Strictly Come Dancing’s Dianne Buswell joins Happiful’s podcast to share her love of dance, the importance of rest and the joy she feels as the author of her new book Move Yourself Happy

Diane Buswell brings joy to millions of people as a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing, and that joy is repaid tenfold, as she explains on Happiful’s podcast.

“I still pinch myself daily that I’m doing a job that is literally a dream,” she says, beaming.

Read the full interview with Dianne in issue 74 of Happiful Magazine.

Dianne has dedicated her life to date to dancing, having started when she was just four years old. “I remember so clearly just absolutely loving going to dance class,” she explains. “It was never a chore. I always wanted to be dancing.”

Move Yourself Happy

Fast forward to 2020, just two years after she met her partner Joe Sugg on Strictly, and dancing as she knew it temporarily came to a halt, as the first Covid lockdown was announced.

However, Dianne’s determination to move and support others kicked in and she started to provide free classes on YouTube and Instagram. The feedback was gratifying and spurred her on.

“I had people messaging me daily,” Dianne shares. “They were saying that it was the first time they’d moved their body in weeks and it felt good, had given them a purpose and helped with their mental health. It was just such a nice thing to hear from all these people and know that I’d actually helped them to have a bit of happiness in their day, in a time that was stressful for so many people.”

This was also the catalyst for Dianne’s beautiful new book Move Yourself Happy: 21 days to make joyful movement a habit. Her book focuses on four key pillars; movement, nutrition, rest and positivity. It provides a three-week plan for movement as well as personal insights from Dianne and reminders to honour and respect your body and what works for you.

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Sharing my experience with breast thermography on the podcast today! Friendly reminder that I’m not a doctor or medical provider, just sharing my experience. 

Hi friends! I hope you’re having a wonderful morning. I have a new podcast episode up sharing my experience with breast thermography. It’s something I did recently as another way to track and see what’s going on with inflammation in my body. I’m excited to share the process and my results with you, and some changes I made in my routine that have made a huge difference.

My experience with breast thermography

So what is breast thermography?

Breast thermography is infrared imaging of the breasts, using a special camera. The camera detects heat within the body, which can represent increased blood flow to particular areas. Cancer cells demand higher blood flow, so you can monitor increased potential blood flow and heat. Hippocrates used to place wet mud on the skin of his patients, and the areas that dried the fastest indicated higher heat, which he used to determine areas of disease (I thought this was so interesting!).

Breast thermography is not intended to be a standalone test, but something you can do in conjunction with traditional screening measures, like self exams, mammography, ultrasounds, and MRI. I would absolutely follow the discretion of your doctor based on your unique body and family history.

We have a family history of breast cancer on my side of the family, and in the past, I had a benign intraductal papilloma removed. I’ve also had breast implants, and had my implants removed, which is one of the best things I’ve done for my health.

I’ve wanted to keep an eye on things, and when I first found out about thermography, I was intrigued, particularly because it’s non-invasive. It doesn’t involve radiation, takes less than 10 minutes, and it’s another way to monitor changes over time.

Here’s what the official documents say about the procedure:

This patient was examined with digital infrared thermal imaging to identify thermal findings which may suggest abnormal physiology.

Thermography is a physiologic test, which demonstrates thermal patterns in skin temperature that may be normal orwhich may indicate disease or other abnormality.If abnormal heat patterns are identified relating to a specific region of interest or function, clinical correlation and further investigation may be necessary to assist your health care provider in diagnosis and treatment.

Thermal imaging is an adjunctive test, which contributes to the process of differential diagnosis, and is notindependently diagnostic of pathology. Breast thermography (if this study includes breast) is a way of monitoring breast health over time.Every woman has a unique thermal pattern tha

Psychotherapist John-Paul Davies explains what depression is, how it can feel, the self-help steps that help and why working with a therapist could open up a much-needed conversation

Every person reading this article will have some sort of relationship to the concept of depression. Whether that’s through lived experience, witnessing the depression of a friend or loved one or questioning if the tough time they are currently going through themselves, is in fact depression.

As Psychotherapist John-Paul Davies explains on Happiful’s podcast, while the initial route for diagnosing depression should be through a visit to your GP or a Psychiatrist, depression is a condition he encounters regularly in his practice. He’s eager to share how common it is and to underline the constant possibility for change and a different way of being.

“Depression is very understandable based on our physiology, our environments, the media and the type of world we live in. It’s a very human response to somebody’s early life, to current circumstances and grief,” John-Paul notes.

“There are most definitely ways we can move through it, albeit it's a gradual process, but never think that because of what’s happened in the past that you can’t change in the present. There’s always hope and things that we can do to help ourselves.”

So what is depression?

“I would say that as human beings, we're at our happiest when we're in the middle band of feelings, which you might describe as ‘calm and alive’,” John-Paul explains. “However, it’s not always possible for human beings to be in that place. If we go above that ‘calm and alive’ band we might be overly aroused, fearful or angry. If we fall below, then we can feel hopeless, helpless, apathetic and in despair. There can be a lack of physical movement that goes with that feeling too. And I think for me, depression is a situation where somebody has a tendency to fall below ‘calm and alive’.”

The impact of depression, he notes, can be far-reaching too. “Depression can have a profound adverse impact, unfortunately on all areas of life for people,” John-Paul shares. “But there can be a range of depressive experiences, some people experience it mildly while, for other people, it's something that's been around clinically quite severely for months or even years in their lives.”

What can you do to help yourself?

As well as seeking support from your GP, John

Today I’m excited to have author and celebrity weight-loss coach Charles D’Angelo on the show! Definitely take a listen to this one and let me know about your biggest takeaways on Instagram. <3

Here’s what we talk about: 

– Mindset: how can you cultivate a positive mindset, especially when you feel defeated

– His mindset tips for achieving health and fitness goals

– Resources that he loves and would recommend (books, podcasts, websites, etc)

Here’s more about Charles D’Angelo:

At 16, Charles was 360lbs, bullied, eating lunch alone, and unhappy. Following a health scare, he took his life into his own hands and turned the very thing that he was bullied about into his own empire.  He lost 160lbs, went to college, and created a life for himself. During his own weight loss journey, Charles dug deep, figuring out why he chose to find solace in food and make himself a victim, rather than live life with the hand that he’d been dealt. Learning to take the emotion out of food pushed Charles into a new way of living. 

Connect with Charles on his website and check out his books here.

Resources from this episode:

The weather is cooling down, and I’m still obsessed with my sauna blanket. It feels even BETTER when it’s chilly outside and you can use the code FITNESSISTA15 for 15% off! This is one of my favorite ways to relax and sweat it out. I find that it energizes me, helps with aches and pains, I sleep better on the days I use this, and it makes my skin glow. Link to check it out here. You can also use my discount for the PEMF Go Mat, which I use every day!

Check out Nutrisense here and use the code TFP for $30 off and 1 month of free dietitian support! The dietitian support is invaluable and helps you assess your data, make changes, and run experiments.

I love love love the meals from Sakara Life! Use this link and the code XOGINAH for 20% off their meal delivery and clean boutique items. This is something I do once a month as a lil treat to myself and the meals are always showstoppers. I’m enjoying a shipment this week; the lavender parfait has been my favorite so far.

Get 15% off Read more

Self-love writer and co-founder of The Rising Circle, Vex King, joins Happiful’s podcast to talk about the experiences that shaped him and the impact of practising self-love

Vex King is a Sunday Times bestseller and internationally renowned for his beautiful work on self-love and compassion, and as he shares on Happiful’s podcast, the drive to learn and share supportive words with others is the result of tough childhood experiences that shaped his desire to change his mindset and circumstances.

“I like to call myself the guy that tries to make the world a better place. Ultimately, I’m spreading a message of self-love,” he says introducing himself. “I’ve come from a place where I’ve endured a lot of suffering. To give a bit of background, my Dad died when I was six-months old and my family and I were homeless for roughly three years of my childhood. Then when we finally found a home, unfortunately we weren’t really welcome in that area and neighbourhood for at least two decades. I suffered a lot of poverty, I’d say severe poverty, racism and abuse. There were a lot of times where I suppose I nearly gave up on my life.”

Read the full interview with Vex King in issue 73 of Happiful Magazine

The transition from such trauma to the life Vex leads today might seem like a mighty mountain to have climbed, and he is clear that it was neither linear nor easy. As a younger man, Vex explains, he encountered periods of extreme anger and despair. He also had a strong vision of the life he wanted to lead and an internal drive to alleviate other people’s pain and suffering.

Vex found hope in books, foreshadowing the work he is now so passionate about. “I just wanted a way out. I turned to books and books really helped me. They really built in hope that there was something better out there for me, that I could change my mindset and that I didn’t have to be a victim of my circumstances.”

“I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what I did, especially as a child,” he reflects. “At the time it was traumatic and I didn’t realise it. It was painful, it was heartbreaking and it was uncomfortable. But at the same time, I look back on it now and say to myself ‘Would I be here if I hadn’t gone through those particular things, would I have a story to tell? Would I have gone out of my way to find these tools, these ideas, these perspectives that have altered my life and that I’m now sharing with the world so that people can change their own lives?’”

Vex is visibly passionate and clearly dedicated to supporting and championing others. He co-founded The Rising Circle with his beloved wife Kaushal, to share free meditations, manifestation tracks, gratitude sessions and yoga and to ensure that everyone can access this support. He also continues to write, and his most recent book Closer to Love<