Best You Magazine September/October 2017

THE BEST YOU

Wonder Woman

M A G A Z I N E

THE CONTROVERSIAL FEMINIST ICON

★ JAMES ARTHUR RAY: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ★ 18 LIFE-IMPROVING TIPS ★ RUSSELL BRAND ON ADDICTION

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR EVERYONE EVERYWHERE

THE BEST YOU M A G A Z I N E

GWYNETH PALTROW FROM ACTRESS TO MEGA BRAND WELLNESS SPECIAL ISSUE WHICH YOGA IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

©MAX ABADIAN

THE BEST REVITALISING BREAKS

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR EVERYONE EVERYWHERE

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THE BEST YOU

A BETTER WORLD

It has been over five years since The Best You was born, and it is with great pride that the brand continues to grow and to evolve.

I believe that it is our responsibility to become the best version of ourselves, and that it goes hand in hand with helping to make the world a better place and leaving a positive legacy. Between now and the EXPO (and beyond), The Best You will support more great causes and the inspiring people behind them.

Thanks to technology, we are now more connected than ever; however, we often feel even more disconnected. We should all focus on coming together to support causes that we feel passionately about, and in doing so address the many challenges facing our planet’s future.

This is the aim of The Best You: A Better World's partnerships with A21, Great Ormond Street, Wyland Foundation and Plastic Oceans. You can read about these important organisations in this issue, and I urge you to get involved. Together, we can bring awareness to vital global issues such as plastic waste, global warming, mental illness, modern slavery and human trafficking.

Also in this issue, we explore the enduring appeal of feminist icon Wonder Woman, James Arthur Ray discusses rebuilding his life after tragedy struck, and we take a look at Tour de France winner Chris Froome’s drive to succeed.

Enjoy!

BERNARDO

MOYA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Twitter: @Bernardo_Moya facebook: bernard.moya64

To enjoy additional digital content, interactive features, video and digital galleries, download The Best You App.

Contents

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THE POWER OF NEURODYNAMICS

16 WONDER WOMAN: AN ICON FOR ALL TIME

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JAMES ARTHUR RAY ON SECOND CHANCES

CHRIS FROOME'S ROAD TO SUCCESS

EDITOR/PUBLISHER Bernardo Moya info@thebestyou.co DEPUTY EDITOR Emma Ledger editorial@thebestyou.co

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LIFE-CHANGING TIPS AND TRICKS

THE BEST YOU ADVISORS Steve Kelly steve.kelly@thebestyou.co Ashley Ellis ashley.ellis@thebestyou.co Veronika Kundrakova veronika.kundrakova@ thebestyou.co Katie Wright katie.wright@thebestyou.co The Best You Magazine is published by

The Best You Corporation Ltd. 81 County Street London SE1 4AD United Kingdom +44 (0) 207 927 6502 Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect The Best You Corporation Ltd. policy.

The Best You Coporation Ltd. accepts no responsibility by views expressed by its contributors.

Advertisements and reader offers are not endorsed by The Best You or The Best You Corporation Ltd.

DR.RICHARD

BANDLER LONDON DATES 2017

NLP LIFE TALKS

6 October 2017

GET THE LIFE YOU WANT

With Paul McKenna & Dr. Richard Bandler 7-8 October 2017

Dr. Richard Bandler

NLP

LIFE TRAINING BOOK TODAY!

+44 (0) 207 927 6500 www.nlplifetrainig.com info@nlplifetraining.com 6

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PERSONAL ENHANCEMENT With Dr. Richard Bandler 10-12 October 2017

LICENSED MASTER PRACTITIONER OF NLP With Dr. Richard Bandler, John & Kathleen La Valle 14-22 October 2017

LICENSED PRACTITIONER OF NLP With Dr. Richard Bandler, John & Kathleen La Valle 16-22 October 2017

IT’S NOT YOUR BANK BALANCE BUT WHAT GIVING BACK WHICH GIVES LIFE MEANING

Inner You How actress turned entrepreneur Jessica Alba built an honest, internationally successful businesstake your work to the next level.

REALISING YOUR FULL POTENTIAL

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The Best You’s Emma Ledger explores the power of Neurodynamics, a practice that can provide an effective alternative treatment for health and wellbeing concerns.

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Can’t believe we’re already in Autumn and another year is slipping away? Dr. Stephen Simpson writes to encourage you to seize the day in order to focus and achieve your goals.

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THE FUTURE IS NEURAL More and more people are discovering the powerful effects of Neurodynamics as an effective alternative to conventional medical treatments.

Emma Ledger finds out why When it comes to the vast number of different physical and psychological components that make up a person, there are the things we know about, and there are aspects of ourselves and things we are capable of that we know we don’t know. Or to paraphrase American politician Donald Rumsfeld, there are ‘known unknowns.'

For many of us, Neurodynamics is one such aspect. Put simply, it is a mindful practice that recognises the profound interdependency of the physical and the psychological when addressing health and wellbeing concerns. Neurodynamics practitioner, Serena Woolf MA, BSc, MSTAT, explains that “it is both experiential and theoretical, and though both elements can be studied separately, it is only when the theory is engaged as part and parcel of the practice that Neurodynamics can really be understood and used effectively as a method for wellbeing.”

The majority of Woolf’s students have painful musculoskeletal conditions, which can include a variety of medical issues ranging from the more obvious sciatic and back pain or tension and strain injuries, to more obscure problems involving balance or constant headaches. They are referred to as students because they are there to learn rather than simply be treated. Students will likely have already seen a doctor or a specialist for their specific ailment, yet it is unlikely that they would have found long-lasting relief, since traditional medicine often ignores the symbiosis of the physical and psychological.

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“All parts of the body are intimately linked, so a specific problem perceived in one area may well be caused by something happening elsewhere in your body. The basis for the practice of Neurodynamics is to look at the whole in activity, enabling us to look at our complex functioning in real time as both executor and impartial observer,” says Woolf.

“It is educational, in the sense that one is learning a self-help technique that one is able to apply with practice.

Neurodynamics enables individuals to become more aware of how they are treating their own organism on a daily basis, allowing them to make rational choices about their health and welfare.�

Woolf begins lessons by observing students doing simple activities, such as sitting in a chair or moving to stand up out of the chair. These exercises are so commonplace that for most of us they are carried out thoughtlessly,

which is exactly the point. Together with the student, Woolf examines these actions in minute detail and breaks the movements down into small increments in order to perceive and alter the coordination pattern.

Through dedicated practice, students become more attuned to observing how their continuous stream of thought is intimately linked to the way they carry out physical activities. Students can then use this knowledge to explore natural muscular tension patterns of

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coordination. As students begin to better understand how movement takes place, they become increasingly able to redress muscular tension imbalances. This mindful approach to everyday activities can enhance wellbeing and general health.

committed, unceasing approach to mindfulness. It might seem effortful, but for many, Neurodynamics provides a powerful therapeutic alternative to conventional treatments for physical difficulties or chronic pain, and enables them to live less painful or even pain-free lives.

After the initial hour-long session, which can be unexpectedly exhausting, Woolf encourages students to continue doing the simple exercises that she has carried out with them for 10 minutes a day at home. According to Woolf, “some take to it and do it longer, or twice a day.”

As the practice of Neurodynamics becomes more common and the benefits more widely talked about, perhaps it’s time we all look into understanding those hidden parts of ourselves that we know we don’t yet know.

“The idea is to keep broadly focused on the exercise, and if you find the mind starts to wander and you’re thinking about last night's dinner, you just recognise that fact and start again. Being able to look at what we are doing during our waking hours in a more objective and conscious way enables us to live in a less stressed and more healthy way with an increase in muscle tone and vitality; and this can create improvements in our health and wellbeing,” says Woolf.

For more information visit www.dimoninstitute.org, or contact Serena Woolf directly at serena.woolf@gmail.com.

Neurodynamics: The Art of Mindfulness in Action by Theodore Dimon, out now

Neurodynamics simply means paying more attention to what you’re doing on an ongoing basis, but requires a

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THE TIME IS

NOW Mind coach and author Dr. Stephen Simpson on beating autumn blues to seize your future

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Before you know it this year will be over. Can you remember back to the start of 2017, and the feeling of not knowing what it had in store? Many of us start a new year with a goal, dream, or even just some resolutions.

What were yours, and how much progress have you made?

For some people, the end of summer and the shortening days can induce a sense of melancholy. With winter weather on the horizon, you can feel that the best of the year has passed, which may not be the best environment for your goal or dream to flourish.

Remember that your dream is just as likely to manifest on the last day of the year as the first day, or any day in between. The date is not important.

What is important is to know what you’re focusing on. Do you have a strong, clear picture in your mind of your dream, or is it rather distant? The perfect balance of mind, body, and soul is the sweet spot where dreams come true. So it is balance that we all seek.

When I speak to people in audiences around the world, I encourage them to take a quick scan of their lives: How is your mind? Is it calm, motivated, and confident? If these words do not apply to you then something is blocking your natural state of mind, and it’s important to explore what that block might be.

How is your body? Are you happy with your energy levels and your body flexibility? This is how your body should be, and if this is not how you feel then something has tipped you out of your natural balance.

How is your soul? Are you happy with the people around you, the love you feel for others, and the easy generosity that you share with those close to you? If not, then something has gotten in your way, because this is the way you are designed to live your life.

I will make some suggestions as to what might just be causing any blocks you may be experiencing. Before I do this, let me ask you again about your goal. Does it still feel distant? If so, then something is preventing it from manifesting.

It might be that the goal you have set for yourself is no longer relevant, or it could be that it was never your goal in the first place. Perhaps, it was something that other people felt you should achieve. If either of these sound right, then it will be very difficult achieve and will require enormous willpower to find the motivation to succeed.

Another reason your dream may feel distant is that you may lack the motivation necessary to accomplish the task.

When your mind, body, and soul are in perfect balance motivation takes care of itself. For example, children do not need to be motivated to play their favourite game. As an adult, your dream is the game that you have chosen to play. If you feel your motivation is low, then something is blocking it, and it is not the changing season, the shortening days or because you are weak willed. It is only because of the way you are thinking.

Thoughts are unformed, and emerge from the unconscious mind when they’re ready. Only when structure, words, and pictures are added to thoughts do they become conscious. Thoughts are the efforts of the conscious mind to produce reasons for everything. They make you think that X=Y, and if you work hard enough and want it bad enough your dream will come true.

Unfortunately, this is not the way it works. The equation is slightly more complicated; it should read X+?= Y. There is a mystery ingredient, the ‘?’, that needs to be added. The good news is that you do not need to know what the ‘?’ is.

The ‘?’ represents a bundle of all of the things that you don’t plan on and never expect. It is the magic ingredient that makes up for all of the deficiencies that you think you might have in your mind, body, and soul. All you have to do is trust it and show up for every game or training session, for every opportunity to practice your skills, and to get in front of as many people as you can.

Show up with your head in the right place and everything else will follow. Believe that you have found balance and get out of your own way. Good results will surely flow.

Make every season your favourite season, that way you’re always in the best mindset to realise your dreams. Good luck on your journey.

For more information visit www.drstephensimpson.com and follow Dr. Simpson at www.facebook.com/drssimpson Dr. Simpson’s book Get Lucky Now! is out now at www.amazon.com

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COMING

SOON

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.THEBESTYOU.CO

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IT’S NOT YOUR BANK BALANCE BUT WHAT GIVING BACK WHICH GIVES LIFE MEANING

Enjoy Life How actress turned entrepreneur Jessica Alba built an honest, internationally successful businesstake your work to the next level.

LEARNING TO BE YOUR VERY BEST SELF

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The Best You explores the surprising history of Wonder Woman, the 1950s feminist icon that’s still breaking box office records.

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Fed up with bad and fake news? We’ve gathered together some good news from around the world.

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Motivational speaker James Arthur Ray went from the top of his game to prison. The Best You’s Bernardo Moya meets him to discuss second chances and the long road to redemption.

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Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome has inspired a new generation of British cyclists, but his success story has taken serious sacrifice.

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After the most recent Wonder Woman movie broke US box office records, The Best You looks at the inspiring story of a feminist icon If there has been one paradigm-breaking movie in 2017, it has been the extraordinary success of Wonder Woman.

Directed by Patty Jenkins, with the title role played by rising star Gal Gadot, the movie’s mixture of warmth, humour, bravery and sincerity, set it apart from other recent superhero blockbusters.

What truly makes Wonder Woman feel different is the emphasis on character traits such as thoughtfulness, emotional engagement and empathy in its protagonist. Female characters are not sexualised, but demand to be taken seriously. Indeed, thanks to Gal Gadot’s portrayal of Wonder Woman, AKA Diana Prince, she is portrayed as a powerful woman and feminist icon. Prince is a woman from a civilisation with no experience of sexism, meaning she does not even acknowledge its possibility.

Director Jenkins’ vision for the reboot of this iconic creation has paid off - literally. Wonder Woman has notched up an extraordinary double of being the most successful female superhero movie and the most successful female-directed movie ever.

At time of writing, Wonder Woman had just tipped over $400 million in American takings, with an the international box office close behind - and that’s before its late August release in Japan. The movie is currently the eighth most successful comic book adaptation ever, the most successful movie in the US for the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) brand, and currently holds second place in the DCEU worldwide behind Batman Vs Superman. With such a breathtaking performance, it’s no surprise Wonder Woman 2 is already underway, with screenings planned for Christmas 2019.

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WHAT A WONDER-

It’s quite a turnaround for a female character who just last year caused howls of protest from the women’s rights movement when she was announced by the UN as an honorary ambassador for the empowerment of women.

Critics complained that a real woman should take on that role, and that a comic book character in skimpy clothing was in no way a feminist icon.

Even if they had been thinking of Linda Carter’s depiction in the 1970s TV series dressed in a revealing one-piece, many would say the criticism was unfair. Carter was an inspiration to many girls in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, some feminists at self-help seminars use the Wonder Woman stance made famous by Carter - hands on hips staring fearlessly at the world - as an emblem of the powerful woman.

Critics were quick to point out that Wonder Woman wearing a basque and tiny shorts is hardly the right image to project ‘girl power.’ However, a look at her subversive origins during reveals some surprises.

The superhero was first dreamed up by university psychology professor William Marston Moulton while working as an adviser for All American Comics (a business ally of DC Comics) in 1941, just as America entered World War II. Marston was a strong advocate for women’s rights during American feminism’s first wave. Originally employed

by All American Comics as an editorial adviser after writing an article defending comic books against accusations that their violence corrupted American youth, Marston suggested to All American Comics’ owner, M. C. Gaines that he create a powerful superheroine to rival Superman.

Told he would have to write it himself, Marston set about putting his feminist ideas into four colours on the page.

Using his knowledge of the Classics and feminist theory, he developed a story featuring a race of fierce warrior women living on a secluded Paradise Island. These women worshipped ancient Greek deities like Athena and Aphrodite, possessed a super-advanced technology that looked to outsiders like magic, and had trained themselves into a physically perfect race of superwomen. Indeed, Marston originally wanted to call Wonder Woman “Suprema”, a name too similar to her stablemate, Superman, who had first appeared in 1938.

In December 1941, All Star Comics featured the Justice Society of America (a precursor to the Justice League) and Wonder Woman in separate stories. She debuted in her own title in Sensation Comics the following month.

Wonder Woman was unique from the start when compared to other female superheroes of the day. She had super strength, a lasso of truth (interestingly, Marston had been the creator of an early form of lie detector in World War I), lightning-fast reflexes that she used to deflect

bullets on her bulletproof bracelets and an invisible Amazonian plane. She had a love interest in US pilot Steve Trevor, who crash landed on her island, and though he was brave and strong, she was forever saving him from Axis plots and overpowering and defeating men, in an inversion of the common damsel in distress motif.

Wonder Woman’s stories continually challenged traditional gender relationships. The very first super-villain she faced was Doctor Poison, a devious and dangerous adversary who, unmasked, was revealed to be a woman. Though Wonder Woman was continually depicted as breaking bonds and shackles, she lost her strength if her bracelets were welded together by a man, but not by a woman.

Thus, she demonstrated the danger of falling into men’s power. At the end of one early story she reflects: “What a fool I was to let a man weld chains upon them. It just makes a girl realise how she has to watch herself in this man’s world!”

Questions of female body shape are confronted in Wonder Woman’s strong female ally, the overweight Etta Candy, who is often called on to bring her band of athletic Holliday College Girls to fight the Nazis. And, of course, the women always prevail.

At times, the pro-woman message in the early comics is intertwined with the needs of the war effort. One story stars Dr. Psycho, who plans to “change the independent status of American women back to the days of the sultans and slave markets.” In the same story, Mars the God of War is horrified at women doing their bit in factories or war

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service, proclaiming: “If women gain power in war, they’ll escape man’s domination completely! They will achieve a horrible independence!”

It was a far-sighted prediction by Marston, who realised that women’s roles in war had changed their place in society forever. Although, after the war, women were relegated to the domestic front by men returning from fighting, and after his death in 1947, the stories took on a less strident feminist tone, in later years the comics have returned to the notion of the strong feminist character. The new movie starring Gal Gadot has also made a welcome return to the spirit of Wonder Woman’s early years, in which her stories were as much a battle for female equality as a fight against evil.

Wonder Woman has always been unorthodox. Of late, Greg Rucka, one of the comic’s writers, declared that there’s no doubt that Diana, having lived on an island of women for thousands of years and also loving Steve Trevor, is obviously bisexual. This is no new invention. Sexual unorthodoxy is also to be found in the very creation of Wonder Woman and in the private life of Professor Marston, who believed that one day women would rule the world.

Professor Marston’s assistant was a woman named Olive Byrne, the daughter of American birth control pioneer, Margaret Sanger, who was dedicated to lifting women from being constrained by their reproductive biology. Marston, just as unorthodox as his creation, lived with his wife, Elizabeth Holloway and Olive in a menage a trois, having children with both. Indeed, so close were the women to each other, that Elizabeth named one of her daughters after Olive.

When Marston died in 1947, Olive and Elizabeth continued to live together into old age. The story of Marston’s home life will be explored in the upcoming movie, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women.

If ever there were an origin story behind a superhero that challenged the norms of patriarchy, the real-life facts around Wonder Woman’s creation has it in spades.

Perhaps, then, it was misjudged for critics to dismiss Wonder Woman from the post of honorary UN ambassador for female empowerment. The ripples continue to spread from this unique cultural icon. There is talk that the US’s most successful summer blockbuster might well cause a sea change in the notoriously sexist attitudes of Hollywood to female heroes and directors, allowing women to take the reins of more blockbusters, which up to now has been a solely male preserve.

And today, Wonder Woman is providing an inspirational, wonder-filled role model for girls - and boys - all over the world.

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Good NEWS Technology is improving the way we look after our bodies and manage illness

HEALTH TECH SPECIAL

HEALTHUNLOCKED The largest social network for health in the world, HealthUnlocked helps millions of people improve their health every month.

HealthUnlocked provides online peer support and self-management with over 600 health and wellbeing online communities, and partners with hundreds of patient advocacy organisations and charities within these communities, providing them with support and expertise. HealthUnlocked also offers a range of unique solutions for organisations and businesses that specialise in access to an active health-focused audience. Making Facebook look like a glorious time waster. www.healthunlocked.com

MYASTHMA This app is designed by healthcare professionals to help people manage their asthma and understand more about the condition. The asthma control test (ACT) assists people in determining how well they are controlling their condition by tracking medication use and asthma attacks. MyAsthma strengthens communication between those living with asthma and their healthcare professionals, while also connecting to each user’s everyday life to identify asthma triggers (i.e. location, weather or air quality) and offer useful advice to help prevent future attacks. www.myasthma.com

AFFINITY Low blood counts are a common side effect of chemotherapy.

White blood cells defend the body from infection, and low white blood cell counts can result in serious infection and problematic delays to chemotherapy treatments. Affinity is a connected device that enables people with cancer monitor their blood cell counts from home in between chemotherapy cycles. Through a simple finger prick test, the results of which are automatically shared with the user’s clinician, Affinity can help prevent infection and keep treatments on track, while also reducing the time and effort patients need to make to go into hospital for checkups. Affinity provides a supportive, digital link between patient and clinician, saving time, money and worry. www.entia.co

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THE LONG ROAD TO REDEMPTION James Arthur Ray was an untouchable spiritual leader until tragedy struck. He tells Bernardo Moya about second chances

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In 2009, James Arthur Ray was at the top of his game. A best-selling author and spiritual leader, James shot to fame after appearing in the hugely popular 2006 self-help movie The Secret. His company earned over $9 million in just one year.

Then tragedy struck. Three people died at one of his retreats about confronting fears and pushing past limits. In the aftermath, James’ personal responsibility was brought into question, along with the needs of people who seek to be led.

James served two years in prison and was as good as excommunicated from the personal development industry.

But now, James is back. And, without minimising the awful darkness of his past, James wants to share his message of emotional strength and the power of second chances.

WHO OR WHAT WAS YOUR EARLIEST INSPIRATION? Primarily my dad; he groomed me to go into the Ministry [church], but I knew that it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I got into the sales business at AT&T [a US telecommunications company] and did really well. That’s where I met my first business mentor, my boss Ron, who showed me different leadership styles and had a huge impact on me. I was also influenced by Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I had lots of different management positions, and at night I was studying Psychology and

Behavioural Sciences, and eventually Mysticism. This drove me to believe that if I could find the answers, I could make my own life better.

WAS THERE A TURNING POINT WHEN YOU MOVED FROM THE WORLD OF SALES TO SET UP YOUR OWN BUSINESS? There was a big turning point when work was downsizing.

I took the opportunity to get my feet wet in the entrepreneurial arena. In 1992, I left and started my own business. It was tough. A lot of people romanticise entrepreneurial pursuits, yet what they don’t realise is how tough it is. I’m really passionate about finding someone’s purpose, finding their gifts and genius, finding what they love and going after that, because success is hard. I was living credit card to credit card, for a ten-year span.

BUT YOU BUILT UP YOUR NAME AS A SPIRITUAL LEADER, AND THEN YOU STARRED IN THE MOVIE THE SECRET IN 2006…

That was a labour of love - none of us got paid for doing that, except in residual. I actually almost threw in the towel; I was very frustrated and very disenchanted. But, it hit the big time!

It really catapulted my message to a much larger audience.

UNTIL THE TERRIBLE TRAGEDY IN 2009…

Something went horribly wrong, and to this day we’re not

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really sure how. Three people lost their lives, and they were three people that I deeply cared about. I am responsible, I absolutely accept responsibility because that’s the price of leadership.

for today’s world, because more and more people are facing great challenges. And I know from my own life experience that those who fall and get back up are stronger and wiser than those who never fall.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR TWO YEARS IN PRISON. I learned a lot about myself, about humanity, about all the things we struggle with. In my new book, Redemption, I talk through the profound experiences I had. I sat in a cell and there was nowhere to run, there was no way to positively reframe, there was no-one to try to save or help. It was just me and God and four walls. It was painful, but it was purification through pain.

WHAT DOES SUCCESS MEAN TO YOU NOW? Wealth and riches are not what you have, they’re what you’re left with when all you have is gone. True wealth is living a fulfilling life. I believe personal development is changing, it has been all about the having and the acquisition, but what we all want is purpose. That’s the single most common question I’m asked: ‘what’s my purpose?’ Finding your unique genius, I call that beginning at the beginning. I believe that you came in with a unique gift and a unique purpose, and if you don’t fulfil it there’s a void, because I can’t do your job, you have to do your job. I’m back here, talking about life and about opportunity, I know I’m doing what I love to do.

HOW DID THE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT INDUSTRY REACT? DID ‘FRIENDS’ DISAPPEAR? In the industry, all but two. Rhonda Byrne and Bob Proctor stayed with me, and for that I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude. You learn who your real friends are when things go sideways. I got excommunicated instantaneously.

Ray's book Redemption is out now.

For more information visit www.jamesray.com

DO YOU BELIEVE IN SECOND CHANCES? I have to, and I choose to find references that say they’re possible. Robert Downey Jr., Martha Stewart, Tim Allen, Dwayne Johnson – there are a lot of people who have fallen and risen back up. I think this is so powerful and profound

SEE MORE ONLINE CHECK OUT BERNARDO MOYA'S EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH JAMES ARTHUR RAY ONLINE HERE: HTTPS://YOUTU.BE/WLVCBF_3BRO

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COMING SOON LAUNCHING IN 2017!

FOR MORE INFOPLEASE VISIT WWW.THEBESTYOU.CO

BOOK

CLUB

The Best You’s top reads

WIN

WIN

Feeling in need of some inspiration, exploration and pure relaxation?

The Best You Book Club has something for every mood, and we are giving one lucky reader the chance to win a copy of every book featured in The Best You Book Club. For a chance to win, simply send us an email with your name and address to EDITORIAL@THEBESTYOU.CO before 31 October 2017. Good luck!

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THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF DECISION MAKING:

MAKING COMPLEX DECISIONS WITH CONFIDENCE IN A FAST-MOVING WORLD

By Michael Nicholas

We make hundreds of decisions every day. However, the act of making a decision, even small ones, involves a mixture of emotions and rationality that can leave a person dumbfounded. If you’re overwhelmed by decision making, author Michael Nicholas will guide you through the cognitive process of using intellect and intuition to ensure the best decision is made. Nicholas believes that more than any other skill, the ability to make the right decision in any given scenario separates those who excel from those who don’t, and that professional judgment is one of the most important leadership attributes.

This book teaches readers to empower the logical mind with intuition, neutralise inherent biases, and sharpen judgment to better handle uncertainty and improve every area of life.

INSPIRED LEADERSHIP:

HOW YOU CAN ACHIEVE EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS IN BUSINESS

By Kevin Gaskell

As CEO of Porsche, author Kevin Gaskell led the company from near-bankruptcy to the most profitable car company of its day. During his four years at BMW, the company saw an 80% growth in sales and 500% increase in profitability. Gaskell believes that good leaders get results, great leaders get great results, and ‘Inspired Leaders’ get extraordinary results. In this book, Gaskell explores how to perform at the highest level every day.

By offering workable strategies, practical frameworks, and essential skills drawn from his own experience, Gaskell presents readers with realistic models for success to take with them into daily life.

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THE POWER OF EIGHT:

THE MIRACULOUS EFFECT OF SMALL GROUPS

By Lynne McTaggart

Many of us believe that what we send out into the universe comes back to us. The energy of positive thoughts is thought by many to be an influential force in transforming lives, but the power of group intention has never been explored. In this beautifully written book Lynne McTaggart, an expert on the science of spirituality, reveals her remarkable findings from 10 years of experiments about how group intention can help change the world for the better. There are remarkable accounts of case studies, plus the latest brain research, which McTaggart uses to demonstrate that when individuals in a group focus their intention together on a single target, a powerful collective dynamic can emerge that can heal longstanding conditions, mend fractured relationships, and even rekindle life purpose.

It’s an inspiring and thoroughly researched phenomenon, and one that has huge potential to spread goodness.

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OUT OF OUR MINDS: THE POWER OF BEING CREATIVE

By Ken Robinson

Too often creativity is stifled or discouraged, when it can be part of the secret to living a happy and fulfilled life. In Out of Our Minds: The Power of Being Creative, Ken Robinson argues that organisations everywhere are trying to fix a problem that originates in schools and universities. Robinson believes that education and training are keys to the future, but that such a key can be turned in two directions. Turn it one way and you lock resources away, even from those they belong to. Turn it the other way and you release resources and help people find a great source of joy. Robinson says that “to realise our true creative potential in our organisations, schools and communities we need to think differently about ourselves and learn to be creative”.

PLAYING THE MATRIX:

A PROGRAM FOR LIVING DELIBERATELY AND CREATING CONSCIOUSLY

by Mike Dooley

Mike Dooley is a former PricewaterhouseCoopers international tax consultant turned entrepreneur and spiritual adventurer. In Playing the Matrix, he delivers a master class in living deliberately and creating consciously. The concepts he shares were born of material that Dooley has delivered to audiences around the world, and at their heart lies a simple yet unexpected concept for creating major life changes. It reveals why manifesting sometimes works with incredible ease and other times doesn’t work at all, and occasionally, in hindsight, we wish it hadn’t. Dooley explores the ‘Bermuda Triangle of Manifesting’ that too often leads to heartbreak and loss, while also providing the necessary tools for successfully navigating around it.

DREAM THERAPY: DREAM YOUR WAY TO HEALTH AND HAPPINESS

By Dr. Clare Johnson

As the world’s leading expert on lucid dreaming, it’s no surprise Dr. Clare Johnson would write a book that would hold your interest, yet you might not expect it would hold the power to change your life. Johnson has completed a PhD on Lucid Dreaming, and this is an accessible, practical guide to understanding what really happens when we’re asleep. and how we can learn from our dreams. Dream Therapy teaches readers how to experience lucid dreams; as well as recognising how dreams endeavour to communicate with us, how they reveal our deepest desires and fears, and how we can address them in our everyday lives in order to be healthier, happier, and more mindful. Through both Johnson’s personal experiences and actual case studies, readers will learn to understand the real power of lucid dreaming.

*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.

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FREEDOM ON TWO WHEELS The Best You looks at four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome’s steep climb to success, and how a little lie helped him on the way

Born in Kenya in 1985 to British farmers, Chris Froome grew up near Nairobi surrounded by snakes, turkeys and rabbits - and a pair of older brothers who bullied him remorselessly. When he was young, Froome recalls how his brothers would lock him in a cage and pit him against an aggressive male turkey that matched his height, which they had deliberately enraged. Froome laughed off these practical jokes, but it may have inspired him to get away, on the open road, where he could be in control. When asked what the appeal of cycling was to him as a boy, Froome recalls that “bikes were freedom.”

In Froome’s early years, his family was wealthy, but that changed when his parents divorced. His older brothers were at a British public school, but Froome stayed at home with his mother in Nairobi.

Froome bought his first bike, a ‘bog standard’ mountain bike with gears, from his local supermarket. It fired his enthusiasm for cycling; however, the tricks and jumps he performed soon wrecked the forks. He took it to the village market for local mechanics to repair, and remembers how the black staff members were initially surprised to see a white boy.

They soon became friends. Time and again, he would return with his bike, ensuring he understood every square centimetre of his prized possession.

It was the local mechanics who told teenage Froome about road racing, and he entered his first race, The Condom Trust Race, at the age of 13.

His first racing inspiration was David Kinjah, who Froome describes as “a tall, dreadlocked Kenyan cyclist with a 100-watt grin, no sense of time and a generous soul married to a rebel heart.”

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“Although Bloemfontein was tough and lonely, the experience taught me things,” recounts Froome. “You are your own best resource when things are bad, and I found my own ways of having fun.”

Froome used a stunt bike to get away from the boarding school and visit friends. On school holidays he stayed with his mother in Nairobi, where he went cycling with Kinjah.

Under his guidance, Froome was representing Kenya internationally by his late teens.

Keen for attention from the cycling world, Froome decided to race in Europe. Unable to garner support from the Kenyan Cycling Federation, he decided to create his own opportunity.

After helping the head of the Federation, Julius Mwangli, with his computer, Froome remembered Mwangli’ email account password.

“I sat down and logged on... Posing as Julius Mwangli, I wrote a short letter to the UCI [Union Cycliste International], informing them that I would like to enter Christopher Froome, one of my country’s most promising under-23 riders, into the World Championships at that grade in the autumn,” recalls Froome The lie succeeded, and at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia Froome was spotted by Dave Brailsford, the future Team Sky principal, who went on to say, “the performance he [Froome] did, on the equipment he was on, that takes some doing... We always thought he was a bit of a diamond in the rough, who had a huge potential.”

Froome rose through the cycling world, and as a Brit, was encouraged to apply for a British racing license. Soon part of Team Sky, he broke through as a Grand Tour contender at the 2011 Vuelta a España, finishing second overall. At the 2012 Tour de France, Froome won stage seven and finished second overall, behind teammate Bradley Wiggins.

David, whom Froome met at his second race, was 14 years his senior and captain of the Kenyan cycling team. Froome immediately felt a connection, as he recalls: “From the moment I met Kinjah I wanted to be like him. I wanted to spend so much time on the bike that my molecules and the bike’s molecules became fused together. I wanted quads like a proper rider. I wanted to race. And I wanted to win.”

Away from cycling, Froome’s father enrolled him at St. Andrews, a boarding school in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

According to Froome, the teachers beat the children and delighted in intimidation, dispensing punishments to anyone who wasn’t smart to who hadn’t put hospital corners on their bed sheets.

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Cycling has been plagued by drug scandals over the years, but Froome has avoided controversy and passed all rigorous drugs testing. Nevertheless, critics have declared his powerful performance suspicious, and he has faced hostility from dubious crowds, even being driven off the road by an unknown driver in 2017’s Tour de France.

Nevertheless, Froome has kept on undeterred, uninterested in fame, and motivated by his love of cycling. Now with four Tour de France titles, and Olympic, World Championship and All-Africa Games medals, Froome says he still has much more to achieve.

“What really drives me is the actual performance. I’m driven.

I’m driven to try and win as many Tour titles as I can throughout my career; to have the biggest impact on youngsters wanting to have a good role model. Ninety percent of everything I do, the training, the mental focus, it’s geared towards trying to be the best athlete that I can be.”

IT’S NOT YOUR BANK BALANCE BUT WHAT GIVING BACK WHICH GIVES LIFE MEANING

Live Love Legacy How actress turned entrepreneur Jessica Alba built an honest, internationally successful businesstake your work to the next level.

SEEKING MEANING AND FINDING

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Introducing our new initiative The Best You: A Better World, a unique addition to the personal development industry which focuses on supporting the incredible charities, social enterprises, non-profits and individuals who strive to make the world a better place for all. Together we can make a difference.

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WORKING TOGETHER FOR A BETTER WORLD Our shared vision for improving society and positively impacting the world

At The Best You we are passionate about the business of professional, personal, financial, spiritual, mental and physical self-improvement. Supporting, guiding and encouraging people to live their best lives is what we love doing - and we’re very good at it.

However, personal development is only part of the picture. Your journey needs to make a positive impact on the wider world, otherwise it’s less self-development and more ‘self-ish’ work.

The Best You is proud to bring you The Best You: A Better World, our new initiative and a unique addition to the personal development industry. The Best You: A Better World focuses on highlighting and supporting the incredible charities, social enterprises, non-profits and individuals who strive to make the world a better place for all.

The Best You believes that education and personal development lead to empowerment, and that only by working together with exceptional organisations and individuals can we create positive global change. There is no single solution to global issues like poverty, the spread of disease, pollution or climate change, but by joining forces our voices become stronger.

Together, we can create ever-greater awareness and pay it forward to contribute towards a better world. This is The Best You’s mission, and we invite you to join our journey. On the following pages, we will introduce some of our fatastic new partners; A21, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Plastic Oceans.

For more information and to show your support, contact us at info@thebestyou.co

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THE BEST YOU

A BETTER WORLD

GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL The world-renowned care facility and research institute is a lifeline for many Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world's leading children's hospitals and research centres, caring for seriously ill children and teenagers, as well as their families.

Many Great Ormond Street Hospital patients face lifethreatening diseases and have spent the majority of their young lives in hospital awaiting treatment. A dedicated and tireless staff of over 2,400 people cares for the patients, while also providing assistance to the families of terminallyill children at the Hospital’s Louis Dundas Centre.

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The Hospital is also known as a pioneer in research, exploring new treatments, potential cures and preventions. Every day, the Ormond Street Hospital provides invaluable care and expertise to young people and their families, and The Best You: A Better World is proud to support their life-changing and life-saving work.

For more information visit www.gosh.nhs.uk

PLASTIC OCEANS

THE BEST YOU

A BETTER WORLD

Working together to change attitudes around what ends up in our seas More than 60 million plastic bottles are thrown away every day. Many end up in our oceans, where they can take up to 100 years to biodegrade.

Plastic Oceans is a non-profit organisation working to raise awareness about the plastics and other pollutants that affect our oceans and rivers. The Best You: A Better World is proud to partner with Plastic Oceans and encourage even more people take positive action to protect our planet.

There are currently Plastic Oceans Foundation entities in four countries: UK, US, Canada, and Hong Kong. The international groups are united in their aim to change the world’s attitude towards plastic, within a single generation, through the key pillars of education, business, and sustainability and science. To spread the message even further, Plastic Oceans has created a documentary feature film called A Plastic Ocean.

Half of all the plastic we use is designed for ‘single use’.

A Plastic Ocean engages people of all ages, in all social situations, to help them to understand the danger of continuing to perceive plastic to be disposable. Once people become aware of the ultimate threat to human health, Plastic Oceans believe they will make the choice to prevent plastic waste from entering the environment.

For more information and to watch A Plastic Ocean visit www.plasticoceans.org

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SLAVERY ENDS HERE Eradicating human trafficking through awareness, intervention, and aftercare

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“Our legacy is freedom,” is THE BEST YOU the mission statement of A21, a non-profit organisation fighting to abolish slavery everywhere, forever. The Best You: A Better World is proud to partner with A21 to highlight their dedication to ending human trafficking and sexual exploitation worldwide.

A BETTER WORLD

There is no single solution for combatting slavery.

A21 works in myriad ways, including programmes for educational awareness, increasing the prosecution of traffickers, and the protection of victims through medical and psychological services, as well as legal and vocational assistance for victims of human trafficking in their crisis centres, shelters and transitional homes.

A recent report from The National Crime Agency (NCA) shows that cases of human trafficking and modern slavery are far more prevalent in the UK than law enforcement previously thought. It revealed that there are potentially tens of thousands of cases in the UK, with victims predominantly from eastern Europe, Vietnam and Nigeria. It’s a problem that’s often locked away behind closed doors, something A21 is determined to throw a spotlight on.

In addition to the UK, A21 has teams on the ground in Ukraine, Greece, Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway, South Africa, Thailand, the Netherlands, and Australia. The organisation believes in the power of collaboration in making a real difference, and has joined forces with various official bodies, community members, other non-governmental organisations and corporations.

For more information visit www.a21.org

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IT’S NOT YOUR BANK BALANCE BUT WHAT GIVING BACK WHICH GIVES LIFE MEANING

Feel & Look Good How actress turned entrepreneur Jessica Alba built an honest, internationally successful businesstake your work to the next level.

STRENGTH FROM THE INSIDE OUT

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Want to know the secret to feeling your best? Try these 18 quick and simple tricks that help improve your health, boost energy levels and even fight wrinkles - yes, really…

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It often feels like too much is never enough in our consumer-centred world. Learn about ‘lagom’, the Swedish philosophy about seeking ‘just the right amount’ in order to live a rewarding, balanced life.

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18 LIFE HACKS TO IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH Fast-track your way to feeling better with these simple tricks

Life is busy, messy, and filled with unexpected surprises, but with a little bit of science and a sprinkling of ingenuity, these quick and easy health hacks can increase wellbeing, boost energy levels and make you feel healthier every day.

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TRAIN YOUR POSTURE: This is especially important if you work at a desk. Be mindful of the way you hold your shoulders and neck throughout your day. A laptop stand and back-supporting chair are good investments for slouch prevention.

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KICKSTART YOUR MORNING: Help to flush your body of toxins by starting every morning with a glass of water with fresh-squeezed lemon added. The citrus alkalizes your body and supports your digestive system, giving you more energy, while also fighting inflammation.

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TAKE THE STAIRS: No, it’s not rocket science, but little lifestyle changes such as shunning the lift or getting off the bus a stop early really do make all the difference when it comes to general fitness. And it is cheaper than a gym membership.

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FILTER YOUR WATER: Bottled water isn’t great for the environment, so filter your own at home using the BRITA Marella jug which reduces levels of chlorine, heavy metals and limescale. It even has a helpful ‘memo’ that reminds you to change the filter to ensure you always have the freshest filtered water. www.brita.co.uk

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BRING ON BEDTIME: If you struggle falling asleep, try having a warm bath an hour before you plan to go to bed, make sure to switch off your phone, and put a tissue with a few drops of lavender oil inside your pillowcase.

Before you know it you’ll be sound asleep.

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VISUALISE: Need some motivation to get moving?

Research suggests that even just imagining achieving an exercise goal, like powering through a workout or going for that 5k run, can help set the stage for success.

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INSTITUTE A SCREEN BAN: We all know that we should avoid the heavy use of technology outside of work hours, but it’s easier said than done. Try to limit the amount of time you spend glued to something each evening, and plan in non-screen activities.

answer to improving the quality of your shut-eye. The Gingerly Beauty Box Silk Pillowcase isn’t just luxurious, it’s also hypoallergenic, naturally dust-mite resistant and helps visibly reduce the signs of aging. www.gingerlily.co.uk

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DRINK YOUR GREENS: Grabbing or making a green juice is a quick and easy way to boost your vegetable intake. Naked Juice’s Green Machine is packed with Vitamins A and C thanks to its secret ingredients- broccoli and spinach. www.nakedjuice.co.uk

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WALK IT OFF: If you’re feeling sluggish or finding it hard to concentrate, step away from that desk during your lunch hour and get some fresh air. You will see the positive effect on your productivity.

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CHOOSE SILKY SOFT: Your pillowcase can really affect the quality of your sleep, and silk is the

BOOST YOUR MOOD: Smell the skin of an orange for a natural mood booster. Yes, really. Studies have shown that orange essential oil helps boost mood and alertness, and can reduce anxiety. If you don’t keep the fresh fruit on hand, buy some bottled oil and dab a drop on each wrist or massage into your temples for the same effect.

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GO TO BED EARLY: A simple change, like getting to bed an hour earlier than usual, can have far-reaching effects, as so many stress-related symptoms come from a lack of sleep. Try getting a little extra shuteye, and see how you feel. Remember it takes 21 days for a habit to form.

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TAKE ON MEAL PREP: Being so busy all the time means we’re often left to poor choices for lunch, often meaning whatever is closest to the office.

Avoid making unhealthy choices by meal-prepping ahead of time. Cook chicken breasts, hard boil eggs, make a big batch of brown rice, and chop vegetables to prep several lunches at once.

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MAKE TIME TO MEDITATE: Schedule in some time to meditate - even if it’s just 10 minutes on the bus. Taking a bit of time to sit quietly and focus on your breath can make a big difference in the flow of your day. If you’re new to meditation, start with an app such as Headspace. www.headspace.com.

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GIVE YOUR EYES A REST: Staring at a backlit device, such as a smartphone or laptop, all day is

straining on your eyes. The 20/20/20 rule reduces this. Every 20 minutes, take a 20 second break and let your eyes wander over something six meters (20 feet) in the distance.

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GO BOOZE FREE: If you know you’re going out for an inevitably boozy Thursday, Friday or Saturday, say no to a glass of wine at your chilled Monday night dinner. Try to avoid alcohol a couple of nights during your week, and then enjoy your Pinot come the weekend.

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AND STRETCH: Stretching feels ah-mazing and has the power to improve your workout, your health, and your life. It also improves flexibility and range of motion, can relieve pain and help you sleep better.

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CUT BACK ON CAFFEINE: Try swapping your afternoon cuppa for Starbucks' new turmeric latte, the golden spice which can help boost the immune system.

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ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Embrace ‘lagom’, the Swedish philosophy for ‘just the right amount’

Last year, you couldn’t walk into a bookshop or flick through Instagram without seeing the Danish word ‘hygge’, a state which roughly translates as ‘cosiness’, which is praised for improving wellbeing. Now, the latest Scandi lifestyle aspiration is ‘lagom’ (pronounced to rhyme with bar-gom), which means ‘enough’.

Over the past six months, Google has seen a huge increase in the number of UK searches for the term ‘lagom’. It’s a simple Swedish philosophy that’s all about creating balance to live a rewarding, yet responsible life - taking only what is needed, while not depriving yourself.

Whether it’s food, clothing, energy, or holidays, ‘lagom’ seeks Goldilocks’ sense of the ‘just right’. It’s an idea with the power to change the way people feel about sustainability by encouraging simple lifestyle changes that support the planet.

Elliot Stocks, co-editor of Lagom magazine in Bristol, says that “rather than fitting a bit of ‘lagom’ into your day, it’s more about your approach to your life as a whole, it’s an overarching concept behind the way you live.”

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The notion of making life easier, more enjoyable and less expensive is something we can all get on board with. And it pays off; a recent study named Sweden’s second city, Gothenburg, the most sociable city in the world. That’s not to say its inhabitants are topping the list for big, boozy nights out - rather they are most inclined to meet up and share a picnic or catch up over ‘fika’ (a cornerstone of Swedish culture, meaning to have coffee with a traditional cinnamon role or other pastry).

Gothenburg is a seaport on the country’s west coast, with wide, quiet, brownstone streets that make cycling practically obligatory. Last year the city even introduced an electric bike hire scheme. It’s green in every sense, boasting numerous landscaped public gardens and a sizeable ecological shopping scene with dedicated organic and holistic shops across the city, all of which use brown paper bags to reduce unnecessary plastic.

The hipster neighbourhood of Haga packs plenty of traditional charm with shops crammed with chic wares and cute cafes.

Aside from regular ‘fika’ breaks, food is very important in Gothenburg. At Upper House, a modern hotel perched on the edge of the city, breakfast is celebrated as the most important meal of the day. The buffet includes locally produced meats and cheeses, mueslis, and yoghurts, and there are decadent cooked options such as rye waffles with pickled herring and brown butter. Not forgetting mini cakes and desserts to finish.

The ultra-chic Upper House also features a spa with relaxing yoga sessions, a hammam, and an outdoor glass-bottomed jacuzzi pool on the 19th floor complete with killer views of the city below. If ‘lagom’ is all about getting enough enjoyment out of simple activities, such as swimming, a stay at Upper House definitely ticks that box. So much so that you may struggle to leave.

Nearby, the leafy Liseberg Amusement Park fills the skyline with whooshing vintage rollercoasters; and elsewhere, the city is dotted with pristine grounds for playing boules (a national hobby in Sweden), and has plenty of museums and galleries.

You will seldom have such easy access to something as stunning as Sweden’s west coast archipelago, which can be reached by a short tram ride from the city centre, followed by a 20-minute ferry. The car-free islands offer tranquility and an abundance of nature.

Gothenburg offers chic city living with an emphasis on the enjoying the great outdoors. There’s an evident sense of that much longed-for work/life balance, a happiness born out of being thankful and responsible. Let’s hope we can all learn to follow the Swedish way - it’s more than enough.

For more information about Upper House visit www.upperhouse.se Norwegian offers two flights daily from London Gatwick to Gothenburg (except Saturdays). Fares start from £34.90 one way, and flights are on Norwegian’s brand new aircraft with free on-board Wi-Fi.

HOW TO BE MORE ‘LAGOM’ CONSCIOUSLY REDUCE YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ON THE WORLD BE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE EAT WITH THE SEASONS KEEP NOTE OF YOUR FINANCES RECYCLE AND REFUSE SAY NO TO PLASTIC SHARE MEALS WITH FRIENDS

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COMING

SOON...

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.THEBESTYOU.CO

IT’S NOT YOUR BANK BALANCE BUT WHAT GIVING BACK WHICH GIVES LIFE MEANING

Wealth &Riches How actress turned entrepreneur Jessica Alba built an honest, internationally successful businesstake your work to the next level.

IT'S NOT YOUR BANK BALANCE BUT WHAT YOU GIVE BACK THAT REALLY COUNTS

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Comedian, TV presenter, movie star and author Russell Brand has experienced some of the most intense career highs and lows of any modern public figure. Now in a new chapter, Brand explores the battle to overcome selfdestructive habits to enjoy life’s riches.

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Kevin Gaskell, serial entrepreneur and CEO of four successful brands, has taken his message about the power of good leadership around the globe, and The Best You brings you an exclusive extract from his new book.

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Comedian, presenter, movie star and writer Russell Brand on breaking with the past to embrace your best life

Thanks to his inimitable speaking style, Russell Brand has long been a magnetic presenter, on both TV and radio. Nevertheless, Brand is the first to admit that up until recently his ego was allowed to run riot to a sometimes horrible effect.

The lowest point being in 2008, when Brand was fired from his BBC Radio 2 show after a misjudged answering machine message prank. However, Brand, now 42 years old, has mellowed in recent years and has embraced a new direction both professionally and personally.

Along with studying for an MA in Religion in Global Politics, Brand has embraced his new family life with partner Laura Gallacher and 11-month-old daughter Mabel. He is also back on the airwaves with a show on

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Radio X, and a podcast called Under The Skin on his own website. Unlike in the past, Brand now places emphasis firmly on his expert guests, such as Adam Curtis, Naomi Klein and Yanis Varoufakis.

On his shows Brand doesn’t mess around with small talk - he wants Answers with a capital A. On Under The Skin, he explores topics including the meaning of life, the state of economic and political systems throughout history, and how terrorism works - and if it can be stopped. Brand gives off the impression that there is no time to waste, a man aware of his mortality who has much left to do in his allotted time.

Perhaps, most powerfully of all, Brand uses his own experience as an addict to help others. He says that he has been addicted to drugs, sex, fame, money and

ND POWER power, and in his documentary From Addiction to Recovery he proves to be serious and knowledgeable about the subject.

In his new book Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions, Brand offers insight from the past 13 years of his recovery. It is intended to help those tackling addiction and self-destructive habits, regardless of whether they're trying to give up a nightly glass of wine or a growing dependence on their iPhone.

“My qualification is not that I am better than you, but that I am worse. More addicted, more narcissistic, more driven by lust and the need for power and recognition,” says Brand.

“Through this rather grim, and let’s face it at times

bloody glamorous, research I’ve inadvertently happened upon some incredible people and ideas that, one day at a time, sometimes one moment at a time, lift me out of the glistening filth and into the presence of something ancient and timeless, which I believe, no matter what your problem, will give you access to ‘The Solution.’”

We live in an age of addiction, from the obvious ones such as drugs and alcohol to the socially acceptable and often endorsed addictions like caffeine, work, stress, bad relationships and staring at screens.

Brands’s book - and its message of hope - could not be more timely.

For more information visit www.russellbrand.com, Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions is out now

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BEING A LEADER Serial entrepreneur, turnaround expert and CEO of four successful brands, Kevin Gaskell explores the power of good leadership

If you’re going to lead this change, we need to agree on what a leader is.

Warren Bennis invented the study of leadership in companies in the 1950s, and he had strong views on what leaders are, and are not. Having grown up in the Great Depression and served in the Second World War, he used his experiences, and what he learned from his research, to advise countless CEOs and at least three US presidents.

Bennis believed that leadership is about using the power to achieve change, and that good leaders are marked out by humanity and humility as well as business results. “A leader is someone whose actions have the most profound consequences on other people’s lives, for better or for worse, sometimes for ever and ever,” he wrote.

Bennis also thought that too much of what we call leadership is nothing of the sort. It is management, which is important, but management is all about implementing what other people believe to be correct.

All businesses need managers, but all teams also need leaders, and they are rarer. Bennismade this distinction in his research. He used to tell people that a leader both does things right, but also does the right thing, and that managers help you get where you want to go, but leaders can tell you what it is you want. And, managers keep their attention on the bottom line, but that leaders are looking at the horizon.

So, what sort of people are these leaders? I argue that everyone, in some situation, can learn to be a leader. In the past, many people thought that leaders were born that way, and researchers tried to make a list of the personality traits of historical leaders like Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Steve Jobs to examine what they had in common.

The result: not much. This type of research usually produces a list of traits like self-confidence, assertiveness

and a need for achievement. The problem comes when we try to apply those qualities to other people: while some leaders might have these traits, there are many more people who have a need for achievement who are terrible leaders. This is good news for us, because it suggests that inspiring leaders aren’t created at birth. You can learn to be an inspiring leader.

Other research has asked how leaders behave – rather than looking at the common principles of leaders, they look for what’s common about leadership. This has helped me to understand my observations. I have found that good leaders don’t get blown off course by today’s events, or even worry too much about them. And, I have learnt, like many people before me, that failure is inevitable, and what matters is being flexible enough to change your mind when things go wrong.

But, of course, different situations require different types of behaviour. Leadership behaviour in a situation where safety is critical is not the same as it is in an informal team.

You can’t run a startup like an army regiment, or vice versa. So when researchers in the 1960s tried to make similar lists of how leaders behaved, they found that the list was too long to be useful.

So, perhaps, are the best leaders the ones who know how to change according to the situation? The point of being a leader is that you will be able to make a difference, and so you can choose, at least to some extent, how to do that.

This “situational model” was developed by Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey, and they identified four distinct leadership styles: Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating, depending on the context.

But, this still tends to focus on how leaders communicate with the managers who report to them. An inspiring leader has to look at the biggest picture: everyone you are responsible for, the whole team, and the whole organisation can be transformed if they can find inspiration in the way you lead them. The attributes, behaviour and situational awareness of leaders are useful tools. We are all interested in something bigger. Inspiring leadership transforms teams, and it transforms lives because you show the people you lead what can be possible, and then, together, you achieve it.

This is an edited extract from Inspired Leadership: How You Can Achieve Extraordinary Results in Business by Kevin Gaskell (due to be published by Wiley, September 2017, RRP £18.99)

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2018 THE BEST YOU 2018 AWARDS will be presented to winners in NINE categories:

THE BEST SELF-IMPROVEMENT PUBLISHER

THE BEST PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHOR & BOOK OF THE YEAR

THE BEST SELF-HELP INNOVATION OR TECHNOLOGY

THE BEST EXPO SPEAKER FOR 2017

THE BEST INSPIRATIONAL DOCUMENTARY, TV OR FILM

THE BEST UP-AND-COMING INSPIRATIONAL INFLUENCER

THE BEST LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

THE BEST LIFESTYLE ENHANCEMENT VLOGGER-BLOGGER

THE BEST YOU GURU OF THE YEAR

The Best You Awards offers participating people and businesses the opportunity to gain public recognition of their achievements and demonstrate the outstanding degree of ground-breaking achievement in Personal Development.

To enjoy additional digital content, interactive features, video and digital galleries, please download The Best You App.

IT’S NOT YOUR BANK BALANCE BUT WHAT GIVING BACK WHICH GIVES LIFE MEANING

21st Century Living How actress turned entrepreneur Jessica Alba built an honest, internationally successful businesstake your work to the next level.

TUNED IN AND SWITCHED ON

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Can technology cure a broken heart? Move over Adele, we’ve rounded up the best podcasts and Apps to help ‘cure’ lovesickness.

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The best medical apps can empower patients by giving access to healthcare information and explaining treatment options.

HEALTH TECH SPECIAL

Smartphones can be instruments of torture during difficult romantic times, but there’s a host of new apps that promise to help people move on. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind here we come…

CAN TECHNOLOGY CURE HEARTBREAK? Lovesickness can be even harder in the digital age, but now tech can help

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RX BREAKUP This app offers a simple, effective 30-day programme that encourages you to let go of negative patterns and focus on becoming the 2.0 version of yourself. Created by LA-based therapist Jane Reardon, RX Breakup rolls out clinical expertise stylishly, while also building your confidence, so you can move on and meet someone better than your ex. www.rxbreakup.com

LITTLEBOOK This app promises to help relieve emotional pain and shorten the recovery journey after a split. Upon signing up you’re asked a series of questions and your answers are used to provide a selection of stories that will help you see your experiences from a healthier perspective accompanied by bespoke breakup advice. It’s like having a life-coach in your pocket. www.thebreakupapp.com

BREAKUPBOSS Created by an Aussie relationship expert and former agony aunt @ zotheysay, BreakUpBoss is an app designed to ‘tell you what to do with your heart and head when you're being annihilated by a breakup.’ At first it’s empathetic, offering a positive way to move through the stages of heartbreak, and then it gets motivational, using tools, techniques and lectures to get you back in the dating game. www.breakupboss.com.au

MEND A breakup guide and self-care app all in one that helps you let go and build a better life in order to get over your ex. It’s a compassionate, virtual assistant that promises to heal separation anxiety through a 28-day Heartbreak Cleanse. Think Siri with a certificate in Counselling and Psychotherapy. www.itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ mend-breakup-trainer/ id1074475992?mt=8

HYPNOTHERAPY SESSION

London-based 'Love Hypnotherapist' Malminder ‘Mindy’ Gill teaches clients to let go of their exes, process the grief involved, and form new thoughts and behaviours towards relationships.

‘Breakup hypnotherapy' is the UK's fastest growing branch of the treatment. www.mindygill.com

THE BREAK-UP RECOVERY RETREAT Divorce Coach Sara Davison runs a 2-day retreats which is designed to help participants deal with negative emotions, reignite their lives, and get them dating again. www.saradavison.com/ break-up-recovery-retreat

TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION

Popular with stars like Hugh Jackman and Cate Blanchett, the twice-daily practice helps people reduce negative thought spirals and gain perspective. www.meditationtrust.com

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The Leading

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THE BEST MEDICAL APPS In a world where you can rely on your smartphone for everything, you may as well use it to take care of your wellbeing

FIGURE 1 This app allows you to discuss real medical cases with over 500,000 healthcare professionals worldwide.

BNF APP This app for the British National Formulary (BNF) brings you up-to-date information about medicines, so you can check your prescriptions with their useful drug interaction checker.

POCKET DR This evidence-based medical app provides succinct treatment options, advice about medication, and much more.

SUGGESTED REPHRASE: This app for the British National Formulary (BNF) lets you double check your prescription medications with their easy to use drug interaction checker.

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