3 October 2020 | New Scientist | 49to something physical because that means
your mind isn’t carrying on with endless
ruminations: “Oh, god, I fucked up, I’m never
going to get my lines.” You need to go to a
physical sensation – it could be your breath,
it could be your feet on the ground or listening
to sound. If you didn’t practise this, you
wouldn’t be able to do it.
What do you think about recent research
that found mindfulness can make a small
proportion of people worse?
It could be detrimental for some people.
It’s just my opinion, but if you’re having
a breakdown I don’t think you should go
there. If you’re in trouble, if you’re totally
traumatised – you don’t want to look into
your mind if something is seriously wrong.
I think you have to sit it out, get medication,
see somebody.
Tell me about your community work
promoting mental health.
I run a community called Frazzled Cafe,
where we meet each night. I wanted to create
a meeting place where small groups of people
could speak honestly without the fear of
appearing weak. Originally, the meetings
were cafes in actual places, like Marks &
Spencer cafes. We would have from 12 to
15 people and a facilitator. Now we do it
through Zoom and it doesn’t matter where
you are. You could be in Los Angeles or you
could be in Dubai. I run a meeting that has
a real structure to it and there are rules, so it
isn’t a free-for-all, and it lasts an hour. Other
hosts are trained too, so meetings go on any
time in the day. People can go on the Frazzled
Cafe website and say “I want a meeting at
3 o’clock”, and there’s somebody who can
host it. But I do 5.30 in the evening.So it is like group therapy?
No, we don’t do therapy. It’s from the guts.
I open and close with mindfulness, just to
settle everybody. And then somebody starts.
They might say – and I always say – “What’s
the weather condition in your mind?” It’s
almost like you’re passing the talking stick.Why do you think it helps people?
We steady each other because we feel
empathy and that’s as good as meditation or
yoga. I do it every day. I cannot change theworld. It’s not for people who are seriously
mentally ill. We don’t deal with that, we
give you places to go. This is really just a
chat room. There are people of different
ethnicities, different ages. It’s a melting pot of
people being honest with each other. There
are so many complaints about technology
destroying us, but who knew that Zoom
would form communities like it has?What else makes you optimistic right now?
I think millennials have the potential to be
the salvation for us all. They are concerned
because my generation has ripped them off.
They have Greta Thunberg and it’s cool to
be in Extinction Rebellion. They don’t take
bullshit. It’s an interesting phenomenon, that
kids are really taking the reins. They’re faced
with climate change like my generation was
faced with Vietnam. You fight for what’s in
front of your eyes. ❚Clare Wilson is a biomedical reporter
at New Scientist and author of the
Health Check newsletterCopenhagen has more
than 400 kilometres of
cycle paths separated
from both roads and
pedestrian routes