One year on from my wife, Michelle's death.

What are some reflections?

What are 3 things that have really helped me?

Here is the interview with her: https://youtu.be/fKs1A_4xw7A

Take care,

Piers

---

Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems.

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man.

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community

Many blessings,

Piers Cross

http://piers-cross.com/

In this episode of An Evolving Man, I’m joined by Dr. Amy Albright, an expert in human potential who bridges neuroscience, health, business strategy, and spirituality with rare depth and academic rigour.

We go deep into a theme that affects so many leaders — especially those shaped by early separation, boarding school, adoption, or childhood trauma: safety.

Amy explains why safety is not a motivational slogan. It’s a measurable state in the nervous system. When safety is missing, we overthink, disconnect from emotion, struggle with intimacy and leadership, and often reach for relief through work, alcohol, or constant striving. When safety is restored, intuition returns, relationships improve, and performance becomes far more sustainable.

This is a powerful, practical conversation about rebuilding biological safety, restoring embodiment, and integrating science with the sacred without drifting into pseudoscience.

We discuss:

• Why safety is a continuum, not a single achievement
• The leadership cost of chronic fight/flight and emotional shutdown
• Trauma patterns behind addiction (including workaholism)
• Nature and water as nervous-system regulators
• Why meditation can feel hard after trauma (and what helps)
• Embodiment, intuition, and the intelligence of the body
• A larger frame: meaning, miracles, and living in a “friendly universe”

Find Dr. Amy’s work and resources at: holonexperience.com
(Free download mentioned in the episode is available there.)

---

Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems.

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man.

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community

Many blessings,

Piers Cross

http://piers-cross.com/

What happens to a child’s nervous system when safety is missing — not for a moment, but for years?

In this episode, Piers reflects on safety and boarding school, exploring how chronic fear, hypervigilance, and emotional suppression shape the adult nervous system long after school ends.

Drawing from lived experience, trauma psychology, and insights from neuroscientist Dr. Amy Albright, this conversation looks at:
• Why many ex-boarders struggle to relax
• How survival personalities form in unsafe environments
• The link between safety, digestion, and emotional regulation
• Why dissociation becomes a learned survival strategy
• How healing begins by restoring safety in the body

The episode also offers simple, accessible practices to help calm the nervous system and reconnect with embodied safety — including memory, posture, breath, and imagination.

This is a compassionate, non-blaming exploration for anyone who grew up in boarding school and still feels guarded, tense, or disconnected.

---

Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems.

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man.

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community

Many blessings,

Piers Cross

http://piers-cross.com/

In this episode of An Evolving Man, I’m joined by Masati, CEO and founder of Exponential Intelligence Science (XI). After multiple near-death experiences, Masati devoted his life to understanding human potential beyond conventional performance psychology—exploring coherence, consciousness, and what creates real, measurable change.

We begin with Masati’s personal story: a life-threatening accident in his mid-20s, the profound “life relive” experience many describe as a life review, and what shifted in his perception when he returned. We then explore why many high performers—particularly those with childhood trauma—build success through a hidden internal equation: using achievement to stabilise an inner wound.

This is a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, trauma, identity, and presence—including a practical exercise to reconnect with the body and reduce overthinking.

Topics include:

• Near-death experiences and expanded perception
• Trauma, success, and the hidden cost of “proving yourself”
• Why performance doesn’t heal the original wound
• Coherence vs. mindset
• Spatial referencing as a daily stabilising practice
• Presence, happiness, and aligning with your highest potential

If you’re a leader, ex-boarder, or high performer exploring deeper healing and sustainable success, this one is for you.

#NearDeathExperience

#TraumaHealing

#HumanPotential

#Consciousness

#NervousSystem

#Leadership

#Meditation

#SomaticHealing

For more information please visit: https://thexicode.com/

---

Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems.

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man.

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community

Many blessings,

Piers Cross

http://piers-cross.com/

Why do so many ex-boarders struggle with decision-making — especially in senior leadership, relationships, and life?

In this reflective solo episode, I explore how boarding school conditioning shapes our ability to think independently, trust intuition, and make decisions without fear of rejection or punishment.

Drawing on the work of Nick Duffell, I unpack the three core survival patterns often seen in ex-boarders — the Complier, the Rebel, and the Crushed — and how each one impacts confidence, intuition, and leadership.

We explore:

• Why decision-making feels easier in middle management but overwhelming at the top
• How humiliation, conformity, and peer policing suppress independent thought
• Why intuition is essential for good decisions — and how boarding school disconnects us from it
• The role of dissociation, overthinking, and perfectionism
• How to rebuild embodied decision-making through nervous system awareness

Referencing insights from Jim Collins, Antonio Damasio, and Alex Ferguson, this episode brings together leadership research, neuroscience, and lived experience.

Decision-making isn’t just cognitive.
It’s emotional, embodied, and relational.

If you grew up being told what to think, when to act, and how to fit in — this episode is an invitation to reconnect with your inner authority and begin deciding from a place of self-trust.

---

Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems.

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man.

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community

Many blessings,

Piers Cross

http://piers-cross.com/

In this powerful episode of An Evolving Man, Piers Cross speaks with Jon Wedger (also widely known as John Wedger) — former Metropolitan Police detective and leading UK whistleblower on institutional child sexual abuse and safeguarding failures.

Jon shares what he witnessed while working in specialist units, including child protection, and why he believes abuse is too often protected by silence, status, and institutional self-preservation. He reflects on the cost of speaking out, the long shadow trauma casts over survivors’ lives, and the urgent need for accountability that leads to real-world change.

This conversation is released ahead of the House of Commons screening on Monday 19 January 2026, focused on mandatory reporting and stronger child protection structures.

Content note: This episode discusses child sexual abuse and institutional failures. Please listen with care.

Key themes:

• How systems of silence form inside institutions
• Why justice is central to healing for survivors
• Trauma, dissociation, emotional dysregulation, and survival adaptations
• What reform could actually look like: accountability, transparency, and effective safeguarding
• Practical steps: reporting, recording, contacting MPs, and applying pressure for change

To explore Jon’s public work, visit: https://www.jonwedger.org/

---

Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems.

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man.

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community

Many blessings,

Piers Cross

http://piers-cross.com/

In this short reflection recorded outside the House of Commons, Piers Cross shares a deeply personal moment before screening a documentary on institutional harm and child protection.

He explores:

• The fear of speaking up
• How trauma can wire us to avoid, hide, or run
• The shift from threat response to challenge response
• Why embracing discomfort can improve performance, resilience, and even longevity

Referencing research by Elizabeth Blackburn and Kelly McGonigal, this episode is a reminder that meaningful change often begins at the edge of fear — when we choose to stay, speak, and move forward anyway.

---

Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems.

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man.

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community

Many blessings,

Piers Cross

http://piers-cross.com/

In this episode of An Evolving Man, Piers speaks with Kara Blackmore — a trauma-informed coach specialising in the long-term emotional and nervous system impacts of boarding school experiences, especially for women.

Kara shares her personal story: choosing boarding school at age 10, the shock of early separation, and the reality of living in an environment with minimal adult supervision, rigid control, and peer-led power dynamics. Together, Piers and Kara explore how emotional neglect and chronic stress can shape adulthood — from hyper-independence and people-pleasing to perfectionism, difficulty resting, and challenges with intimacy, trust, and receiving support.

This conversation is honest, powerful, and at times harrowing — but it also offers hope. Kara speaks about the healing journey: awareness, learning emotional language, inner child work, nervous system safety, and building a life that makes your “soul sing.”

Key themes include:

• “I chose to go” and why childhood “choice” isn’t true consent
• emotional neglect, lack of nurturing, and chronic loneliness
• puberty, privacy, and missing maternal support
• perfectionism/control as a survival strategy
• why ex-boarders struggle to rest, receive, and ask for help
• healing through awareness, compassion, and nervous system repair

Find Kara: https://karablackmorecoach.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kara.thompson.589

https://www.instagram.com/kara__blackmore_coach/

If you found this episode meaningful, please share it — these stories stay hidden for decades, and speaking them is how change happens.

---

Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems.

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man.

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community

Many blessings,

Piers Cross

http://piers-cross.com/