How To Cope - with Becky Howard + Lucy Clyde

Just over a year ago, the pandemic felt like a scary new reality that we didn’t want to confront. Now, as we face the prospect of returning to our pre-Covid lives, we’re faced with the bizarre situation of feeling apprehensive about living free of restrictions. Why is this so hard on our mental health? In this episode of How To Cope, we look back at a year of doing the podcast, and how things have changed SO much. We also explore why we’re feeling strange right now, living in the ‘soup of uncertainty’ and why so many of us aren’t feeling that excited about restrictions finally lifting. We talk about how the pandemic has messed with our sense of time, and how we can start to come to terms with what we’ve all been through. This will be our last episode for a little while – thank you SO much for listening so far! 🎧💚 How to Cope is hosted by writer Becky Howard and psychotherapist Lucy Clyde. You can follow us on Twitter @_beckyhoward @lucysclyde @cope_podcastPlease like, subscribe and share, it makes a real difference and we really appreciate it.

As a bestselling author of psychological thrillers He Said/She Said, The Poison Tree and her latest book Watch Her Fall, Erin Kelly had had 20 years of experience in working from home when lockdown hit. But that doesn’t mean it was a straightforward journey: she had to radically adjust her writing life to look after her two children, start homeschooling and also finish her latest novel. Through this challenging time, Erin’s learned a good few things about herself – not least that she was suffering with clinical depression during the first lockdown. She shares her mental health story, how she actually found things harder after the crisis period passed, and how ultimately, the pandemic might have helped her mental health in the long run. We also chat to Erin about how the pandemic has affected our relationships with our children, what positive aspects she’s been able to take from it, and how lockdown meant she was able to glean better, more honest insights from ballet dancers when researching her latest betseller. Erin’s latest book Watch Her Fall is available now: https://www.waterstones.com/book/watch-her-fall/erin-kelly/9781529377293  How to Cope is hosted by writer Becky Howard and psychotherapist Lucy Clyde. You can follow us on Twitter @_beckyhoward @lucysclyde @cope_podcastThank you so much for listening. Please like, subscribe and share, it makes a real difference and we really appreciate it.

Music has always been Simon Raymonde’s life. As a member of seminal band Cocteau Twins during the 80s and 90s, and latterly as the head of Bella Union record label – which looks after artists including Tim Burgess, Fleet Foxes, John Grant and Father John Misty – going to gigs, travelling, and releasing music was everything. But thanks to the Covid-19 shutdown, he’s had to change everything – and through it, has discovered a new way to live his life. We chat to Simon about leaving London for the South coast, the impact of lockdown on him and his artists, and how he sought solace during Lockdown 1 by working on his new Lost Horizons album. But it wasn’t until the start of this year that Simon made some radical changes to his life, afforded by Lockdown 3. Realising he had reached a fork in the road when it came to his own health and wellbeing, he embarked on a totally new approach, and has found the results life-changing. We talk to Simon about how the pandemic provided him with this epiphany, why he feels he’s now a better husband and father, and how he feels about a post-Covid future. We also share some love about his artist Tim Burgess’ Twitter Listening Parties, and why they’ve proved such a hit during Covid times.The new Lost Horizons album In Quiet Moments is out now In Quiet Moments | Lost Horizonslosthorizonsband.bandcamp.com › album › in-quiet-m... How to Cope is hosted by writer Becky Howard and psychotherapist Lucy Clyde. You can follow us on Twitter @_beckyhoward @lucysclyde @cope_podcastThank you so much for listening. Please like, subscribe and share, it makes a real difference and we really appreciate it. 🎧💚   

 When Jake Tyler found himself contemplating suicide, his mental health was at rock bottom. He took an unconventional approach to helping himself, and started an epic walk around the entirety of the UK, becoming an accidental campaigner for mental health along the way. Now Jake’s written a book about his experiences – A Walk From The Wild Edge – which details his journey in brilliantly relatable, moving and funny prose. Having moved from a place where he dealt with his life stresses with drink and drugs, he now knows how to truly help his own mental state and why walking is at the heart of this. Jake talks to us about how he coped in lockdown, how he feels about ‘cracking himself open’ through the book, and what people’s reactions might be. We also chat about the moment of epiphany he had that set him on his journey and how we’re still a long way from shedding the shame, and achieving true openness around mental health. Thanks so much to Jake for joining us. His book A Walk From The Wild Edge, is out now: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walk-Wild-Edge-Jake-Tyler/dp/024140116X How to Cope is hosted by writer Becky Howard and psychotherapist Lucy Clyde. You can follow us on Twitter @_beckyhoward @lucysclyde @cope_podcastThank you so much for listening. Please like, subscribe and share, it makes a real difference and we really appreciate it.

For author Neema Shah, going into lockdown gave her the chance to embrace living in an introvert’s world. Although often mistaken for an extrovert (like both of us at How To Cope), she found the enforced quiet gave her more energy, allowed her writing to thrive, and discovered it as a form of mindfulness. But it wasn’t all plain sailing. Neema had to come to terms with releasing her heralded debut novel Kololo Hill during a pandemic, and moving all her celebrations onto social media. She talks about coming to terms with a digital launch, and how she manages to get the most out of social media by not letting it dominate her time. We also chat to Neema about what she misses about normal life, how speaking different languages changes your personality, and her top tip for dealing with Covid stress. Kololo Hill is out now: https://www.waterstones.com/book/kololo-hill/neema-shah/9781529030501 How to Cope is hosted by writer Becky Howard and psychotherapist Lucy Clyde. You can follow us on Twitter @_beckyhoward @lucysclyde @cope_podcastThank you so much for listening. Please like, subscribe and share, it makes a real difference and we really appreciate it.  

For those of us with children in the house, being a parent in lockdown can feel like slogging our way through a very dark tunnel. With energy levels much lower than before, and schooling expectations much higher, it’s no wonder that many of us feel as if we’re constantly failing. In this episode, we talk about the crazy difficulties of being a parent now we’re nearly a year into the pandemic, and how we may have lost sight of just how much we’re asking of ourselves. When we’re being asked to tolerate an  intolerable situation, parental burnout is a natural conclusion. But what is it and can we do anything at all about it? The answer is YES, and it’s a surprising one… We also chat about being sick of the sound of your own nagging voice (hey, where’s FUN ME gone?) and how the lockdown is affecting kids too. How to Cope is hosted by writer Becky Howard and psychotherapist Lucy Clyde. You can follow us on Twitter @_beckyhoward @lucysclyde @cope_podcastThank you so much for listening. Please like, subscribe and share, it makes a real difference and we really appreciate it. 

Rob da Bank has been getting the party started for decades, ever since he first started DJing in the 1990s. But one of the biggest casualties of the Covid-19 crisis has been live music and festivals, and with the 2021 summer festival season now in doubt, we caught up with Rob to found how he has coped with this radical change in his life. We chat to Rob about how he’s managing with homeschooling his four sons at home in the Isle of Wight, and why being able to spend time outdoors and in nature is keeping him going. As the co-founder, along with his wife Josie, of legendary festivals Bestival and Camp Bestival, we also talk about the sense of connection and belonging that people get from festivals, how they’re nourishing for our souls and how we’re all missing those release valves in our lives because of the lockdowns. Rob has moved into meditation teaching in the past few years, and so we also talk to him about how he’s shifted his focus from making people happy through DJing, to helping them discover their true self through meditation. Rob and Josie now run Sleep Retreat, an ‘antidote to 21st century living’ where yoga and meditation provide a calm respite from our over-screened worlds. https://sleepretreat.net Thanks so much to Rob for talking to us – we hope you enjoy it. How to Cope is hosted by writer Becky Howard and psychotherapist Lucy Clyde. You can follow us on Twitter @_beckyhoward @lucysclyde @cope_podcastThank you so much for listening. Please like, subscribe and share, it makes a real difference and we really appreciate it. 🎧😊  

 For natural extrovert Damian Barr, lockdown has presented a new set of challenges. Without being able to enjoy unplanned, unscheduled interactions and the layers of connection we have in our normal life, he’s had to learn how to live in the present and slow down. In this brilliantly insightful and honest chat, we speak to Damian about how he has coped with the past year, and how, having lived through the Aids pandemic of the 80s and 90s, and survived a traumatic childhood, he was unusually well equipped to deal with the immediate emergencies thrown at us by Covid. Damian also opens up about his experience of online bullying on social media last summer – and how a forced break from digital platforms has led him to entirely reassess his relationship with social media, consider what he puts online and also rediscover a love of speaking on the phone. He also talks about why he's gone back into therapy and how he’s approaching 2021 (it’s about dreams, not plans). Thanks so much to Damian for talking to us – we hope you enjoy it. Damian’s next Literary Salon Live featuring Russell T Davies and Ruth Coker Burks is February 18th https://www.theliterarysalon.co.uk/get-tickets Damian’s book You Will Be Safe Here is available in paperback now: https://www.waterstones.com/book/you-will-be-safe-here/damian-barr/9781408886052 The second series of the Big Scottish Book Club is on iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m000bc3j/the-big-scottish-book-club  How to Cope is hosted by writer Becky Howard and psychotherapist Lucy Clyde. You can follow us on Twitter @_beckyhoward @lucysclyde @cope_podcastThank you so much for listening. Please like, subscribe and share, it makes a real difference and we really appreciate it.