Impact!

Recent weeks have seen tense and sometimes violent protests erupting over Europe. What’s been happening in countries as far apart as France and Greece have escalated for different reasons, but at their root there are some common themes that are far from straightforward for incumbent governments to solve.

In this episode, we seek to see what’s causing the protests and riots, noting the major challenges that European nations are facing and the polarized solutions being proposed by centrist and increasingly popular far-left and far-right political parties. We explore the political and economic consequences for individual nati...

As millions across the US cast their votes to decide the balance of power in Congress, in this episode we give attention to the emotional toil that these pivotal elections are having for many people. Relationships strained to breaking point, deeply uncomfortable differences, and judgements on character are polarizing the divide, while many are choosing to keep their opinions muted for fear of inflaming relations with those they live or work with. We consider the implications, and as always, hone in to see where our intentions and prayers may be needed in the final few days before the polling...

In this episode we offer one of our occasional country files, honing in on a country that’s not often in the headlines of the western news media to understand what challenges and opportunities its people are facing. This time, we turn the spotlight on Uzbekistan, the central Asian nation of nearly 40 million people and one of only two double land-locked countries in the world. As we quickly learned, it’s a country full of surprises and contradictions. We hear the voices of some Uzbeks speaking about what life is like as the country marks 35 years since becoming independent of t...

Allegations of abuse and discrimination based on skin colour and ethnicity against individuals targeted by the US immigration enforcement agency ICE continue to be reported. At the same time, some who are detained are said to being put under pressure to voluntarily give up their claims of asylum or other reasons to remain in the US, while there are concerns about the conditions and treatment of some who are being held at some detention centres.

In this week’s edition of Impact! we try to unpick these allegations of excessive force, racial profiling, poor detention conditions, and de...

In this episode we turn our attention to what it means to be coherent as we let down our anchors and focus on a year of keeping ourselves grounded during times of uncertainty and rapid change. Being coherent means letting our experiences settle into meaning, alignment and a greater sense of wholeness. It asks us to notice what is emerging and invites us to incorporate what we’ve experienced into our lives. This means becoming aligned what serves us, while letting go of what doesn’t. In turn, coherence calls on us to make space for integration, meaning, and whol...

Five years after US troops left Afghanistan, the approximately 25 million women and girls in the country remain subject to an exceptionally wide series of exclusions from education, work, public space, mobility and political life. For many, life has been getting worse and has become largely restricted to the privacy of their homes since wide-ranging powers to punish so-called acts of vice became codified in law two years ago. In this edition, we seek to understand what it’s really like to be female under the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2026, and what hopes might exist for a lifting of the ma...

Could it be that what we pray or hold intention for now has the power to affect the experience of others many years ago, such as relieving their suffering or willing that they are held in light through what became recorded as a perilous situation? In this episode, we ponder whether prayers and focused intention can affect past events. We compare perspectives from Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other traditions, discuss ideas from quantum entanglement, and even mention of parallel universes and the multiverse, and discuss the limited scientific studies that have explored the effectiveness of retrospective intercession.<...

Rarely has a meeting between a US and Chinese President been more critical, as Presidents Trump and Xi prepare to meet for their summit in Washington next week. Their agenda includes trade tariffs, wars, space warfare, Taiwan, and more. Yet, it’s not clear whether the stark alarm being sounded by AI tech bosses will have the urgency of attention that it needs by the two countries whose role in regulating and slowing the pace of development is key.

In this episode, we explore what lies behind the tech bosses’ warning, and why the geopolitics, trade, military and...

In a poignant episode commemorating 25 years since the horrific attacks of 9/11, we ask how might we respond to that appalling tragedy now, and specifically, where might we hold our intentions and prayers as America marks this sombre anniversary.

As we quickly came to see when researching this episode, there’s much that calls for our prayers, including what’s happening today, what we might pray for retrospectively, and the implications for our own lives. In this special episode, we move quickly to holding these many needs on our hearts, and invite you to join us in an exte...

With the US midterm elections rapidly approaching, it’s likely to be a time for many when differences of view are ripe to inflame passions that may be very unpleasant and unsettling. In this episode, we look at how easily such strong emotions can take hold and sometimes get mischannelled. We’ll see how this relates to what the highly-esteemed Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh calls interbeing, and why this concept may be important to remember. We’ll remind ourselves what staying resilient looks like, and to this end, we’ll get practical, as Ellen introduces a five-week Labyrinth Activist...

Fires, floods, earthquakes and cyclones seem to be happening all the time now, and with ever-more intensity. This year has seen records being broken in many areas in terms of the frequency and intensity of such events. At least where human beings are concerned, these are records that aren’t to be wanted.

Yet, can we pin all of what’s happening on global warming, and might Mother Nature herself be telling us that it’s time to take serious note of how we’re impacting her natural order?

These are the questions we’ll explore in...

While now often out of the headlines, huge swaths of land in western Canada remain ablaze, as the embers of hundreds of other fires seen across the country this year continue to burn. The smoke pollution effects, large-scale evacuation of people and huge loss of forests are very clear to see. There are many longer-term consequences of the fires too, as we’ll see in this episode.

We examine the 2026 wildfires in Canada–particularly those in British Columbia–explaining causes, impacts, firefighting challenges, and the wide environmental and health consequences that have reached cities across North America. We loo...

As the UN celebrates and brings attention to the world’s youth with its theme of “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations” for International Youth Day this Wednesday, in this week’s Impact! we seek to understand the many challenges and opportunities that young people today are facing. For many of the nearly 1.3 billion young people who are aged 15 to 24, the future looks more uncertain than ever, as global inequality, AI, and rapidly shifting opportunities to secure work and afford homes present unprecedented challenges for young people in poorer and richer nations alike. We’ll take a special look at the specific c...

At a time of tinder-box peace in the Middle East, the 20,000+ strong Iran-backed Houthis based in Yemen threaten to disrupt shipping through the Red Sea and launch drone attacks on Saudi Arabia’s vital east-west oil pipeline. A blockade of the narrow Bab al-Mandeb strait into the Red Sea would take the global oil trade crisis to a whole new level, yet with Houthi involvement, could happen as easily as Iran managed to close the Gulf of Hormuz. in this week’s edition of Impact!, we seek to understand who the Houthis are, what they want, and why they have...

In Impact! this week, we take stock of the state of migrant and refugee movements so far this year. We reflect upon the sobering reality of what motivates such migration, and the all-too frequent tragedies faced by those making dangerous sea crossings in an attempt to flee oppression and desperate conditions at home. We hone in on the principal regional routes and recent shipwrecks, public attitudes toward asylum, and the urgent need for international cooperation. The push factors behind the sharp rise in forced displacement, including conflict and climate-related disasters, make migration not only a global problem, but a...

In this week’s Impact! we give attention to an invaluable service that’s close to both our hearts, and with which we have very recent and ongoing support from–the worldwide hospice movement. We explore their surprisingly recent history, purpose, and the global reach of palliative care, explaining how hospices began, the services they provide and how they are funded. As always, we see where our prayers and intentions may be most needed as we honour those who give their time to hospice support, and consider some of the challenges they face, including how they operate and are funded...

A brave, bold, but battered country marked 15 years of existence last week, South Sudan. Its many challenges are staggering, but it’s also a country whose predominantly younger generation have hope for a future free from conflict, food shortage and displacement, and in which young voices of today help pave the way for establishing regular elections, political cooperation and the rule of law. Join us as we dive into the state of the world’s youngest country as it reaches its 15th anniversary, and see where our intentions and prayers may be most needed.

Intentions and prayers star...

Philanthropy may suggest a need to be wealthy, but this is far from true. In this week’s episode we explore what the concept really means, how it differs from charity, and how it relates to intention holding. We’ll hear some heart-warming stories and come to understand why all the world’s great religions have philanthropy at their core. We’ll see that science proves that it pays to be nice. And we’ll see how philanthropy as a practice can be rooted in household relationships and everyday acts of generosity that preserve dignity and empowers others.

Intentio...

As we enter the second half of the year, Global Healing Response turns its attention to the theme of resilience, the intentional capacity to stay grounded, endure, adapt, and grow amid personal and collective crises. We get to the bottom of what this means and how we might strengthen our capacity to stay resilient in these challenging times. And as always, we suggest where to focus our intentions and prayers.

Intentions and prayers start at 24 minutes 40 seconds.

Suggested Intention Focus for this week

This week, as we reflect on the Global Healing Response...

El Niño returned with a vengeance this month, with some experts warning that it could be the strongest yet. Millions face the threat of fire, floods and drought in the months to come. Join us for an El Niño 101 as we understand what this natural phenomenon is, why it matters, and how human-created global warming are amplifying its effects. We ask why the 2026 event could be especially strong, and how it reshapes weather, ecosystems, and human livelihoods across the globe, with real-world examples of drought, flooding, and food insecurity. As always, we invite you to join us in...

With Pride Month now in full swing, in this week’s Impact! we celebrate the many positive stories of progress toward tolerance and equality for LGBTQ+ people in many countries, while acknowledging the rollbacks being faced by others. We ask what is pride, as Clive explains why it’s become especially important and meaningful for him. And as always, we take a look at where we might hone in with our intentions and prayers.

Intentions and prayers start at 27 minutes 19 seconds.

Suggested Intention Focus for this week

This week, as we mark Pride Mont...

Remigration, the policy of deporting individuals based on their assessed right to live in a country, is increasingly being framed in the rhetoric of populist parties in Europe and North America. For some, it can be taken as a code word for targeting people based on ethnicity who aren’t seen by those detaining and deporting them as fitting their view of what is to be a fellow citizen based on race or appearance. A number of those who maintain this view subscribe to the “Great Replacement” theory, that suggests white populations in some populations are being deliberately targeted by imm...

Following our look at Brits’ perceptions of life Stateside last week, in this episode Ellen puts Clive on the spot to find out if common American views of the Brits really stack up in practice. We get behind the myths and the mysteries, and uncover some surprising truths. Do we really get lost in the great trans-Atlantic divide, or do we have more in common than we realize? Fasten your seat-belts as, 10 years on from the Brexit referendum, we take a look at everything from what on earth goes on inside the British Parliament, to whether Britain is actually a...

As both the USA and UK approach important anniversaries in the coming weeks–250 years of independence from Britain stateside, and 10 years on from the decision to go independent from Europe on the UK side of the pond–this week, we check out what we think of each other. This week, Ellen is our eyes on the ground stateside as our eyes on the ground as Clive seeks to see whether ideas that many Britons hold about life in the USA are really true. Fasten your seat belts, as we cover a lot of ground–everything from what it’s like to...

Taking time for self-care and releasing anything that doesn’t serve us is something that’s well known to virtually all you take part in energy and intention work. Yet, sometimes we need a strong reminder as to why this is necessary. In this episode, we take a deep dive into the practice-within-a-practice of offering ourselves self-care. We discuss practices like Tonglen, heart-brain coherence, self-protection, and conclude with a guided approach to clear energy at the end of an intention session that may help you on your way.

Suggested Intention Focus for this week

This week...

This week we turn our attention to a situation that just a few years ago, would have dominated world headlines and moved the world to action, yet today is hardly mentioned by the world’s news media–the devastating humanitarian crisis in Somalia, where over 6 million people are facing acute food insecurity. We take a look at the human impacts—widespread displacement, child malnutrition, school closures, water shortages, and increased risks to women and girls—and outline current humanitarian responses, funding shortfalls, and the role of climate change. As always, we then turn to see where we might focus our inte...

This episode investigates the disturbing phenomenon called "Rape Academy": clandestine online communities where men share tips, videos, and tactics for drugging and sexually abusing women, often their partners. We discuss insights gained through investigative reporting, the role of technology platforms and regulation failures, and seek to understand where our prayers and intentions may be best focused in our silent activism against the abuse that too many women are facing and continue to be traumatized by.

Please note that this episode describes subject matter that may disturb some listeners.

Intentions and prayers start at 22 minutes 25 seconds.<...

As World Labyrinth Day approaches, this episode explores the history and universal appeal of labyrinths, explains how they are used for meditation and healing, and introduces Contemplative Labyrinth Activism—the practice of using shared heart-centred intention to support social and global change. We offer a short heart–brain coherence practice, along with a suggested intention we might all hold when "walking as one at one."

Our guided heart-brain meditation and suggested shared intention starts at 38 minutes 13 seconds.

As we reflect on the power of holding collective intention with the labyrinth, we suggest holding as our main...

On Earth Day 2026, this episode explores the vast reach of plastic pollution — from beaches and deep-sea trenches to our drinking water and even human bodies — and how plastics and climate change form a linked crisis. Moves toward achieving a workable global treaty committing to measures to avoid polluting the ocean and reducing plastic use stalled close to two years ago. Meantime, a growing awareness of the link between plastic disposal and climate change as a lifecycle highlight the urgency to address the problem. Yet, few seem to be taking note. We look at actions we can take at the gras...

With such a fast-changing situation in the Gulf, and the rhetoric coming from the White House changing at breathtaking speed, how can we hold specific prayers and intentions for what is unfolding there and its implications–beyond our immediate responses to the issues of the moment? This is our focus for this edition of Impact! We quickly turn to suggesting specific intentions that are more ongoing rather than generalised as broad requests, such as desiring for lasting peace and a resolution to the deep divisions between Iranian and US/Israeli demands. The episode outlines immediate and mid‑ to long‑term c...

A major flashpoint in central Asia that’s escaped the world headlines given what’s been happening in the Gulf is our focus for this week’s episode of Impact!, as we consider the long running dispute between Pakistan and Afghanistan that has flared significantly during recent weeks. We look at the widescale humanitarian crisis this has provoked and a dangerous time of cross-border militancy and border militarization. As important talks continue in talks in Urumqi, we understand a little of the background to what has happened and what prospects exist for peace. As always, please join us in holdin...

As we start a new quarter, Global Healing Response turns its attention to the vital need each of us have to stay anchored, especially during turbulent time. In this week’s episode, we ask what anchoring means, and suggest ways for making this a regular practice. We also offer a guided meditation for anchoring yourself when your time is scarce, starting at 14 minutes 18 seconds.

Remember, to share in the show's Facebook group what keeps you anchored. We'd love to hear what works for you!

Resources supporting the Global Healing Response, Q2 2026 theme, Anchoring: https://globalhealingresponse.co...

Ellen brings out her Wonder Woman powers to bring about a change in Clive’s take on a vital question for intention work–should we seek to change the collective unconscious? In this week’s episode, we talk about what this universal field actually is and how it relates to common theories to the well-known teaching of psychologist Carl Jung, before turning attention to the key question–can and should we consciously seek to impact it? If the answer is yes, it may be that where matters like wiping the slate clean on collective beliefs about gender equality, the question...

In this episode Ellen interviews Clive to celebrate the release of his new book, Immersive Prayer: The Power to Change Ourselves and Change our World, and explore how intention, interfaith teachings, and scientific research converge to deepen prayer and collective healing.

They discuss embodied practice over ritual, heart‑mind connection, practical tools for staying grounded, and the role of contemplative activism in our own spiritual journeys. Clive describes how prayer takes on a meaning closer to "living in Spirit" when we recognise and invite a partnership with the divinity within us, and touches on where prayer and in...

As delegates meet at the UN  for the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the state of equality for many women in the world remains dire. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Index shows the world at about 69% of the way to achieving gender parity, and at the current trend, needing a staggering 123 years for full equality to be achieved. Few countries are moving forward at a pace, with analysis carried out ahead of this year’s Commission on the Status of Women warning that women’s rights are regressing in many context...

After nearly 3 years of civil war, with millions starving and what many commentators say is the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis escalating hourly–in this week’s Impact! we take stock of the current situation and hopes for peace in Sudan and see where our prayers and intentions may be most needed.

Prayers and intentions start at 16 minutes 11 seconds.

Suggested Intention Focus for this week

This week, as we reflect upon the nearly 3-year-old civil war and devastating humanitarian crisis in Sudan, we suggest holding as our main intention:

We will that w...

In an inspiring episode, Clive talks to Anton Jarrod, host of the deeply thoughtful podcast The Higher Self Dialogues. Anton helps us understand what the Higher Self is, how it may relate to concepts such as the soul, Source and authentic self, and what role it may play in intercession and intention holding. We reflect on the podcast’s fascinating exploration of the perspective the Higher Self may take into some of the big issues of the day, such as whether AI may help or hinder humanity’s awakening, and what is really driving the immigration crisis. And we refl...

As news breaks of the much-threatened US/Israel-Iran military action now put into action, we turn attention to where our prayers and intentions may be most needed. At the time of recording, the U.S. and Israel have launched what is being described as a major attack on Iran, targeting a large number of sites across the country. Iran has responded with an attack on the US fleet headquarters in Bahrain, and firing missiles into northern Israel. Its Foreign Ministry issued a defiant statement, saying that the country “will not hesitate” in its response. Explosions have also been heard in Qa...

This week we unpack the complex and often fraught relationship between South Korea and Japan — tracing historical grievances from Japan's colonial rule and wartime abuses, key disputes like comfort women, forced labor rulings, and over the Dokdo/Takeshima islands, and recent diplomatic steps toward cooperation. At a time when North Korea is building up its nuclear arsenal and China has responded with fury to Japan’s indication of support in the event of invasion of Taiwan, this cooperation has perhaps never before been more needed for ensuring stability in the Indo-Pacific region as a whole. The U.S. is watc...

In an inspiring and very enlightening episode, Clive talks to former monk, writer and Transcendental Meditation (TM) teacher Mark Heath, about how we can direct and maintain attention to what serves us, rather than what doesn't. Drawing on teachings from Mark's new book, 'Aligned: From Distraction to Direction,' we explore how we may stop our focus from being hijacked to direct attention where we want to have impact. With insights from neuroscience, psychology and biology, we learn why human beings are predisposed to being distracted, and understand how we might reframe our focus, reduce distraction, and bring more...