Humans:Connecting

It’s been an epic season of the HUMANS:CONNECTING podcast.   We’ve talked about   -       Social prescribing -       Nature based therapies -       The importance of owning your loneliness -       Creating authentically connected men -       The power of investing in yourself in midlife -       Overcoming the loneliness of leadership -       Becoming who you are in midlife -       The persistence...

The LONELY-EU project is fighting social isolation and loneliness across Europe. What it does there can help the rest of the world do the same. Judith Merkies – former Member of the European Parliament – and Dr. Hans Rocha IJzerman – Director of Annecy Behavioral Science Lab – are building a network connecting policymakers, scientists, healthcare workers, community leaders, people with lived exper...

An issue the size and scale of loneliness and social disconnection requires a variety of solutions, from offering individual support to developing national policies.   It’s too big for one person to solve alone, so a more effective approach is creating a movement that fosters countless connections as well as advocating for government and private sector action on the issue.   Let’s explore the powe...

It’s time to step out of the cage that you feel you’re in in midlife – where you need to perform certain roles to fulfil certain obligations that you may or may not have wanted in the past.   Midlife is a funny time. We think we’ve got a handle on things—relationships, family, career, and more—then, bam! Midlife hits.   It's not just the physical aches, but the existential questions: Is this a...

Every leader knows that there’s a loneliness in leadership. We all want to be great leaders where those in our teams thrive. But we can inadvertently become workaholics, micromanagers, indecisive leaders, or bullies.   What if we told you that the quality of your connections with yourself, those most important to you, and your communityinfluences how you lead at work?   Listen up, because if you’r...

While Jonathon Lawless’ story of loneliness and finding himself in midlife is uniquely his, it’s much the same as yours.   As an investment banker living in Hong Kong, Jonathon found that his expat life and career did not, no matter the outward success, provide what he needed.   He spent his life trying to fit in; trying to prove that he was worthy enough for the education, the job, the income, th...

Far too many men are broken.   From rates of suicide, violence, incarceration and educational outcomes, it’s clear that men are struggling.   This is not an episode about masculinity – toxic or otherwise – but an episode for you if you are a man who’s feeling lost and adrift.   This is an episode for you if there is a man in your life who you love who’s struggling.   It’s an episode to help men to...

We all reach a point where, before we can learn about the connection we need, we must first acknowledge and admit ourloneliness.   At this fork in the road, we face the choice: confront our loneliness, despite the fear and stigma, or rely on oldmethods to numb the discomfort.   This is like the anguish of coming out, as we believe that admitting loneliness risks judgement, shame and exclusion andw...

What if spending quality time in your garden, at a local park, in a national park – or even with a single potted plant – could help you heal and improve the quality of the connection you feel, would you do it?   While it sounds too good to be true, there’s a bucket-load of science to back up the claim that spending time in nature restores us, heals us and helps us feel more connected.   Dr Nerkez...

Wouldn’t it be nice to leave an appointment or interactionwith a caring professional and feel seen as the awesome humans that we are, rather than as a symptom or a problem to be solved?   In this first episode of Season 3, Jenny Kirschner – founderof Pharmacy Addressing Loneliness and Social Isolation –  talk about social prescribing and how it links the care we get from our medical professionals...

Congratulations! You’ve resolved improve the quality of the connection you feel. You’ve decided that it’s time to focus on your social health and wellbeing and you want to thrive through loneliness whenever you experience it. You’re awesome. But what do you do next?? This special episode of the HUMANS:Connecting podcast is all about what your first steps are after you’ve made that decision to impr...

It’s the final episode of Season 2 and it’s tackling an important issue confronting all workplaces, including yours.   We know that loneliness and social disconnection is prevalent in our communities and workplaces, but it’s hard to know what we can do about it.   The answer is to create a workplace in which the humans within it feel connected. We thrive when we humans feel connected and our workp...

It’s natural to want to make some changes when we get to midlife. It’s natural to evaluate where we are in life and reflect on whether we’re living in alignment with our values. Sometimes, we know that things need to change so we can live the next stage in life with ease and alignment.   Too often, our jobs – and the financial security they give us – stop us from making changes in our lives. We re...

Hustle culture feeds loneliness. Chai Bade - our guest on this episode – found himself feeling lonely when he realised that his long workdays meant that he did little else but work and sleep.   He spoke his loneliness to his sister and she gave him outstanding advice: be more mindful.   Employing this advice changed Chai’s world.  It led him to create The Bunch Up, a service that helps you get the...

Despite our best efforts, we rarely get to control what happens in life.  We do, however, get to control how we respond. Jacob Darkin – our guest on this episode – injured his spinal cord and spent over nine months in the Spinal Unit of Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital. He went through physical rehab to understand his new physical reality and understood that he needed to also work on his social...

Workplace loneliness is the emerging frontier in the global discussion to reduce human loneliness. We know that humans who feel lonely at work report higher levels of absenteeism. They are less productive, less efficient, and are more likely to leave.   They're also likely to stay and be less productive and less efficient. ​ Workplaces around the world are beginning to grasp the importance of addr...

Doing connection puts you at the very edge of – or well beyond – your comfort zone.   It can be easy to imagine that it’s all too hard, so we don’t do anything.   We can stay in our loneliness, even though we don’t want to.   But as HUMANS:Connecting’s sales manager Jack Hedges says, 10 seconds of courage can change your life.     In this episode, you’ll join Phil and Jack for a beautiful discussi...

There are many reasons why we humans experience loneliness, but there is one reason that we consistently notice as the most common reason we hear that feeds your loneliness.   Busyness.   In this episode, we’ll talk about how important it is for you to stop hustling and being proud of your full schedule. You’ll hear the price you’re paying for your busyness; appreciate that connection can only eve...

At HUMANS:CONNECTING, we’re all about helping you get the connection you need whenever you experience loneliness. This includes sharing the great work of other individuals and organisations who are also helping us humans feel connected. One of those organisations is the Australian not-for-profit, Friends For Good. Its mission is to free us from loneliness and they’re doing some great work that you...

Strong friendships are vital to your wellbeing. But why is italways so weird and awkward to make new friends? Why does it seem like there’s never enough time to maintain friendships?   We’re honoured to have renowned friendship expert Dr Miriam Kirmayer joining Phil for this episode to help make it less weird and awkward for you.     In this episode, you’ll:  hear why friendships are so important...

We’re back for Season 2 and we’re starting off by talking about the great work is happening around the world that’s raising awareness of loneliness, its prevalence and how it affects you physically, mentally, emotionally AND socially.   We at HUMANS:CONNECTING love being part of this global effort.   But what are you meant to do once you’re aware of loneliness and your loneliness?   We at HUMANS:C...

This first season of the HUMANS:CONNECTING podcast has been epic.   We’ve uncovered so much wisdom over this season to help you become a human who feels awesomely connected to your self, to those most important to you and to your communities.   Joining Phil to unpack the wisdom throughout the season are Jeff Bartlett (the team’s Design Lead) and Pete Newsome (our Marketing Manager), who share what...

It’s time to get real about workplace wellbeing. After all,work is a place you go and a thing you do that consumes your mind and body for about 1/3 of your adult life.   Work can be the place where you find connection and purpose. It can also be a place of stress and disconnection.  Despite work’s importance to our wellbeing, why canworkplace mental health support services be so inadequate?   Join...

Cultivating the feeling of belonging is important if we’re to feel connected and move through loneliness.   The movie ‘Encanto’ offers many examples of how we humans can struggle to feel that we belong within ourselves, with those most important to us and our communities.   Joining Phil on this episode are Peg Fong and Guillermo Serrano – hosts of the ‘Alone Together: a curious exploration of lone...

‘Fear shouts and the heart whispers’: powerful words shared by our guest, Dr Jeremy Goldberg.     We know exactly just how much our fear screams at us when we go to do connection when in the middle of a loneliness experience. It’s hard to silence the fear, isn’t it? But you must listen to your heart, because your heart knows how worthy you are of love and belonging.   This episode is all about how...