What happens when the body that carried you through life starts to break? For Waldemar, an architect and explorer from Mexico City, who built his identity around physical endurance, the answer wasn’t to stop moving but to start moving differently.

In this powerful conversation, Waldemar shares how knee surgeries shattered not just his meniscus, but his sense of self. What followed was a deep personal reinvention from adrenaline-fuelled guide to founder of the Wildflow Method, a movement philosophy rooted in mobility, mindfulness, and long-term strength.

In our conversation we explore:

• His early life of free-diving, whitewater kayaking, and building adventure lodges across Mexico.
• The burnout cycle of high-impact fitness and the slow realisation that strength must come from within.
• His ‘active longevity’ approach to ageing, ego, and injury.
• How he transformed ‘workouts’ into ‘rituals’ and pain into purpose.
• Wildflow’s unique blend of martial arts, animal movement, and barefoot mobility.
• Why connection to nature and inner stillness matter as much as muscle and sweat.
• How any man, at any stage of life, can take back agency over their health without toxic pressure or unrealistic timelines.

This is a conversation for anyone who’s ever felt lost after injury, disillusioned with gym culture, or just quietly wondering: Is it too late for me?

Waldemar’s answer is a resounding “No,” and his path forward is anything but ordinary.

If you want to find out more about Waldemar, visit his website: https://wildflowmethod.com/. And you can also buy his book Find Your WildFlow on Amazon.

In this episode, we're joined by Josh Fineman. Josh had the career, the young family, the success but behind it all was exhaustion, self-doubt, and a relentless voice asking, “Is this it?”

In this honest and revealing conversation, Josh shares how growing up as the ‘good boy’ in a high-achieving North London household shaped his adult identity. He talks about the unspoken grief that filled the family home, the hidden cost of seeking approval, and the endless comparisons that wore him down.

What followed were years of chasing status, zigzagging through jobs, and numbing out until a crisis forced a reckoning. Therapy cracked the door open, but it was men’s work - raw, in-person, shoulder-to-shoulder - that truly began to transform his life.

Josh went on to create Mensch, a community where men come together to rediscover connection, purpose, and truth - with boots on the ground and fires lit -locally around the country.

We talk about masculinity, parenting, legacy, and why so many men who "have it all" still feel empty. Josh speaks candidly about fear of failure, starting something meaningful, and the power of local brotherhood.

If you’ve ever quietly wondered, “What happened to me?” or “Is this all there is?” then this episode is for you.

Trigger warning: This episode includes honest discussions about suicide attempts, mental illness, domestic violence, and trauma.

Adam Smith’s story is unlike anything you’ve heard - and exactly what so many men need to hear.

Sectioned at 11. In prison by 21. Found unresponsive in a car after trying to end his life. This could’ve been the end - but it wasn’t. Instead, Adam’s journey is one of remarkable survival and a relentless mission to make his pain count for something.

In this episode, Adam speaks with raw honesty about growing up in care, wrestling with addiction, and living with autism and mental illness. But also about rising - becoming a chef, starting The Real Junk Food Project, and then Surplus2Purpose, and feeding millions with food others deemed worthless. He doesn’t sugar-coat any of it. There are no easy answers. Just grit, compassion, and a deep belief that lives - like food - should never be wasted.

You might not have lived Adam’s life. But if you’ve ever felt lost, numb, ashamed, or like you don’t know where you fit in the world, there’s something here for you. This episode is about survival - but also about honesty, connection, and how we begin to move forward, even if we’re still broken.

This is not just Adam’s story. It’s a mirror for anyone who’s ever struggled and needed a way through.

[If you can relate to Adam’s experience and need immediate help, you can call Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK, or the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US or Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia. Otherwise, as always, we also recommend that you speak to a GP or mental health professional.

Trigger warning: includes frank discussion of eating disorders, body image, and mental health.

How do you find laughter in something that nearly kills you?

In this episode, comedian and mental health advocate Dave Chawner takes us on a bold, brutally honest - and often hilarious - journey through his experience of living with anorexia.

But this isn’t your typical “overcoming adversity” tale.

Dave doesn’t sugarcoat the reality of his eating disorder. He talks openly about how it began not with food, but with control… how it was rewarded before it was recognised… and how, for a long time, he loved it. Through vivid, sometimes shocking, and darkly funny anecdotes, Dave shows how anorexia became both his obsession and his comfort - until it became unbearable.

And yet, laughter is what pulled him through.

From bingeing under the duvet to bingeing on comedy, Dave found healing not in silence, but in stand-up. His hit Edinburgh show Normally Abnormal turned personal pain into public catharsis, proving that humour can be both a scalpel and a salve.

If you've ever struggled with food, control, body image, or just the pressure of being “fine,” this is an episode you need to hear. It’s about anorexia, yes - but also about masculinity, identity, recovery, and how comedy can reach where words often fail.

If you can relate to Dave’s experience and would like more information, he references two websites: Hub of Hope [https://hubofhope.co.uk/] - the UK’s largest mental health support directory, and Beat Eating Discorder [https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/].

You can find equivalent resources available in other countries via simple web searches. We always recommend you speak to a GP or health professional if you are personally affected by any of the topics covered in the podcast.

In this episode, we’re joined by Mark Lawry, a former lawyer and long-time stay-at-home dad, who offers a frank and considered account of what it’s like to live with depressive illness across much of adult life. Mark brings a calm, articulate perspective to a subject often misrepresented or oversimplified.

He speaks plainly about how symptoms first appeared, why he delayed seeking help, and what it means to maintain a functioning exterior while privately struggling. We explore the difficulty of recognising depressive illness when it has no obvious trigger, the reality of managing something that may never fully go away. And the limits of language including the inadequacy of the term “depression” and why “depressive brain malfunction” may be a more accurate description.

Mark also reflects on medication, therapy, and how leaving behind a professional identity in favour of something more sustainable helped reduce the frequency of episodes. This is not a dramatic story of crisis and recovery, but a steady, honest account of what it means to live with a chronic mental health condition and how important it is for men to talk about it.

NOTE: If you think you may be suffering from depressive illness and/or relate to Mark's experience, the advice is to speak to your GP or other medical professional.

In this powerful and compassionate conversation, we explore what really happens when life knocks down every support structure you thought you could rely on. We talk to Matt, a qualified therapist and podcaster about his own lived experience of emotional collapse in his twenties, the slow journey into therapy, and how healing unfolds - not through instant fixes, but through trust, honesty, and rebuilding from within.

Matt demystifies common myths about therapy, shares honest reflections on what it’s really like to start therapy for the first time, and discusses the emotional challenges that arise when you begin to face feelings you’ve long tried to suppress. They talk about what to look for when choosing a therapist, how to know if therapy is helping, and why progress often feels slow but is deeply transformational.

This conversation also explores the hidden costs of emotional numbness, the importance of finding trust in the therapy relationship, the misconceptions about being "fixed," and the lifelong work of learning to live fully in your own skin after hardship.

If you’ve ever wondered whether therapy could help you but felt unsure, overwhelmed, or ashamed to seek support, this episode offers powerful reassurance that you are not alone - and that change is possible.

You can find links to Matt’s work by visiting his Linktree profile https://linktr.ee/matthussey or find him on Linkedin and you can listen to his brilliant podcast 'The Brink – Mental Health Demystified' on the usual podcast platforms.

In this episode, we meet the incomparable John Ryan, award-winning comedian, social commentator, and all-around force for good. With a sharp tongue and a massive heart, John has made it his mission to reach people on the topic of mental health where they least expect it: through laughter.

We explore how John’s stand-up shows have turned into standing-room-only sessions on suicide awareness, PTSD, loneliness, and resilience. From army barracks to working men’s clubs, from prisons to boardrooms, John’s toolkit is unconventional but wildly effective - inclusive humour, hard-earned trust, and a refusal to be anything but himself.

This conversation is wide-ranging, emotional, and seriously funny. John opens up about growing up in Hackney in a diverse Irish family and his unexpected route into comedy, although he doesn’t define himself as a traditional comedian.

He challenges toxic norms, dissects the real reason some men spiral after traumatic life events, such as divorce, and explains why sending a meme from the toilet every morning can be an act of care. It's sharp, raw, and deeply human.

If you’ve ever wondered whether comedy can change lives - or even save them - this episode is your answer.

To find out more about John's work, visit: https://happytohealthyou.com/.

This episode of Mid-Life Men includes open and honest discussions about mental health challenges, including suicide. Some listeners may find this content distressing.

In this frank and powerful episode, we hear from a man who has walked through unimaginable darkness and emerged not just surviving, but speaking with purpose and compassion.

Through heartbreak, rejection, success, loss, and silence, Chris shares his lived experience of growing up as a Black British man navigating racism, identity, estrangement, and two suicide attempts. His voice is reflective, grounded, and unflinchingly open. He explores how trauma manifests over time, what it means to feel completely alone, and the moment he chose to live again.

We talk about grief, masculinity, purpose, cultural silence, and what it really takes to start again, not just mentally, but spiritually and socially. Chris's recovery journey led to the creation of Project Soul Stride, a lived experience platform shedding light on suicidality for the black community and bridging conversations in mental health.

What you’ll hear isn’t just a story. It’s someone choosing to speak so others might live.

You can find out more about Chris’s work, including Project Soul Stride on his All My Links page.

If you or someone you know is struggling, please consider seeking support from a qualified professional or mental health service. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or experiencing a crisis, there are organisations you can call now. for example, in the UK, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123, and if you are in the US, you can call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Many organisations provide communities for men, including Men’s Sheds Association and Tough to Talk in the UK and, in the US, Face It Foundation and F3 Nation.