48 | New Scientist | 3 October 2020
fat cycle lanes, I cycled everywhere and
I felt really safe. The shops weren’t all
franchises: you can get original, olden-
days shops that there’s only one of. Not
where it’s just one shop after another that
you’ve seen a thousand times. It’s a really
interesting hipster neighbourhood, it has
just been reinvented.
All we hear about the environment is
doom and gloom, but there are these little
islands of optimism. The most impressive
business I went to visit is a US store called
Patagonia, which makes sustainable clothing.
I have a jacket from them made out of plastic
bottles. When you buy something from
them, they say “don’t ever buy this from us
again” because if it tears or wears out, you
send it back. You can return an item within a
hundred years of buying it. Wow! They share
their profits with their employees and they
give money away to environmental groups.
They do really good work in their local
community, they hand out food, they put
money back into it. And they have the
happiest employees I’ve ever seen.That sounds great, but can individual
firms change the world?
The book is about the green shoots. If we
pay attention to them, they might grow
into a brighter future.
There are schools where they’re teaching
kids in a whole new way, for instance. At a
primary academy chain in the UK called
Reach2, it’s about working as a team, teaching
empathy. I went to one of these schools and
saw the children learn techniques to self-
regulate when their stress gets too extreme.
When people are in high alarm, they can’t
focus on anything. They have a zen den –
the children go in when they feel out of
control. The school gives them tools to
lower their stress.You have studied and written about
mindfulness meditation – what made
you want to try it?
I had a major depression about 15 years ago.
Shrinks are great, but I got sick of repeating
my stories constantly. So I looked it up,I researched scientific papers. Mindfulness
and cognitive therapy had the most empirical
evidence – for depression or people who
were just generally frazzled. I ended up doing
a master of studies degree at Oxford in
mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. My
book, A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled,
was based on the work of my professor, Mark
Williams, who was one of the co-founders
of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
He gave me his blessing, but I did it my way.
I gave mindfulness exercises for while you’re
taking care of your kids, while you’re going
to the office, how to deal with somebody
shouting at you. Mine was more practical.How does mindfulness meditation work?
It’s a way of relating to your thoughts
in a different way. You befriend them,
you understand them. I have habits of
thinking, theme songs that come up like
old recordings. Suddenly, I’ll think: “She
thinks I’m an idiot.” It’s very much like how
doing sit-ups strengthens your stomach
muscles and you get a six-pack. There are
areas in your brain that can get buffer, just
like an athlete. With mindfulness, it givesmuscle to the area in your brain that allows
you to pay attention. Now, when I do have
a spark of anger, it doesn’t stay with me.
I won’t keep regurgitating it because I’m
so addicted to my rage, which I used to be.
You know, when something happens and
you call your friends and go: “Guess what
he did?” [Breaking that habit] doesn’t
happen overnight, though, you’ve got
to work at this thing.Do you still practise mindfulness?
Yes, every day for about 45 minutes. And then
before a show, when I get the heart-pounding
and I’m nervous, to get myself level. And if
I start to lose my lines during the show,
because my muscle is pretty exercised I’m
able to think clearer and my lines come back.Wow. Can it really work fast enough to
be used on stage?
Oh yes. When you’re scared, your memory
goes down and you get even more nervous.
I can tell when I’m starting to lose it. I look at
the audience and I can feel their fear because
they hate it. I’ll stand and I’ll focus with my
feet on the ground. You have to send the focusSHUT
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CK/OLGAGOROVE
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O“ All we hear about
the environment
is doom and
gloom, but there
are little islands
of optimism”