I can hardly wrap my head around the fact that it’s been a whole four years since I first donned the “Beth the Barista” cape.

Ok, full disclosure, I ditched the apron shortly after graduation… but honestly, once a Barista, always a Barista, am I right? You might think I’m a bit crazy (well, the best people usually are, according to Alice in Wonderland!), but my brief stint at Starbucks totally changed my relationship with coffee for the better. Can I remember all the training? Nope, definitely not! But I can still confidently chat about the distinction between Robusta and Arabica Beans. I can even hold a conversation with my Ethiopian taxi driver about Kaldi the Ethiopian Goat herder who stumbled upon the effects of coffee for the first time…

In the four years since graduating, I’ve tackled four different jobs, squeezed in a six-month escapade around Eastern Europe, and relocated to the North of England (as far North as you can go before hitting Scotland!) amidst all the other whirlwind changes. Yet, “Beth the Barista” still seems to fit just as snugly now as it did back then.

I did it, I got my act together, and now everything is perfect. Yeah right… life’s all about being messy, complicated, and challenging. Everyone comes with a backstory, and it’s rare to meet someone without a touch of sadness in their tales. The key is to make the most out of what we’ve been dealt! My two ongoing missions in life are: (1) to understand what I’m made of – my quirks, talents, and limitations. Knowing my “ingredients” and how they react in different situations helps me whip up recipes that suit me and avoid those that don’t (just like you wouldn’t leave warm milk out on a hot day). (2) to expand my toolkit. Unlike IQ, EQ (emotional intelligence) can be improved. I’ve found that the more I work on my EQ, the better life gets. Bad days become bearable, bad moods are nipped in the bud before they turn into deep dark depressions, and relationships are salvaged. Highly recommend it! This is a lifelong learning journey that evolves as I do. As I uncover more about myself, I realize there’s another tool waiting for me to master.

Buckle up for the 2024 edition of Beth the Barista! Get ready for a wild ride! 🎢

Ever felt better after a sunny afternoon in the garden or on the beach? Ever wondered why? Natural sunlight has soooo many healing qualities. Most of us know that our body needs sunlight to produce vitamin D but what I didn’t realise it that the vitamin D supplement I took was not meeting my body’s need. Not only are there receptors in our skin that create vitamin D for our bodies (which supplements fail to do) but there are also specialised light sensors in our eyes that help us manage our internal body clock. These sensors help our body to know when it is time to be active, and if used correctly, can be the answer to getting a naturally good sleep. Sleep is so important but its not the only thing that sunlight helps, when light hits these sensors in our eyes it sends signals all across our body which and triggers so many other useful body hacks the most interesting is the signal which regulate hormones, mood, energy levels and sense of alertness. This means that without sunlight, some of these hormones simply won’t be released (or released in a lower dosage) meaning that you can feel tired, unmotivated and even depressed.

This is why in winter many people get SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Most indoor lighting just isn’t bright enough to trigger this sensor in our eyes. The cure? It can take only 15 minutes on a bright sunny afternoon to benefit our brains and give our sensors the kick start they need.

Bright light therapy is simply exposing yourself to 10,000 LUX of white light each day. For simply preventing depression, Dr Ilardi recommends that 15 minutes a day is enough although please do speak to your health care provider before trying this therapy.

Light therapy can work within 5 days, and has very little (if any) side affects. Compared to anti-depressants which can take up to 2 weeks and often have horrible side-effects (as I have personally discovered). Obviously its best to get our light exposure the old fashioned way, as going outside exposes us to a natural air-born pro-biotic and being with nature is a form of therapy in itself. If this is not possible for you, light boxes for less than £100 can be purchased. At first I thought it seemed like a big investment but actually I spend at least £10 a month on anti-depressants and that’s not even calculating the other expenses that depression can bring (friends, career, life etc,). So, for me it was a no brainer.

As part of my new anti-depressant lifestyle I shall be purchasing a light box and adding it into my morning routine. Probably, whilst sipping my first glass of water and whilst the coffee is brewing.

There are sooo many benefits of exercise. It boosts, metabolism, self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reducing blood pressure your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. It even slows ageing. It’s medically proven that people who do regular physical activity have:

• up to a 35% lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke
• up to a 50% lower risk of type 2 diabetes
• up to a 50% lower risk of colon cancer
• up to a 20% lower risk of breast cancer
• a 30% lower risk of early death
• up to an 83% lower risk of osteoarthritis
• up to a 68% lower risk of hip fracture
• a 30% lower risk of falls (among older adults)
• up to a 30% lower risk of depression
• up to a 30% lower risk of dementia

So why do we find it so hard to exercise? Because, its built into our genetic programming to only spend our energy in pursuit of meaningful goals otherwise be as lazy as possible. Its the same default programming that we had in our hunter gatherer days that hunger or low energy could be just around the corner. So in order to overcome our programming we have to make exercise meaningful.

Study’s show the best type of exercise for depression is 30 minutes of aerobic exercise. Use an aerobic calculator to determine what your heart rate needs to be.

How can we make movement meaningful? I personally decided to become a barista because I knew that it would get me moving. I do 4 lots of 4 hour shifts a week and during that time I am constantly moving and there is at least an half an hour period where I am running around, moving boxes or cleaning all of which give me my aerobic exercise AND I get paid (relieving a financial pressure) AND I get to contribute to the success of the business I work for AND I love coffee so there is that too…

Being a barista works for me because I have a passion for coffee and being a student allows me some flexibility in my timetable. But I appreciate that its not a suitable arrangement for everyone. Here are some other suggestions:

• Arrange a walk catch up with a friend – instead of sitting in store to catch up with your friend, take your coffee to go (I recommend buying a reusable cup so you get a 25p discount and casually save the planet whilst you are at it) and head to the local park
• Track your steps – create a competition with your friends
• Do your shopping physically rather than online
• Walk to work (not always possible but cycling perhaps might be a cheaper way to beat the morning traffic)
• Join a sports club (gain some friends, have some fun and beat depression what more can you ask for?!)
• Get a dog – not suitable for everyone but if you have the capacity to care for a dog then you will have to walk them at least once a day, probably twice, meaning that you will benefit from the outdoors too.

If you can get your exercise outside, then you will also unlock the magic of light exposure which will be step no. 2 covered in the next blog. Stay tuned to find out more…

In the calm master class ‘rethinking depression’, Dr Steve Ilardi identifies 6 key areas to creating an anti-depressant lifestyle. These are:

• Movement is Medicine – Exercise
• Light exposure
• Brain food
• Human connection
• Ending Rumination
• Sleep

Most of us will already know some of these factors but by diving deeper into the practicalities of why they are important and how to implement them will give us a better foundation to create this new life.

For some people exercise will be key, others it will be sleep, nevertheless it is important to practice all of these elements to keep yourself immune from developing depression.

“UGH, they ran out of my favourtite sandwhich so I had to buy this ugly thing… how depressing!”

“Look at this weather, its so wet and miserable. So depressing. “

In everyday conversation depression is commonly misused to describe the sadness we all experience from time to time. Its part of the human experience and usually doesn’t last very long and doesn’t impact the persons ability to function day to day.

Major depressive disorder or ‘depression’, however is a completely different kettle of fish. It robs people of their energy, ability to sleep, focus, memory, sex drive, social life, even their ability to feel pleasure. It actually lights up the brains pain circuitry, bringing a feeling of torment. Because its an invisible illness, its very difficult to explain and get support from people around them.

According to the world health organisation, clinical depression is now the worlds single leading cause of disability.

We live in a world that we are not designed for. The constant stress of deadlines, social, work and financial pressures, its all too much. Our flight or fight response is really rough on the body, but for our ancestors this was necessary but after they had escaped the stressful situation they were able to turn it off. Today, surrounded by smart phones which are designed to keep us ‘connected’ and ‘on’ at all times. This causes us to constantly be in a fight or flight mode, and the chemicals involved in this process actually become toxic, which in turn causes millions of hormones and neurotransmitters to become out of balance.

THIS is depression.

And its only a very short intro to what depression is. Many people are much more equipped to answer this so I will be trying to get some guest bloggers from different perspectives to answer what they think depression is. My aim is to try to make people aware that it is not a ‘made up’ illness that lazy people get because they just can’t be bothered to get up anymore… its much more serious.

Almost three years ago I gave up my corporate job to continue my education and recover from my auto-immune disease. I am now in my third year of my Bachelor of Arts Business Management degree and have also become a part-time shift supervisor at Starbucks in Tile Hill.

This blog is designed to track my progress so far and to share any new findings I encounter completing my dissertation. I am so excited to begin this journey and would love for you to join me!

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor so this blog is not intended for medical advice, its purely for educational and human interest purposes. If you need help please speak to your doctor or in an emergency go to A&E. You can also call the Samaritans free of charge: 116 123