Stagione 2
The Essentialist
Wired for Worry — Negativity Bias and the Essentialist Antidote 🌳🌱
Episode description I've been away for a few weeks. Not dramatically — no crisis, no difficulty. Just a pause. A stepping back. A deliberate slowing down that turned out to be more necessary than I realised when I began it. And something clarified in the quiet. In this first episode of Season 2, I share honestly what was really in the gap — a sense of misalignment I'd been carrying quietly for longer than I'd admitted, and a philosophy I'd been living with for years without fully naming or committing to. Whole life essentialism. Not the corporate pursuit of peak performance. Something quieter and more human than that. The disciplined pursuit of what actually matters — applied to the whole of your life. Season 2 of the Alder Path Podcast is built around that idea. This episode is where it begins. Welcome back. I'm glad you're here. 🌳🌱 About Roger Hunt & Alder Path Coaching I'm Roger Hunt — gardener, nature based life coach and host of the Alder Path Podcast. I tend gardens and I tend people — helping those in midlife find their way back to what actually matters. My coaching is grounded in whole life essentialism. Walk and talk, nature based, unhurried. For people in midlife ready to build a quieter, more intentional life. Based in the East Midlands. Get in Touch If anything in this episode resonated and you'd like to explore coaching — or simply have a quiet conversation about where you are — I'd love to hear from you. 🌍 Website: www.alderpathcoaching.co.uk 📧 Email: hello@alderpathcoaching.co.uk
About this episode Negativity bias — the brain's tendency to register, process and remember negative experiences more intensely than positive ones — is one of the most ancient features of the human mind. It kept our ancestors alive. And in the modern world, it runs constantly in the background of our lives, scanning for threats that rarely materialise, manufacturing anxiety from uncertainty, and making the present feel insufficient by comparison with an imagined safer alternative. It's also one of the most significant obstacles to whole life essentialism. In this Season 2 episode of the Alder Path Podcast I explore: - What negativity bias actually is and why we all have it - How it shows up in work, relationships and anything unfamiliar — with honest personal examples - Why it hits differently in midlife — when accumulated experience gives the worried mind plenty of material to work with - The connection between negativity bias and why the essentialist life is harder to live than it sounds - Active savouring — the daily practice that genuinely retrains what the mind tends toward over time - Nature as the natural container for this practice — and why walk and talk coaching works so well for overthinkers and over-worriers This episode ends with one simple, practical thing to try today. Not a system. Not a programme. Just three things — noticed properly, held for a moment longer than usual. That's enough to begin. 🌿 This Week's Practice Tonight — or tomorrow morning, whichever feels more natural — pause for two minutes. Three things from today that were genuinely good. Not extraordinary. Just good. Real. Present. Yours. Hold them for a moment longer than you usually would. Long enough to actually feel them rather than just note them. Then — if you can — take one walk this week where the sole intention is to notice what's good. Not to solve anything. Not to process anything. Just to notice. The brain that is genuinely attending to what matters has less room for the manufactured threats that don't. About Roger Hunt & Alder Path Coaching I'm Roger Hunt — gardener, nature based life coach and host of the Alder Path Podcast. I tend gardens and I tend people — helping those in midlife find their way back to what actually matters. My coaching is grounded in whole life essentialism — the disciplined pursuit of what actually matters, applied to the whole of life. Walk and talk, nature based, unhurried. Based in Derby and the East Midlands. Get in Touch If anything in this episode resonated and you'd like to explore coaching — or simply have a quiet conversation about where you are — I'd love to hear from you. 🌿 Website: www.alderpathcoaching.co.uk 📧 Email: hello@alderpathcoaching.co.uk Disclaimer The reflections shared in this podcast are my own personal thoughts and experiences. They are intended for general information and reflection only, and are not a substitute for professional mental health support, therapy, or counselling. I am a qualified coach — holding a Level 5 Diploma in Performance Coaching and NLP and trained as a mindfulness teacher — but I am not a counsellor, psychotherapist, or mental health professional. If you are experiencing significant emotional distress or mental health difficulties, please seek support from a qualified professional or contact your GP. Nothing shared in this podcast should be taken as personal coaching advice. If you'd like to explore working together, please get in touch directly.
In this weeks episode, Roger reflects on the last decade of practising mindfulness and accessing the space between stimulus and response. In the episode, Roger shares how he found the gateway into mindfulness back in 2015, the 31-day mindfulness summit by Melli O Brien. You can still access the summit, the link is below... The Mindfulness Summit Get in Touch If anything in this episode resonated and you'd like to explore coaching — or simply have a quiet conversation about where you are — I'd love to hear from you. 🌿 Website: www.alderpathcoaching.co.uk 📧 Email: hello@alderpathcoaching.co.uk 🎙️ Alder Path Podcast — Season 2 on Spotify --- Disclaimer The reflections shared in this podcast are my own personal thoughts and experiences. They are intended for general information and reflection only, and are not a substitute for professional mental health support, therapy, or counselling. I am a qualified coach — holding a Level 5 Diploma in Performance Coaching and NLP and trained as a mindfulness teacher — but I am not a counsellor, psychotherapist, or mental health professional. If you are experiencing significant emotional distress or mental health difficulties, please seek support from a qualified professional or contact your GP. Nothing shared in this podcast should be taken as personal coaching advice. If you'd like to explore working together, please get in touch directly. --- Connect & Subscribe If this episode resonated please share it with someone navigating a transition right now. Sometimes knowing that the wilderness is a phase — not a destination — is exactly what someone needs to hear. Follow or subscribe on Spotify so you don't miss Season 2. Walk slowly. Pay attention. And trust the season you're in. 🌿