Loud-mouthed American comedian Ruby Wax addressed a conference in Chester aimed at promoting better mental health and happier lives.
Ruby last night (Sunday, July 5) gave a pre-dinner talk at the Mindfulness in Society International Conference (July 3-7) for 520 delegates at Chester’s Crowne Plaza hotel hosted by the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice based at Bangor University.
Earlier she had been for a dip in the hotel pool where she was spotted by other swimmers including one who jokingly claimed on Twitter that she pinched his towel.
Ruby, a married mother-of-three, has been very open about her own struggle with depression.
The blurb for the conference states: “Ruby Wax is known for her extensive comedy and television interview career. Ruby has studied psychotherapy and gained her Master’s degree in Mindfulness-based cognitive behavioural therapy from Oxford University. These days she promotes understanding of the brain and campaigns for greater mental health awareness and destigmatisation.
“Ruby also offers corporate communication training, teaching how to achieve a deeper and more honest level of communication.”
She told a TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference audience in 2012: “One in four people suffer from some sort of mental illness...I am one of the one in four.”
'You can't kill traffic wardens'
Ruby argues man’s ‘fight or flight’ evolutionary make-up developed to protect humans from predators but this no longer fitted with the needs of the 21st century.
She explained: “The problem is nowadays with modern man, when you are in danger you still fill up with your own chemical but because you can’t kill traffic wardens or eat estate agents, the fuel just stays in our body so we are in a constant state of alarm.”
Language, which once helped to warn others of 'a sabre toothed tiger', was now 'a nagging loop' inside your head. "What once made us safe, now drives us insane," added Ruby, who joked: “Your pets are happier than you are.”
The Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice is a self-funding organisation based in School of Psychology which is part of Bangor University. Its website states: “Becoming more aware of our thoughts, feelings and sensations may not sound like an obviously helpful thing to do, however learning to do this in a way that suspends judgement and self criticism can have surprising results. Many people report finding inner strengths and resources that help them make wiser decisions about their health and life in general.”
