The Movement Prescription

We all know that getting outside feels good, but the actual science behind what happens to our biology when we connect with nature is extraordinary. In this episode, Dr. Suzy Scarlett speaks with two guests on a mission to make time outdoors a fundamental part of our healthcare.
Writer and photographer Anna Deacon discusses her new book, The Wild Fix. She shares how recovering from burnout taught her the value of seeking out natural "glimmers." These small, everyday moments of beauty actively calm the nervous system, proving you don't need a wilderness adventure to feel better. Simply admiring a houseplant or watching rain in an urban puddle can be enough to start.
Professor William Bird, a GP and pioneer of green prescribing, then unpacks the hard data. He explains how spending time in green spaces physically shrinks the stress centers of the brain while reducing negative rumination. Crucially, he also addresses the very real barriers to getting outside, such as safety concerns in deprived urban areas, and explains how community-led projects are helping people reclaim their local parks.
Key Takeaways:
How spending just 60 minutes in nature physically alters the brain, shrinking the amygdala and drastically reducing negative rumination.
Why actively hunting for "glimmers" triggers a parasympathetic nervous system response that instantly calms stress.
How the formula of "people, purpose, and place" helps communities, especially in deprived urban areas, overcome safety concerns, reclaim their local green spaces, and start moving.

Resources Mentioned:
The Wild Fix by Anna Deacon
Wellbeing Walks (Ramblers) & Beat the Street
British Society of Lifestyle Medicine: bslm.org.uk

Produced with support from the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.
Find us at https://themovementprescription.co.uk/ and join the conversation!

In this special episode of The Movement Prescription Podcast, co-host and GP Callum shares the key lessons from his recent Churchill Fellowship, a global journey across New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, and Finland to explore how different healthcare systems and governments promote physical activity.
Moving beyond the standard 10-minute GP consultation, Callum speaks with frontline clinicians and health leaders; Andrew Boyd (New Zealand), Tracy Johnson (Australia), Dr. Jason Tujo (Aotearoa New Zealand), and Eero Kentä (Finland); to uncover what actually gets nations moving. We discuss what these countries are doing differently to tackle health inequalities, the power of indigenous and community-led movement traditions, innovative workforce models like Clinical Exercise Physiologists, and why cross-governmental political leadership is essential for creating active societies.
Whether you are a healthcare professional, policymaker, or simply passionate about lifestyle medicine, join us as we share global observations and practical ideas that could help shape the future of physical activity policy and practice back home.
A huge thank you to the Churchill Fellowship for funding and supporting these travels. To find out more about their work funding UK citizens to find global solutions for local problems, visit churchillfellowship.org.
Supported by the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine: bslm.org.uk

What if we stopped viewing surgery as something that passively happens to patients, and instead treated it as an event they can actively train for? In this episode, Dr. Hussain Al-Zubaidi sits down with Professor Scarlett McNally, an orthopedic surgeon and national clinical leader, to explore the profound power of movement in the perioperative period. Scarlett breaks down the compelling data behind "fitter in, faster out," explaining how prehabilitation can slash surgical complications by up to 50% and turn lengthy hospital stays into day-case recoveries.
Scarlett also opens up about her extraordinary personal health battle with myeloma and heart failure, sharing how she used an electric bike to build the physical resilience needed to survive a life-saving stem cell transplant. From navigating "teachable moments" on the waiting list to the necessity of human-driven "surgery schools," this conversation is a masterclass in why movement must become standard surgical care rather than the exception.
Key Takeaways:
Why moving a patient from zero activity to just 30 minutes a week triggers the steepest drop in surgical risk.
How building strength beforehand provides a vital protein and antibody store for post-op wound healing.
Why every member of the healthcare team needs to give patients "permission to move."

Resources Mentioned:
Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC): cpoc.org.uk
Moving Medicine (Consultation Guides): movingmedicine.ac.uk
British Society of Lifestyle Medicine: bslm.org.uk

Produced with support from the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.
Find us at https://themovementprescription.co.uk/ and join the conversation!

What’s the absolute minimum amount of exercise you need to protect your heart and metabolism? In this episode of The Movement Prescription, host Suzy sits down with the delightfully no-nonsense Professor Jason Gill from the University of Glasgow to throw out the "heroic" 100-day fitness trends and focus on what actually works for the next 1,000 days.
Whether you are a frontline healthcare worker looking for practical patient strategies or simply trying to navigate your own health journey, Jason delivers a refreshing, evidence-based reminder that "good enough is good enough" when it comes to diet and movement.
Key Takeaways From This Episode:
The Two-Stage Weight Strategy: Why intensive dietary changes (or tools like GLP-1s) excel at initial weight loss, while physical activity acts as the ultimate anchor for long-term weight maintenance.
Frequency Over Intensity: Why moving at least every other day matters more for blood sugar and metabolic health than a single grueling weekend workout.
The 15-Minute Strength Secret: How doing just one or two brief resistance sessions a week—focusing on large muscle groups and pushing close to failure—unlocks up to 80% of the total health benefits.
Stop Shielding Older Adults: Why lifting light soup tins doesn't cut it for seniors, and why progressive, safe heavy lifting is required to protect independent living.
"Beautiful or Useful" Habits: How to make exercise stick for decades by ensuring it is either socially rewarding (beautiful) or seamlessly built into your daily routine (useful).

Episode Highlight: "The difference between doing something and doing something ideally might be 10%, whereas you get from 0 to 80% just from doing something. I'm interested in getting people from 0 to 80%." — Prof. Jason Gill

In this episode, we sit down with GP Dr James Carvell to explore what it really means to live and move with multiple sclerosis. Drawing on both clinical insight and personal experience, James shares how physical activity can support not just physical function, but also mental resilience in the face of a fluctuating condition.
Resources Mentioned in this Episode
Monkey Sox at https://monkeysox.org/
Charities: James recommends the MS Society, MS Trust, and MS UK as fantastic starting points for reliable information and support for newly diagnosed patients.
British Society of Lifestyle Medicine (BSLM): bslm.org.uk

Produced with support from the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.
Find us at https://themovementprescription.co.uk/ and join the conversation!