This is How We Feel with Dr Ali Walker

We're all told to be ourselves and bring our whole selves to work. But nobody tells us how. In this episode, Ali Walker unpacks why being ourselves is harder than it sounds, and offers three practical ways back to the person you were before the performance started.

We've been told that rest and recovery are the answer to burn out and over-work. But what if stopping doesn't feel like relief ?What if it feels like disappearing? In this episode, Ali explores what happens to high-functioning, hyper-responsible people when they step off the treadmill and why the silence that follows can feel more threatening than exhaustion ever did. Ali looks at why so many capa...

Our brains have four chemicals that drive everything we do, from every relationship, to every goal and every moment of pleasure we've ever felt. And AI has learned to hijack every single one of them. In this episode, Dr Ali Walker breaks down the DOSE framework (dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins) and explains exactly how social media and AI are exploiting our neurochemistry with a p...

We say we want deeper, more meaningful relationships. We say we want community, honesty, and a sense of belonging. But when the moment comes to connect, we hesitate. In this episode, Ali explores the gap between wanting connection… and actually choosing it. Drawing on her latest research into human connection in an AI-driven world, she unpacks a powerful truth: avoidance isn’t laziness- it’s prote...

We tend to think connection is built in big moments, but behavioural research suggests something different. Connection is built in tiny moments: small signals of warmth and small moments of repair. Ali shares her connection framework that shows what you need in connection- your frequency and intensity. Then, Ali invites listeners to join a connection experiment - a simple set of small challenges d...

In this second conversation with Dr Juliette Tobias-Webb, we turn our attention to something many of us struggle with: What happens on the days you are not your high-performance self? The dominant mindset of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s celebrated intensity, grit, and relentless optimization. But that model only works for one version of you: the high-energy, high-focus version. What about the res...

In this episode of This is How We Feel , Ali is joined by fellow behavioural scientist Dr Juliette Tobias-Webb, who holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. We explore a deceptively simple idea: the house always wins . In casinos and on smartphones, that’s by design. Every flashing light, every near miss, every notification, algorithm and reward schedule is engineered around one core truth of...

Have you ever stopped to notice what you’re really feeling? This week, Ali experimented with naming emotions every day, and discovered how much our stories can mislead us, how small insights sneak up over time, and why a week isn’t long enough to see real change. Join Ali as she shares what she has learnt about emotional granularity and how giving yourself space can transform the way you see yours...

In this episode, Ali Walker is joined by her first guest- Daniel Teitelbaum from Playful Thinking to unpack a simple but confronting experiment: what happens when we prioritise play for an entire week. Ali shares how choosing play - through dancing, dressing up, and being more light-hearted with her kids - dramatically shifted her energy and sense of aliveness. But play didn’t just bring joy. It a...

In this episode of  This Is How We Feel , Ali Walker introduces a different way of approaching behaviour change - not through pressure, discipline, or shame, but through curiosity. After 15 years studying how people behave in groups, one pattern kept showing up: knowing what’s good for us rarely changes what we do. So instead of asking  “How do I change?”  or  “What’s wrong with me?” , this podcas...

If you start this year the same way you started the last one, you’ll get the same year all over again. What if this year didn’t follow the same pattern as the last one? In the opening episode of Season 2, Ali explores how to make this year unlike any other by changing where you invest your energy. Instead of setting more goals or pushing harder, this episode invites you to become self-referential;...

In this episode, we explore a feeling so many people carry: What do I do when no one needs me? If you grew up getting approval for being 'good' or 'useful,' your nervous system learned that doing equals value - and being equals nothing. So when life gets still, or when the roles fall away, your identity can collapse. In this episode, Dr Ali Walker breaks down: why we feel lost when...

In this episode of This Is How We Feel , Dr. Ali Walker, behavioural scientist and expert in group dynamics, shares five practical, science-backed ways you can shift your own energy and transform the group around you.

The real story in any group isn’t what’s being said, but what’s being felt. In this episode of This Is How We Feel , Ali Walker explores the invisible emotional energy that flows through every team, family, and culture. You’ll learn about: - How individuals act as conductors and absorbers of group energy - Why one person’s mood can ripple through an entire room - How emotional energy influences le...

Why does a small comment sometimes cause a huge (over)reaction? In this episode of This Is How We Feel , Dr Ali Walker explores how old emotions from our past can hijack the present, causing us to overreact in relationships. We unpack why our brains replay old patterns, how these 'old' emotions show up in everyday interactions, and simple ways to respond with awareness. Tune in to start noticing y...

In every group, from families and friendships to teams and nations, there are invisible forces at play. Power, status, and hierarchy shape who speaks, who listens, and who gets left out. In this episode, Dr. Ali Walker unpacks the hidden rituals that reinforce group hierarchies, explores how status is performed and perceived, and examines what happens when the balance of power begins to shift. We...

Why do some of us become the overachiever, while others fade into the background or act out in rebellion? In this episode, we explore the 5 classic roles children take on in dysfunctional family systems - the Hero, the Rebel, the Lost Child, the Mascot, and the Caretaker. These roles aren’t personality traits - they’re survival strategies we unconsciously adopt to find safety, attention, or connec...

Why do so many of us feel like we’re constantly performing - just to be accepted? In this powerful first episode, Dr. Ali Walker explores the hidden emotional cost of the “social game” we’ve all been taught to play - from childhood cliques to adult circles of power and popularity. We unpack the dynamics of performative belonging, the roles we unconsciously adopt, and the quiet longing underneath i...

In this opening episode, Ali Walker introduces This Is How We Feel - a podcast exploring real-life emotional dilemmas in love, leadership, and learning, and why our feelings matter more than we think.