13: Ancient Wisdom: Modern Science with Michelle Hammond and guest Marneta Viegas13: Ancient Wisdom: Modern Science with Michelle Hammond and guest Marneta Viegas
UK Health Radio Podcast
Michelle Hammond talks with Relax Kids founder Marneta Viegas about rising childhood anxiety, her seven-step relaxation system and its impact on families, schools and communities. Their conversation also touches on women’s retreats, meditation and simple ways people of all ages can feel calmer and more grounded.
46:08•9 Jul 2026
From Clown to Calm: Marneta Viegas on Relaxing a Generation
Episode Overview
- Simple, playful tools can help children move from high energy to deep calm through a structured seven-step process.
- Long before children’s mental health was widely discussed, noticing small changes in behaviour led to a global wellbeing movement.
- Relaxation methods designed for kids can also support teens, adults and older people, from youth justice projects to care homes.
- Profound change often grows from word of mouth and purpose-led work rather than chasing profit or perfect business plans.
- Regular pockets of rest, retreat and connection with nature help people of all ages feel safer, more centred and more themselves.
“I always say to coaches just to remind children that they have everything they need in their body and their mind.”
What emotional and inspiring tales of recovery are out there for children as well as adults? This conversation on UK Health Radio turns the spotlight on childhood anxiety, stress and low confidence, and how one woman’s idea has quietly reached more than 5 million young people. Michelle Hammond chats with children’s relaxation expert Marneta Viegas, founder of Relax Kids.
Marneta shares how repeated rejection as an actress in the 90s led her to become a clown, then to notice that children were increasingly restless, unable to sit still or focus. Drawing on meditation she’d learned at 12, she began turning fairy stories into calming journeys and built a seven-step system that helps children shift from hyper to deeply relaxed through movement, play, stretching, massage, breathing, affirmations and finally lying down in stillness.
She talks candidly about risking her house deposit to press children’s CDs, being laughed out of Dragon’s Den, and building a global movement through word of mouth rather than slick marketing. You’ll hear how this simple structure has supported children with anxiety, ADHD and autism, transformed classrooms, reduced school exclusions to zero in one pilot, and inspired parents and teachers to retrain as Relax Kids coaches.
The chat widens out to teens, care homes, and Marneta’s retreats for women, where the same playful principles show up as forest walks, fire pits and flower-filled food in her wild, storybook-style garden. Throughout, she keeps coming back to one core message: “We have everything we need” already inside us.
If you care about children’s mental health, work with young people, or simply feel worn out by an “always on” life, this gentle, practical conversation might give you a few ideas – and a nudge to do a little less and rest a little more.
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