We’ve been encouraged to suppress our intuition, to look to others for answers instead of trusting that we already have the answers within ourselves. Spiritual guide and teacher Giselle La Pompe Moore is determined to help us return to our authentic selves. In this chat, Fearne and Giselle share their belief that spirituality isn’t an elite club that centres around buying stuff. Physical items like crystals, sage, or tarot cards can be a wonderful addition if you ascribe meaning to them, but fun...
Apr 25, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 15Ep. 3
You might feel aware that the internet makes you feel strangely disconnected from others, but writer and podcaster Emma Gannon feels it makes us disconnect from ourselves too. In this chat, Emma and Fearne dissect cancel culture and why we’ve got to allow each other the space to learn and grow, as well as why our offline activity should take precedence, because actions speak louder than token words on a screen. They also talk about how the biggest crime now seems to be not having an opinion. Fea...
Apr 18, 2022•55 min•Season 15Ep. 2
If you’re a high achiever, do you ever wonder if you sometimes use success to mask pain? Performer Will Young recognises this is something he did for many years. Now though, he’s discovered the importance of actively connecting to others and physically moving trauma out of his body when he finds himself in a low place. In this chat with Fearne he explains how he spent much of his career comparing himself to others in a way that was crippling for his mental health, and they both explore why they ...
Apr 11, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 15Ep. 1
Does being happy make us healthier, not only mentally, but physically too? Dr Rangan Chatterjee explains the very real effect chronic mental stress can have on our bodies. 80% of ailments he sees as a GP are due to our collective modern lifestyle – that’s not to shame anyone, it’s to help us understand the lifestyle changes we can all make to alleviate both mental and physical symptoms. In this chat, he and Fearne talk about why core happiness isn’t the billboard image of a smiling family on the...
Apr 04, 20220•Season 14Ep. 10
Actor Ruth Wilson feels she can’t help but bring the essence of herself to all the characters she plays. She’s learnt that in both her professional and personal life the most rewarding moments come from being the most authentic version of herself. In this chat with Fearne, Ruth wonders whether embodying so many different characters has helped her be less judgemental of other people and herself in real life, and they both explore how we can learn more about ourselves through our relationships wit...
Mar 28, 20220•Season 14Ep. 9
Why can it feel more difficult to talk about mental health with the people you’re related to? In this Mother’s Day special of Happy Place, Fearne and her mum Lin explore their shared ancestry, wondering how much of who they are and what they feel is down to nature, and how much is nurture. In this chat, Fearne hears about her maternal grandmother, who she’s always known suffered mentally, but has only recently learnt more of the details from her own mum. They also touch on how Lin inspired Fearn...
Mar 27, 2022•42 min•Season 14Ep. 8
Death is often viewed as something dark and muted, but after the death of her beloved sister, author Clover Stroud began to see the world in vivid colour. In this chat Fearne and Clover explore how death can teach us that it’s the tiny moments in life that truly matter; it’s the in jokes and funny glances that we remember about people. That realisation should be liberating for us in the here and now: we can slow down, stop seeking grand success, and focus on the little things. They also talk abo...
Mar 21, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 14Ep. 7
At 18 years old, Sophie Morgan was in a car crash, and was instantly paralysed from the chest down. Eighteen years on, she is now one of the only TV presenter’s in the world with a physical disability. She’s also an artist and an award-winning disability advocate. Sophie speaks passionately about how adversity influences her life to be filled with more gratitude. In this chat with Fearne, Sophie talks about how, after her injury, she felt as paralysed by fear as she was by her physical body, but...
Mar 14, 20220•Season 14Ep. 6
Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Actress Tuppence Middleton is very clear that as an introvert, she is overwhelmed by being around other people and needs time alone to recharge. In this chat with Fearne, Tuppence discusses her OCD. Mental counting, checking lights, and checking taps are all current manifestations of it, but she acknowledges that her panic has taken different forms across different periods of her life. They also explore the themes touched upon in her new ITV show Our House, ...
Mar 07, 2022•58 min•Season 14Ep. 5
Do you ever stop and ask what’s driving your behavioural patterns? New York Times bestselling author and self-confessed spiritual junkie Gabby Bernstein has spent the last few years thinking about how traumas from her past were manifesting in the present as workaholism, drug abuse, and alcoholism. In this chat with Fearne, Gabby talks through how we use things like work, substances, or even spirituality to numb parts of ourselves that we don’t want to look at, but that they do serve a pur...
Feb 28, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 14Ep. 4
For 17 years Björn Natthiko Lindeblad lived in Thailand’s jungle as a forest monk. He learnt how calm can encourage clarity of thought, that he preferred walking meditation to sitting, and that freedom can come from not being bound to material possessions. At the time of recording, Björn was very ill; he had ALS, a progressive nervous system disease. He knew that he would not be alive when this episode was released. In this chat with Fearne, he talks about how his time as a Buddhist monk helped ...
Feb 21, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 14Ep. 3
There’s bravery in wanting to connect with people in a truly authentic way. Musician Johnny Marr has found that across his career the songs people resonate with most are his most vulnerable, autobiographical tracks. Outside of music, there are lessons to be learnt there about how we might all best connect with each other. In this chat with Fearne, Johnny explains why it’s more valuable to be an expert than be famous, and why his best creative work often comes in the moments he’s not putting any ...
Feb 14, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 14Ep. 2
What would you try if you didn’t have to do it perfectly? Best-selling author, and the ‘High Priestess of creativity’ Julia Cameron feels perfectionism is a stalling device. When we deny ourselves the right to attempt something, we in turn deny ourselves pleasure and joy. In this chat with Fearne, Julia explains why jealousy tells you what you really want and care about, and how this can be positively harnessed to shape your future. Plus she talks through non-religious prayer, and how getting in...
Feb 07, 2022•44 min•Season 14Ep. 1
It’s often the case that fear is running the show. Dr Pippa Grange says it’s not always obvious that you’re afraid – you might be more familiar with the kind of fear you feel in the moment, like taking a driving test or giving a presentation – but it can in fact sneakily manifest as the chronic fear of not being good enough, and of being rejected. In this chat with Fearne, psychologist Pippa explains why you have to fail before you succeed. As the woman who supported the England football team du...
Jan 31, 2022•57 min
Do you find fitness and keeping your body healthy fun? Twins Dave and Steve Flynn – perhaps better known as The Happy Pear – love keeping fit in a way that feels like play. They listen to their bodies; they move intuitively. Sometimes that means handstands, sometimes it means yoga, and a lot of the time it means a cold morning swim in the Irish Sea. In this chat with Fearne, Dave and Steve explain why they feel community is the antithesis of loneliness, as all human beings ultimately have the sa...
Jan 24, 2022•58 min•Season 13Ep. 9
Audiobook exclusive: Bigger Than Us. Calm anxiety through connection. Find happiness through purpose. Feel comfort in the universal. Think bigger to unlock you. In her new book, Bigger Than Us, Fearne Cotton seeks out the insight and advice of wise minds to explore what they can teach us to achieve happiness, connection and hope. Here, Fearne exclusively shares the introduction and first chapter of the book with Happy Place listeners. Bigger Than Us is available as a hardback, an ebook, an...
Jan 19, 2022•2 hr 13 min•Season 13Ep. 8
It’s important to take time to figure out how to trust your own opinions of yourself rather than believing other peoples’ opinions of you. This is something author Freya North has been meditating on recently. In this chat, she and Fearne talk about how many of us are used to functioning at an extremely high level of stress without realising we’re pushing ourselves to breaking point, and Freya explains why she now gives as much attention to her emotional self as her physical self. Freya’s 15th&nb...
Jan 17, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 13Ep. 7
You shouldn’t always believe your thoughts. Psychotherapist and meditation teacher Tara Brach feels freedom comes from understanding that you are not your thoughts; they’re real, but they’re not necessarily true. In this chat with Fearne, Tara explains how to challenge what you think your mind is telling you, especially about yourself. Plus, they discuss how gratitude and compassion towards others can alleviate suffering. Trusting the Gold is Tara’s new book, and it’s available now in hardback. ...
Jan 10, 2022•52 min
Are you conscious of where the pressures you feel are coming from? Are they external or internal? Diver Tom Daley has been meditating on these different types of pressures recently, so in this chat he and Fearne discuss the power of validating ourselves rather than waiting for others to tell us we’re doing well. Plus, he explains the process he and husband Lance had to go through to adopt as a same sex couple, and how having a son has changed his view on chasing perfection. Tom’s book is called ...
Jan 03, 2022•58 min•Season 13Ep. 5
In this special episode, Fearne is joined by Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes from The High Performance Podcast. They all share their favourite moments from Happy Place and High Performance in 2021, and discuss the impact those chats had on them, as well as reflecting on what their guests have taught them this year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Dec 31, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Season 13Ep. 4
Reflecting on experiences from childhood can help us understand who we are today. Radio 1 presenter Matt Edmondson has been learning music production – an entirely new skill for him – and has been using it to explore feelings about his past. In this chat with Fearne, he opens up about being diagnosed with cyclothymia and how this new knowledge of his moods has changed his life for the better, and how he’s learnt to control his flow states, rather than them controlling him. Matt’s podcast, Not An...
Dec 27, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 13Ep. 3
Treating our soil differently could have a knock on effect on our physical and mental health, as well as the health of the environment. As one half of Groove Armada, Andy Cato travelled the world playing music, but for the last 15 years his MO has been revolutionising the way we grow food. In this chat with Fearne, he talks about the importance of re-connecting with nature and how we can all positively impact the planet via the food we eat. Discover more about Andy’s...
Dec 20, 2021•1 hr•Season 13Ep. 2
There’s never going to be anything comfortable about facilitating change, but if we deeply care about a cause we should do it nonetheless. As well as entertaining the nation on TV, Jamie Oliver has spent decades learning about, and fighting for, healthier food policies. In this chat, Fearne and Jamie explore how failure can ignite more fire in your belly, and why a little optimistic naivety might initiate more ground-breaking change than a measured approach. Jamie’s new recipe book is called Tog...
Dec 13, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 13Ep. 1
How good are you at getting quiet and sitting with yourself? Jazz singer Gregory Porter feels that this is the place your most authentic, distinctive creativity will come from. In this chat with Fearne, Gregory explains why you don’t need to be an overnight success. It’s ok to take your time, indeed you’ll benefit from taking that time to learn, and hone your craft. He also talks through the false starts his career has seen, and why it was his vivacious mother who encouraged him to keep persever...
Dec 06, 2021•51 min•Season 12Ep. 10
It’s much more productive – and will ultimately make you happier – to strive for excellence rather than perfection. A research professor at the University of Houston, Brené Brown has spent 20 years studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. She’s clear that perfectionism is actually a defence mechanism to shield us from failure and shame. In this chat with Fearne, Brené explains the difference between guilt and shame, as the former can be helpful in some situations, whereas the ...
Nov 29, 2021•56 min•Season 12Ep. 9
Although she keeps much of her life private, Leona Lewis has recently felt a real need to speak up. In this chat with Fearne, she talks through why she’s so passionate about issues including racism and animal welfare, as well as explaining where her impressive work ethic comes from. Leona is the UK’s Queen of Christmas; she’s all for embracing the magic the festive period brings because it’s so important for her to spend quality time with family. ‘Christmas, With Love Always’, a special r...
Nov 22, 2021•49 min•Season 12Ep. 8
We are not living at a natural pace. The modern world forces us to move through life incredibly quickly; Shaman Jo Bowlby helps people slow down and embrace stillness. In this chat with Fearne, Jo explains why we should be pursuing wisdom rather than just intellect, why quieting our analytical mind can help us get back in touch with our human essence, and how to rid ourselves of self-limiting beliefs. A Book For Life: 10 Steps to Spiritual Wisdom, a Clear Mind and Lasting Happiness...
Nov 15, 2021•55 min•Season 12Ep. 7
It’s never too late to make a change; Annie Mac has left Radio 1 after 17 years of broadcasting and is ready to embrace parts of her identity she hasn’t had time to explore until now. In this chat with Fearne, Annie talks about feeling that we need to allow people to be more than one thing - that we need to embrace the sunshine and joy, but the darkness and sadness too. Fearne and Annie also think about the notion of having endless space out in front of you and why, although scary,...
Nov 08, 2021•53 min
You’ve achieved the goals you set yourself for your career and personal life; what’s next? That’s the question Holly Willoughby has found herself asking recently. When you’re used to excellence and achievement, how do you break the loop of constantly living in the future, looking ahead instead of existing in the present and thinking about what will bring joy right now? In this chat with Fearne, Holly explores her experience of detaching from herself in order to feel safe, and how she’s discovere...
Nov 01, 2021•55 min•Season 12Ep. 5
It can at times feel like the cycle of negative news is endless, and living in fear can be debilitating, but ethologist and conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, is able to turn despair into hope. In this chat, she and Fearne talk about why we might want to be in nature to heal when feeling low, and where science and spirituality can interact. The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide For an Endangered Planet is Jane’s new book, and it’s out now. Hoste...
Oct 25, 2021•52 min•Season 12Ep. 4
