Stillness in the Storms

Jaksot

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  What Will I Miss? My Story for World Suicide Prevention Day 10.09.2026 18min

  What would you miss? This episode is about suicide, my granddad's and my own, and the one question that kept me here. If you need help right now, the numbers are just below.If you need help right nowUK and Ireland: Samaritans, call 116 123. Free, any hour, any day.UK only, if you cannot talk: text SHOUT to 85258. Free, 24 hours.US: call or text 988.Australia: Lifeline, 13 11 14.I was 12 when my granddad went missing from the farm. The next morning Andy woke me and said they had found him. At 18 my heart was broken and I tried to end my life, and later that year I broke my neck and lay in a hospital bed thinking I was better off not here. Years on, at rock bottom again, I wrote a note, printed it, left it face down and went out in my chair with a plan. I sat there for two hours. What stopped me was my stepdaughter Kember and one thought: I wonder what she will become. I did not want to die. I just wanted the pain to stop, and I think that is true of almost everybody who says they do not want to be here. Around the world 727,000 people a year die by suicide, one every 43 seconds. Three in four are men, and the men most at risk are 50 to 54, which is right where I am. So this is the conversation.One thing to try: If you are anywhere near that door, ask one question. Not what will I lose, not what will I gain. What will I miss? Then hang on for a few more weeks. And if it is someone you love, ask them: just for a moment, tell me what you would miss.In this episode(0:00) Who World Suicide Prevention Day is for, and a warning(1:47) 727,000 a year. Three in four are men, and I am the age most at risk(2:53) I was 12 when my granddad went missing from the farm(4:21) 18, heartbroken, and a cry for help(5:35) Lying in hospital with a broken neck, thinking I was better off not here(7:12) The note on the computer, and two hours at the edge(9:21) The thought that stopped me: I wonder what she will become(10:39) A permanent solution to a temporary problem(13:46) The text my daughter sends us now, and why it works(15:58) What will I miss? The one question, and the numbers to ringSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  Gates, Not Thorns: Are Your Boundaries a Prison? 06.09.2026 18min

  Support Steven's work. Treat him to a coffee stevenwebb.ukAre your boundaries keeping you safe, or keeping you stuck? I have never liked the word. This week a reader called Katherine gave me a better one: gates, not thorns.I have carers in my life 24 hours a day, so I could not build walls even if I wanted to. I had to grow the strength to let the world in instead, and that is where I stand on boundaries. A red line between two people is healthy. It is an agreement, not a wall. A rulebook the whole world has to obey is not, and the old Buddhist texts do not even have a word for it. What they have is sila, your own conduct. Rules for you, and nobody else. A boundary that never comes down was never protection. It becomes a prison.One thing to try: Next time you go to defend something, ask one question. Is this a gate or a thorn? Protecting something tender until it is stronger is fine. Refusing the world is not.In this episode(0:32) Katherine's email: a garden, not thorny bushes(1:44) Come, even if you have broken your vow a thousand times(3:35) Carers in my life 24 hours a day(6:16) If you want to learn calm, spend time with your family(7:11) A healthy boundary: not my best today, so I close the gate(8:13) Red lines between two people are different(12:00) The Buddhists had no word for boundaries. They had sila(15:26) Life will not honour your bubble(16:21) A boundary that never comes down becomes a prison(17:44) Where in your life has a wall quietly become a prison?With gratitude toCheryl, Susan, Jane, Ankita, Dan, Cassie, Melanie, Joan and ReishinSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  There Is No Steven in Here: What I Learned at the Bottom of a Swimming Pool 22.08.2026 20min

  Who are you, really, behind all the roles? Sit properly with that question and no answer comes. That is the answer.Open me up and there is no Steven in there. In deep sleep there is no Steven either. We wake up and we come online and we boot the roles: dad, councillor, host, meditator. Each one needs a different set of skills, and you can only run one at a time. So who is watching the breath when you meditate? Ask whether you are aware of your left toe and you were not, and then you were. In that gap before the answer, there is nobody home, and that is not terrifying. It is the most freeing thing I know.One thing to try: Ask yourself, are you aware? Then notice the moment before you answer.In this episode(2:33) I always wanted to be somebody, and should have been specific(4:19) Every role needs a different set of skills(5:30) In deep sleep there is no Steven(7:55) You cannot run two roles at once(9:12) Who is doing the relaxing(11:41) Are you aware of your left toe(13:05) No fixed little statue of you sits inside(15:31) Do it with excitement and curiosity(16:54) My daughter found it terrifying. It is notWith gratitude toYuva, Karin, Sue, HJ, Anita, Lorraine, Brandy, Jane, Sergio and IrmaSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  If This Were My Last Podcast 11.08.2026 19min

  If this were my last podcast, what would I want to leave you with? Let everything happen to you. No feeling is final.That is Rilke, and it is where this one started. No script, just a cup of coffee. You cannot change the present moment. You cannot grow your hair, lose weight, get younger or stop the rain in this second, and yet we spend enormous energy arguing with what has already arrived. Imagine a rainbow with only two colours in it. That is a life lived in a narrow band of feeling. Watching the film Albatross and hearing the ending changed how I think about all of it.One thing to try: Ask one question today. What small colour can I let into my life?In this episode(2:53) You cannot change the present moment(4:06) Arguing with what has already arrived(5:17) The hero on the uncomfortable cushion(6:44) The good times need nothing from you(7:39) Born, pain, desire, joy, rain, shine. All of it(9:12) Not every voice is healthy, but all of them carry weight(10:37) Rilke, and go to the limits of your longing(12:44) A rainbow with only two colours(15:28) What would love be without loss(18:06) What small colour can I let inWith gratitude toSenga, Jess, Anita, Sue, Evelyn and GlennSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  Happily Never After 02.08.2026 18min

  What if the thing you keep chasing is the exact reason you cannot catch it? There is no happily ever after, and that is good news.Picture the ox with a carrot on a stick fixed above its own head. Every step forward moves the carrot forward. That is happiness as most of us run it. And it is not a design fault, it is evolutionary genius, because if you settled the moment you got something you would never go further. The man who loses everything is miserable on day one and fine two years later. Happiness is an emotion. It arrives and it leaves, like all the others. It was never going to move in.One thing to try: Catch yourself saying I will be happy when. Pause there and notice how much of life you just skipped.In this episode(4:10) The ox, the stick and the carrot above its own head(5:19) Stop chasing and you see what you already have(6:28) Why this is evolutionary genius, not a fault(7:47) We would never run faster or try again(9:07) Halfway up, turn around and look at the valley(10:13) Everything becomes normal in the end(11:16) The man on the park bench, day one and two years on(12:54) Happiness arrives and leaves, like every other emotion(16:27) I will be happy when, and what it costs youSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  Part of You Doesn't Want the Pain to Stop: Here's Why 26.07.2026 20min

  Why does part of you not want the pain to stop? Pain is inevitable. Suffering is the second arrow, and you fire that one.The first arrow lands and it hurts. Then we load the bow ourselves. Every replay in your head, every post, every phone call to a friend, is another arrow into the same wound. And here is the uncomfortable bit. The suffering loop feeds us, because it makes us the hero of our own story. Nobody wants to hear about the good day and the view over the ocean. Everybody leans in for the battle. I have been the victim hero for the last few weeks and I know exactly how it works.One thing to try: When a painful thought comes back, ask one question. Is this taking me anywhere? If not, it is the second arrow.In this episode(1:42) The council motion, and the word I actually said(2:49) I think you meant albatross(5:23) Thinking about them with other people(6:37) Every replay loads the bow again(7:51) Pain does not mean your practice is failing(9:12) Life will still dish it up to you(11:17) Why the suffering loop feeds us(13:01) Nobody leans in for the good day(16:28) Is this the second arrowWith gratitude toAdam, Alison, Anna, Diana, Dominique, Dova, Ellen, Fran, Jenna and Mia, Jennifer, Jude, Kellee, Kylin, Marcie, Rita, Simon, Stefan, Steven and SueSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  What Your Anger Is Really Saying 28.06.2026 21min

  What is your anger actually saying? My teacher Jun Po told me he has never known an angry person who did not care.Sit with that one. Anger is the bodyguard. It steps in to put something right, to stop it happening again, to defend what matters. Throw the hammer away and you have thrown away an emotion that evolution spent a very long time building. A child is furious about a red T-shirt when they wanted green, and to them the world just ended. When you are in a life where things go wrong fast, the gap between the spark and the fire shrinks. But it is a gap, and it can be widened.One thing to try: Instead of arguing, say six words. I see you care deeply. Why?In this episode(4:07) Throw away the hammer and you throw away the tool(5:20) A red T-shirt when they wanted green(7:49) Anger is the bodyguard that steps in(9:22) Do you really believe that, Steven(10:11) When there is no time between spark and reaction(11:29) There is a gap, and it does not have to become a fire(14:09) I see you care deeply. Tell me why(15:40) Sitting down with people I disagree with over a cup of tea(18:59) Anger does not need banishing. It needs hearingWith gratitude toAlice, Kim in the Yukon, Maya, Ken, Linda and Michael, the regulars Laura and Stuart, and new monthly supporters Sue, Jude, Jenna and Mia, and RitaSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  The Mind That Will Not Be Quiet 18.06.2026 14min

  Why does your mind pick 3am? You have thirty to forty thoughts a minute and you asked for none of them. The mistake is deciding the goal is a blank, silent mind.Set that as the target and the trains keep coming and you feel like you are failing at it. You are not. Here is the whole thing in one sentence. You are not the thought, you are the one listening to it. Because if you can hear it, you cannot only be it. There is a tiny space between the thought and the reaction, usually too small to notice, and that gap is the thing that changes everything.One thing to try: Let one train in tonight and stay on the bench. You never had to empty the station.In this episode(0:00) Thirty to forty thoughts a minute, and 3am(2:23) The mind does not care that you are tired. It has a list(3:33) The whole episode in one sentence(4:11) If you can hear the thought, you cannot only be the thought(5:25) A thought pulls in, and you do not have to get on it(7:17) At twenty he will still hand you the green sweet(9:03) The tiny space, so small we do not know it is there(13:09) You are the quiet one on the bench who watched every oneWith gratitude toAddie, Darren, Alice, Caroline and My Herb. And Sin, Annie, Laura, Adam, Dominique and Senga. A special thank you to Stuart, two years a monthly supporter.The companion meditation: A Meditation to Quiet an Overthinking MindSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  Giving Space: Love Without Taking Over 07.06.2026 16min

  What is the hardest kind of love? Giving somebody space. Not walking away, not going cold, not pretending you do not care. Space that still says I am here.We argue with family most because we are trying to prove we have changed. See me, I am here. Real space is not silent punishment and it is not neglect. Before you step in, ask honestly whether you are helping them or reducing your own discomfort. Have you listened long enough, or are you just ready with the answer?One thing to try: Before you speak, give it three seconds. Not toast on the floor. Three actual seconds.In this episode(0:03) One of the hardest forms of love, and what it is not(3:16) Not going down the rabbit hole. That is evolution protecting you(5:18) Become aware of the breath, or even just an itch(7:48) Why we argue with family. Please see me(10:24) Space is not coldness and it is not silent punishment(12:39) Am I helping, or reducing my own discomfort?(15:14) The three second rule, and it is not about toastWith gratitude toCheryl, Nitya, Yvonne, Eleanor, Ryan, Karen, Lana, Jess and Stuart.The companion meditation: Create Space Around Your ThoughtsSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  The First 30 Seconds: Why Every Feeling Is a Gift 31.05.2026 16min

  Where does a feeling actually come from, and what happens in the first thirty seconds of it?The amygdala flags something before you know it. A second or two later the adrenaline is in, the heart is up, the blood is heading for the big muscles. That is not your body malfunctioning. That is your body being brilliant. Picture a campfire and somebody says, what was that. You want the person who feels the fear. Every feeling has a healthy end and an unhealthy end of the same stick, and we keep trying to chop the stick in half.One thing to try: Take five seconds between the feeling and the reaction. Not to fix it. Just to let it finish arriving.In this episode(1:44) The first thirty seconds, and the book it comes from(2:58) The amygdala flags it before you know(4:12) This is the body working, not failing(5:03) The campfire, and who you want with you(7:42) Love is blind, and then it is the toilet seat(10:27) Finding out you had only been seeing three colours(12:56) I would not want a life with none of it(14:03) Stop trying to chop the stickWith gratitude toAddie, Amy, Barbara, Susan, Michael, Karen, Laura, David, Jenna and Mia, and JohnnySupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  Waking Up to Body Betrayal: How to Find Peace in the Pain 17.05.2026 16min

  Is your body letting you down, or have you been sold that story? Mine is not the enemy. It has always told me exactly what it needed, and I did not always listen.Every morning is like this for me at the moment, so I do feel it. But we have been handed a story where the body is the opposition. It is not. It is the mind, the body, the toes, the fingers, the knees, all in it together. We ignore the soldiers doing the work, then get angry the moment anything goes wrong. Thank you for being my companion.One thing to try: Say thank you to one part of your body that has been doing its job unnoticed.In this episode(0:01) No fluff, no quick fixes, just this(2:42) That is me every morning, especially at the moment(5:21) The story that our body is the enemy(7:44) The mind, the body, the toes, the fingers. All of it together(10:04) Whatever your illness is, the story is still a story(12:41) Ignoring the soldiers, then getting angry when it fails(15:15) Thank you for being my companionWith gratitude toSin, Ellen, Dominique, Adam, Annie, Joe, Sujata, Senga, Jack, Glenn, Denise, Laurie and Rosie.Support the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  "I'm Fine": When It's Armour, When It's Honest, and How to Tell 03.05.2026 21min

  When you say I'm fine, is it armour or is it honest? Both, depending on the day. And sometimes fine is genuinely the right answer, because not every conversation is one you want.Every carer, every encounter, however small. I take notice about one time in twenty. There is nothing wrong with the armour. My nan had a way of dealing with people who came in moaning. And there is the master whose final teaching came years later, once the student was ready to hear it. Try a different answer once and see what room it opens up.One thing to try: Answer once today with actually, today is a hard one. See what happens next.In this episode(0:03) No fluff, no quick fixes(2:49) One in twenty times I actually take notice(5:12) Sometimes I'm fine is the best answer there is(10:28) We would lose all hope without it(12:45) Going in and moaning to my nan(15:11) The final teaching, understood years later(17:47) Messaging a friend and saying I am feeling emotional(20:16) Try another answer. Today is a hard oneWith gratitude toAlex, Nina, Zoe, A Ma, Kevin, Katarzyna, Deborah, Christopher and Ariel. And MumMik's Cleaning Services, for buying a course this week.The companion meditation: When Anxiety Visits: A Quick Meditation for Anxious MomentsSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  8 Billion Minds. Why Meditation Doesn't Work for Everyone (And What You Can Do About It) 26.04.2026 22min

  Why does meditation work for some people and not others? Eight billion minds. You can only write the book from the altitude you are actually standing at.My chair broke and I could not do anything. That is a lifeline gone, and a friend had to come and push me out to the van. In the weeks after I read a hundred and twenty year old book by James Allen saying you are not your thoughts. Sometimes I need to think something through and I will go into a story deliberately. Other times there are gaps between the words.One thing to try: Stop asking whether you are doing it right. Ask what works at your altitude.In this episode(0:03) Eight billion minds, and why one method cannot fit them(2:35) You can only write from the altitude you are at(4:50) The chair breaking, and losing the lifeline(7:10) Reading James Allen, and you are not your thoughts(9:54) Going into a story deliberately, and the gaps between wordsWith gratitude toSuzanne, Maria, Michael, Tiffany, Ellen, Kathleen, Edyll, Nicola, Jess, Lynette, Linda, Laura and Yavuz.Support the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  Demystifying Meditation: What You Need to Know 18.04.2026 29min

  Does meditation actually help in real life, off the cushion? That is the only place it counts. In the car, in the queue, and the second before you snap at somebody.You cannot switch off a taste you dislike, so expecting to switch off a thought is the wrong ask. You choose which train to drive rather than stopping the trains. Little and often beats forty minutes on a Saturday. You do not need a lotus position, though a straight back helps. Three deep breaths connect the mind and the body and that is the way in.One thing to try: Take three deep breaths before the next conversation you are dreading.In this episode(0:03) Myth busting, and why meditation matters off the cushion(2:50) Giving up on it, then snapping at somebody later(5:18) The real scenarios meditation is actually for(7:12) Thoughts that come and go, and the ones we go with(9:52) You cannot switch off a taste you do not like(12:02) Choosing to be the driver, and where the train goes(16:29) Little and often beats forty minutes once a week(21:27) No lotus position needed, but keep the back straightWith gratitude toSin, Margaret, Annie, Melike, Helen, Laura, Adam, Dominique, and a special welcome to Linda.The companion meditation: Peace Right Where You AreSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  The Dignity of Being Tired: Give Yourself a Break 11.04.2026 16min

  Why is it so hard to say I am tired? Tiredness is not a weakness. It is your body telling you something honest, and ignoring it was never a strategy.When I was Mayor of Truro there were days I had nothing left at all. I cannot feel anything from the chest down and I have autonomic dysreflexia, so my body signals things differently to yours. I took a couple of days and genuinely stopped. That beats soldiering on and taking three days over a one day job, every time.One thing to try: Sit and ask one question. What do I need right now? Then actually act on the answer.In this episode(0:03) Mayor of Truro, and the days there was nothing left(1:52) Autonomic dysreflexia, and how my body tells me things(3:47) Why is it wrong to say you need time off?(5:07) Putting it on Facebook and hoping there is enough goodwill(6:55) Tiredness is not a weakness, it is honest information(8:33) What the waves in the brain turned out to be(10:21) Two days off, properly stopping, and the cabin idea(11:57) A one day job, done in one day, instead of threeThe companion meditation: Permission to Rest: A meditation for time outSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  What Rises When You Stop Pushing 05.04.2026 20min

  What rises when you finally stop pushing? Something usually does, and it is rarely the thing you were forcing.Easter, and all this talk of new life can land as pressure when you are still in the ground. Not all trees bloom at the same time. Drive down any road and most daffodils are out and one on the end is only just arriving, and nobody thinks that one has failed. The tide does not come in cleanly either. It goes out, readjusts, comes back slightly further. There is a Scandinavian proverb that winter returns in spring seven times before summer, and that has been about right this year.One thing to try: Stop pushing one thing for a week. Then notice what came up on its own while you were not looking.In this episode(3:01) Will we ever hear the birds again(4:06) Curiosity goes away, and it does come back(5:17) When you stop controlling, life has a way(6:26) The tide goes out, readjusts, comes back further(8:01) We are the rhythm, not the problem to be solved(9:17) Easter as pressure when you are still buried(10:36) Not all trees bloom at the same time(13:51) Winter returns in spring seven times before summer(15:35) The first thing that rises is always caringThe companion meditation: Find the Green Shoot: A Meditation for Quiet RenewalSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  Finding Inner Peace: Do You Need to Be a Buddhist? 29.03.2026 19min

  Do you need to be a Buddhist to find inner peace? I am not one, and I do not think you need to be either.I am recording this three days after an operation and on painkillers, so bear with me. I collected the statues and the pictures and the apps and books I never read. What I was after was for the calm to rub off. But the practices do not need the beliefs. Meditation, awareness, compassion for yourself and for others, sitting with what is rather than fighting it. None of that asks you to believe in reincarnation or karma. Jun Po taught me that all of it starts at one point, and that point is caring.One thing to try: Take one practice, not one belief. Sit with what is for two minutes and leave the rest.In this episode(1:18) We are all Buddhas when you strip the layers back(2:34) The statues, the apps and the books I never read(4:23) It would help, and it would only take a few thousand years(6:37) Alan Watts, and the wisest people I know are not Buddhists(7:52) It points to a stillness under the noise(10:16) Reincarnation, karma, and what you do not have to believe(11:32) The core practices, and what they actually ask of you(14:10) Jun Po, and why it all starts at caring(15:05) There is no point where you are finishedSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  "Is This All There Is?" Answering the Quiet Question in Your Heart 15.03.2026 23min

  Is this all there is? If that question keeps visiting you, it is not a fault. It might be the most important one you have asked.I was young, flat on my back, with four TV channels I could see in a little mirror and nothing else to do but think. Two questions arrived and they have never fully left. Life looks fine from outside, so you feel guilty for asking, and you tell yourself you are being ungrateful. Carl Jung said the first half of life builds the ego and your place in the world, and the second half turns inward. The question did not lead me to despair. It turned into a window. When you think you know, the world shrinks.One thing to try: Next time the question visits, do not answer it. Look at one thing as though you had never seen it before.In this episode(1:24) That question is not a sign something is wrong(2:30) Four channels, seen in a little mirror(4:19) I should have been having fun. I had these instead(5:32) Feeling guilty for even thinking it(7:38) Carl Jung on the two halves of a life(11:36) It stopped being a wall and became a window(13:11) The girl in the caravan, seeing it for the first time(13:45) Beginner's mind has many possibilities(18:55) Not just a wave. That wave(21:32) Reaching for depth, not for more stuffWith gratitude toAngie, Helen, Sujata, Suzanne, Lorna, Liz, Daphne, Sarah, Mikey and Jen, and the monthly ones, Joe, Audra, Sin, Jack, Glenn, Barb and VenetiaSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  When Letting Go Feels Impossible, Try This Instead 06.03.2026 20min

  What if letting go is the wrong instruction? Every time somebody says it, your mind grips the thing tighter.In 1992 I sat with a manual wheelchair I could barely move, triceps paralysed, hands paralysed, and I spent days trying to prove I was not disabled. The moment I accepted it, everything changed. Telling your body to forget something it built to protect you is a losing argument. It is quicksand. The more you struggle the deeper you go. So swap the word. Acceptance is not passive. It is the only thing that actually loosens the grip.One thing to try: Find a quiet moment and say the true thing out loud. This is how it is. Then stop there.In this episode(1:40) 1992, and a chair I could not push(3:57) How determined I was not to be disabled(5:04) The version of me I was trying to live up to(7:53) Say let go, and the mind grips harder(9:05) You are telling the body to forget its own protection(10:16) Quicksand. The more you struggle, the deeper(12:41) The butterfly on an open hand(15:27) We are all in a wheelchair of some kind(19:08) Freedom is not letting go. Freedom is acceptanceWith gratitude toRuth, Nina and Ray, Skila, Cheryl, Krysia, Penny, Jenna and Mia, Angie, Sean and StefanSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
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  Who Are You When No One Needs Anything? 26.02.2026 12min

  Who are you when nobody needs anything from you? One day you are wanted everywhere, and then almost overnight you are not.The role becomes the identity. The one who holds the family together, keeps the plates spinning, gets the three in the morning call. Then it stops. Redundancy, a divorce, the youngest leaving, the year ending. Everyone tells you that you should be grateful, and you are, and gratitude and grief sit side by side quite happily. You cannot pour from a cup that has been empty for years. You also deserve to know who you are outside what you give.One thing to try: Ask yourself the question and answer it honestly. What would I do today if nobody needed anything from me?In this episode(2:54) One day you matter, then suddenly you do not(3:54) When the role ends, what is the role now(5:13) Three in the morning, and how it becomes your identity(6:32) Redundancy, divorce, the youngest leaving(7:46) Gratitude and grief sit side by side(9:02) You cannot pour from a cup empty for years(10:19) You are not your roles. You never wereWith gratitude toTiffany, Fran, Caroline, Ruth, Mazdak, Cara and SujataSupport the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.ukThank you for listening.StevenLinks to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk