After graduating with a double first in history from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, I spent four years working at FHM magazine, during which time it became the biggest-selling monthly title in Europe and won several awards, including PPA magazine of the year. From 1999-2001, I was its deputy editor.

I then went freelance, writing for the Guardian, the Independent On Sunday, Elle, the Observer, Empire, and the Times Educational Supplement, among others. I was a contributing editor of Arena magazine and a regular columnist for Time Out. I wrote about film, music, sport, fashion, books, travel, finance and relationships, and published interviews with Hugh Grant, Ewan McGregor, Julianne Moore, Tobey Maguire, Tim Henman, Steve Coogan and Geri Halliwell.

After some soul-searching in the early 2000s, I moved away from entertainment, lifestyle and consumer journalism. Informed by my experiences of depression and anxiety during that period, and inspired in my recovery, I now write primarily about health and well-being. In 2004 I started working with the Mental Health Foundation, researching and writing a report on the use of exercise as a treatment for depression. Up and Running?: Exercise Therapy And The Treatment of Mild-to-Moderate Depression In Primary Care (2005) formed the basis of a year-long campaign which transformed GPs' attitudes to exercise therapy, leading to a four-fold increase in referrals for the treatment. I was also the lead researcher on the Foundation’s flagship publication, The Fundamental Facts: The Latest Facts And Figures On Mental Health (2007), and co-author of Boiling Point: Problem Anger And What We Can Do About It (2008). The latter provoked wide media debate and informed a recent BBC series about problem anger, Losing It. I have written for the Foundation on subjects such as dementia, diabetes and depression, talking therapies and public mental health, as well as developing project proposals and creating fundraising materials.

In 2006, I spent a year deepening my study and practice of meditation, living and working at Dechen Choling, a Buddhist retreat centre in central France. Meditation has come to play an integral role in maintaining my own well-being, and I have taken part in and/or staffed several month-long retreats. I am a qualified meditation guide and the community development coordinator for the London Shambhala Meditation Centre. I am especially interested in approaches to well-being that incorporate meditation practices, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) (for more on these, visit the Centre For Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University). I have also worked as a volunteer counsellor, having studied for a post-graduate certificate in the Fundamentals of Counselling and Psychotherapy at the Centre For Counselling and Psychotherapy Education (CCPE).