Explore every episode of the podcast Beyond the basement

If you’re anything like me you avoid arguments and confrontation. I prefer the easy life - it’s only natural. Yet in choosing the path of least resistance, we can miss out on what’s on the other side of all that pain, conflict and tension. Also known as ‘rupture and repair’ with our fellow humans. Here I explore what’s on the other side with a live story from the Authentic Relating leadership retreat I’ve been on in France. Join me by the lake for the third and final instalment of reflections on how we relate to one another, and everything they didn’t teach you at school about human-ing.

Is life something that happens to you, or something you have a say in? This one’s about how much power and agency we have, or choose, in our own lived experience. If we choose none, we can fall into a state of collapse and victimhood. If we seize it all there’s a risk of becoming a bully in a state of aggressive posturing at the world. So what’s a healthier way to meet pain (and pleasure) in life? This is the second part of my reflections from an Authentic Relating leadership retreat in France. I recorded this shortly before I facilitated a group workshop all about this exact theme - how we own (or disown) our experience, and what that means.

Ever jump to conclusions about people? Or feel a bit judgey - like you know better. Here we’ll explore what happens when we do this, how it gets in the way of relationships and how we might try something different. Assume nothing is one of the five practices of Authentic Relating (AR). I recorded this while on retreat in France, doing my level 3 leadership training in this beautiful way to rediscover your love for life, self and other humans.

If, after doing a big or difficult thing, you quickly move on to the next big or difficult thing, taking your performance for granted - you probably had high expectations and low support as a youngster, like me. Perhaps you too are a lifelong perfectionist, hyper self-reliant type, or chronic overachiever. Hello, I see you. Join me as I unpick a recent experience that brings this to life, and the journey before/during/after of how this shows up. We’ll also explore how to break the pattern of dissatisfaction, disconnection and sadness that can happen when we don’t allow ourselves the care and support we need.

Is it possible to 'get on' on life, yet be more consciously lazy? What's like life with the absence of striving. This August I checked out, and gave things more space in life. And three curious, unexpected things happened, that'll I'll share in this episode.

Life is all about giving and recieving. Give and take. And trying, striving, efforting to stack the odds in your favour so you get what you want only seems to make life more difficult. I'm exploring a new way to get on in life. With more grace, acceptance and allowing of what is. The universe heard me and offered a challenge with a recent experience. Here I attempt to make sense of it.

What's it like to give and recieve one of the finest human virtues - our interest and attention? Curiosity is what drives us to explore, relate and discover. Yet I've noticed, like playfulness, it's one of the first qualities we lose when we're feeling low or under-resourced. Join me for a think-aloud exploration of what it is to be curious, and our relationship with it.

Your body speaks in subtle ways. It signals what you need more of less of, keeps you safe, and gets stuff done. But do you listen though? After a period of intense study and travel, Chris is a bit fragile and restless. Join me as I explore these signals and discover a new need to hiding, being small and blending in - at odds with a lifelong habit of showing off, trying and performing. This one is about finding calm and self-soothing when your body isn't up to playing big.

Emotional intelligence, empathy and self-awareness all have their place, but if you're fully attuned to yourself and everyone around you, you'd never get anything done. In this episode I ponder a question put to me by Mark Walsh on a recent embodiment retreat. I make the case for both expanding awareness of your inner world, as well as numbing out - escapism from the intensity of what it is to be alive.

This last week I've been in Slovenia, exploring how we relate to, express, and experience life through that thing below your neck. Join me on a mountaintop for helpful insights I picked up studying with Mr Embodiment, Mark Walsh, like how to find yourself when stressed, and what other people make of you. I recorded this while having a very direct experience of the universe; all the feels you can expect from eny immersive adventure, be it a retreat like mine, a festival or any experience full of all the things you love.

This one's for anyone curious about or new to improv. I'll dispel some myths about what it is, as well as give you a flavour of what to expect when you first try it. You'll also get a sense of how I run Leeds Improv Co-Lab - my growing community of improvisers who regularly come for open play sessions.

Here are three big insights from the lovely improvisers who came out to play this Sunday for the third Undefended Improv workshop, this time in Liverpool, hosted with my friend Jen Hardy. In opening up, relating, and revealing what it's like really being us, we uncovered some universal truths that apply to life, whether you improvise or not. This one's for anyone tired of trying so hard to follow the rules and get everything right, keeping up appearances, yet deeply in need of more support and connection from the people around you.

Hey perfectionist: "Allow yourself acceptance and rest, trusting that there is loving, transformative power in the absence of striving." Easier said than done though, right? But what if no doing is required? Can you still progress, grow, have good things happen in life if you simply allow life exactly as it is? That's the work for every perfectionist, even though it's totally at odds with how we relate to the world. Quote from @enneagrampaths on Instagram.

This is one of improv's finest and most transferable principles for getting you out of a tight spot. Whether that's a tricky scene, or just generally in life when you feel low mood or motivation. I certainly feel that way at the moment, so here I explore the value in focusing on what's good - like gratitude for what's here and now or our relationships.

Join me in the woods for a big one, exploring the case for having a more emotionally engaged experience, and how that affects quality of life. I'll also share 3 ways to change your relationship with how you feel those tricky feelings that every part of you wants to avoid.

A bittersweet one for you here, all about the way we handle change, a threshold, or something coming to an end. Also what this can invite or reveal about our inner world. I share reflections on work I've done to make endings smoother or at least less uncomfortable.

Do kids annoy you? Or pets? What about high-vibe people? Or loafers; the rich and leisured classes; care-free folk who drift through life, unaffected. Ever feel jealous or sad you don’t? These strong reactions could be telling you something about your unmet need for play. Here I make the case for more of it in life.

Sometimes we don't have big up-and-out-there playful energy Maybe you're flat, tired, lonely AND you have an appetite for some kind of light playfulness - you're in need of fun. In this episode we discuss that tension, and explore 3 ways to be playful and creative when you're a bit low.

A chilly swim in the English channel prompts some reflections on how the way we do one thing, is the way we do everything.

Earlier this week, 8 improvisers explored their innate qualities of earthiness, fire, water and air and how that helps you relate and express to other humans. Here's what happened and how the 4 elements help or hinder us.

Do you fear becoming an arsehole if you 'indulge' yourself or even dare to put your needs first? Do your needs even matter? Because your inner child certainly thinks so, it knows you DESERVE fun and pleasure. Yet as grown-ups we deny ourselves joy. Here's another installment of how to reclaim play and build a healthier relationship with your inner child.

Tomorrow, we're exploring the 4 elements in a workshop I'm leading. Each element has a quality that can feel familiar or less so, and with it an invitation to play with a different way of showing up in the world. In this episode I explore each element and give a favour or how to get playful with your elements, and what change that can bring about.

Join me for a coffee walk, reflecting on three big insights to come out of Saturday's Undefended Improv workshop in Leeds. We explore tricky conversations, why everyone is waiting for everyone else to go first, and why it's easy to drop the mask when you stay with yourself and what you really care about.

Chris has another rant about goals and a possible antidote to find your way through life with more ease, fun and fluidity.

In this live recording, I explore who your inner child is, how it relates to creativity, and how to nurture yours so life's more joyful. Recorded live at The New Mondays creative network event in Leeds on Monday 7th May, 2024.

Leeds improv Co-Lab community is 1 year old. Here's 3 lessons I've learned (hard won) about taking risks, and turning an idea or hope into a real-life event.

Tomorrow at The New Monday Leeds, we'll be exploring how to help your inner child go nuts, creatively, by tapping into your innate playfulness. I'll do this through the lens of improv, during a short talk at this local networking event. This is me getting some practice in, and giving you the unedited, full-fat version full of tips and tricks on how to handle uncertainty, while feeling more free and expressed.

Lessons from the dancefloor in what happens when we quieten the mind and let the body do the talking, or more accurately, listening. This one is all about how old habits show up in new ways.

Welcome to a new segment: BtB nightz... Where Chris tries to make sense of bedtime philosophy. This one's about the nature of change, its inevitability and how it comes to our rescue.

An odd thing happened recently. I realised I actually quite like Mondays these days. If you're anything like me, the start to the week often loons heavy with foreboding and an urgency to resume the grind. Here's an alternative, to reclaim your week. I'd add that this might help in how you relate to any tricky thing in your life; work, projects, people - not just Mondays.

It's been a while, but I've just returned from a super workshop in Lancaster where I bumped into myself again and learned more vital and pressing lessons in what it means to be human.

After mind-reading, expressing needs and getting them met (or not) is probably the single biggest cause of relationship turmoil. Here's an exploration of honouring self and other, a practice from Authentic Relating, and what it teaches us about life and happiness.

This Friday (26th April) sees the first, regular, Authentic Relating workshop in Leeds. Come for human kindness, connection and deeper-than-usual conversation. Here I'll give you a flavour of what to expect and why you need it in your life. Info here: wearewellness.co.uk/workshops/

I took a WHOLE week off. I know, what a luxury. Before, during and after that I noticed the effect disconnecting from work can have on the body and mind. Here's what I found, plus invitations on how to make the most from your time off.

Yes the irony hasn't escaped me in the title and nature of this episode. This one's all about how to better motivate, inspire and empower someone when they come at you with a problem or expressing discomfort.

These two are core practices from authentic relating that really help me navigate life's challenges. And life dealt me a sizable one recently. So I took that as an invite to practice what I preach... One of my edgier episodes. In case you're left wondering how things are after this episode - I now have a clean bill of health.

Last Saturday a bunch of improvisers explored what it's like to welcome and reveal your inner world, in a warm and fuzzy workshop I hosted called Undefended Improv. Here's an exploration, insights and juicy finds.

This word keeps popping up in life recently. At a session planning Leeds festival of play, in improv and from feedback I receive about my vibe. Here's an exploration of what it might be, and how I suspect we could all use a bit more curious, playful and flirty vibes in life.

Maybe you take your high standards and expectations for granted. There's nothing wrong with having them, but they can leave you feeling bruised and tender, if you're relentlessly striving and pushing yourself. Join me pool-side as we explore what could be going on inside, if you're sad, dissatisfied or frustrated.

We've been exploring finding your calm, when people piss you off, upset you or otherwise knock you off-balance. I'm doing some embodiment training in Somerset, here's some helpful techniques I've been learning.

A micro reflection on bringing about stuff you really care about, or not.

A quick walkthrough of the journey into more rewarding, heartfelt and blissful improv that I'll be taking people on next month. I explain some thinking behind the workshop, what's in store and how it all goes together into a deep yet gentle learning experience.

Later today I'll be exploring how to unlock more connection and play in your life, with my friend Anya Pearse. Anya is hosting the 2024 Unlocking Happiness Summit. I'll share our conversation on socials once it's published.

There's a part of you that's utterly terrified to experience certain feelings, and it'll do anything to prevent that. Yet those very same feelings are often what stand between us and what we really need. This short exploration examined what's really going on, and how we might comfortably navigate tricky reactions, without brutalising ourselves.

There's a particular kind of bliss in sharing what it's like being you, regardless of how that's met. When you write, talk or otherwise create, you're meeting a fundamental human need to be seen/heard, valued and understood. Some reflections on what's going on and how to get more in your life.

Tonight at the Leeds improv Co-Lab, we'll be playing a listening game to reveal more depth in conversation, and get closer to our fellow humans. In this episode I'll explore an Authentic Relating game that helps to do this - which has value in everyday life, as well as Improv.

Gosh it's TOUGH bringing an idea to life, isn't it? Especially when you really care about the things you want to create. This could be a career, relationship, business, or (if you're me) a workshop. Here are some reflections on how we defend and deny ourselves the things which our hearts desire.

I had a delightful evening huffing and puffing myself into euphoria at a breathwork session, during a recent retreat. Join me on my morning-after walk through a rural valley, reflecting on what it's like to meet yourself.

There's something about old, abandoned relics of recent history that hits me in the guy every time. They're so evocative to me, alive with the past presence of humans. Join me as I unashamedly geek out on a bunker I discovered on a recent walk on the Lincolnshire coast.

What happens if you DARE to tell the truth about what it's like being you. I've just been on another retreat and I took a risk, when I had a BIG reaction to something that happened there. In this episode I explore one of the 5 practices of authentic relating.