOROSS

STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD IS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE EASIEST THINGS TO DO. STANDING OUT FOR THE RIGHT REASONS IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT.

Put yourself in someone else’s shoes for a moment. What makes other people stand out to you? Who is the most memorable person you have ever met? And most importantly, why were they memorable to YOU? A quality that makes you memorable is most definitely in the eye of the beholder. What is memorable to you is background noise to someone else. So therein lies our first problem. Your challenge is actually not to stand out from the crowd, but to be aware of what you are memorable for. You want to present ‘the best you’, but you can’t help all the other versions of ‘you’ being presented too! I heard someone talking about leadership recently, and he said that he had approached Sir Richard Branson at a charity event and asked to interview him for a book. Sir Richard asked, “What will make your book different to all the others that are out there?” and the guy replied, “Erm, I don’t know. You’ll be in it?” He didn’t get the interview. And the reason? It wasn’t because his answer was lame and ill thought through, even though that was true. It was because the guy couldn’t differentiate himself. In the words of Dash from The Incredibles, “When everyone’s special, no-one is”. Psychologists tell us about the principles of ‘primacy and recency’, where our first and most recent experiences stand out to us most strongly. So that would tell you to be the first to do something. But history is littered with examples of people who were first, but were the first to fail. Being a successful second is often preferable – in fact if you look at TV talent shows, it’s often the runnerup who has the more commercially successful career.

w w w . thebest y oumagaz ine.co

My overall advice to you is therefore to stand out from the crowd by not trying to. Don’t try to be different. Don’t try to be louder or brighter than your competitors. Focus on the one person you want to impress and just be yourself. Be honest, open and sincere. Tell them why you want their attention, and why you deserve it. You don’t need to be confident, because the nervous energy that you build up to achieve confidence easily spills over into arrogance, and that’s a guaranteed turn-off. We live in an increasingly competitive world. More people compete for fewer resources. Employers compete for the best candidates, and the best candidates compete for the best jobs. A world of information is at everyone's fingertips, levelling the playing field. Employers no longer have to rely on what's in your CV or what a recruiter says about you, they can see your entire life story, laid out in social media updates, holiday photos and even in what you have written about other people. One of the most critical times when you’ll be conscious of your first impression is when you’re jobhunting. Once upon a time, that first impression was your application form and you were in control of what was written in it. Today, the instant a recruiter sees your name, they'll look you up online. If you doubt the importance of social media then let's look at the research from Bullhorn Reach; 98 per cent of recruiters use LinkedIn, 42 per cent use Twitter and 33 per cent use Facebook. And when the recruiter visits your profile, they're not just seeing what you want them to see, they're seeing everything that you have ever posted; every status update, every joke and every embarrassing photo. And, crucially, they're seeing everything that you've ever said about anyone else. Consider the story of Connor Riley who, in March 2009, was offered a job at Cisco, one of the world's largest Internet companies. She immediately Tweeted, “Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty

paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.” So what's the right message for your first impression? Be bold, clear and concise. Make an opening statement that clearly positions who you are, why you're valuable and the role that you're best suited for. What you’re essentially saying is: 1. I really want to meet you 2. I really want to be remembered by you 3. And here’s why… My final piece of advice for you is this...

DON’T TRY TO STAND OUT, BECAUSE YOU ALREADY DO. DON’T TRY TO BE MEMORABLE, BECAUSE YOU ALREADY ARE. INSTEAD, FOCUS ONLY ON WHAT YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED FOR."

Paul Boross, aka The Pitch Doctor, is the world's only presentations and pitch specialist, business trainer and life change expert with 25 years of frontline experience of both motivational psychology and high profile work in television, stage, music, comedy and the corporate world. As an internationally acclaimed authority on communications, presentation, performance and pitching skills, he has worked with leading business people, politicians and performers on the art and science of ‘getting the message across’.

In my work as The Pitch Doctor, one of the most common questions that comes up is “How do I make myself memorable?” Visit THEPITCHDOCTOR.TV

Paul Boross will be one of the experts at the TURNING PRO events. To find out more visit THEBESTYOUSEMINARS. CO/EVENT/TURNINGPRO-6-STAGES/

STANDING OUT

FROM THE CROWD

WEALTH & RICHES | ROCKY ROADS TO SUCCESS

DOLLY PARTON A LIFE-LONG SONG

BETTING ON HIMSELF

Dolly Parton was born in rural Tennessee in 1946. She was brought up in the rustic Smoky Mountains in a cabin that was really one large room. Parton’s parents did what they could to keep her and her siblings clothed and under a roof; indeed they were known for trading for goods and services because they had no money.

Fred Smith’s father also had a keen interest for ways to create business when it came to the basic needs of people; in his case he founded a passenger bus company. But Smith’s father died when he was just four years old, and Smith himself was infirmed for much of his early years with a bone condition that kept him from regular childhood activities.

Parton’s natural singing and performing ability became apparent from a young age. She was regularly booking gigs on Tennessee radio stations by the age of ten. When she was barely a teenager she appeared at the legendary Grand Ole Opry. By the time she was 18, Parton was living in Nashville, where she first honed her skills writing songs for other artists. This talent would serve her well in the future.

To his and his family’s delight, Smith overcame his debilitating illness and excelled in physical activities and sports throughout his teenage years. He was also an extremely intelligent student, earning his way into Yale University. It was here that he first conceived of the idea of a delivery service taking advantage of the information age to more rapidly deliver goods to people.

Parton was soon under contract with her first record label, mostly recording material that she herself wrote, a rare accomplishment for a woman of that era.

After serving at the rank of Captain and earning a Silver Star for service during the Vietnam War, Smith took his formidable logistics training gained from the Marine Corps and applied it to the founding of Federal Express. The company began as a way to get packages to customers quickly by primarily using jets, however Smith often struggled to keep the operation afloat, even going so far as to take the company’s last dollars to Las Vegas to try and gamble it into enough cash to cover jet fuel bills.

After a steady stream of moderately successful singles and a recurring appearance on a country-themed television series, Parton had her first true smash hit in 1973 with the song Jolene. The next year she wrote the song that has perhaps made her most of her fortune, I Will Always Love You. It went to number one on the country charts at the time. It was also famously recorded by Whitney Houston in 1992, bringing the song to a whole new generation. Parton saw her profile grow throughout the 1980s and 90s with appearances in hit films such as 9 to 5. Dolly Parton remains a force in country music, TV, film, and popular entertainment. She is an entertainment icon who has demonstrated the power of patience on the road to achieving a dream.

FRED SMITH

w w w . thebest y oumagaz ine.co

Fred Smith’s willingness to try anything and everything to keep his dreams and business afloat led to one of the most successful entrepreneur stories of the past century. And with regard to the United States Postal Service, he firmly cemented his status of one of America’s first established industry ‘disruptors’.

JANIS JOPLIN

SEAN COMBS

SINGING FOR HER SOUL

MAKING RECORDS & BREAKING RECORDS

One would not expect an icon of the 1960s west coast rock and roll counter culture movement to hail from a small southeast Texas port city, but that is where Janis Joplin was born and raised. Her father was an oil engineer, and it seemed to be an idyllic southern life for a church-going couple and their three young children. However Joplin’s parents could sense a restlessness in their daughter from a young age.

Sean Combs was born in a low-income housing project in New York City’s Harlem district. His father was murdered after being associated with drug-related crime in the city. Raised by his mother, he grew into a teenager that cherished athletics as a way to channel his energy and anger; indeed he played football throughout high school.

A high-school outcast, Joplin gravitated toward more artistic circles, a place whose dominant prejudices of the time she never understood. She struggled with her weight and looks and was routinely labeled a “freak.” Joplin knew that she would either crumble under the weight of her tormented adolescent years or become stronger because of it. She attended college at the University of Texas at Austin, a place that was a growing centre for hippie culture in the 1960s. It was here that Joplin first put her music to tape, recording songs in what would become her signature blues folk rock style. She then launched her musical career and her entire soul into the center of 60s hippiedom, relocating to the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco in 1963. It was here that her meteoric rise as a musician began to parallel her rise in drug and alcohol use. She attempted to cleanse her lifestyle, moving back to Port Arthur for a time. Falling back into old habits while simultaneously releasing two breakthrough albums and a subsequent solo career, Joplin’s signature sound did indeed catch America’s ear, however she succumbed to her own demons and passed away in 1970 at the age of 27.

Combs attended Howard University, studying business for two years before his desire to jump headlong into the music business could wait no longer. He left school and was soon offered a position as an intern at Uptown Records, where, due to his natural proclivity for developing talent, he would quickly rise through the ranks and help develop the careers of several successful artists. Unsatisfied with simply being in the office, Combs also organised large-scale live music events. Combs soon launched his own label, Bad Boy Records. He saw almost immediate success with the release of material by legendary rapper The Notorious B.I.G. Spending the next decade as both a producer and performer, there weren’t many hip hop or rap projects of the late 1990s or early 2000s that didn’t bear his imprint in one way or another. His label would soon see negative coverage however, in the form of an 'East Coast vs. West Coast' rap industry rivalry, with Combs’ Bad Boy Records representing the east coast. Emerging from this period with perhaps more visibility, Combs began to diversify his ventures outside of music. He has since launched immensely successful fashion and alcohol empires in the form of the Sean John clothing line and Ciroc Vodka, respectively. Sean Combs has consistently shown that a boy from the projects can not only become a successful rapper, but an even more successful businessman.

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

Be Inspired

RISING STARS

YouTubers on the incline

21ST CENTURY LIVING We live in a technological age and the opportunities that new ideas and developments bring to both our personal and professional lives are amazing. Discover fresh thinking and technologies that can boost daily life.

EASY GADGETS

Gizmos to ease you through summer

PUT YOUR COMPANY IN THIS SPACE! TO SPONSOR THIS PAGE AND BE PART OF THE BEST YOU, EMAIL US AT ADVERTISING@THEBESTYOU.CO

Vloggers making At The Best You, we recognise those who are using their digital space to educate, empower and do good for others The recent VLOGSTAR CHALLENGE, organised by Media Trust and the Jack Petchey Foundation challenged budding youth vloggers from London and Essex to hone their talents and become the next big name YouTubers. We salute all who have participated and here are three of our favourite screen stars.

1 NAT HAWLEY

As part of the VLOGSTAR CHALLENGE, Nat took to the screen to explain what itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like to be dyslexic, explaining with some clever sketching and great narrative the highs, lows and everything in between of how the condition can affect daily life. Having been a YouTuber since 2013, he has appeared on BBC Radio 1 and has also explored coping with dyspraxia too, sharing his clever learning techniques. Watch Nat in action at HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE. COM/WATCH?V=ZQDAVV8BGCM

w w w . thebest y oumagaz ine.co

king a difference 21ST CENTURY LIVING | VLOGSTARS

3 ELEANOR CALLARD

With videos on make-up, life, beauty and occasional covers of pop songs, Eleanor pulls no punches about life’s tough stuff, but it was her ‘4 ways to stay happy!’ post that captured the imagination of the VLOGSTAR CHALLENGE’s judges. Down-to-earth, her vlogs are like chatting with a good friend.

SYNERJES

Jessica is a relative newcomer, having launched her YouTube channel in 2015 with ‘the aspiration to give inspiration, tell stories and promote positivity’. In her Vlogstar entry she talks about her battle with chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition that’s left her with anxiety and depression. She demonstrates how she’s not letting it dampen her spirits and is moving ahead with her studies and life as a young adult.

Enjoy Eleanor’s view on life at HTTPS://WWW. YOUTUBE.COM/USER/ MISSELLICALLARDMUSIC/ FEATURED

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, INTERACTIVE DESIGN & SHOTS ON IPAD, IPHONE & ANDROID DEVICES. THEBESTYOUMAGAZINE.CO

See Jessica’s vlog at HTTPS:// WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/CHANNEL/ UCTT4VDJE7EVEF297F4MP8IG

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

SUMMER

LIVING CHARGE PLUG 2 This hybrid, 16-gear bike will suit your purposes no matter what you want to do with it. It’s designed with multi-use riders specifically in mind. It works marvellously well as a park cruiser, as a nimble road bike, and even as a downhill terrain bike. It’s as sturdy as it is handsome, and this is driving the manufacturer’s popularity steadily upward. It might not be the highest-tech piece of machinery we’ve covered on these pages, but the effortless blend of form and function and its ability to traverse boundaries (in every way) makes this bike an excellent choice for those looking to reduce their carbon footprint or to replace their old wheels. Suggested retail price: £900

THERMOS CONNECTED HYDRATION BOTTLE WITH SMART LID Hydration is always important, but it is especially so when the sun is out. Thermos, long a leader in simple tech for outdoor enthusiasts, has taken something of a leap forward with its Connected Hydration Bottle. The Smart Lid connects to your smart device and, by tracking the amount of water you are drinking each hour, day, week, hour, serves as your personal hydration coach. It will send you notifications reminding you when it’s time to rehydrate, and it’s tailored to your personal biometrics. Perfect for people who arrive at day’s end knowing for a fact they haven’t had nearly enough water. Suggested retail price: £49

w w w . thebest y oumagaz ine.co

21ST CENTURY LIVING | GADGETS

PRIZM The Prizm is unlike any of the other music streaming devices on the market. While there are dozens (perhaps hundreds) of gadgets that allow you to play online music through your home stereo, the Prizm broadens the context. It, in essence, ‘listens’ to the mobile devices that are in the room. This allows it to create a blend of music that is appropriate not just for the device’s primary user but also for anybody else who happens to be in the room. It will build playlists that reflect the tastes of those present, so if you have one group of friends which prefers rock and another that prefers dance music, you won’t have to create separate playlists for each of them. You just turn on the Prizm and let it play to the room. Like other devices, you can make it more intelligent by telling it when you love or hate a song, and you can always give it specific commands (telling it to play a specific song or artist that you want to hear). For those who entertain frequently, this might be the perfect music caddy. Suggested retail price: £149

As the mercury climbs, it’s time to kick back with a few smart devices that will enhance your downtime

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, INTERACTIVE DESIGN & SHOTS ON IPAD, IPHONE & ANDROID DEVICES. THEBESTYOUMAGAZINE.CO

NANOLEAF AURORA Nanoleaf already has a number of smart lighting solutions that have proven popular. It also brought geometric shapes to classic lighting, and these shapes make their products almost instantly recognisable. It’s on the cusp of releasing a new product (it will be available for pre-order in August) that might just revolutionise the ambient home lighting market. Theses triangular wall panels can be fitted together and programmed to display a wide range of attractive colours. Perhaps most interesting is the dodecahedron control pod, which, by turning it over allows for quick changeover of programmed settings. Suggested retail price: £149 (pack of nine)

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

WE SUPPORT... Refuge opened the world’s first safe house for women and children escaping domestic violence in Chiswick, West London, in 1971. Women and children flocked to our doors because, for the first time, someone was saying it was wrong to beat your partner. Back then, domestic violence was seen as a ‘private matter’, to be dealt with ‘behind closed doors’. Society turned a blind eye. Since 1971, Refuge has led the campaign against domestic violence. We have grown to become the country’s largest single provider of specialist domestic violence services. On any given day we support 3,700 women and children.

WHAT WE BELIEVE Refuge is committed to a world where domestic violence is not tolerated and where women and children can live in safety. We aim to empower women and children to rebuild their lives, free from violence and fear. We provide a range of life-saving and lifechanging services and a voice for the voiceless.

HOW WILL WE ACHIEVE OUR MISSION? Refuge operates a three-pronged approach which involves:

PROVISION Providing a range of high quality services for abused women and children. Our national network of services supports women and children to regain control of their lives and move forwards in a positive way.

PROTECTION Advocating for improvements to domestic violence policy and practice, and the implementation of legislation to meet the needs of abused women and children. Encouraging other agencies to develop best practice services and approaches.

To find out more about Refuge, visit REFUGE.ORG.UK or call 0808 2000 247

PREVENTION Helping to prevent domestic violence through campaigning, education, training and research. We work in partnership with other agencies to raise awareness of domestic violence, its causes and solutions.

Refuge provides support for women and children experiencing domestic violence. It provides a national network of specialist services, including emergency accommodation, community outreach and a helpline

www. t he b e s t youm a g a z i n e . c o

To advertise here, please contact us on +44 (0) 207 927 6500 or email adverstising@thebestyou.co

Speak

& exhibit at Book Today

call 0207 927 6500 email louise.dockery@thebestyou.co or luciano.moya@thebestyou.co

or please visit www.thebestyouexpo.com

To advertise here, please contact us on +44 (0) 207 927 6500 or email adverstising@thebestyou.co

To find out more please call + 44 (0) 207 9276500 or email us at info@thebestyou.co