The truth about addiction & Louise O'Neill on the teacher who changed her world

On this week's Alive & Kicking Podcast: Sleep is one of the pillars of health but how many of us get the quality we need and what can we do to make that happen? Tom Coleman is a sleep expert - he joins Clare to chat about how we can go from the edge of burnout to peak performance all by focusing on getting good quality sleep Jennie Haire, a registered nutritionist and nutritional therapist Lisa Hughes of 'Your Wellness Collective' join Clare to talk about how everyone is different, and there shouldn't be a one size fits all approach when it comes to nutrition.

'Dublin Front Runners' is Ireland’s oldest LGBT+ running club, inviting gay men, women, and their friends to stay active and have fun in the process. They currently have 250 members with 60 identifying as women. Clare speaks with members, Gillian Callaghan and Mark Armstrong about why it's not just about running but about providing an inclusive space. Dr. Caren Hession is on a mission to help people rise up and find their voice. Drawing on a wealth of training from music to creative arts, neuroscience, and neurolinguistic programming, she's designed a coaching programme and workshop that's helped many including senators for public speaking and some with speech impediments. And Sinead Hingston was on the show a couple of years back to talk about grief having lost her husband Geoff when they were 7 months married and she was 17 weeks pregnant. She has since gone on to rebuild her life and a family with her husband Michael but who have experienced pregnancy loss along the way. She joins Clare to talk about why she's founded 'Spark a Life' because no life, no matter how short should be forgotten.

Joining Clare McKenna on this week's Alive & Kicking Podcast: Professor Francis Finucane, Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine at University of Galway and Consultant Endocrinologist at Galway University Hospital explores the changing ways we view and treat obesity. And Fiona Brennan, Clinical Hypnotherapist joins Clare to chat about retreats, why they are good for us, and how we can weave what we learn into our everyday lives.

Joining Clare on this week's Alive & Kicking Podcast is Susan Coote, Exercise & Physiotherapy Coordinator with MS Ireland to discuss their 3,000-push-up challenge for the month of March. Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, Director of the Twins UK study, scientific co-founder at 'ZOE', and one of the world’s leading researchers on the microbiome - the large community of microbes that live in our gut, skin, and body - also joins Clare to discuss the some of the misconceptions were have with food and what it really means to have a healthy diet.

On this week's Alive & Kicking Podcast: Dr. Harry Barry joins Sinead to talk about the Power of Connection; as February is 'Global Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Month', counselling psychologist, Dr. Liza Morton, who herself was born with a heart issue, will talk about the trauma of living with a life long illness and how to manage that. And, Ranae Von Meding, CEO and Co-Founder of 'Equality for Children'.