Welcome to our new blog, Mindful Moo. We are Dane and Finola, a husband-wife team on a journey to discover how to live a healthy and happy life, one that allows us to be the best versions of ourselves.

Mindful Moo exists as a space for us to dig into the research and share our journey. 

And the journey we’re on is that of mind and body, focusing on mindfulness, meditation, yoga, proper nutrition and lifestyle design.

For the short version of this all, visit our About page. For the deeper detail and our bigger why, read on.

You and Mindful Moo

We want YOU to be the healthiest, happiest and most effective version of yourself too. We want your family and friends to be the healthiest, happiest and most effective version of themselves. We want to inspire as many people as possible to be the healthiest, happiest and most effective version of themselves. 

If that sounds like a big proposal, it is.

But here’s the thing: there are so many reasons to be unhappy and unhealthy. The news is negatively biased, the planet is seemingly on a downward trajectory and fast everything – food, fashion and more – is the name of the game. In addition to this, loneliness, addiction and mental health issues are on the rise. Depression, for example, is now the world’s leading illness, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

So we’re at a point where we can either sink with all this negativity and become part of WHO statistics, or we can try to find a way to make the best of our lives. 

The Mindful Moo approach

The following statements are based partly on what we hear from friends and family, partly on what we’ve experienced ourselves, partly from research. Do any of them ring true for you?

• I feel anxious
• I feel stressed
• I feel lonely
• I feel low
• I feel depressed
• I feel lost
• I’m lacking energy
• I just don’t feel quite right
• I used to feel connected to a greater purpose
• I feel disconnected from others
• I have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol/substances/drugs
• I used to feel excited about life but I don’t know what makes me feel good any more 

None of the things on this list are particularly unusual these days. Among your friendship group, you’ll likely find friends that between them cross off allof the things on this list. 

What we’re discovering is that looking after mind and body can absolutely help to move things in a more positive direction. This is our personal experience (in time we will share our individual stories through this blog).

Beyond personal experience, though, is the hard evidence. There’s a growing body of scientific research that supports the benefits of proper nutrition, mindfulness, meditation and yoga. This is what we’ll focus on here.

So Mindful Moo is essentially a health and wellness (or wellbeing) blog. The topics we’re focusing on are nutrition, mindfulness, meditation, yoga and lifestyle design. 

Why? Because it’s what we know best. It’s what resonates with us. It’s what we’ve been busy with – personally and professionally – for years and years.

Science, evidence and Mindful Moo 

As busy professionals and parents, we’re all too aware of a surplus of information out there, lots of which claims to offer up the solutions for exactly what we’re trying to get to: health and happiness and the ability to do good work in the world. 

What we wanted to do here is recognise two things: how precious your time is and how much information is out there. In this time-poor world, none of us have the space in our lives to be overloaded with misinformed or slapped-together information.

We don’t want to slap anything together. Sometimes this means bigger gaps in our posting schedule, but it always means we’ve really put thought and research into what we’re sending out. (The same goes for our monthly newsletter, which contains exclusive content, only for subscribers.)

In short, you can be assured that what we write about here references quality studies and highly respected experts and teachers. 

And we won’t be shying from bringing in personal stories – yours and ours. It’s just we’ll more often than not bring in research and surrounding context.

Let’s give it a go

As the renowned metta meditation goes: 

‘May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be at ease in the world.’

There are strategies from centuries back, strategies designed to help with the health and happiness bit, strategies that science is now validating.

It’s these strategies and this knowledge that we’re working with and want to share through this blog. Call it an evidence-based journey, if you like. 

It might be easy to see darkness and despair everywhere, but there is the choice to consciously start working to improve your health and happiness, and in turn the health and happiness of everyone around you.

We hope you’ll join us on this journey. We hope you also benefit from traditional teachings and the latest scientific findings.

May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be at ease in the world.

Here’s to a healthy, happy you. 

Updated 2 March 2019