I wrote the first draft of this Newsletter as I waited at the Brisbane airport.
And before I sat down, I was not entirely sure what I was going to write about.
But I figured I would write about what might be at the forefront of people’s minds right about now.
And not just about the specifics of the shenanigans going on right now – whether that is a USA / Israel / Iran thing, or a Russian / Ukraine thing, or a Israel / Palestine thing, or a Jeffrey Epstein thing.
Or whatever it is – of the many things to choose from – that is trying to pull a lot of our attention now.
My primary interest is not in the state of affairs or even the (real “why”, I am a lot more interested in how we become the type of person who is not affected, or less affected, by WHATEVER the apparent crisis might be, regardless of how close we are or aren’t to the epicentre of the issue.
I am most interested in how we can become a powerful enough person, so we can maintain a sense of calm, clarity, stability and with a luminous mind shining brightly; REGARDLESS of the flavour of the world or local issues going on.
And even how we can get and remain in love with life, regardless of the veracity of the storms we weather.
Rather than trying to “logically” figure out why things are happening, or how they will unfold, or who is telling the truth and who is telling ‘porky pies’, which will just send us all nuts.
And is not that useful for us in our day-to-day.
Just last week I recommended a client of mine to stop watching the “news” for 1 week, as an EXPERIMENT to determine the reality of 2 things.
1. How does he feel when he does not watch the “news” for 1 week; and
2. How much of a negative impact does it have on his day-to-day decision-making, if he does not watch the “news” for 1 week?
I am very interested to see the results of his experiment.
I actually stopped watching this thing called “news” about 26 years ago now, and I believe it has not been detrimental at all, and I also believe it has improved my psychological health, when dealing with things going wrong at the micro (personal) and macro (global) level.
So, I guess, my first TIP on thriving in a world gone bonkers is to unplug from unhealthy brain food.
The other thing for me is to really, really get good at FOCUSING ON WHAT YOU DO WANT.
The more time we spend immersing our attention on what we DON’T WANT (e.g. a war or crisis), the LESS time, energy, attention, creative power and intention we have available to focus on the things we DO WANT.
It takes real effort to break the spell of over-attending to the things that aren’t mentally healthy (or useful) for us.
But the pay-off is huge.
How much attention are you giving to the things you DON’T want?
Versus, how much attention you are giving to the things you DO WANT?
Now, let’s get even more practical.
The most import physical thing to work on
It is not surprising to me that the practice of yoga – which is 1000’s of years old – focused on this thing too.
Just in case you haven’t heard me rant about this before – the yoga postures (asana’s) are not the most important part of yoga.
They might even be the least important.
The thing for me, which is MOST REVEVANT to us all (and this topic), is practices that condition and optimize our Autonomic Nervous System.
In yoga, the practice most at play, when it comes to stabilising and fortifying the nervous system is the practice of Pranayama (breath work), followed by meditation.
When our nervous system is stable, our mind is stable, and our organs are functioning in a homeostatic state.
Our cardiovascular system is optimized.
The digestion, assimilation and elimination of the food we put in our body (which provides nutrients for the cells and the building blocks for our body) is optimized.
The other thing is that we are able to draw greater levels of oxygen into our lungs and cells.
An intentional breathing practice is the NUMBER 1 practice I encourage all my clients to add as a Daily Habit.
It is the best tool to recalibrate and re-tune the Autonomic Nervous System.
It is also the primary practice which I believe allows us to maintain a stable mind, when the world goes a little bonkers.
For people who don’t have a meditative practice (the ultimate aim is breathwork leading into meditation), I strongly encourage them to start with a breathwork practice.
I believe it is the most PRACTICAL ritual when it comes to building our PERSONAL POWER.
It enhances our ability to stay calm, centred, grounded and stable when the world is a sh#t-show around us.
Do you do a daily or regular practice of intentional breathing?
If you are starting from scratch, download the WimHof App and practice the WimHof Method.
Our mental health is directly connected to the health of our nervous system.
And this is one of the best methods I have found in 26 years, to become more personally POWERFUL.
To become the person who is calm “under fire”.
I personally don’t see the world coming into peace and harmony anytime soon, so the better prepared we are, for whatever is thrown our way, the better off we all are.
In Summary
The world is a bit bonkers now, and is likely to have continuing or new “crisis” in the future (i.e. we need to accept this current reality).
I highly recommend doing a 1-week EXPERIMENT to see if not watching the “news” improves your mental health (and the ability to relax and be more present).
Practice drawing your attention back to the things you ACTUALLY WANT, and keep your attention firmly fixed there.
A daily (or regular) practice of breathwork or pranayama is essential to maintaining a healthy nervous system (and as a consequence, all the other “systems” in our bodies).
Check out the WinHof Method if breathwork is new to you.
My Parting Words
The calmer we are, in the face of any adversity, the better solutions we come up with.
And right now (in 2026), there are plenty of things going on which can easily lead to mild or major anxiety (or panic).
Step one is to not give these crises too much attention.
Spend more time focused on what you DO WANT.
As I said, I stopped watching the “news” about 26 years ago and it has not led to anything negative or bad choices (because I am not in the know).
Try the 1-week news-free Experiment and see what your own experience is like.
It (watching the “news”) is like any habit that does not elevate us.
It might be time to break it (or at the very least reduce it).
Eating no ultra-processed food is the ideal, but even eating a lot less is going improve your health.
The other major takeaway from this Newsletter is about taking care of our autonomic nervous system to improve our mental health (and resilience).
The best tool being “breathwork” (aka: pranayama).
Intentional breathing practices build back elasticity in our diaphragm, increases the volume of oxygen in our lungs, massages the internal organs (improving digestion, assimilation and elimination), brings more coherence to the heart, and it helps stabilize the mind.
Making it a very HIGH- ROI activity.
Need I say more?
Breath is life, and intentional breathing helps us create an EXCEPTIONAL life.
Have a superfantabulous day and a week filled with deeper breaths.
Take care.
Carl
Quotable QUOTE:
“Practice drawing your attention back to the things you ACTUALLY WANT, and keep your attention firmly fixed there.” Carl Massy
(Author of 18 Ways We Make Life WAY Harder Than It Needs To Be)
PS: Have you read or listened to this book yet? 18 Ways We Make Life WAY Harder Than It Needs To Be
