What makes someone walk away from a successful career in banking to grow mushrooms and create a completely different way of life?

In this episode of The Farnham Health & Wellness Podcast, I'm talking to Jon Wright, founder of Jolly Moon, a woodland homestead and community space near Winchester.

Jon's story begins in the world of finance, where he worked with some of the wealthiest families in the world. A cancer diagnosis in his twenties changed the direction of his life, prompting him to cycle around the world raising money for charity and question what he really wanted from his future.

Despite returning to banking and achieving many of the things he'd been encouraged to pursue, Jon found himself increasingly dissatisfied with the life he'd built.

Today, he lives with his family on four and a half acres of land, where they've created a homestead, grow their own food, run a forest school and offer community activities surrounded by nature. Jon has also become a mushroom farmer, growing functional mushrooms and producing his own triple-extracted tinctures.

We talk about his journey from banking to homesteading, the challenges of learning to grow mushrooms, and what he's discovered about the extraordinary world of fungi.

Jon shares his knowledge of functional mushrooms, including turkey tail, reishi and lion's mane, and explains the different ways mushrooms can be prepared and consumed. We discuss their traditional uses, the research into their potential health benefits, and the differences between tinctures, powders, capsules and the increasingly popular mushroom gummies.

We also explore some of the bigger questions that have shaped Jon's life. How much do we really need to feel secure? What happens when the systems we've relied on no longer provide the support we expect? And how much of our health and wellbeing might be influenced by the way we live?

Jon talks about creating Jolly Moon - where he and his wife Holly now home educate their daughter - which provides opportunities for children to spend time outdoors, and hosts activities including drumming, yoga, sound baths and mushroom-growing workshops.

Our conversation also takes us into the fascinating role of fungi in the natural world, from breaking down organic matter and supporting soil ecosystems to their potential use in environmental restoration.

Jon shares his views about modern healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and our relationship with nature. We explore these alongside his personal experiences, including the medical treatment that helped him survive cancer.

It's a wide-ranging conversation about mushrooms, money, health, self-sufficiency, and what it might look like to build a life around the things that matter most to you.

MOON MUSHROOMS

Website: Moon MushroomsInstagram: moonmushroomsukJOLLY MOON

Website: Jolly Moon: Embrace Nature for Mental WellnessInstagram: jollymoonforestgardenABOUT THE PODCAST

The Farnham Health & Wellness Podcast is hosted by Juliet Hollingsworth and recorded in Farnham, Surrey.

Each episode explores the science, stories and ideas behind living well through conversations with people you can meet, learn from or work with locally.

How much do we really understand about our bodies as women, particularly as we move through pregnancy, childbirth, perimenopause and menopause?

In this episode of The Farnham Health & Wellness Podcast, I'm talking to Linda Stephens, a Farnham-based women's health specialist, yoga teacher and founder of Women's Wellbeing.

Linda's career began in television production, but her experiences of motherhood took her life in an entirely different direction. After a traumatic first birth, the challenges of caring for two very young children and navigating her son's complex health needs, Linda found herself struggling with her own wellbeing. A chance conversation about yoga teacher training eventually led her to a completely new career.

We talk about her experiences of pregnancy and childbirth, including a serious pelvic injury during her third birth, and how her own recovery inspired her to develop ways to help other women rebuild their strength and confidence.

Our conversation then moves into perimenopause and menopause, and the physical changes that can take women by surprise. Linda describes her own experiences of exhaustion, brain fog, sleep problems and burnout, despite already having years of experience working in women's health.

We explore pelvic floor health in particular, including bladder leakage, pelvic organ prolapse, the effects of hormonal changes, and why pelvic floor exercises aren't necessarily as straightforward as many of us have been led to believe.

Linda explains how she approaches pelvic health through movement, breathing, posture, releasing tension and strengthening the muscles that support our bodies. We also discuss the relationship between emotional stress and physical tension, and why understanding what's happening in our bodies is so important as we age.

Throughout the conversation, Linda shares her frustration that so many women reach midlife without the information or support they need. She's passionate about helping women understand their changing physiology, so they can continue working, exercising, enjoying relationships and participating fully in life.

We also talk about the pressures women put on themselves, the idea that being busy makes us valuable, and how difficult it can be to recognise when we push ourselves beyond our capacity.

Whether you're approaching perimenopause, already navigating menopause, recovering from childbirth, or simply interested in understanding women's health, there's a great deal to think about in this conversation.

FIND LINDA STEPHENS

Linda offers women's wellbeing classes, courses, individual sessions and mentoring, both locally in Farnham and online.

Website: https://www.lindastephenswellbeing.com

Women's Wellbeing online classes and resources: Homepage - WomensWellbeing.meLinda's InstagramABOUT THE PODCAST

The Farnham Health & Wellness Podcast is hosted by Juliet Hollingsworth and recorded in Farnham, Surrey. Each episode explores the science, stories and ideas behind living well through conversations with local people you can meet, learn from or work with.

What actually is Reiki – and what happens when you have a Reiki treatment?

In this episode of the Farnham Health & Wellness Podcast, I’m talking to Natalie Cox, aka NataMama, about Reiki, aromatherapy, massage, sound healing and the journey that led her to make complementary therapy her full-time work.

Natalie first discovered Reiki almost by accident while studying at college. Her anatomy and physiology teacher happened to be a Reiki Master and offered her a short treatment. Natalie knew almost nothing about Reiki at the time, but the experience stayed with her. She began going for treatments herself, before eventually deciding that she wanted to understand what was actually happening and learn how to practise Reiki for herself.

We go right back to that first experience and talk about what Reiki actually is, what a Reiki practitioner does during a treatment, and what someone coming for their first session might experience.

Natalie also talks about the different reasons people come to see her. Some arrive simply because they're curious about Reiki, while others are looking for something that helps them feel calmer and more grounded. Alongside Reiki, her work now includes massage and aromatherapy, and we explore how those different practices have gradually become part of NataMama.

We get into essential oils and aromatherapy too – including the thought that goes into choosing and blending oils, and why aromatherapy involves much more than simply enjoying a nice smell.

Natalie also tells me about her collaborations with other local health and wellbeing practitioners. She works with sound practitioner Jo Carter of Soundshine, combining sound baths using gongs and Tibetan singing bowls with individual mini Reiki treatments. We talk about the experience of sound, vibration and touch, and Natalie shares some of her own experiences of sound healing.

We also talk about the point at which a personal interest becomes a completely different life. Natalie spent 13 years in the same job before deciding to leave the security of something familiar and build NataMama. She talks about how difficult that decision felt, what finally prompted her to make it and what she hopes to develop next.

Along the way, we talk about collaboration rather than competition within the local wellness community, seasonal workshops, yoga, cacao, sound healing, and some of the people Natalie has met through this work.

If you've searched for Reiki in Farnham, Alton or Hampshire, wondered whether Reiki might be for you, or found yourself asking what actually is Reiki?, this episode gives you the opportunity to hear directly from a local practitioner about what she does and how she came to do it.

Find Natalie / NataMama

Natalie is based in Alton, Hampshire and offers treatments through NataMama. She is also developing a space in Four Marks for Reiki training.

Website: www.natamama.co.uk
Instagram: @x_natamama_x
Natalie's website also links to her Facebook page and information about treatments, Reiki training, workshops and upcoming events.

About the podcast

The Farnham Health & Wellness Podcast is recorded in Farnham, Surrey. I’m Juliet Hollingsworth, and in each episode I explore the science, stories and ideas behind living well through conversations with people working in health and wellbeing locally.

Each guest is someone you can meet, learn from or work with in and around Farnham, Surrey and the surrounding areas.