Niall Breslin (Bressie) on Mental Health and The Importance Of Perspective

“Most people really struggle with just slowing their thoughts
down. So, I always say ‘What’s your
favourite song?”. If you close your eyes, and you can hear
the creeks in the piano of the song and hear feet moving on the
ground, all of the sudden, you are in that space. That’s
meditation and that mindfulness.”


This week’s episode is with the incredible Niall Breslin A.K.A
Bressie. 


 What can we say about this man? We admire him so much. You
would be incredibly hard pressed to find something Niall hasn't
done in his lifetime. He is a bestselling author, podcaster,
musician, philanthropist, and a former professional athlete.
However, right now he is on a mission with regards to mental
health.


 Over the past decade, Niall has become one of Ireland’s
most formidable and inspiring mental health advocates. He has
undoubtedly been one of the spearheads of the mental health
conversation in Ireland and bravely stepped up to speak on the
issue years before it became a mainstream discussion. 


 Niall is also the founder and creative director of the
mental health advocacy charity ‘A Lust for Life’, a multi-award
winning movement that uses content, campaigns and events to
facilitate young people to be effective guardians of their own
mind. For more information on this, visit: 
www.alustforlife.com


 In this episode gf The Happy Pear Podcast, Bressie talks us
through his incredible journey through life thus far and how it
has shaped his perspective on mental health and mindfulness
today. 


 In his early years, Bressie was a massive sport enthusiast
and ultimately worked tirelessly to get the opportunity to play
rugby at an Elite level.  After sport, he ‘naturally’ moved
into music and again, while he loved the industry, he knew he
wasn’t coping with the stress and the pressure it put on him.
Following a panic attack after a live TV appearance, he knew he
needed to finally seek professional help for his issues. 


 Niall spoke so openly about his realisation of needing
help. Unfortunately, given what is often the nature of seeking
support with mental health issues, Niall struggled with reaching
out, mostly out of fear of disappointing those closest to him.
One of the most interesting insights from Niall was that he felt
he couldn’t tell those closest to him about his struggles ‘out of
fear they would have felt lied to for years’. Obviously, once he
did open up, this wasn't the case. In fact, the opposite was
true. 


Niall discussed how we all need to work through our emotions, no
matter how hard they might be to deal with. Niall spoke about his
10-year journey with therapy, which is still ongoing today and
spoke to us about the importance of attitude, choosing our
perspective and understanding when suffering is inevitable and
allowed. 


 We also shared a really frank conversation with Niall
around emotional connection in our personal relationships and how
we have failed and succeeded in this aspect of our lives. We talk
about the importance of these close relationships and the further
importance of true connection within them. We also spoke openly
about the dangers of social media obsession and the challenges we
have faced from our time in the spotlight.


 Niall also brought us through the exciting emerging area of
music therapy and how it is being used in mental health services
in Ireland today. There are some amazing practical tips with this
conversation around anchoring your attention that you can
implement right away, so we highly recommend listening
through. 


Niall shared his 6 fundamental principles which he encourages
people to follow when they begin their mindfulness and meditation
journey: 


-       Making it work for you.


-       Non-judge


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