Go Well

Organic vs. Conventional Food Production

Our podcast this week is with Professor Carlo Leifert, who  is one of the world leaders in organic farming research, food production systems, and sustainable farming and food security.  Using a unique, new intervention study design, an international team of experts led by Professor Carlo Leifert (Southern Cross University, Australia; University of Oslo, Norway) and Professor Chris Seal (Newcastle University, UK) compared the effect of a healthy diet (Mediterranean type) with a habitual Western diet and they also compared the effect of conventionally produced foods with organic food on intake of pesticides, a group of environmental pollutants with known negative health effects. The study's main finding was that switching from a “Western” to a Mediterranean diet with high fruit and vegetable consumption resulted in more than 3-times higher total insecticide and organophosphate intake. Listen in to find out more.

MICHAEL LEUNIG: The Life and Role of a Cartoonist

Michael Leunig is an Australian cartoonist, writer, painter, philosopher and poet. His commentary on political, cultural and emotional life spans more than fifty years and has often explored the idea of an innocent and sacred personal world. The fragile ecosystem of human nature and its relationship to the wider natural world is a related and recurrent theme. He describes his approach as regressive, humorous, messy, mystical, primal and vaudevillian - producing work which is open to many interpretations and has been widely adapted in education, music, theatre, psychotherapy and spiritual life. In this podcast, Cate talks with him about what it takes to be constantly in the public eye, and his role as cartoonist.

Jane Mallick and Every Day Yoga

This week on the Go Well podcast, Cate talks with yoga teacher Jane Mallick about different aspects of yoga, with a focus on how we can bring it more into every day life. After a successful corporate career in social health research and educational studies, Jane experienced a major health crisis herself, and turned to yoga for healing. She is now a dedicated and passionate yogini who has been practising yoga for almost forty years and teaching for ten. Jane is further inspired by the divine feminine to share the teachings that have helped her, by supporting others to create a life of ease, grace and on that is full of potential. 

 

 

Professor Wendy Moyle: Dementia, Humanoids and Robotics

In this podcast, Cate talks with Professor Wendy Moyle who is Program Director for the Healthcare Practice and Survivorship Program (HPS) (5 Research Groups) in the Menzies Health Institute Queensland at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.  Wendy’s research expertise is in dementia, depression and delirium. She has focused her research on finding evidence for best practice in the care of older people and, in particular, those with dementia, and improving quality of life, and evidence for managing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) using controlled trials to test psychosocial interventions. She has a keen interest in technologies and, within a social robotics laboratory, she develops and evaluates assistive technologies and social robots. She works with a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Australia and internationally, in particular from the UK and Japan, and has received two International Women’s Day Awards: an International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame (Sigma) for her research (2019); and she has been recognised by Robohub as one of 30 women in robotics globally you needed to know in 2019. She has also won an international award for social robotics from Analytics Insight (2020).

Professor Jayashri Kulkarni: Women‘s Mental Health

In this podcast Cate talks with Professor Jayashri Kulkarni from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia about women's mental health. Jayashri founded and directs the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc), which is a large group dedicated to discovering new treatments, new understanding and new services for people with a range of mental illnesses. Jayashri Kulkarni graduated in Medicine from Monash University in 1981 and became a Fellow of the College of Psychiatrists in 1989. She has conducted ground-breaking clinical research since then and is internationally acknowledged as a leader in the field of Women’s Mental Health, in particular for her innovative work on reproductive hormones and mental illness. She is the current President of the International Association for Women’s Mental Health working in the field of women’s mental health and developing specific treatments that are tailored to suit women’s needs biologically, socially and psychologically. Her work has been published in many national and international peer-reviewed publications. To date, Professor Kulkarni has authored in excess of 200 papers, 23 book chapters and 40 other publications. Jayashri received an Order of Australia (AM) in 2019 for her services to Psychiatry.

Ros Ben-Moshe: Laughter for Wellbeing

Ros is Positivity Resilience and Wellness Coach, Author and Director of LaughLife Wellbeing Programs, along with being a leading provider of laughter wellness, positivity and mindfulness programs. She is also Adjunct lecturer at the School of Public Health and Psychology at La Trobe University and coordinator of a world first Laughter, Resilience and Wellbeing online short course for professionals.  Ros is also author of the book “Laughing At Cancer – How To Heal With Love, Laughter and Mindfulness, part memoir and part healing guide, written following her shock diagnosis of bowel cancer. Ros is presently working on her next book documenting laughter’s effect on mind, body and spirit.

CHLOE WRZESINSKI: Personal Story of a 17 Year Old

Well I don’t know about you, but think we are getting a bit sick of the bad news. So this week we have dug a bit deeper to find some good news, which includes a woman who has fulfilled her dreams by opening a bookstore in her later age (instead of buying a house) and has just celebrated her 10^th anniversary; a company that turns cremation ashes into elegant stones, why self-love may not be selfish and is in fact a key for collective healing; is pursuing happiness bad for the environment?; how having someone listen to you improves your brain health; and how carers can get help during the pandemic.

And this week Cate's interview is with fellow radio presenter at 94.9 MainFM, Chloe Wrzesinski. Chloe is a seventeen year old school student, living and studying in Castlemaine and has an avid passion for writing fiction and painting as well as studying languages. Chloe hopes to pursue her studies in the real world after completing VCE, by travelling abroad and teaching English in Japan. After completing year twelve, she also hopes to get published and further a career as an author.

DANIEL MONTELEONE: Lived and Professional Experience with Chronic Pain

Cate's interview this week is with Daniel Montelone who shares his personal story of living with chronic pain, and how this has informed his professional life as podiatrist and strength and conditioning coach. Daniel has developed a passionate interest in the management of chronic pain and biomechanical therapy and loves to help people understand how their body works and how strong they really can be.  He has been featured on ABC national news for his work as an ambassador for National Pain Week, increasing awareness about chronic pain, and has been instrumental in developing course content in a new subject being delivered at La Trobe University; Empathy and Compassion in healthcare. 

Dean Mighell, The Path of the Horse

Dean Mighell is the Founder, Director and a Practitioner of The Path of the Horse. The Path of the Horse aims to assist people of all ages and from all walks of life who seek better mental health and wellbeing. Their work helps people become more self-aware about themselves and enables them to make clearer choices about their lives. Further, the work with horses helps heal, manage, build resilience, and means after people leave they can often enjoy improved relationships and maintain better mental health. Horses have an amazing ability to release stress and a truly unique capacity to share their empathy with humans. They never judge, they are completely honest and are our much-loved assistants in the healing process. They are great listeners too.

SHANNAH KENNEDY - Plan B

If having a life purpose resonates with you, listen in to this podcast with author and life coach Shannah Kennedy, as she really does provide a lot of information, value and tips in this interview with Cate.  Author of Simplify, Structure, Succeed and The Life Plan, Simple Strategies for a Meaningful Life, and Plan B, Shannah is also an accredited Advanced Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation and a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner. From individual coaching to group facilitation and workshops, her client portfolio spans CEOs and senior executives, entrepreneurs and sporting leaders, to parents and corporate groups.