Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin… said the BBC Radio presenter on Children’s Hour, the must listen program for kids in 1950’s England. We gathered in the parlour, my sister and I and we’d listen to a story being read on radio. I remember Little Women and Enid Blyton’s…

I came across this wonderful TED talk the other day by Yvonne van Amerongen. I’m always on the look out for information about Dementia as we have a family member who lives with this dreadful illness. He’s 83 and life is a turmoil for him as his memory is diminished…

Two of my friends have died in the last two weeks. I’m here in Bali receiving messages from home. I remember my mother, who was famously caustic in her commentary on life, saying that at 80 her only social engagements were to attend funerals and do her weekly shopping. Both…

Last night I moseyed down to the beach club for sunset drinks,  which in my new angel status world means a slushy mocktail probably with more calories than a decent glass of wine. However I feel virtuous and I don’t miss alcohol in this very stress free world where the…

Financial management is a tricky thing. It’s something you learn. It’s not just common sense. And many women are really bad at it. It’s only in recent years that we have started a conversation about women and money and dare I say that Oprah Winfrey and Suze Orman had a…

Our Viva 70 friend and Wellness writer, Julia Richards has done it again! Such a timely and relevant article especially for Australians dealing with smoke from the fires. For days on end with thick smoke hanging heavy in the air, many people were forced to stay indoors. It didn’t take…

Since September last year many Australians have lived with nightly images of our communities on fire. Worse for some they have lost their homes and loved ones. When disaster strikes trauma results and for people directly affected by fire the road to healing is long and expert professional support is…

Here in Australia it’s mid- summer and along with 40 degree temperatures the bushfires rage. Julia Richard is our regular Wellness contributor to Viva 70. Originally from New South Wales she has lived in Yorkshire for many years now working as a coach and medical herbalist. This wonderful article was…

I bought a red woollen winter coat yesterday, in a sale at Zara. It’s 36 degrees outside. The shopping centre is shrouded in thick yellow-white smoke, like a tarpaulin tightly covering the city, letting nothing through. Not sure why I bought it. Then I remembered a photo. Images. Jane Fonda…