The Christmas holiday period can be a wonderful time spent celebrating with family and friends. It is also a stressful and difficult time for many people within our families and communities. What do we do during these challenging times if we feel overwhelmed, stressed, emotional or living with mental health conditions? Equally, it can also be difficult to know what to do if we are concerned about a family member or friend.   In this special Christmas episode, host Wayne Schwass sits down...

What is mindfulness and how can it improve our mental health and lives? Developing our ability to slow down, breathe, become aware and focus our mind & body is a skill, a skill developed through the practise of mindfulness. In this episode, host Wayne Schwass sits down with Marike Knight who owns and runs her Mindfulness business www.coolkarmacollected.com. Marike’s mission is simple, “to improve the lives of all Australians by teaching individuals and organisations to live with presence...

How can food help reduce inflammation and impact mental health conditions? Can small incremental daily changes to your nutrition lead to life changing results? Host Wayne Schwass speaks with dietician, Simone Austin about the difference between nutrition and diet, why diets are destined to fail and why a focus on health is key. Simone Austin is a qualified dietician, she has worked with the Australian Cricket Team, Hawthorn Football Club and Swisse. In this episode we discuss: The...

Understanding the difference between a Psychologist and Psychiatrist can be confusing; types of treatments, differences in strategies, knowing when to engage one over the other and are there times they work together. In this episode, host Wayne Schwass sits down with Dr Tim Sharp, a qualified psychologist to explain the key differences so you can make more informed decisions about treating professionals. Dr Tim Sharp is the founder & ‘Chief Happiness Officer’ of the Happiness...

Doctors play such an important role in your mental health and Wayne believes it’s vital you find a GP that you connect with and trust to help you manage and maintain your wellbeing. In this episode, host Wayne Schwass sits down with Harry Unglik. Harry has been Wayne’s doctor for more than 30 years helping him through some very difficult stages in his life and continues to play an important role in Wayne’s mental health and wellbeing journey. In this episode we discuss: The role a GP plays...

Host Wayne Schwass introduces season two of Puka Up See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Support the show: http://pukaup.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this bonus episode, Wayne sat down with good friend Danny Frawley. A former captain of his beloved St Kilda Football Club, former coach of the Richmond Football Club, previous CEO of the AFL Coaches Association and a fun loving wise cracking larger than life AFL media performer and identity Spud talks openly about how the Essendon Supplements saga tipped him over the edge, the day he rang his wife from the carpark of the MCG unable to remember how to get home, his nervous breakdown while...

In this candid and raw episode, Kate McLoughlin talks about the impact and grief that comes with suicide. Kate lost her then 19-year-old middle son Zach to suicide twenty months ago, a day that changed her life forever. Kate's honesty and candour is both heart breaking and inspiring. A single mum to three young men, Kate talks about her pride in her middle son: his cheeky, infectious personality that meant people gravitated to him, how he had a wonderful support network of friends and family,...

Brendan Fevola played 204 AFL games with the Carlton and Brisbane Lions football clubs over a twelve year period. His career included 623 goals, two Coleman Medals, being a three time All Australian and leading goal scorer with the Carlton Football Club for seven consecutive years. In this episode 'Fev' explains why he has no regrets choosing to accept that things happened for a reason and that he needed to go through difficult times to get to where he is today, and why he struggled to open...

Osher Günsberg is one of Australia's most recognisable media personalities best known as the host of 'The Bachelor Australia' and 'The Bachelorette Australia'. He has forged a successful media career on both television and radio while living with and managing mental health conditions. In this episode, Osher speaks candidly about his journey with social anxiety, generalised anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. He looks back on the day his brain 'broke' and his experience with...

Heidi Anderson is now part of the successful Perth breakfast radio show on hit92.9. Heidi has a successful radio career, was a former contestant on Big Brother in 2013, is a columnist for Perth Now and Mamamia, a blogger, podcaster and a proud ambassador for Fearless Activewear. But behind the smile and bubbly and infectious personality is a strong woman who has bravely battled anxiety for as long as she can remember, has overcome crippling body image issues, self-esteem and eating disorder...

Kyle Vander Kuyp is Australias most successful male athlete in the 110m hurdles and still holds the record for the fastest time by an Australian for this event. An Olympic finalist, 4 time Commonwealth Games participant and holder of 12 Australian records, Kyle talks about his adopted mother, reconnecting with his biological mother and his Aboriginal heritage. Kyle also discusses the difficulties he faced in 2004 which included missing out on selection for the Athens Olympics, the breakdown...

In this episode Wayne talks with Australian Diamonds Netballer, Caitlin Thwaites. In this candid interview, Caitlin talks about her long journey with depression and anxiety, how her eventual diagnosis was a huge relief that helped explain why she felt the way she was feeling, that there was a name for the feelings and emotions she was experiencing. She also explains why she refused to follow the advice she was given to have time away from her sport to allow her to deal with her conditions...

Will McMahon and Woody Whitelaw are part of the successful Perth breakfast radio show on hit92.9, "Heidi, Will & Woody". Will & Woody are best mates; the strength of their relationship was captured in a raw and powerful video earlier this year which saw them sit down and talk openly about Will's struggles with mental health conditions and the challenges Woody faced trying to understand what depression was when he became aware of the seriousness of what his best friend was going...

Pat McGorry has dedicated much of his professional life to the early intervention of mental health conditions for young Australians. Named as the Australian of the Year and awarded the Order of Australia in 2010, Pat continues to advocate for better services and outcomes for young people living with mental health conditions. In this episode Pat explains why he believes lives lost to suicide are not valued as much as they should be, why talking to family and friends is not enough, why hope...

Three years after making his NRL debut, Preston Campbell was awarded the Dally M Player of the Year after a stunning season with the Cronulla Sharks. But twelve months after winning the game's highest individual honour his life almost ended. In this raw, candid and honest episode, Preston talks about the rage, anger and isolation he felt that led to that fateful day as well as the need to keep up appearances, how he stayed down in an NRL game and the importance of asking for help and why we...

Wayne talks with one of Australia's most successful female swimmers, Olympic Gold Medalist and Commonwealth Gold Medalist Libby Trickett. Libby talks about being depressed 12 months out from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, her complete loss of identity outside of the swimming pool, the situational triggers that led to her experiences with depression and post natal depression, her ability to recognise her triggers and how she has learnt to manage them. Libby also discusses the value and...

Wayne talks with former teammate, friend and now senior coach of the Sydney Swans, John Longmire. They talk about: the influence of Paul Roos, the importance of creating an environment for young men to be able to talk, finding the balance between driving high performance and supporting the player as a person, knowing when to step forward and when to step back, accepting that the coach isn't always the best person for the situation and trusting the people you have around you, how he looks...

Wayne talks with former Prime Minister, Julia Gillard in her capacity as the recently appointed Chair of beyondblue. Julia talks about a range of topics including; former chair of beyondblue Jeff Kennett and his greatest legacy, the influence of her father's profession as a psychiatric nurse as a young girl and how that helped prepare her for her latest role, beyondblue's focus and commitment to help tackle the issue of suicide and building resilience among young people as well as a personal...