The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall

Do you experience regular bad headaches, or a stomach upset that won’t go away? Do you have nagging aches you put down to getting older? Mind and body are two parts of the same system: problems like depression and anxiety almost always manifest in the physical body as well as the mind.  The road to calm and joy is much faster if we can ensure to take care of mind AND body.  Author and integrative...

“Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.” Philosopher William James (brother of the novelist Henry James) seems way ahead of his time with this insight.  Our guest this week is author and philosopher John Kaag. John credits William James with helping him through several existential crises, including bouts of despair as a young man, and t...

Leaving a toxic relationship is really just the beginning: how do you then pick up the pieces and build a new life?  Certified relationship coach Tara Blair Ball is a second-time guest on The Meaningful Life - her first interview on attachment theory was so popular that we invited her back to discuss her new book on surviving toxic relationships.  According to Tara,  ⭐️Personal responsibility is...

⭐️What is something you could do right now to help your future self? ⭐️What is the most dangerous thing you have survived? ⭐️Who is a person you’re glad exists? These are the kinds of questions writer Amanda Deibert asks her Twitter followers everyday, and which she has now gathered into a beautiful gratitude journal called You Already Have the Answers . In this episode, Andrew and Amanda discu...

Family secrets can live on for generations, shaping our lives in ways we may not recognise or fully understand. In this episode Andrew talks to Dr Galit Atlas, author of Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma about how our struggles in life are linked to the emotional inheritance we receive from our families. Dr Atlas is a psychoanalyst and clinical supervisor i...

Prison makes a lot of life's big questions feel extremely urgent. Author Andy West explores such questions  in his work teaching philosophy to prisoners - some of whom have minimal education; some of whom have acquired PhDs. Andy has also experienced the shadow of prison in his own life - witnessing the incarceration of his father, brother and uncle. We discuss prison and ideas of freedom, and use...

The end of life isn’t always a time of fear and suffering. Dr Christopher Kerr has cared for thousands of patients who, in the face of imminent death, speak of love and grace.  Dr Kerr is the author of Death is But a Dream , in which he shares dying patients’ experiences of pre-death dreams and vision. These end-of-life dreams humanise the dying process and can also comfort the bereaved, who see t...

If work leaves you feeling tense, unfulfilled or anxious, then it’s definitely time to make some kind of change. You probably know that already - but this week’s episode helps you think through where to start.  This week’s guest is Phil Poole, a Berlin-based coach, entrepreneur, writer and leader. Phil and Andrew discuss: ⭐️Phil’s journey through burnout to finding a meaningful, joyful career ⭐️...

Parenting adult children might not involve sleepless nights or dealing with detentions, but it can be highly challenging. Often, the balance of power shifts and parents find themselves walking on eggshells, anxious about preserving a close relationship. In this week’s episode Andrew talks to author and journalist Celia Dodd about the challenges and rewards of parenting later in life. They discuss:...

There's endless advice on romantic love, but how can you nurture loving friendships? And what should you do if a friendship turns sour, or leaves you feeling taken advantage of? This week's guest is writer and therapist Dr Suzanne Degges-White, the author of Toxic Friendships: Knowing the Rules and Dealing with the Friends Who Break Them . In this episode Andrew and Suzanne discuss:  ⭐️ Making fr...

Are you “world-weary”? Exhausted by life to the point where a day on the couch, a mini-break or a night out with friends won’t even touch the tip of your fatigue? This week’s guest, Dr Libby Nugent, is here to help. Libby discusses with Andrew the powerful healing properties of the fairytale. If you’ve experienced: Strains in relationships with your children or parents Anxiety about reaching goals...

What happens if you ignore the voices in your head urging you to change your life? Most likely they will make themselves heard in some way, be it positive or negative. Dawn Kohler was an award-winning entrepreneur in the computer industry when she was abruptly summoned to take a life-altering course. She began to receive “messages”, which launched her on an extraordinary healing process. In this e...

If you’re feeling stuck in your life, could the way forward be found in your dreams? Your dreams are direct messages from your subconscious, and can tell you a huge amount if you pay them a little attention. This week’s guest, Machiel Klerk, is a Jungian analyst and the founder of the Jung Platform. He is also the author of Dream Guidance , a guide to connecting with and finding guidance from the...

If we know anything for sure about love, it’s that our beloved will change as time passes. They will look different, believe new things and feel new sorrows and joys. Psychologist and author Dr Matthew McKay has written a new book on how we can keep love alive in an age of impermanence. He talks with Andrew about five ways to keep loving in the face of change, loss or disappointment: ⭐️Truly know...

How can we cope when life turns very dark? The culture tends to suggest we fix ourselves, work through the grief, and get back to normal as quickly as possible. If we accept the challenge to go deeper, though, getting up close with the darkness of life can be enriching and freeing.  Ancient and non-Western cultures tend to offer more routes into the “underworld”. Jungian psychotherapist Dr Joanna...

Is it possible to fall in love with your partner over and over again? Can you hope to hold onto passionate sex as you grow older together? This week Andrew is joined by Dr Cheryl Fraser, an author, Buddhist teacher, psychologist and sex therapist. They explore the nature and longevity of passion, including: ⭐️Libido and why it can wane over time ⭐️How mindfulness works in the bedroom ⭐️The “pas...

This week we are celebrating our 100th episode. To mark the occasion, we have a very special guest: Julia Samuel MBE, who is one of the UK’s foremost psychotherapists, as well as an author and an expert on grief.  Julia and Andrew discuss: ⭐️How grief and loss pass from generation to generation ⭐️How you can protect your own children from generational trauma ⭐️Using boundaries, rituals and posi...

Some of us spend years having the same arguments with our partner, on repeat. Others drift into a state of lonely togetherness where we don’t bother to talk about discontents, because it just feels pointless. Joanna Harrison is a marital therapist who has identified five arguments that all couples need to have. If you can work through these issues, your chances of building a healthy, happy relatio...

Society encourages us to focus hard on “doing, achieving and having”. According to Professor Paul Gilbert, though, we would likely be much happier if we instead worked on being more compassionate to ourselves and others. In this episode Andrew and Paul discuss: ⭐️Why being compassionate ISN’T being weak ⭐️Three key pillars of compassion: assertiveness, forgiveness & apology ⭐️Why compassion inc...

What if divorce were not the end? This week’s podcast guests, Tommy and Gina Mulligan, share their journey from acrimonious divorce back to happy coupledom. Tommy and Gina started out as high school sweethearts and grew up together to create a happy life and family. As Tommy’s career accelerated, however, they encountered problems with work/life balance, gendered relationship stereotypes and a pro...

Do you fall too easily into the role of rescuer in your relationships? Being the eternal rescuer is exhausting, and it tends to cast those around you in the roles of victim and persecutor.  Or, often, you and your partner will switch between the roles, caught in an eternal and unproductive “drama triangle”. None of the three roles are likely to allow true self-expression, and getting stuck in this...

To forgive is one of the biggest choices we can make. It can allow us to let go of painful suffering, to move on and to find peace for ourselves.  Yet forgiveness tends to be something of a minefield. Many feel that it means letting people who have hurt them back into their lives (which definitely need not be the case). Nor is forgiveness the same thing as saying that historic mistreatment was OK....

After nearly dying from an ectopic pregnancy, writer Georgina Scull confronted some of life’s big questions: Why do we drift through life, planning for tomorrow but not living for today?  Why do we stay in relationships that no longer make us content, or in jobs that fill us with dread?  Why do we allow our doubts to stop us trying new things, or let people treat us badly? Georgina chose to answer...

Why do women stop wanting sex? Why is it so hard to recapture the intoxicating desire of those wonderful early weeks and months of your relationship? Irene Fehr has spent a decade working with couples as a sex and intimacy coach. Her specialty is women’s libido and sexual desire in long-term relationships. In this episode Andrew and Irene discuss the nature of desire. Unless we understand what com...

Creating a more meaningful life does not have to happen indoors. Whether it’s writing, meditating, repairing relationships or planning a big life change, doing the work outside surrounded by nature can be calming and inspiring. Psychotherapist Dr Patricia Hasbach is a specialist in ecotherapy. She sees clients outside and also incorporates nature into her therapeutic work indoors. She is a lifelon...