Mantality

#053 No Obvious Trace (A Short Story by Robert Molyneux)

A short story about a panic attack.
Robert is a father of two teenagers and works as a plumber. Alongside many others, he enjoyed the challenges of the first Cultivate Programme back in those “unprecedented” days of 2020.
Deciding to go deeper and stand longer under the cold showers he then embarked on a Personal Leadership Course with the Mantality Team. We got to know a bit about Robert and so set him off on one final task... to create a piece of writing about Male Mental Health.
We all have stories and this is one of his... A truthful, revealing and informative account of something that can happen to any of us...

#052 From Breakdown to Breakthrough: The journey of GB Olympic athlete, Jack Green

Jack Green is a British sprint athlete who specialises in the 400m distance, along with the hurdles and the 4 × 400m relay. 
He is a double Olympian, competing for GB at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympic Games. And he is a World & European Medalist. He has achieved a lot, but in the shadows was struggling with his mental health.
Jack, a top 10 high-performance elite athlete, took it upon himself to move away from the spotlight and focus on his mental health after a breakdown. He was diagnosed with depression, bi-polar tendencies and anxiety shortly after the 2012 London Olympics.
After therapy, he realised his drive for perfection in the sporting world came only from external reasons and there was no internal reward for him.
Now, years later, Jack is a public speaker, an ambassador for MIND, Young Minds and has worked with the government on elite sport mental health reform. He is also a well-being consultant for BBC Studios.
We hope you enjoy hearing about Jacks story.

#051 Mental health and rugby with Lloyd Ashley (feat. LIVE Q&A)

A World Mental Health Day special podcast! This was the first ever podcast we have recorded with a live audience. Our guest was Lloyd Ashley, Welsh Rugby Union star for Ospreys and founder of ‘Living Well With Lloyd Ashley’. It was a podcast that morphed into a Q&A with the guests that signed up to join us. Lloyd and Stevie chatted around their rugby careers in their different codes, but spoke about the mindset that goes into that. When feeling invincible is a good thing and when it's not. The idea of vulnerability in rugby and also how change can affect people and what it is to truly listen to people when they are talking about their mental health. We feel we have held quite a unique space for men considering mental health and performance. Please let us know your feedback and who you would like to be in a live podcast with in the future!

#050 The Rise To Stardom: Mental Health, Ego and Pressure (with David Birtwistle).

David Birtwistle is known from the hit Netflix reality show: “Too Hot To Handle”. 
David is a TV personality, podcast host, a strength and conditioning coach, he has studied nutrition and has a range of clients all over the world. 
In this chat, David is brutally honest about fame and what it brings; the good, the bad, the pressure and the responsibilities he now has to deal with after having a massive audience of 1.1m Instagram followers. David also speaks about his sympathy for people who shoot to stardom, particularly the Love Island contestants, and what that can do to your mental health. David also speaks about ego and how he wants to model himself going forward. 
Enjoy! 
Podcast sponsored by https://betteryou.com/

Connected #16: The Promised Land

Episode sixteen - July 23rd. 
Paul and Danny meet every Wednesday for a pint after work. It has been a tradition for three years, and 2020 is no different. But 2020 is different. And as the weeks continue the reality of this new world dawns upon them both and we see how they react as the world starts to fall into chaos all around them… 
Paul and Danny are connected, and so are all of us. 
Connected was written by Chris O'Connor and Paul Fox, performed by Stevie Ward and Paul Fox, with sound by Dom Smith and is produced by Red Ladder Theatre Company in association with Mantality. Music was composed and performed by Claire-Marie Seddon with lyrics by Chirs O’Connor.

#049 Fighting Silence (with Callum Hancock)

Today, Stevie and Chris are joined by undefeated super middleweight boxer, Callum Hancock. 
 
Callum, from Sheffield, was bullied, sexually assaulted and raped at the age of 10. He recalls his childhood leading up to this moment, being regularly bullied and tormented by various older kids and he details what happened in his backyard den in 2001. 
 
He talks about the day he appeared face to face with his perpetrator as an adult and the emotions he felt in that moment.
Callum has utilised his own vulnerability to change not only his own life, but the lives of the many others he impacts as a public speaker. He also works at Survivors Manchester, a volunteer organisation for male survivors, helping other men, women, and kids who have been through sexual abuse. 
 
A very raw and honest chat. 
 
Podcast sponsored by https://betteryou.com

#048 Fasting, Gut Health and The Brain (with expert dietician, Sophie Medlin)

In this episode, Stevie and Chris are joined by expert dietician, Sophie Medlin. 
Sophie is a well-recognised consultant dietitian in London with expertise in gastrointestinal and colorectal health. She worked in acute hospitals specialising in gastrointestinal diseases before moving into academia, where she worked as a lecturer at King’s College London. 
Sophie is a go-to spokesperson for media when it comes to evidence-based nutrition, regularly featuring in print, broadcast and social media. 
Through this episode, they discuss Sophie’s background, our relationship with food - the positive and the negative. Body aesthetics and the influence of social media, a plant-based diet, the positive evidence behind fasting and it’s benefits, gut health, as well as the power of food for the brain. 
We thoroughly enjoyed this episode and hope you do too! 
Sponsored by BetterYou: http://betteryou.com

Connected #15: Liverpool's Title, burning soup and 'Doing a Leeds'

Episode fifteen - June 26th. 
Paul and Danny meet every Wednesday for a pint after work. It has been a tradition for three years, and 2020 is no different. But 2020 is different. And as the weeks continue the reality of this new world dawns upon them both and we see how they react as the world starts to fall into chaos all around them… 
Paul and Danny are connected, and so are all of us. 
Connected was written by Chris O'Connor and Paul Fox, performed by Stevie Ward and Paul Fox, with sound by Dom Smith and is produced by Red Ladder Theatre Company in association with Mantality. Music was composed and performed by Claire-Marie Seddon with lyrics by Chirs O’Connor.
 

#047 The Resilience Of A Royal Marine (with Andy Grant)

Today, Stevie sits down with Andy Grant. A man whose life has been through some of the biggest amounts of adversity. Andy is now a motivational speaker and a world record holder as the worlds fastest amputee. He is an ex-royal marine who joined shortly after losing his mum at 12 years old. He has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. We talk about the physical tests and trials that he took part in down in Lympstone; Some of which Stevie had a little taste of after a trip with the under 16’s England camp.
One day Andy was out on patrol with one of his best mates and was hit by a bomb which seriously injuring Andy’s leg. This event seemed to be foreshadowed the night before as his pal, Ryan, said he had dreamt that one of them had been blown up. 
Andy is now a single-leg amputee, but he has expressed that he has got a handle now on life that he never had as a marine or as someone who feels they lost their identity after leaving the marines. Andy made the decision to amputate his leg and live a more fulfilled life. 
Enjoy the podcast.
Sponsored by BetterYou: http://betteryou.com

#046 Becoming a BetterYou - Just As Nature Intended (with Andrew Thomas)

Andrew Thomas is director of the award-winning natural health brand, BetterYou. 
BetterYou specialises in the pill-free supplementation of nutrients that have been underrepresented or simply omitted due to our modern diet and lifestyles, including transdermal magnesium and oral vitamin sprays. 
After graduating in Business Management, majoring in Marketing, Andrew went on to work alongside Michael Eavis to go to launch a Glastonbury magazine, celebrating its 25th birthday. That didn’t quite go to plan and go ahead, but Andrew talks all about the lessons he had learned in business and in life from that point. After more work with publishing and magazines, Andrew joined Wrangler Jeans as head of Retail Marketing for Northern Europe. During work with a marketing and design agency, Andrew was introduced to what would become his future while he was on a photoshoot in the US. 
Andrew had been an asthmatic since the age of 12. it was a chance meeting with a bio-chemist named Juan Rosello who turned his life around. Juan was a medical professional working with a select group of major American sporting teams primarily investigating the role magnesium plays in muscle recovery after exertion. Juan educated Andrew on the role that an increased intake of magnesium, along with a reduction of calcium, would play in his condition, allowing relaxation of bronchial muscles and airways. The difference in what they were investigating was magnesium being supplemented through the skin, called transdermal magnesium therapy. Andrew was touched by an immense drive to take magnesium to the world and share it with others who may benefit. Andrew hasn’t taken a steroid inhaler now for 10 years. 
We talk about Andrews failures and how he has let that shape him in life but also in business going forward. We investigate why magnesium is so important for the body, whether that be athletes or people just wanting to improve their well being by enveloping something else into their routine which they had never thought about before. 
We are also really proud to say that BetterYou, this awesome brand is supporting and sponsoring Mantality. 
Enjoy the podcast!
https://betteryou.com