If you find Christmas Eve a bit mad busy and stressful, why not let Gillian Russell and the Personal Best team help you to chill? This week our gift to you is half an hour of total relaxation ... a chance to escape! Fancy being “in the moment” but no idea how to get there? Jan Barclay from Rejuvenate Your Mind guides us through a Christmas meditation…

To get into the festive spirit, this week Gillian Russell and the Personal Best team are all about giving and receiving … but not necessarily the things in life that can be gift-wrapped! What health and wellbeing gift would you give to others, what would you like to receive yourself … and what gift would you give to your younger self? Photographer Alex Rotas, author and expert on the power of the mind Dr David Hamilton, chef Graeme Pallister and regular listener Susanne Powell discuss...

Richard Forbes meets members of the LGBT community. The programme kicks off at Whitecraigs Rugby Club where the Glasgow Alphas are warming up for a game. The players explain how taking part in the sport is good for their physical and mental health. Luke Aquilina goes for a run on the streets of the capital with Al Hopkins from the Edinburgh Frontrunners, who says there are things all sports clubs could do to be more inclusive. Meanwhile, down in the Borders, Gina Gordon talks about the...

Would you describe yourself as a perfectionist? Admirable high standards or impossible goals? Trying just a bit too hard for that perfect Christmas?! Gillian Russell asks whether the pursuit of perfection can actually be bad for our health and wellbeing… Dr Emily Taylor from the University of Edinburgh, who set up the Perfectionism Laboratory, describes why people strive for perfection and the impact it can have on their lives. Acting coach Mark Westbrook explains why making mistakes and...

How important are friendships for our health, our happiness and our wellbeing? Gillian Russell asks whether, in our increasingly busy lives, we should be paying a bit more attention to them? Psychologist Dr Kirsty Miller explains why friendships are important to us as humans, the impact it can have on us if we neglect that part of our lives and how we can address the lifestyle issues that prevent us from prioritising friendships. Richard Forbes visits Befrienders Highland to find out how...

Gillian Russell explores how we can use music for mind, body and soul … as part of our health and fitness toolkit. Gillian visits Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital to meet Tom Binns, founder of Glasgow Piano City, and Jackie Sands, Senior Arts & Health Specialist from NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, to find out about the impact “Molly” the piano is having in the hospital environment. Research Fellow Dr Emma Moore from the University of Edinburgh talks about whether music...

How much BALANCE is there in your life? Therapist Jan Barclay tells Gillian Russell how meditation can help us get the balance right between mind, body and soul. Physiotherapist Judith Anderson demonstrates the exercise we can do to keep ourselves balanced while instructor Suzanne Ross describes the idea behind falls prevention classes. Prof Lucy Yardley from the University of Bristol explains the science of balance and how our brains are involved in balance. Psychologist Prof Ewan Gillon...

How much attention do you pay to your posture? Gillian Russell gathers together a whole heap of advice and inspiration to help us improve everything to do with our posture... Gillian visits physiotherapist Sean Webb at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness to find out why good posture is so important and what steps we can take to improve it. Dr Heather Morgan from Aberdeen University talks about the impact high heels can have on our posture. Osteopath Bryan McIlwraith explains why paying...

Heading Into Winter: with the clocks about to change, Gillian Russell asks how we can best prepare mind and body to minimise the impact the long, dark days might have on our mood and our motivation? Nutritionist, author and owner of Food For Fitness Scott Baptie shares his tips on getting our food right in the winter months and demonstrates how to make a simple, nutritious sweet potato and chorizo soup… then shows Gillian what kind of exercises we can easily do at home on the days when it’s...

Gillian Russell discovers what we can learn from other cultures’ approaches to health and wellbeing and asks how we might adopt some of it into our own lives? Beth Kempton’s passion for Japan goes back more than 20 years. She explains why she embarked on a personal quest to discover more about Wabi Sabi, what ancient Japanese wisdom can teach us about our own health and wellbeing and how we could apply the gentle principles of Wabi Sabi in our own increasingly stressed lives. Chen Jie and...

Do you long for a good night’s sleep? Worry that you’re not getting enough? And just how much attention do you pay to your sleep hygiene? This week Gillian Russell and the Personal Best team are aiming for a PB in ZZZZZZZZZZZ… James Wilson - aka The Sleep Geek - explains why we need to prioritise sleep more, how the changing seasons can affect our nights and mornings … and offers advice on what we can easily do to improve our sleep habits. Dr Renata Riah, Consultant in Sleep &...

"The thief of human potential” - Gillian Russell discovers why we procrastinate and asks whether we can learn to change our ways? Antony Sammeroff describes the impact procrastination had on his life, how he’s been able to turn things around and why he’s passionate about sharing his techniques with others. Psychologist Dr Kirsty Miller explains what’s going on in our brains when we procrastinate, why we procrastinate about some things but not others and whether the “buzz” of putting...

“I don’t have time!” is one of the biggest excuses for not exercising, failing to cook from scratch or never getting round to relaxing properly. Gillian Russell and the Personal Best team are on the hunt for a bunch of FIVE MINUTE FIXES for when we’re short of time… Prof Nanette Mutrie from Edinburgh University takes Gillian through a set of strength exercises to do while the kettle is boiling. Chef Graeme Pallister creates a quick one-bowl dish – full of texture, colour and flavour – to...

Gillian Russell asks whether we should all be climbing more trees and practising our cartwheels? Fifty-something mum Jo Mosely describes the sheer joy she gets from doing headstands and talks about her passion for inspiring others to revisit childhood fun. Psychiatrist Prof Steve Peters explains what is happening to body and brain when we engage in simple, playful activities. Charlotte Roach talks about why she set up Rabble, a social community that keeps fit by playing fun...

How can we leave work happier and healthier than when we arrived? An impossible dream – or achievable with the right systems in place and a shift in attitude? Gillian Russell visits staff at a Glasgow-based firm to hear about the impact a four-day week has had on their work/life balance and speaks to their Operations Director Lorraine Gray about the other measures now in place to ensure a happier, healthier working environment. Denmark regularly comes out top in world happiness surveys so...

Lots of us spend time worrying out our physical health and our mental wellbeing ... but how much consideration do we give to our digital health? Gillian Russell and the Personal Best team are back, discovering how to create a happier, healthier digital life for young people ... and their parents. Online safety consultant Jess McBeath describes what we mean by digital citizenship, examines the issues young people face in the online world and advises on how we can all be the best guardians of...

Each week on Personal Best we're all about inspiring each other to get the most out of our fitness and health ... but if you're homeless, it's probably pretty low down on your list of priorities. One woman is on a mission to change all that... Gillian Russell and the team meet Michelle Reilly, founder of StreetFit, at one of their boot-camps in Edinburgh to find out about how she's bringing fitness, health and wellbeing to those who are - or have been - homeless. Anthony and Amanda talk...

Around a quarter of a million people in Scotland have Type 2 Diabetes and the number is rising. If you've been diagnosed with it and feel the future is bleak, just how can you get the best out of yourself ... and is it possible to actually turn things around? Gillian Russell spends the day with Isobel Murray (and husband Jim) in Largs to hear about her life before and after Type 2 Diabetes - the impact her diagnosis had on her life, why she took part in a research project and how she managed...

How much attention do you pay to your pelvic floor? Do you know where it is, what it does and why it matters? Gillian Russell and the team seek the best advice for having a fit and healthy pelvic floor (men and women...) Physiotherapist Kirsteen Ferguson describes what the pelvic floor is, how much it matters and why she decided to create a video aimed at teenage girls. Rhianna, Kimberley, Amy and Catriona from the Nairn Youth Forum take a look at the video and discuss how useful it might...

What makes you angry - bad driving, your computer crashing, rudeness, constantly having to pick up wet towels from the bedroom floors?! This week we're all about managing anger - our own and other people's - so that it doesn't get in the way of us achieving our Personal Best... Prof Ewan Gillon, Clinical Director of First Psychology, talks about the triggers and symptoms of anger, to what extent anger can be bad for our health and the coping mechanisms we can put into place to deal with our...

When you pass a mirror, do you automatically suck in your tummy? Are you doing any extra fitness to get your stomach ready for the beach? Never mind the look on the outside, how much attention do you pay to the inside - to your GUT? This week Gillian Russell and the team are aiming for a "personal best" in gut health...! Doctor, blogger, personal trainer and author of "The Food Medic For Life" Hazel Wallace explains what happens in our guts, why the bacteria inside us matter and the role...

Grab your jacket, your shades or your brolly - today Gillian Russell and the team are embracing the hugely successful Daily Mile scheme by getting outside and doing a mile throughout the programme. What could be simpler? Staff at Birchwood Highland down tools and join the Personal Best team on a lunchtime walk. Will they be persuaded to make a daily habit of it? Elaine Wyllie, founder of the Daily Mile, talks about why they've decided to expand it to encourage older children, students and...

Whether you're training for something or just want to get a bit fitter for the summer, what's your routine after exercise? Stretch, have a warm bath and eat protein? Or is it more likely you'll have some cake and slump in front of the tv?! Gillian Russell visits Perth College and asks if it's time we paid a bit more attention to our muscles after we exercise...? Physiotherapist Sarah Watts explains what happens to our muscles during and after exercise and why the right kind of recovery is...

Gillian Russell ask how we can create - or perhaps regain - our Personal Best body confidence when life takes an unexpected turn? Sarah Russell, exercise specialist in rehabilitation and coaching, talks about the extent to which her body image changed (ultimately for the better) after major surgery... while Stephie Simpson describes the impact colitis had on her own body image as she was growing up. Elaine Davidson explains the effect her hair loss had on her body confidence and how she...