Mental health advocate Niall Breslin used his time on Saturday night's Angela Scanlon's Ask Me Anything to urge people to focus on the relationships in their lives, recounting that he was "constantly lost in my own head" and "missing the really good stuff" until he did the same.
The podcaster, author and Blizzards frontman was asked by the host if he felt he had found his calling through studying mindfulness.
"It was the one thing that helped me the most, that's probably the best way to describe it," he replied. "I've had this kind of belief for a while now that I think this world is moving too fast for all of us, I really do. Long before the pandemic - I just think it's too fast.
"All the really good stuff that's happening is happening right in front of our faces and we're missing it. I was missing it, I just really started to realise that. I was completely just... I wasn't with the people I loved when I was there, you know? I was constantly lost in my own head. I was like, 'This is ridiculous'.
"When I started to study mindfulness, when I started to do/go through therapy and I was brought through kind of a mindfulness programme, it really started to change something in me. It's hard to describe. Something really... it's hard to describe. Then I started to study it. I went to do my masters and I went to another layer then, like, the Buddhist backgrounds to mindfulness and meditation. And everything changed. I mean, I suppose it's slightly dramatic to say that..."
"But your whole view on life, I guess," offered the presenter.
"Yeah," Breslin replied. "I think the thing it taught me the most was relationships. They're the beating heart of your heart and soul, like. They're the beating heart of your emotional wellbeing, are your relationships. And how to forge and keep them and strong [sic] them and respect people and understand their needs and all that kind of stuff.
"I think when we're all spending our life trying to chase things all of the time we're missing these people. And I think that's what mindfulness taught me - these are the people that I feel make [me happy]. When I talked about achievement making me happy, that's not what makes me happy - these people make me happy, connection with these people. But it's not easy."
"There's brilliant people that can help you and go through it [with you] and it's not easy," he concluded. "I always say that the road I went on, to try and get my head in order, was the scenic route. It was longer roads, s***** roads, hills - but it was worth it."
Angela Scanlon's Ask Me Anything, Saturday, RTÉ One, 10:00pm
If you have been affected by issues raised in this story, please visit: www.rte.ie/helplines.
