11 Calming Podcasts To Help You De-stress

This time of year can be very stressful for students, with exams looming and this year, the added pressure of lockdown. Sometimes you just need some time to yourself to de-stress and unwind. 

Below are a selection of some of the most absorbing, inspiring and relaxing podcasts. Whether they focus on mental health, food, pop culture or minimalism, the key to to de-stressing is to remove yourself from the difficult situation and focus on something else for a while. These 11 podcasts will help you do just that.

1. Desert Island Discs

BBC Radio 4’s classic radio broadcast has been around since 1942 and is now one of the most popular podcasts. Guests have to choose which eight tracks, book and luxury they’d take to a desert island, explaining why they’ve chosen those particular tracks. Famous guests have included Sir David Attenborough (who has appeared on the show four times), Mary Berry, Bruce Springsteen and Stella McCartney.

2. Happy Place by Fearne Cotton

In Happy Place, Fearne Cotton talks to her guests about life, love, loss and what happiness means to them. Each of the guests have either made a change in their own lives or help people to find a different way of looking at their lives. Notable guests include Russell Brand, Stephen Fry, Lisa Taddeo, George Ezra, Elizabeth Gilbert and Emma Willis.

3. The High low by Pandora Sykes and Dolly Alderton

The High Low is co-hosted by bestselling author, Dolly Alderton and Pandora Skyes. In the weekly podcast, the two discuss everything pop-culture and current affairs. This podcast feels like listening to two of your best friends comment on society, literature and TV in a way that encourages you to get involved and join in the conversation. Warning: this podcast will make you order books.

4. Everyday Positivity by Kate Crocker

This daily podcast, hosted by Kate Crocker, is designed to help you start your day on the right foot. This podcast does what it says on the tin – giving you positive mantras to start off your day the right way. The podcasts only last two to three minutes but can really help put you in the right mindset to start your day.

5. I Weigh by Jameela Jamil

In I weigh, Jameela Jamil continues the discussion she started on social media, asking different thought-leaders, performers, activists, influencers and friends how they are working through their own personal challenges. If you’re going through something, this podcast is sure to have covered it in some way. Notable guests include Roxane Gay, Billy Porter, Demi Lovato and Reese Witherspoon.

6. Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations

In this podcast, you can listen to Oprah’s personal selection of her interviews with a variety of inspirational people: including thought-leaders, best-selling authors, spiritual luminaries and health and wellness experts. Guests include Michelle Obama, Kate Hudson and Lady Gaga.

7. Deliciously Ella

Hosted by the co-founders of Deliciously Ella, Ella and Matthew Mills cover a range of topics in this his health and wellness podcast, from stress, veganism, the environment skincare, dealing with stress and much more. The podcast aims to improve people’s physical and mental health through inspiring healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle.

8. Food for Thought by Rhiannon Lambert

With a goal of simplifying wellness, Rhiannon, a leading Nutritionist, gives evidence-based advice on living a healthy lifestyle. On Food for Thought, Rhiannon talks to professionals, such as nutritionists, surgeons and personal trainers, on the topics she features each week.These topics range from counting calories to losing weight to training your brain to going vegan.

9. The Minimalists Podcast

In The Minimalists Podcast, the hosts, Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus, discuss how you can live a meaningful life with less. The duo are also the stars of a popular Netflix documentary, Minimalism.

10. Unlocking Us with Brené Brown

In her podcast, research professor and author, Brené Brown, talks to people who are teaching her, challenging her or even confusing her about something. She says she wants the podcast to be real, unpolished, honest and reflect the magic and messiness of what it means to be human as well as helping us all understand each other a bit more.

11. Table Manners with Jessie Ware

Jessie Ware’s Table Manners podcast explores the topics we all care about: food, family and having a chat, done directly from her own dinner table. Recent guests include Florence Pugh, Joe Wicks and Dua Lipa. Jessie Ware is joined by her mother on her podcasts, often leading to extremely entertaining interviews that will make you extremely hungry.