Healthy Mayo Messages

Have you noticed how much it matters to be right? There’s a story about a little boy talking to his teacher about whales. The teacher says it’s physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human — even though it’s huge, its throat is very small. The boy says, “But a whale swallowed Jonah.” The teacher says, “That didn’t happen — a whale can’t swallow a human.” The boy says, “Well, when I get to heaven, I’ll ask Jonah.” The teacher says, “But what if he went to hell?” And the boy says, “You ask him.” To find out more, tune into hear Teresa from Mental Health Ireland.

We are, quite literally, built to respond to green. The human eye is most sensitive to green light. Our retinas contain cone cells — called M-cones — tuned especially to green wavelengths. That means green takes less effort for the brain to process than red or blue. To find out more, tune into hear Teresa from Mental Health Ireland.

The time we have at our disposal each day is elastic, Proust claimed. It sounds an odd remark. Surely we have precisely 24 hours, no more and no less. Even the occasional leap second — introduced to keep calendars accurate — hardly alters the fixed time we have each day on Earth. To find out more, tune into hear Teresa from Mental Health Ireland.

The time we have at our disposal each day is elastic, Proust claimed. It sounds an odd remark. Surely we have precisely 24 hours, no more and no less. Even the occasional leap second — introduced to keep calendars accurate — hardly alters the fixed time we have each day on Earth. To find out more, tune into hear Teresa from Mental Health Ireland.

When I was around eight years old, my classmates and I found an Emperor moth cocoon. It was late winter; but there were still doily snowflakes taped to the schoolroom window panes. We gave it to our teacher, and he held the bronzy gold oval-shaped bundle up to the class for inspection. To find out more, tune into hear Teresa from Mental Health Ireland.

During the 1950s in South East Asia and extraordinary discovery was mad. There was a huge statue of the Buddha. It was made of plaster and clay — not especially handsome — but it was loved for its staying power by people. For many years it simply stood, weathering time and the elements. Then there was a long dry period, and a crack appeared in the statue. To find out more, tune into hear Teresa from Mental Health Ireland.

Your terrifying word of the day is “microtasking,” and it comes courtesy of one of those relentlessly perky DIY blogs devoted to hacking your entire existence into ever greater productivity, efficiency and time management — because if that’s not the meaning of modern life, what is? To find out more, tune into hear Teresa from Mental Health Ireland.

Winter is associated with the first stage of transformation. This is the stage of dissolution, where the old structures and patterns are broken down and released. It is a period of darkness and stillness, a time to reflect on what needs to be let go in order to make space for new growth. To find out more, tune into hear Teresa from Mental Health Ireland.

Behind the seductive lure of “New Year, New You” lies another mistake: the idea that what we need, in order finally to change, is one last heroic push of willpower. Presumably, January — with its fresh starts and clean slates — will supply it. The assumption is that you’re like a heavy rock perched above the Valley of Achievement, Productivity and Clean Eating. All you need is a good shove. To find out more, tune into hear Teresa from Mental Health Ireland.