[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":290},["ShallowReactive",2],{"author:hugo":3,"zfjlvc2HDs":31},{"author":4},{"slug":5,"name":6,"role":7,"author_type":8,"profile_photo":9,"tagline":10,"experience_summary":11,"expertise_areas":12,"credential_highlights":20,"about":27,"social_links":28,"date_created":29,"date_updated":30},"hugo","Hugo","Founder & Lead Writer","human","/images/hugo2.jpg","Founder of Mind Wobble, writing about mental health through lived experience, research, practical experimentation, and a background in personal training and sports therapy.","Hugo has spent years exploring journaling, sleep, nutrition, exercise, and digital tools to better understand anxiety, low mood, confidence, and recovery. With a background in personal training and sports therapy, he turns that work into practical guidance for Mind Wobble readers.",[13,14,15,16,17,18,19],"mental health journaling","sleep and mental health","nutrition and mental health","exercise and mental health","digital wellbeing tools","AI-assisted journaling and self-reflection","anxiety and confidence management",[21,22,23,24,25,26],"Founder of Mind Wobble","Qualified Personal Trainer & Sports Therapist","Over a decade of personal mental health research and self-experimentation","Writes from lived experience with anxiety, poor sleep, confidence challenges, and low mood","Research-led writer focused on practical mental health self-understanding","Combines exercise science background with mental health writing","Meet Hugo: the brain (and occasional worrier) behind Mind Wobble, your go-to sanctuary for all things mental health. Juggling the hats of husband, dad, and devoted cat owner, Hugo is on a quest to better understand his own brain while offering a hand to anyone else who might be feeling a little wobbly.\n\n## Why I built Mind Wobble\n\nMy mental health journey started at 15. Poor sleep, self-confidence potholes, and occasional bouts of depression became regular companions. For years I tried to push through without really understanding what was happening, something a lot of people can relate to.\n\nWhat changed things was getting curious instead of just frustrated. I started treating my own wellbeing like a series of experiments: trying different approaches to sleep, journaling, exercise, and nutrition, then paying close attention to what actually helped. Some strategies were wildly successful. Others were quickly retired. But each one taught me something about how my brain works.\n\nI built Mind Wobble because I wanted a place where that kind of honest, practical exploration could live. Not clinical advice pretending to have all the answers, but real experiences backed by genuine research — the kind of resource I wished existed when I was 15 and had no idea why I felt the way I did.\n\n## Background and credentials\n\nMy formal background is in personal training and sports therapy. That training gave me a grounding in exercise science, anatomy, and the relationship between physical activity and mental wellbeing; something I draw on heavily when writing about exercise and recovery for Mind Wobble.\n\nBeyond formal qualifications, I have spent over a decade researching and personally experimenting with mental health strategies. That includes hundreds of hours reading published research on sleep hygiene, cognitive behavioural approaches to anxiety, the gut-brain connection, and how regular movement affects mood regulation. I write from a combination of that research and my own lived experience with anxiety, low mood, poor sleep, and confidence challenges.\n\nI am not a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist, and Mind Wobble content is never a substitute for professional help. What I bring is practical, experience-led guidance for people who want to understand themselves better, grounded in real research and tested through years of personal application.\n\n## How I approach research\n\nEvery article on Mind Wobble is research-led. I draw from peer-reviewed journals, clinical guidelines, and established mental health organisations to make sure the information is accurate and up to date. Sources I regularly reference include:\n\n- **PubMed and published research papers** — particularly studies on sleep, exercise, nutrition, and their effects on anxiety and mood\n- **NHS and NICE guidelines** — for evidence-based approaches to common mental health challenges\n- **The Sleep Foundation and Matthew Walker’s research** — for sleep science and practical sleep hygiene strategies\n- **Journals including *Sleep*, *The Lancet Psychiatry*, and *Frontiers in Psychology*** — for peer-reviewed findings on the topics I cover\n\nI aim to present research honestly: sharing what the evidence supports, acknowledging where it is limited, and being clear about what comes from personal experience rather than clinical study.\n\n## My interest in AI journaling\n\nOne area I find genuinely exciting is the intersection of AI and mental health journaling. Traditional journaling has strong evidence behind it; expressive writing has been linked to reduced anxiety, improved mood, and better emotional processing in multiple studies. But many people struggle with the blank page.\n\nThat is where AI-assisted journaling comes in. I have been exploring how thoughtful AI prompts and guided reflection can help people who find freeform journaling difficult; lowering the barrier to entry while keeping the therapeutic benefits. Mind Wobble’s approach to AI coaching is built on this belief: that technology should support self-understanding, not replace professional care.\n\nI am particularly interested in how AI can help people recognise patterns in their thinking and mood over time — the kind of slow, cumulative insight that traditional journaling offers but that many people never stick with long enough to experience.\n\n## Books and resources that have shaped my thinking\n\nSeveral books have significantly influenced how I think about mental health and how I write for Mind Wobble:\n\n- **\"Why We Sleep\" by Matthew Walker** — fundamentally changed how I understand and prioritise sleep, and directly shaped Mind Wobble’s sleep content\n- **\"Lost Connections\" by Johann Hari** — a thoughtful exploration of the social and environmental factors behind depression and anxiety that goes beyond the chemical imbalance narrative\n- **\"The Body Keeps the Score\" by Bessel van der Kolk** — essential reading on how trauma and stress manifest physically, reinforcing the connection between body and mind that my sports therapy background already pointed to\n- **\"Atomic Habits\" by James Clear** — practical and evidence-based, this book informs how I write about building sustainable mental health routines\n- **\"Feeling Good\" by David D. Burns** — one of the foundational cognitive behavioural therapy books that helped me understand my own thought patterns around anxiety and low mood\n\nThese are not just books I have read; they are resources that actively inform the guidance and perspective I bring to Mind Wobble articles.\n\n## What drives Mind Wobble today\n\nMind Wobble exists because I believe understanding your own mind should not require a psychology degree or an expensive therapist. While professional support is essential for many people (and I will always encourage it), there is a huge gap for practical, research-informed self-understanding — the kind of knowledge that helps you sleep better, manage anxious thoughts, build confidence, and take care of your mental health day to day.\n\nAs a husband, dad, and devoted cat owner, I write from the messy reality of trying to maintain good mental health while juggling everything life throws at you. That honesty is deliberate. Mental health is not a problem to be solved once — it is an ongoing practice, and I think the most useful writing comes from people who are still in the middle of it.\n\nWhether you are looking for a new perspective, a practical tip to try, or just a reminder that you are not alone in feeling wobbly, Mind Wobble is here for you.",[],"2024-10-24T13:31:05.444Z","2025-09-27T16:16:19.413Z",{"data":32,"body":35,"excerpt":-1,"toc":281},{"title":33,"description":34},"","Meet Hugo: the brain (and occasional worrier) behind Mind Wobble, your go-to sanctuary for all things mental health. Juggling the hats of husband, dad, and devoted cat owner, Hugo is on a quest to better understand his own brain while offering a hand to anyone else who might be feeling a little wobbly.",{"type":36,"children":37},"root",[38,45,52,57,62,67,73,78,83,88,94,99,165,170,176,181,186,191,197,202,255,260,266,271,276],{"type":39,"tag":40,"props":41,"children":42},"element","p",{},[43],{"type":44,"value":34},"text",{"type":39,"tag":46,"props":47,"children":49},"h2",{"id":48},"why-i-built-mind-wobble",[50],{"type":44,"value":51},"Why I built Mind Wobble",{"type":39,"tag":40,"props":53,"children":54},{},[55],{"type":44,"value":56},"My mental health journey started at 15. Poor sleep, self-confidence potholes, and occasional bouts of depression became regular companions. For years I tried to push through without really understanding what was happening, something a lot of people can relate to.",{"type":39,"tag":40,"props":58,"children":59},{},[60],{"type":44,"value":61},"What changed things was getting curious instead of just frustrated. I started treating my own wellbeing like a series of experiments: trying different approaches to sleep, journaling, exercise, and nutrition, then paying close attention to what actually helped. Some strategies were wildly successful. Others were quickly retired. But each one taught me something about how my brain works.",{"type":39,"tag":40,"props":63,"children":64},{},[65],{"type":44,"value":66},"I built Mind Wobble because I wanted a place where that kind of honest, practical exploration could live. Not clinical advice pretending to have all the answers, but real experiences backed by genuine research — the kind of resource I wished existed when I was 15 and had no idea why I felt the way I did.",{"type":39,"tag":46,"props":68,"children":70},{"id":69},"background-and-credentials",[71],{"type":44,"value":72},"Background and credentials",{"type":39,"tag":40,"props":74,"children":75},{},[76],{"type":44,"value":77},"My formal background is in personal training and sports therapy. That training gave me a grounding in exercise science, anatomy, and the relationship between physical activity and mental wellbeing; something I draw on heavily when writing about exercise and recovery for Mind Wobble.",{"type":39,"tag":40,"props":79,"children":80},{},[81],{"type":44,"value":82},"Beyond formal qualifications, I have spent over a decade researching and personally experimenting with mental health strategies. That includes hundreds of hours reading published research on sleep hygiene, cognitive behavioural approaches to anxiety, the gut-brain connection, and how regular movement affects mood regulation. I write from a combination of that research and my own lived experience with anxiety, low mood, poor sleep, and confidence challenges.",{"type":39,"tag":40,"props":84,"children":85},{},[86],{"type":44,"value":87},"I am not a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist, and Mind Wobble content is never a substitute for professional help. What I bring is practical, experience-led guidance for people who want to understand themselves better, grounded in real research and tested through years of personal application.",{"type":39,"tag":46,"props":89,"children":91},{"id":90},"how-i-approach-research",[92],{"type":44,"value":93},"How I approach research",{"type":39,"tag":40,"props":95,"children":96},{},[97],{"type":44,"value":98},"Every article on Mind Wobble is research-led. I draw from peer-reviewed journals, clinical guidelines, and established mental health organisations to make sure the information is accurate and up to date. Sources I regularly reference include:",{"type":39,"tag":100,"props":101,"children":102},"ul",{},[103,115,125,135],{"type":39,"tag":104,"props":105,"children":106},"li",{},[107,113],{"type":39,"tag":108,"props":109,"children":110},"strong",{},[111],{"type":44,"value":112},"PubMed and published research papers",{"type":44,"value":114}," — particularly studies on sleep, exercise, nutrition, and their effects on anxiety and mood",{"type":39,"tag":104,"props":116,"children":117},{},[118,123],{"type":39,"tag":108,"props":119,"children":120},{},[121],{"type":44,"value":122},"NHS and NICE guidelines",{"type":44,"value":124}," — for evidence-based approaches to common mental health challenges",{"type":39,"tag":104,"props":126,"children":127},{},[128,133],{"type":39,"tag":108,"props":129,"children":130},{},[131],{"type":44,"value":132},"The Sleep Foundation and Matthew Walker’s research",{"type":44,"value":134}," — for sleep science and practical sleep hygiene strategies",{"type":39,"tag":104,"props":136,"children":137},{},[138,163],{"type":39,"tag":108,"props":139,"children":140},{},[141,143,149,151,156,158],{"type":44,"value":142},"Journals including ",{"type":39,"tag":144,"props":145,"children":146},"em",{},[147],{"type":44,"value":148},"Sleep",{"type":44,"value":150},", ",{"type":39,"tag":144,"props":152,"children":153},{},[154],{"type":44,"value":155},"The Lancet Psychiatry",{"type":44,"value":157},", and ",{"type":39,"tag":144,"props":159,"children":160},{},[161],{"type":44,"value":162},"Frontiers in Psychology",{"type":44,"value":164}," — for peer-reviewed findings on the topics I cover",{"type":39,"tag":40,"props":166,"children":167},{},[168],{"type":44,"value":169},"I aim to present research honestly: sharing what the evidence supports, acknowledging where it is limited, and being clear about what comes from personal experience rather than clinical study.",{"type":39,"tag":46,"props":171,"children":173},{"id":172},"my-interest-in-ai-journaling",[174],{"type":44,"value":175},"My interest in AI journaling",{"type":39,"tag":40,"props":177,"children":178},{},[179],{"type":44,"value":180},"One area I find genuinely exciting is the intersection of AI and mental health journaling. 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Burns",{"type":44,"value":254}," — one of the foundational cognitive behavioural therapy books that helped me understand my own thought patterns around anxiety and low mood",{"type":39,"tag":40,"props":256,"children":257},{},[258],{"type":44,"value":259},"These are not just books I have read; they are resources that actively inform the guidance and perspective I bring to Mind Wobble articles.",{"type":39,"tag":46,"props":261,"children":263},{"id":262},"what-drives-mind-wobble-today",[264],{"type":44,"value":265},"What drives Mind Wobble today",{"type":39,"tag":40,"props":267,"children":268},{},[269],{"type":44,"value":270},"Mind Wobble exists because I believe understanding your own mind should not require a psychology degree or an expensive therapist. 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