If you find Christmas Eve a bit mad busy and stressful, why not let Gillian Russell and the Personal Best team help you to chill? This week our gift to you is half an hour of total relaxation ... a chance to escape! Fancy being “in the moment” but no idea how to get there? Jan Barclay from Rejuvenate Your Mind guides us through a Christmas meditation…

To get into the festive spirit, this week Gillian Russell and the Personal Best team are all about giving and receiving … but not necessarily the things in life that can be gift-wrapped! What health and wellbeing gift would you give to others, what would you like to receive yourself … and what gift would you give to your younger self? Photographer Alex Rotas, author and expert on the power of the mind Dr David Hamilton, chef Graeme Pallister and regular listener Susanne Powell discuss their literal and metaphorical gifts – from laughter to good health, from companionship to a night out dancing, from yoga to courage, from time to zany running leggings. With further ideas from Living Street’s Chris Thompson, style consultant Amanda Latham, former GP Juliette McGrattan, psychologist Alan Gow, lecturer Paul Kelly, newbie runner Dawn Nisbet, physiotherapist Elaine Miller and Niall Elliott from Sport Scotland.

Richard Forbes meets members of the LGBT community. The programme kicks off at Whitecraigs Rugby Club where the Glasgow Alphas are warming up for a game. The players explain how taking part in the sport is good for their physical and mental health. Luke Aquilina goes for a run on the streets of the capital with Al Hopkins from the Edinburgh Frontrunners, who says there are things all sports clubs could do to be more inclusive. Meanwhile, down in the Borders, Gina Gordon talks about the challenges of keeping fit and active following her transition. Psychotherapist Alison Wren tells us about the benefits of coming out and why she runs a course to help people through the process. Then we take a trip to Melrose where Margaret Hart shares her story of coming out in middle age. Megan Johnson from the LGBT Health and Wellbeing Centre is doing work to reduce the stigma that older members of the community face. Some folk are finding themselves pushed back into the closet as family and carers have a bigger role in their lives. Finally, Danny tells us how being diagnosed with HIV led to him taking a positive decision to reassess how he takes care of his mind and body.

Would you describe yourself as a perfectionist? Admirable high standards or impossible goals? Trying just a bit too hard for that perfect Christmas?! Gillian Russell asks whether the pursuit of perfection can actually be bad for our health and wellbeing… Dr Emily Taylor from the University of Edinburgh, who set up the Perfectionism Laboratory, describes why people strive for perfection and the impact it can have on their lives. Acting coach Mark Westbrook explains why making mistakes and experiencing failure is an important antidote to perfectionism in all walks of life and shares his tips for ensuring it doesn’t become a problem for you. Sports Psychologist Misha Botting talks about the pursuit of perfection in sport and whether it’s a good thing or not. Team GB curling skip Kyle Smith shares his experiences of perfectionism and explains how he’s worked to overcome the emotional rollercoaster it can create when you’re competing. Helen Balfour finds out why perfectionism can become a problem for students and how it can best be tackled. Cynical about perfectionism on social media? Instagram influencer Lucy Simpson shares her secrets of how she projects the “perfect” images and what she personally gets out of it.

How important are friendships for our health, our happiness and our wellbeing? Gillian Russell asks whether, in our increasingly busy lives, we should be paying a bit more attention to them? Psychologist Dr Kirsty Miller explains why friendships are important to us as humans, the impact it can have on us if we neglect that part of our lives and how we can address the lifestyle issues that prevent us from prioritising friendships. Richard Forbes visits Befrienders Highland to find out how they help people in the community who are lonely and isolated. Dr Carolyn Parkinson from the University of California describes the research they’ve done into brain similarities amongst friends and what it means in terms of our behaviours. Eric Sinclair shares his experiences of lifelong friendships, especially in times of need. Angelika Love from Oxford University explains why diversity in friendship is important for our development, our wellbeing and our life experiences.

Gillian Russell explores how we can use music for mind, body and soul … as part of our health and fitness toolkit. Gillian visits Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital to meet Tom Binns, founder of Glasgow Piano City, and Jackie Sands, Senior Arts & Health Specialist from NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, to find out about the impact “Molly” the piano is having in the hospital environment. Research Fellow Dr Emma Moore from the University of Edinburgh talks about whether music can rewire the brain. Dr Rachel Drury from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland explains how we can use music to express ourselves while colleague Dr Jill Morgan describes the impact music has on our social world and the research she’s done into how mothers and their teenagers share music. Sonia Allori explains what the Lost And Found project is all about and how the music therapy is helping people who have suffered a stroke. Nick Jedrzejewski describes the idea behind Feels FM, the world’s first online emoji-powered jukebox for mental health. The programme opens with pianist Tom Binns playing a piece he wrote in 2006. 'Follow Me No More' is about facing the grief of losing his grandfather.

How much BALANCE is there in your life? Therapist Jan Barclay tells Gillian Russell how meditation can help us get the balance right between mind, body and soul. Physiotherapist Judith Anderson demonstrates the exercise we can do to keep ourselves balanced while instructor Suzanne Ross describes the idea behind falls prevention classes. Prof Lucy Yardley from the University of Bristol explains the science of balance and how our brains are involved in balance. Psychologist Prof Ewan Gillon talks about why getting the right work-life balance is so important for our mental health and happiness. Personal Trainer Dan Moore demonstrates how we can find a good balance between cardio and strength exercises. Donnie MacLean explains the idea behind his “balanced pizza” as a way for kids to achieve a balanced diet.

How much attention do you pay to your posture? Gillian Russell gathers together a whole heap of advice and inspiration to help us improve everything to do with our posture... Gillian visits physiotherapist Sean Webb at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness to find out why good posture is so important and what steps we can take to improve it. Dr Heather Morgan from Aberdeen University talks about the impact high heels can have on our posture. Osteopath Bryan McIlwraith explains why paying attention to the positioning of our car seat, steering wheel and pedals can have a positive effect on our posture. Pierette Melville, a physiotherapist at NHS Fife who specialises in children and young people, describes the impact smart phones are having on our posture. Alexander Technique practitioner Alan Massey demonstrates why so many of us need to unpick bad habits and learn to be more mindful about how we stand and sit. Ross McDonald, President of the Scottish Chiropractic Association, shares his advice on improving our posture when we’re lugging round bags of Christmas shopping!

Heading Into Winter: with the clocks about to change, Gillian Russell asks how we can best prepare mind and body to minimise the impact the long, dark days might have on our mood and our motivation? Nutritionist, author and owner of Food For Fitness Scott Baptie shares his tips on getting our food right in the winter months and demonstrates how to make a simple, nutritious sweet potato and chorizo soup… then shows Gillian what kind of exercises we can easily do at home on the days when it’s too cold and miserable to go outdoors. Author Emma Mitchell explains what immersing ourselves in nature can do for our physical and mental health and why getting creative with nature can have additional benefits. Dr Niall Elliott from Sport Scotland Institute Of Sport offers advice on how best to look after ourselves to minimise the chances of getting colds, ‘flus and other bugs as the seasons change. Judith Leask describes how she copes with Seasonal Affective Disorder at this time of year.

Gillian Russell discovers what we can learn from other cultures’ approaches to health and wellbeing and asks how we might adopt some of it into our own lives? Beth Kempton’s passion for Japan goes back more than 20 years. She explains why she embarked on a personal quest to discover more about Wabi Sabi, what ancient Japanese wisdom can teach us about our own health and wellbeing and how we could apply the gentle principles of Wabi Sabi in our own increasingly stressed lives. Chen Jie and Dai Congrong from the Confucius Institute in Edinburgh talk about the Chinese approach to health and wellbeing and its importance in their lives. Monika Pachla from the Polish community in Inverness explains why the tradition of keeping Sundays clear is important for their happiness. Helen Russell, author of The Atlas Of Happiness, takes us on a round-the-world journey to hear how other countries and cultures approach happiness, health and wellbeing.