Yum Cha Chats: Positive mind hacks with Henry Saiz

Sundays are hard but can be made easier with unexpected delights — so here’s some fluff to get you through it. Inspired by a recent jaunt for dim sum with Miss Yellow in Hong Kong, allow us to deliver a new edition of Yum Cha Chats — which means let’s go eat dim sum and drink tea in Cantonese. The series will dig into the obscure and tasty 'fillings' you never knew about your favourite DJs and have nothing to do with music — every Sunday. Best enjoyed from bed…

Award winning record producer, DJ and live performer, Henry Saiz has always proven that mind wins over matter — his musical sensibility is always substance driven, and the man is never satisfied with a finished project until he starts the next one. Henry is all about creating language through music, and only a clear, grounded and positive mind can help him achieve that goal in communication. You can peep a sample of Henry's current methods of communication through his live stream series titled At Home with Henry Saiz here. In the meantime, let Henry introduce you to his 5 most important positive mind hacks that keep you steady, creative and motivated.

“In my case, since we cannot tour, I’ve been trying to stay connected to what I do for a living and love the most — creating and playing music. When you suddenly kind of lose your purpose in life, it can be very destabilising. So a few days after the lockdown had begun, I created this concept of streaming shows called At Home With Henry playing all kind of styles and music that I love but usually cannot play in clubs. That made me focus on the positive and bring some light into this situation and also my fans loved it. 72 shows already and I’m not planning on stopping anytime soon! Whatever you do, make sure you are passionate about it, that´s one of the keys to happiness for me.”

“In these strange times, we are all looking for a real and deep connection among us. Social networks give us a substitute for it but it doesn’t fulfil us on a deeper level. During these months I came to realise how harmful it is to be exposed to social networks and their algorithms and how we need really deep and meaningful relationships more than ever. Humans need humans. Don't let anything replace a good face-to-face (even with a mask on) conversation with someone you love.”

“There are only a few things more comforting and special than sharing your life with other animal species. You learn a lot about many things, about yourself and the world around you. Understanding, at least to some degree, the psychology of another species and caring for each other is a wonderful thing that makes me happy every day and is already essential for me. In my case I have two wonderful cats; Mabuse (Persian) and Moonlight (British long hair) as well as dozens of plants and two aquariums where I practice aquascaping, which is a very relaxing activity from which you learn a lot about life and its mechanisms. Without a doubt, it’s something essential for me that brings many positive things.”

“Keeping your mind busy is essential if you don´t want depression to knock on your door. Nowadays the entertainment offer is huge, maybe even overwhelming. Technology is amazing but again, you can´t rely on the algorithms and just consume everything that YouTube or similar platforms throw at you. You can easily see yourself in a spiral of toxic or just useless for your brain content. Choose carefully what series, films, documentaries you want to watch and think twice if they are going to bring you comfort or just anxiety. Like real food, what you feed your psyche with is going to determine your mood, so be mindful.”

“For me, it is essential at least once a week to take a long walk in nature. I am very fortunate to live surrounded by beautiful places. Where I live in Alicante, Spain, I have the Mediterranean Sea a few minutes from my house, beautiful mountains to walk and forests nearby. That is one of the reasons why I live here. Such a primary connection is great for your mental health, to connect with the only real and true thing there is — our mother nature. I don't care if I sound like a hippie, for me and I think for everyone to a greater or lesser extent, there is nothing more real than the nature that gives us life and helps to see things clearer, as in these days of technological simulation we need to return to our roots to see our problems from a different perspective.”