Get Booked LIVE SHOW – Lindsey Porter – Whirlpools, Yoga And The Balance Of Life

Hello, I'm Hazel and this is Get Booked for Women's Radio Station. I hope you're all well and ready to get booked. We have an incredible show in store for you today. My, my guest on today's show is an incredible woman from Scotland, well, living in Scotland now anyway, called Lindsay Porter, who has released the book Whirlpools, Yoga and the Balance of Life. You know what, this book came at just the right time for me. Tales of adventure, positivity, calm and lessons learnt. Short stories, inspiring and awesome for the travel lovers and those that used to be when time was a little bit more permitting. Oh, the good old days. Sweet and succinct points at the end that just kind of leave that warm and contented feeling. Such is Lindsay's vibe. And we have Lindsay on the phone right now. Hi Lindsay, how are you? Hi Hazel, I'm very well, thank you. How are you today? Do you know what, I'm all right actually. Um, I, I was thinking that I was gonna have to blame you for me being in debt because obviously I read your book and it made me really want to go to Thailand. You should have taken me with you actually. I should have done, I should have done. I was wondering whether I could somehow make it some sort of tax dodge, but I don't think I'm gonna get away with it. But I was reading some of your tales about things that had happened when you're in Thailand, and I was like, oh, I miss Thailand. So I decided to go to Thailand with my kids and read a load of books. How lovely. Good for you. Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, no, it was absolutely brilliant. But, um, so I've been reading your book, absolutely loved it. And this book is a great reminder that we're not set in stone and we can change our path and make mistakes. And, you know, everything we live through is a chance to learn and develop, which is why I like the way that you put like a little bit of a meaning of life, like snippet at the end of each chapter. Do you want to tell us a little bit more about that? Yeah, and I love the way you described it there. I think that's a lovely, genuine way. And that's definitely kind of how it came from me, from the heart, from writing it. And it's really been a journey and a process in itself. So it's taken me over 10 years to actually bring all those stories down onto paper and feel like I've gotten to a certain place where I'm ready to release them to the world. And it's been a real joy, actually. I mean, it's a bit easy to say that when, like, you're the other side and you have published a decade later. Yeah, there's moments on the way and you think, am I— why am I doing this? But yeah, now it's out, it's great. And it was really just a feeling it'd be really nice after having children to capture some of the things that I did before children and just to weave in all the things I've learned to come maybe pass on a bit of that wisdom and kind of let them know it's all right to try things and not succeed at things and do something different. So yeah, lots of good messages. And you're right, at the end of each chapter, it's like a life lesson learned, I called it, and just sort of bringing a summary of what happened in that particular tale and, and what it might mean as a suggestion or something to take on in life. One of them that I did quite like, which just kind of summed up the whole ethos of the book as well, was, "Sometimes there is no lesson, just enjoyment." I like that. Yeah, I think we can all take a little bit of that on board, don't you think? These days when we're all kind of busy or in our own heads and just trying to get on with life, that sometimes it's nice just to give you that opportunity with permission to stop and pause. Yes. Stopping and pause. This is why I love reading so much because it is, it's a reason to kind of experience something else, learn something and just stop and kind of escape a little bit. And I like the way that quite a lot of the stories that you were telling us about are things that didn't always work out too well, but kind of, actually one of the stories, if you want to just kind of reiterate story a little bit was, um, when you broke your leg. Yes. And what happened on the flight on the way back. Please go through. Oh yeah, such an interesting one. So just put a bit of context to it. I'd been sort of had this sort of vision for a lot of my sort of growing up about walking, you know, a high mountain peak in the white snow, as you see all those fabulous mountaineers doing. And then decided in my early 20s we were going to do it with a group of friends. Um, it turned out to be one friend in the end. We booked and we went to Ecuador, and there's a a volcano there called Tungahua, and it's now an active volcano. At the time it wasn't that active. But yeah, unfortunately I didn't make it to the crater rim to look inside it, which I wanted to do, and I ended up turning around, probably because I wasn't feeling too good and a bit of altitude sickness. But yeah, unfortunately I then slipped over, ended up with a broken ankle, and I hadn't even been there a week and there I was getting flown back to the UK for what it looked like needed to be an operation. And, you know, I was a bit frustrated and desperate and trying to get back to the UK to sort myself out. And yeah, how it's so interesting how it works out. And I was really keen with insurance company to get me on the next flight. But as it turned out, I got this other flight to Miami and eventually back to London. And then to find out that one of the flights I was pushing them to get me on that was leaving Quito, the capital, had actually taken off and crashed. And unfortunately, everybody on board didn't make it. So yeah, it just was another one of those kind of life thoughts about some things just happen as they're meant to. And it put— it helped reframe the fact that I'd missed out on this amazing holiday. But actually some of it was I was still home and safe and I only had a broken ankle. Well, exactly. Do you know what? I went and Googled that flight as soon as I read that chapter. Mm. It's horrific. Mm-hmm. But, you know, life has its interesting twists and turns, doesn't it? For sure. Mm-hmm. I'd love to write a book a little bit like this as well. And are you gonna do another one? My publisher's talking to me about, yeah, a potential another book. I do a podcast series where I interview yogis from around the world about their stories and inspiration and journeys, and I'm looking at maybe transcribing some of those and building in with it a bit more about the journey with mental well-being and how yoga can support that. So possibly there's another one coming. Oh good. Oh, actually, I mean, you mentioned then the well-being element you have because you're not from Scotland, but you live there now, don't you? Originally from Hertfordshire, I always had a thing about Scotland for whatever reason, probably some programme I must have watched growing up. But when I first came here, when I was 18 during university days, because I had a friend from university that lived here, I immediately just felt like, gosh, something about this place really calls to me. I was working in Canada in my 20s and thought, I'm going to leave this work, but where would I want to go in the world? And I just thought I'd really like to give a go at living in Scotland. And that's what I did, and I'm still here, and I just, I just love it. From Hertfordshire to Canada to Scotland. I mean, I think that it's quite a common path, but you'll be up here soon. Yeah, all of us, all of us. I mean, I've seen some of the pictures as well in your book of you kind of doing all your walks in Scotland. You've— you definitely go to some of the prettier parts. I mean, don't get me wrong, Scotland's very pretty. But you, um— There's so many pretty parts, yeah. I mean, I suppose because I'm not from here, in a way there's that sort of extra motivation to go and seek out all the different parts of the country to explore. Do you know what? I mean, I've done a lot of travelling as well, and I probably haven't seen anywhere near enough of England. But, you know, Australia, Thailand, Brunei, you name it. When I go there, I completely involve myself and see as much as possible. Um, I probably don't even know 20 minutes down the road from where I live right now. It's— we are more, you kind of, um, We get on board with other people's culture and just when we're travelling, we're supposed to kind of involve ourselves and then at home we're just like, "Yeah, I've got to put the washing out." I think you're right. And maybe it comes back to that idea to take that pause and a little bit of escapism. So that's, you know, why it kind of works for us as people. Yeah. So we were just talking about the wellbeing element. Now tell us the work you've been doing with the Scottish Government. Yeah, so I had— is this like a case of careful what you wished for? Probably about 2 years ago now, I created this charity calendar and it was beautiful pictures set in the Camera Obscura, which is like a thing of illusions in Edinburgh. And we use yoga teachers from across the country, men, women, all ages. And it was about like bringing the diversity of yoga, but also I linked it in with the mental health messages. And Sam H came on board, who's the Scottish Association for Mental Health, who are also the government advisors on mental health policy. And after I'd finished the calendar, I thought, God, those images are amazing. How could I I kind of use them in a way or get that idea of, you know, kind of spreading them. And, and I thought, you can get events in Scottish Parliament. I wonder if it's possible to apply and have they done anything with yoga before? And it sort of turned into this sort of 18-month project. And, you know, there's a lot of processes to go through to be even considered and then get to get accepted. But, you know, I kept going, I kept building connections, and I kind of felt like every time I sort of got a bit of an obstacle and thinking, oh, I'm not sure this is going to happen, something came along and just it carried on. So Yeah, I found myself last October leading this event in Scottish Parliament, which was an evening reception to MSPs, and we even had the Minister for Mental Health, Clare Hockey, come along and she gave an opening speech, which was lovely. And then we just shared these stories from a few amazing yogis about their life and how yoga had supported them. And we even had a demo of chair yoga, which was great. We had the MSPs sitting down and joining in, and then we finished it all off with a bit of like a sound journey where one of my friends, Morag Wiley, she does this lovely like working with sound and various different instruments and singing bowls and gongs. And it's really about that sort of vibration that can just support you. And, you know, it was just this amazing event and everyone came together and it's sort of continuing to have this ripple effect. And I've actually just been asked to go back into Parliament in May to support another event that Sam H are running and to bring that kind of message about yoga in with it again. So fabulous experience, you know, probably once in a lifetime. And it's just so great to be able to be part of spreading the message and benefits that yoga can bring us all. Well, it's like, it's a bit like that thing where the more you do, the more you achieve, and then the busier you get, and you're going to need yoga more than ever. Yeah, and it just proves to me that I'm on this amazing journey, but it's the right one for me because these things keep sort of happening, and it's just so heartwarming and when it's feeding me. Yeah, when it's the right thing though, you're happy to do it. I mean, it's when people are working ridiculous hours in a job that they don't feel as if they're achieving anything, or it's not, it's not fitting in with their ethos. So you must be very happy with what's happening at the moment. Yeah. And I totally get that. You know, I came from a 20-year career in banking, high pressure, you know, a lot, a lot of time spent devoted to, you know, trying to bring in projects for organizations and around the world and, you know, all that stuff. So the fact that I've sort of made this big change and it's now like feeding more my soul, like every day, I just— yeah, I really appreciate it. Brilliant. Um, actually, I want to talk a little bit more about your background as well, but what we're going to do is, uh, we're going to go off to a little break. We will be back in a couple of minutes, so stick with us here at Women's Radio Station, and we're going to keep on chatting to Lindsay about her book Whirlpools, Yoga, and the Balance of Life. Welcome to Women's Radio Station, the voice of women worldwide. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan, and welcome to Love You're listening live on Women's Radio Station. 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Hi, I'm Zina Mosconi, Head of Business Development at Women's Radio Station. Radio advertising is the most cost-effective way of reaching a huge audience globally. Moreover, our sponsorship and advertising packages can be tailored to your needs, whether it be a product or brand service you're looking to promote. If you are interested in sponsoring or advertising, please contact me on 07956 371483, or alternatively zm@womensradiostation.com. Welcome back to the second section of Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station. We were— we have and we still are chatting to Lindsay about her book, and I haven't even got through any of my questions yet. We've just been chinwagging. Lindsay, are you ready to actually have some questions? Okay, give it a shot. Right. Okay. So you're now all about yoga retreats and, you know, doing all this inspirational women's stuff. But before, your background. Tell us a little bit about what you did for at least 20 years. I know. Yeah. Well, from university, from an economics degree, not unusual to go into business. So worked my way through graduate training schemes in banks and then moved around with various different banks, including American one, which took me to America. Occasionally, back to the UK, but then did some work out in India. So, yeah, a variety of roles, mostly project management. Before that, a little bit of marketing. But yeah, interesting, dynamic, demanding, stressful. Stressful. Yeah. Varied though. Varied. Good life skills though, you know. I think it helps because it gives you a bit more of a rounded opinion on life as well. And that you can offer a little bit more feedback on just different varieties of things that people get to experience. Yeah. And I think what really helps me now, because now, you know, I follow my passion and I'm a yoga teacher and I do a bit of tutoring as well. And I feel like it helps me really relate to all the different people that come into yoga practice, you know, male or female. But, you know, I find that I can get where they're coming from. If they— often people come to yoga because they're looking for a different way to help relieve anxiety. Or, you know, work pressure and that kind of thing. And, you know, I kind of get that. I can see it. I remember that. So, yeah, sometimes I just find it helps me find a way to support them in their practices and just give them permission to, you know, explore that different way. Yeah. And also, it's not just about you and your yoga business. You kind of bring other yogis in the area together as well, don't you? I do. I've really started to sort of own this role that I never really realized I had, but it's about this role of connecting. And I actually do it all the time. But, you know, only recently I've really sort of put a label on it and embrace that a bit more. So like I run a Facebook group page for yoga teachers across Central Belt Scotland. And, you know, as things are coming to me more and more, you know, charities that want support with yoga sessions or talks, you know, I'm kind of including all the people around me because everyone's got such stories, messages, and experience to share. And actually it's more powerful when you can bring that together as a collective. But yoga is about being collective and not kind of fighting for yourself. It is about bringing people together, isn't it? It's true. Even the word yoga translates into the idea of union. So yeah, it is about that. And I guess what I'm really doing is living my yoga. You know, it's more than just a practice. It's many practices. It's a philosophy. And maybe just the longer you live, you start to take more of that on board. Some of us do. Not, not everybody. Unfortunately, it's a journey for sure. Well, part of your journey, as you mentioned before, you said you went to India. India, didn't you get to meet like one of the most incredible yogis who invented a particular kind of yoga? Well, I did. The, the founder, um, of Atkhandha Yoga, who I train with, uh, Yogashri Vishviktu, he's an amazing guy. He's still moving around the world training people to be great yoga teachers and brings the whole different— all the different aspects of yoga to it. And then while I was out there in Rishikesh in India in 2006 training with them, he's good friends with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who's the founder of the Art of Living Foundation. That's a you know, an NGO that supports a lot of peacekeeping talks around the world, does this amazing amount, has a lot of breathwork that worldwide people follow him. And we had a personal audience with this guy who, you know, is said to be enlightened. And I've never met anyone like it. Just extraordinary. And he's— I've actually seen him talk in Edinburgh since a couple of years ago. He visited Edinburgh. It just has this amazing aura about him and answers questions in such a, such a lovely way, a really connected way. And that, yeah, that was a real privilege. Yeah, this— I kind of know what you mean. We had somebody in the studio actually once, and even the producer who, who you briefly met before we came on air, we kind of felt like she was a bit enlightened. She was hugging us and we were like, wow, did you feel that? It was just somebody that was just so calm and at one with herself and just had this kind of confidence and centrality. It was, it was incredible. She was giving us hugs and we're like, do you charge for those? Because there are certain people that just, they have that aura, don't they? They do. And I think sometimes when you have those connections, you take a little bit of that vibration with you or something, you know, and it's like comfort. I also recently had the amazing honor to meet a Buddhist nun called Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, and her story is amazing. Her book, Caving the Snow, came out about 20 years ago, and she was a lady from London who went to the Himalayas because she felt the calling of Tibetan Buddhism in her. And she ended up meditating on her own in a cave in the Himalayas for 12 years. And yeah, incredible. And she came out from there. She's now in her 70s and she now lives in India and she basically funds a nunnery because she's very much into allowing women in the Tibetan Buddhism tradition to have the opportunity to study and, you know, work towards enlightenment. And I got to meet and interview her just briefly last year and incredible woman. I mean, really kind of like has lived remotely. But so in tune and so current with all the issues going on. And she was taking questions from the audience and talking, um, at the Rigpa Center, the Buddhist center in London, and just getting straight to the point, you know. And it was just mind-blowing. How is that even possible when you've been in a snow cave for so long? I know. Well, yeah, it's possible. And she also found her yoga practice in there, which is very interesting to me, and how that supported her, like, mental well-being and her physical health during those, during those years. Do you still go back to some of these places to kind of reignite, you know, because it's like going back to the homeland, isn't it? It is, and it's a really interesting question to ask because there's all, of course, there's always that pull to go back to somewhere. But I think, you know, one of the real learnings is to be in your everyday life but bring some of that into you. Because if I kind of feel, if you've always got to go somewhere to find peace or feel peaceful, you know, are you really doing the best thing you can, because you've still got to live, you still got to, you know, have your family or your career or everything. You've got to be able to find peace where you are as well. Yeah. So I kind of, I mean, I haven't been able to go do very much in the last years because of bringing up a family. And last year I was able to go back to Rishikesh the first time, and it was amazing. And it would kind of felt more like a top-up, or that's how I frame it to myself. I don't want to feel like dependent on that, like I can't, I can only achieve happiness when I go to that place. I'm trying to kind of reframe it that it's really special to kind of get that little top-up, but really it's about finding it within you. Did you take your kids with you? I haven't yet, no. Do you think you will? I don't know, maybe when they're a bit older. I also have a child that has a special need, so there's that aspect to take on board. But yeah, yeah, I wouldn't rule it out. So you've got 2 children, have you? I do, 2 boys. 2 boys. I've got boys as well. Keeps you busy, doesn't it? I know, I'm impressed that you took yours to Thailand. That was quite inspirational for me. Oh, I love it. I've taken them backpacking in Vietnam as well. Wow. Yeah, but they love it. They don't complain about the travel. They get on board with it. And obviously I take them to places where I know are gonna be safe. I knew Thailand enough and I wasn't going to like a really heavy populated kind of touristy area. But, you know, they get on board with it. They choose these places, they want to go. And, you know, they try and learn as much of the language and the culture and they get on board and I love it. I think it's a great education. Yeah, isn't that fabulous? I think there's a book right there in you, Hazel, to tell people about that. Ah, yay! Yeah, we should release a book. Brilliant. I'd love to. Include some pictures of your kids drawing where you are. Yes, yes, I should. Do you know what though? 'cause they know I've got a book show, they're into their books as well, we all took books with us, and we just got to really chill out, and they do know that if they behave, then I'll keep on taking them to these incredible places, and in fact, one of the things, I mean, I did take them out of school for a few days, because on the basis that it was about 20% of the price if you're not in half term, Did you mean it was more educational to have a world experience? Well, basically that's how it worked, yeah, but I worded it to the— I did say to the teacher, I said, I'm going to Thailand, I'm going for like 9 days, but they're going to miss 2 or 3 days of school, but they're going to be in Thailand, they're going to be doing maths, which is currency converting, geography, it's the cultural elements, they're going to be learning about Buddhist values, and the PE, I mean, we were doing swimming, paddleboarding, kayaking, you name it, we did it all. Yoga? I did yoga. Very good. Yeah, Jacob and Leo didn't do much yoga. They kind of just, they like to wind each other up rather than wind each other down. You must know that. I mean, I think your kids are a little bit younger than mine, so they're not at that stage where they really want to non-yogify each other. But they have done yoga in the past, especially my younger one, because they like to do it in school quite a bit. They do. It's getting more and more popular in school, right? And, you know, I sometimes go into schools, but a lot of these schools just show it on, like, you know, through their whiteboards and things. Who does yoga and meditation on a whiteboard? That's— that's— somebody needs to be told how to do that properly. Yeah, well, it's one of those, like, you know, the screens that you can get TV through, all the newfangled technology stuff. Well, what I know that they do at my, my youngest son's school is they try and get them to do at least 5 to 10 minutes of just mindfulness or meditation a day just to rein them back in again. Yeah, yeah. And there are proven effects now and a lot of studies that are showing how effective that can be. And for adults too. I mean, maybe it's something we should all give a go. Well, I crave it. I mean, to be honest, even if I can just get 10 minutes, 10, 15 minutes in a day. And if, and I've got quite a long back and if when it's really bad, I know I have to do a yoga, session somewhere just to kind of— it's a bit like Ctrl+Alt+Delete for me. Do a yoga session and I'm back, I'm back again to myself. Exactly. And it can be lots of different things. I've just started to learn the piano and I find 5 minutes a day playing the piano is almost like a meditation time. So I think sometimes about tapping into what works for you. Maybe it doesn't have to be what the picture you have in your mind is of sitting doing nothing for 5 minutes. You know, it can be a variety of things. But that's a bit like the sound bathing in meditation, isn't it? Mm-hmm. Yeah, the rhythmic kind of, um, element of just the sounds, and especially with the piano. I mean, it's just, um, it does work quite well. I mean, music does— it has a huge part to play. Um, right, we're just going to quickly pop off to another break, and then when we come back, I want to chat a little bit more about yoga and children. Women's Radio Station is a fresh new broadcasting platform driven by love and passion, connecting women around the world in a global network. Is all about diversity, from opinions, career, ethnicity, education. We aim to show the individuality of every woman everywhere, providing opportunities and a platform for your voice. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Liz Van Linden, the UK travel consultant for Hazelmere Travel. Hazelmere Travel. People come to me as they want unique experiences and a personalized service. This happens from the moment that they inquire till they come back home. I work with luxury tour operators. You can contact me on 07825 44 12 12 and liz@hazelmeertravel.co.uk. I'm Tamina Zaman, founder of Empower and Enrich. When it comes to money, do you clam up or get confused? 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Join us on Instagram and Twitter @womensradiostn or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting news. Women's Radio Station. Hi, I'm Zina Misconi, Head of Business Development at Women's Radio Station. Radio advertising is the most cost-effective way of reaching a huge audience globally. Moreover, our sponsorship and advertising packages can be tailored to your needs, whether it be a product or brand service you're looking to promote. If you are interested in sponsoring or advertising please contact me on 07956 371483, or alternately zm@womensradiostation.com. Welcome back to the second half of today's Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station. I'm Hazel Butterfield and I'm chatting to Lindsay Porter, the author of Whirlpool Yoga and the Balance of Life. Um, are you still with us, Lindsay? I am. Hello. Do you know what, I keep on wanting to call the book, uh, Whirlpool Yoga and the Meaning of Life. Um, yeah, just, just because, I mean, I know it's The Balance of Life, but it's just because of the, the meaning behind the book. Quite often it just kind of, my brain keeps on tripping over. Nice. And you know what, um, when I'm getting feedback from people that are reading the book, often they say that they're finding or reminding themselves of their own stories that they've had, you know, with different travel adventures. So I really like that, the fact that it sort of inspires other memories and maybe that people finding their own meanings in the stories. Yes, but completely, that was why I was so compelled to go back to Thailand, 'cause it was a great time in my life. But I mean, I've travelled quite a lot like you, and it reminded me of the random person I chatted to for 12 hours on a plane to, you know, Kuala Lumpur, and how actually we're still friends on Facebook, but we've never met each other again. And that was like 14 years ago. Isn't that lovely? Yeah, and it was the random person I met I met on, oh, there's an alarm going off. And there was a random person I met at the parade in Sydney where we just kind of ended up sitting in a bar together and chatting away and enjoying the parade going past and randomly met up in a bar in Charing Cross about 6 years later. And again, occasionally I get an email saying, dude, how are you? Isn't that great? And maybe that's part of the meaning, these random encounters and what enriches our lives. And I think obviously now with the, like, growth of social media, it has such a big difference in terms of those connections. And it's really interesting because, um, obviously I was completing my book just at the end of last year, and just as I was about to go to publish, um, one of my stories was about randomly, um, doing an archaeological dig in the deserts of Peru. Yeah. Um, and I hadn't done anything in archaeology, and I got invited to go and to support this American archaeologist, and we ended up doing this crazy thing of digging up bodies, and all sorts of things happened. And just before it went to publish, for some reason I thought, I wonder if I could actually Google her, you know, I wonder what she's doing now. And amazingly, I found her, and I got in touch with her, and she responded, and we had this beautiful kind of moment. She was like, oh my god, I remember that happening, and we had a car accident, you know, and it's all in the book. And she— I read about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She read the story, and she also corrected some things, and it was like interesting how your perception is is never the same as someone else's. Um, but it was so lovely to have that reconnection. And she's now like a professor of archaeology out in America and, you know, doing really well. And she always remembered those moments happening, which obviously was significant to me because I wanted to write about them. Um, yeah, but really lovely moment. It's funny that you should say that, actually, about the different perspectives and how people remember things differently. They don't remember incorrectly, they remember them in how it meant— how it meant something to them. Um, yeah, I don't know if you watched the Sky Atlantic programme, The Affair, where they tell the story from different perspectives and it's just how they recall it and it has their spin on things depending on how they were feeling. You know, a negative attitude can remember, it can help you remember a particular occasion in a different way, or if it was more moving for you. And obviously our memories do fail us, but I am quite intrigued about You know, the psychology behind how we remember. Amazing. Yeah, it's a fascinating topic. I mean, part of that led me to go and explore neuro-linguistic programming and going back like 10 years and became a practitioner for that very reason about, yeah, learning more about the language and the power of the mind and the memory and how actually you can tap into it, reframe it. And, you know, very powerful tools. And like you say, you think you see it one way, but somebody else has a different perception and maybe neither is right or wrong. It's just coming at different angles. Well, I did read a book recently, it was What's Left Unsaid, and it was just about something that happened, and it's predominantly told from this, from the daughter in the family, but it's how the other people saw the events and how one person was completely horrified about what somebody else did, but they were kind of saying, well, I did it this way for obvious reasons, but also that's not their business, and it was I don't know, the different perspectives and just we all experience life differently. And yeah, it's interesting, the variety of life and how we get through it. And you know what, when you do yoga with children, it's such a clear and lovely reminder to come back to that present moment and like know that it is different because they'll interpret things in such a different creative way. You know, so often as an adult, you sort of like in a certain path or rut, and then a child would just sort of blow all that away. We're coming out with something thing. And something I have in my house, I'm a bit geeky, I have this spreadsheet and I log all the quotes my kids have said over the years, you know, like kind of the really funny ones. And some of them I've printed and put up on the wall and I just love it because they're like, it's brilliant the way they come out with things. Yeah, my kids are like that. Unfortunately, I'm originally from up north, so we have quite a sarcastic household and they seem to be developing that as well. So I kind of don't want to write some of them down because because some of them horrify me. They're so funny but so kind of wrong in so many ways as well. Oh yeah. We were talking just before the break about yoga in school and yoga for children. Do you do yoga with your boys? I do, yeah. Not all the time. I kind of like, I don't force it upon them. I want them to be a kind of, you know, something they want to do, but often enough they do and sometimes they surprise me. There was one morning where I came down and they went, 'Mummy, look at this,' and they'd somehow found my phone and one of them held the phone and recorded the other one doing a mock little yoga class, and they even started with namaste, and then it went into a load of babble about trains and Pokémon, you know, and then it came back to a pose, and it was just so sweet and so funny. It's— the thing is, they do pick up on all these, um, kind of new initiatives that they bring out in school. And I remember doing some yoga, and he says, oh, can I join you? I went, yeah, yeah, knock yourself out. And at the end, he just automatically automatically went namaste. And I was like, yeah, see, they are, they are absorbing all of it. I think it's sweet. They are. Yeah, it's great. And it's also great for all types of children. So I've recently done some training in for special needs, special yoga, and it's for Yoga for Autism and ADHD. And it really just sort of equips you with a few other tools and ways of doing things. And it's simple, basic things, but it can make a difference to a child with sensory different needs in something like a yoga class. Oh, well, actually, I must get in touch with you about that because there is another podcast that I'm going to be doing soon, and it's to do— it's actually called Send Me the Wine, but it's all to do with special educational needs and development and just helping mums just get by and get information in a kind of nice, nice and easy way without having to basically quit your job. Yeah, lovely. There's so much information out there, but it's nice It's nice to kind of put it across in a, in a, uh, in a way that's just a little bit more light. Yes, and we know we're all trying to live our lives in the best way, and it's just about bringing in these simple tools to help us, I think. Yeah, yeah, good for you. I look forward to hearing more. No, I'll keep you updated. Um, one thing I do want to know, obviously this is a book show, other than obviously Whirlpools, What book are you loving at the moment? Oh, do you know what book I've just finished is, um, Ella— um, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. Read it, loved it. Yeah, um, yeah, just interesting. And I like the fact it was set in Scotland. And yeah, kind of like— I like books a little bit of a twist in it. And kind of again, back to this sort of changing your perspective. You're sort of assuming one thing and then little things get thrown in. And I just thought it was a really nice story. And you know, bring in that topic of loneliness, which is quite, you know, not, not so much spoken about, um, very real. Obviously, um, a little bit special needs coming into it. Yeah, really enjoyed it. Did you know, um, actually, because I had Teal Swan in on Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station, and she did a book called The Anatomy of Loneliness. Yeah, it's, it's pretty incredible. But we've got a minister for loneliness in the UK. You're right. I had heard that. Yeah. I'm waiting for the one for yoga next. That would be really good too. Well, yeah, they should in theory be working together as well. But yeah, loneliness. I mean, they really did cover it in Eleanor Oliphant. But interestingly, because I've got, I have to, I don't have to, I love reading, but I've got a lot of books that I need to get through. So occasionally I do audiobooks because I can do them while I'm working out or if I'm driving somewhere. And I was going back up north to see my family and Eleanor Oliphant is Pretty Much a Six-Hour Audiobook. So it was 3 hours there, 3 hours back, bing bang bosh, I'd done it. And the audiobook element, it was done in Scottish and it just kind of, all the different accents coming in, it was obviously the same narrator all the way through. Yeah. But it was a brilliant way to do it. And you were saying off air before that you're hopefully going to be bringing your book out in audio form. Yes, I'm just in the process of sort of bringing it all together. It's amazing, isn't it, what you learn? Like, think, oh, an audiobook, and then there's all these bits of the jigsaw have to come together to make that even possible. And for me, the driver is about this idea of inclusive inclusivity and accessibility. So, you know, I just think it's really important to have available in different formats. So that's what's really driving me to go and look at producing it in audio format. And also there are some people that just, they like books, they just don't have the time, they don't have the concentration. And, but, you know, audiobooks do make it a little bit easier for people to just, you know, walk around or if they're stuck in cars all the time and things like that. So I think there's a time, I do love a good old book, book, but there's a place for audiobooks, there's a place for Kindle, and there's a place for a little bit of everything. Yeah, I agree. And you know what, whatever format you're listening into it, and hopefully the right messages that are relevant for you in your life at the time you read it will come to you anyway, and they'll be the ones that stick that you remember from it. Well, and actually, I did actually read, um, the— well, I didn't read it, I had the audiobook for Trump. You know, what was the book, Fire and Fury or something? Right. Yeah, I read it just because I was intrigued and I was thoroughly disappointed, but I couldn't have read those words. Right. It had to be an audiobook so I could just phase in and out whenever there was something vaguely interesting. I've only really listened to one audio series and I've listened to it so many times I could probably almost repeat it word for word, and that's the whole Harry Potter series because like you, I do road trips from Scotland back down to sort of London and that area and it's great. Keeps us going, and the kids love it, and we just play them over and over again. And Stephen Fry, you just get so wrapped into his voices, it's phenomenal, really. Well, we're going to discuss that in a bit. Let's just go for a quick break, and we'll be back in a jiffy. Women's Radio Station is a fresh new broadcasting platform driven by love and passion, connecting women around the world in a global network. Is all about diversity, from opinions, career, ethnicity, education, we aim to show the individuality of every woman everywhere, providing opportunities and a platform for your voice. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Liz Van Linden, the UK travel consultant for Hazelmere Travel. People come to me as they want unique experiences and a personalized service. This happens from the moment that they inquire till they come back home. I work with luxury tour operators. You can contact me on 07825 44 12 12 and liz@hazelmyrtravel.co.uk. 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Women's Radio Station is creating a global network for the empowerment of women, and we want you for you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter @WomensRadioStn or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting news. Hi, I'm Zena Mosconi, Head of Business Development at Women's Radio Station. Radio advertising is the most cost-effective way of reaching a huge audience globally. Moreover, our sponsorship and advertising packages can be tailored to your needs, whether it be a product or brand service you are looking to promote. If you are interested in sponsoring or advertising, please contact me on 07956 371483, or alternatively zm@womensradiostation.com. Welcome back to the final section of Get Booked Here. Today at Women's Radio Station, we are chatting to Lindsay Porter, the author of Whirlpool Yoga and the Balance of Life and and so much more, and so much more. I had to kind of cut you off a little bit before. We were kind of— I could chat to you for hours. Maybe we should do an hour show. What do you think? Yeah, definitely. It was quite funny because you were just mentioning that, um, about audiobooks and the Harry Potter series, and there's the social media manager in here right now. We were just talking before about how she absolutely loves them all and has read them all. So you're a fan, are you? I am, yeah. Well, since listening to them so much, yeah, I've just become a fan. Yeah. Do you know what though? They— I haven't read any of them. Yeah, nor have I. And I never even read them when they came out, funnily enough. It's only through my kids that I've got involved with them. Have they— have they made you watch all the movies? We've watched some of the movies. Hmm. Yeah. It's, uh— tell you what I did watch. Have you— have you watched Wonder? No, what's that? The R.J. Palacio, is it? It's the one with the— ah, they did the book and then they brought it out as a movie with Matthew McConaughey and Julia Roberts and— oh, go and Google it, seriously. Read the book before you watch the film because they're completely different. Right, okay. There's just vague similarities. Oh, it's an excellent book. But yeah. It's very heartwarming. It's about a boy who's— he's disfigured and it's just all about the way he gets bullied and his strength of character. And I love books like that. And I'm good. Yeah, I've noted it. I'm going to look it up. And just talking about movies, something I've sort of found myself involved with recently is helping premiere the showing of the Mantra movie, which is this beautiful movie about the power of mantra meditation. And it's sort of been working its way around the world and it's going to come to Edinburgh in April, which is great. I think it's just been in London recently. Oh, really? Yeah. I think I saw something on your social media about that. Yeah. Tell us a bit more about that. Yeah, it's, it's made by this German film producer. And as I understand, the story is that a good friend of hers was unfortunately passing away of cancer. And as part of that journey, she was supporting her. And I think they started to explore the power of mantra meditation in that journey. And then following her friend passing on, I think she decided she wanted to bring that sort of power and the comfort that it brought to them more into being. And then she spent 6 years filming it and going around the world and speaking to some of like the, the most well-known mantra and kirtan players. So people like Deva Pramal, Miten, Snatam Kaur, Krishna Das, and they've all brought together in this beautiful film. And it's quite interesting because it brings in the storyline of how today with social media and we're all kind of overwhelmed with stuff going on, how it can help us slow down and be kind of that counter, counteraction. And they even— there's some in there about doctors looking at some experiments experiments about meditation, how it can change the mind and the brain, and they show a bit of like the brain patterns. So, and it's just the imagery in it and the music, of course, is fantastic. And then the idea is being with all the showings of the movie that there's actually a live kirtan experience after the movie. Really? Yeah. So it's something a little bit different, a little bit special. And we're actually lucky enough to have, um, Georgia's going to fly over from where she lives in Barcelona to be here for our one in, um, there's one in Edinburgh, one in Glasgow. She's going to do a live Q&A session and then we're going to have the kirtan. So really special. That sounds incredible. Yeah, I, do you know what? I'm going to get some more information off you about that one as well. I would like to have a bit of a look into it. Yeah, maybe you could come up to Edinburgh and join us for it. I love an excuse to go to Edinburgh. Actually, I need to go to Edinburgh and I need to go to Glasgow at the moment. So yeah, it looks like I'm going to be Scotland-bound. So that's April, is it? Yes, end of April, 27th and 28th. I'm all over it. Yeah, I'm coming. That's it, that's it. I'm gonna, I'm gonna do it. It sounds, it sounds brilliant actually. Um, one thing that I do want to know, um, what's the best advice that you've ever been given? Wow, that is a powerful question. Um, what's the best advice? Well, just because you've experienced so much and you've been to so many different places, and because of what you're doing at the moment, you're interacting with so many incredible people incredible initiatives that— I mean, there might be quite a few different bits of advice, but if you can think of— Yeah, you know, you know, I am, I am a person that loves a good quote, and the one that's coming to my mind, it's actually a very Scottish one. I probably won't do it justice because I'm not very good at my Scottish accent still. I'm still learning. Um, it's, what's for you won't go by you. What's for you won't go by you. So if it's meant to be, it's not going to pass you by, it's going to involve you. That's all. And also that idea about no matter what you do, you'll maybe learn something from it or you'll get a message from it. And, you know, maybe you don't need to do everything 100% or learn everything 100%. The important stuff, that'll, you know, you'll keep that. So that's for you. So it won't go by you. It's all good. I've never heard that one before. I like it. Next time, next time you get a Scottish guest on board, ask them in your show, ask them to say that to you. I do a great Scottish accent though. It sounds okay to me. Yeah, it's quite a soft Glaswegian style, but that's because of my best friend. Sorry, I'll stop that now. My son was making me do accents this morning, so it's still kind of in my brain. Can't do Newcastle at all. Apart from Kawasaki. Let's not go there. It's not going to work, is it? No, I tried. I tried anyway. But something I really, really want to talk to you about, which we have haven't discussed at all yet is your Women of Inspiration Award. Oh, I know, isn't that lovely? Um, really still quite— yeah, I'm so blown away by it still now, really. So I was kindly nominated by some people that have worked with me and, and, you know, been— have known me. And, um, and it's from— it was by the Association of Scottish Business Women. And every year they have like an honors list. And they did say this year they had the most entrance ever, which is great because obviously the work they're doing is getting more known. And basically they honored a group of us on an honouring session, and we all got this beautiful certificate in recognition and appreciation of our achievements and contribution to business and the wider community. And honestly, to be in a group of people like that, or women with such powerful stories, you know, and there were ladies there with OBs and MBs, and oh, it was just really inspiring and just inspires me to carry on doing what I'm doing. And also, there's a sort of thing that's sometimes difficult to correlate yoga with making a business, you know, making a living from it, because sometimes yoga scene, it's all about, you know, it is giving, but you also need to be a good exchange. So for me, it was really important and great to see like a yoga person there in the business world sort of being able to do what they love, but still being recognized for, you know, running it as a, as a service. And, but again, as we've been discussing, it's increasingly more important that we kind of look after our mental health. If we haven't got that, we haven't got much else to help us keep going, really. We, we need to start embracing not just success in a kind of academic corporate world. We need to make sure that we succeed as people as well. I think you're right, and it does feel like now is the time because there seems a lot of, like, emphasis behind the messages that you can't easily naturally see how, how well or healthy your mind is and your thoughts are. So often it is the thing that gets forgotten, but right now there seems to be a lot of emphasis on, you know, paying attention, giving yourself this time to actually exercise the health of your mind and understand where you're at. And if you need to make changes, there's tools and support and lots of organizations now that can help you on that journey. And obviously there's a big thing in the NHS, lots of discussion now about prescribing yoga and meditation and, you know, as an alternative healing tool to help us all. So yeah, it feels like we're all in a really good place that this is coming forward more and more. Well, I mean, I think you, you got this award basically because of the amount of awareness you've created of the physical activity and the mental health elements of yoga. And actually, you helped raise some money as well, didn't you? I did, yes. I just over £2,500 for SAMH, Scottish Association for Mental Health. So that was really lovely to be able to do that and help support them. They do a lot of work with like suicide prevention and supporting people out in the community. So, you know, really powerful stuff. It is powerful. It's so incredible. And there's— and I'm sure there's some people listening going, you know what, I'd love to do yoga. I just don't have an hour in my day to do it. And that is what you're battling against. It is. And what I say more and more now is people have this perception that yoga is getting a mat and getting on it, you know. And my yoga guru had this great expression. He says, just take the drama out of it. You know, just get, get on the mat or maybe just on the carpet and just do it. And when you say just do some yoga, that might just be taking 5 minutes to take some nice deep breaths and really just think, where am I today? You know, so yoga can be so many different things. It can just be putting on that bit of music and just maybe taking your mind elsewhere just to follow the music. Or of course it can be a 60-90 minute practice on your mat, which can be sweaty, or it can be slow and smooth. And, you know, and maybe mixing it up is a really good way to approach it too. There are so different— yeah, so many different elements to it. I mean, what I quite often do, obviously having kids as well. I can't always just go off to the gym somewhere. I go— by the time you get somewhere and do an hour practice and come back again, we just don't always have that time. But what I quite often do is I will open up YouTube and I'll just type in however many minutes I have spare, whether that's 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, whatever, um, and whether I want relaxing or for, for muscle stretching or for high intensity, or you type that into your— into YouTube and there will be a practice on there that covers exactly what you need. I love that. And then, yeah, that's a great, great way to do it. And yeah, hopefully lots of listeners will be inspired from that. Well, hopefully, I mean, I, because I do it quite, sometimes I'll type in, oh, you know, 10-minute exercise to do with the kids. So you can make sure that, you know, you definitely know what you're doing and the people on there. I mean, there's Adriene, who's Yoga with Adriene. Oh yeah, very popular right now. Yeah, she's great. Shona Virtue is very good. She does a lot of HIIT classes as well, but she covers yoga. But she's, she's very good at doing the 10-15 minute practices because it's very rare that you can't squeeze in 15 minutes. Exactly. And what's key for everyone to remember is it's about listening and tuning into your body. So I know sometimes you feel like you can't do your own adjustments. You're not sure if you're doing it right, but it's almost giving yourself a bit more insight and go, how am I feeling? And, you know, something you're doing physically doesn't feel right. Right, adjust it or come out of it or stop it. You know, it's kind of giving yourself that permission to, um, just do that for, like you say, however long you've got. Do you know what, Lindsay, I could have chatted to you for at least another couple of hours, but we are coming towards the end of today's show. It's been an absolute pleasure to chat to you. I'm going to put up all the links to, uh, Twitter and Instagram, your website, your podcast, you name it. Um, I'll get it all up on there and make sure that everybody can find out everything that they need to, um, know about. And thank you so much. Well, thank you. I love your show. Thank you for all the work you're doing and spreading these wonderful messages yourself. And yeah, great to chat and look forward to seeing you in Scotland perhaps. Welcome to Women's Radio Station, the voice of women worldwide. 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