ChrisPickard

21/05/2026

😤 Have you noticed how irritable everyone seems lately?

The short fuses. The brain fog. The decisions people make that they would not have made five years ago. The conversations that should be easy turning into arguments.

We tend to put it down to stress. Or being too busy. Or "just getting older".

But after 30 years working with people in my clinic, I want to share something I see almost daily that hardly anyone is talking about with regards to optimal mental health.

🔥 Chronic, low-grade inflammation.

Now I know "inflammation" sounds like one of those buzzwords that gets thrown around. So let me explain what I actually mean.

When most people hear inflammation, they think of a swollen ankle or a sore throat. Acute. Visible. Obvious.

But there is another kind. The slow, quiet kind. The kind that builds up over years from ultra-processed food, poor sleep, too much sitting, unresolved stress, too much alcohol, blood sugar swings, and a gut that is not quite right.

This kind of inflammation does not hurt.

It just slowly changes how you think and feel.

It feels like slower thinking. Shorter fuses. Decisions you regret. The feeling of "I am not quite myself today" that becomes "I am not quite myself most days".

🧠 Here is the part that surprises people.

The front part of your brain – the bit that handles patience, perspective, good judgement and seeing the bigger picture – is particularly sensitive to this kind of inflammation. When it is running hot, that part of the brain literally works less well. And the older, more reactive parts of the brain start running the show.

So the person who used to be patient becomes snappy. The parent who used to listen properly starts interrupting. The partner who used to be thoughtful starts firing off responses they regret an hour later.

It is not always a character problem.

Sometimes it is a biology problem.

✅ And the good news is – this is one of the most responsive systems in the body. Change the right inputs and within a few weeks, the inflammation comes down. The fog lifts. The patience returns. The version of you that you remember being starts to come back.

🥗 Real food.
😴 Better sleep.
🚶 Daily movement.
🍷 Less alcohol.
🌱 Sorting out the gut.
📉 Stable blood sugar.
💊 Enough magnesium, B vitamins and omega-3s.

Boring on paper.

Life-changing in real life.

💛 If you have been wondering why you (or someone you love) just does not seem to be themselves lately – it might not be them.

It might be the inflammation nobody is measuring.

Be Well,

Chris
p.s. if any of this rings a bell and you would like to know more about what to do about it, drop me a message or a comment below 👇

12/05/2026

The most practical mental health skill: notice before you obey.

Day 2 of Mental Health Awareness Week.

One of the most powerful mental health skills is not positive thinking.

It is learning to notice a thought before you obey it.

This idea comes from Dr Dan Siegel, the man who mapped the 9 functions of the prefrontal cortex and developed the concept of 'mindsight' – the ability to see your own mind at work.

Here is the key shift.

You are not your thoughts. You are not your feelings, cravings, fears or stories.

You can notice them.

And once you notice something, you have a little more freedom around it. That gap between noticing and reacting is where mental health lives.

Try this simple check-in next time you feel hijacked. Siegel calls it SIFT:
• Sensation – What do I feel in my body?
• Image – What picture or memory is showing up?
• Feeling – What emotion is present?
• Thought – What sentence is my mind repeating?

Then ask one question:
"Is this present-moment truth, or is my nervous system replaying an old pattern?"

That single question can stop a bad afternoon in its tracks. It can stop you firing off the email you would regret. It can stop the spiral before it gathers speed.

Yesterday I wrote about Marcus Aurelius preparing his mind BEFORE the day began. SIFT is what you do once the day is already in motion and something has landed on you.

Mental health does not begin when the difficult feeling disappears.

It begins when you can notice the difficult feeling without being completely owned by it.

Tomorrow – another action you can use straight away.

Be Well,

Chris

09/05/2026

"Each person has the potential for love. But potential is never realized without work. This does not mean pain. Love is learned best in wonder, in joy, in peace, in living."

It's from Leo Buscaglia's book, Love, What Life is All About. I read it in an email from Brian Johnson yesterday morning, sharing the Philosopher's Note he made on it. So I downloaded the audio and listened.

Personally, I'm on a mission to create more 'wonderful, warm, human beings' as a mentor of mine once said.

To do that, we need to see love as a human development practice. Not a Hollywood fantasy.

Here's some simple Buscaglia inspired actions:

1. See someone. Look properly. Not as a role.
2. Hear someone. Listen without fixing or preparing your reply.
3. Say one true encouraging thing. Recognition, not flattery.
4. Drop one label. Replace judgement with curiosity.
5. Share something. Time, warmth, humour, forgiveness.
6. Express affection. Say it, show it, soften.
7. Let someone be free. Don't make love a cage.
8. Act before you feel ready. Love grows through doing. [Love isn't something you feel first and then do. You do it, and the feeling follows]
9. Ask for what you need. Don't expect mind-reading.
10. End the day asking: "What did I learn about love today?"

07/05/2026

Symprove. A number of my patients thought it was excellent.

04/05/2026

One of the most powerful men in the world stopped to notice how pleasing it was that bread crust split when baking.

Not conquest. Not status. Not achievement.

Bread.

Marcus Aurelius wrote about the simple beauty of a loaf splitting open in the oven. And that, to me, is what gratitude actually looks like.

Not forced positivity. Not pretending life is easy.

Just the ability to pause, see clearly, and let something small but real land in the chest.

This month is Mental Health Awareness Month. The numbers are sobering:

• 1 in 5 adults in England has a common mental health problem
• 23.4% of US adults experienced mental illness in 2024

Gratitude isn't just a nice feeling. It's one of the fastest ways to shift your nervous system out of threat mode.

We need better systems. But we also need simple practices people can use today.

Psychiatrist Phil Stutz calls one of them the Grateful Flow. You close your eyes, take a breath, and name three specific things you're grateful for. Not vague things. Specific ones.

The warmth of the sun. A working kettle. Someone who smiled at you.

You feel it in the chest. You let it stay.

And in that moment, you've changed state.

Gratitude isn't spiritual bypassing. It doesn't silence pain. It brings a little light into it.

Try it once today. Sixty seconds. One breath. Three specific things.

Because the first step back to mental strength isn't always a breakthrough.

Sometimes it's just noticing the bread.

If you want the full practice, see the link in the first comment.

30/04/2026

I've been using AI to summarize some useful books to a single image.

Here's the first.

If you'd like help implementing the Happiness Diet just ask.

26/04/2026

25/04/2026

Exercise really is medicine. 🏃‍♀️💚

A few days ago I delivered a workshop for The Health & Vitality Centre Welwyn Garden City

I spoke about how movement affects so much more than fitness.
It supports your heart, blood pressure, blood sugar, mood, brain health, balance, strength, bones, joints, confidence and long-term independence. 🫀🧠💪

One of the biggest messages from the talk was this:

You do not need to be perfect.
You do not need to do extreme exercise.
You do not need to start with an hour in the gym.
You just need to start where you are — and move a little more, a little better, a little more often. ✅

We also looked at 5 simple movement tests that can tell you a lot about your current health and vitality:

1. One-leg balance ⚖️
2. 30-second sit-to-stand 🪑
3. Sitting-rising test ⬆️
4. Push-up capacity 💪
5. Grip strength ✊

These are not just tests. They are clues about what your body may need next.

If pain, stiffness, fear of movement or low confidence is holding you back, please do not ignore it. There is usually a safe place to begin. 🌱

And if you know someone who is struggling to move well, feeling older than they should, or saying, “I really need to do something about my health,” please share this with them.

Sometimes a caring nudge is exactly what someone needs. 🙌

Health & Vitality Centre
32 Great North Road
WGC
📞 01707 333 390

Movement is medicine. Start where you are. 💚

24/04/2026

Chronic pain. It's complicated.

23/04/2026

Work on yourself first if you want to see change in the world. Seek to understand.
Peace & Love.