IT IS a sign of the times that an event called ‘Overcoming Anxiety’ in Liverpool on September 2 has had to go to bigger premises - due to 'overwhelming demand.' 

Alas, don't worry, so to speak, there's another anti-stress seminar in Wirral a week later courtesy of the Kailash Kadampa Centre.

The world, it appears, is regularly in need of this type of 'well-being' get-together.

The Beatles were instrumental in helping educate themselves and their fans about 'switching off our minds, relaxing and floating downstream.'

To this very day Paul and Ringo find time to meditate daily.

Fifty years ago this week the grown-up Mop Tops realised that there was more to life than shallow super stardom and they went out to Bangor in the company of the Maharishi guru before embarking on an all-out Indian retreat the following February.

George Harrison had been the first to question the life they were leading – Beatlemania had given them fame and fortune but no inner peace.

He later sang about 'living in the material world' and his final album was an attack on robotic modern life in Brainwashed - the best spiritual swan song on record.

New technology, he pointed out, had done us no favours.

It was supposed to free us up for more quality time.

Instead it escapes us.

We are glued to our mobiles, I-Pads and many prefer chatting on Skype than talking face-to-face.

According to a recent survey we now send on average one letter a year.

Even J K Rowling uses her latest detective character to be her mouth- piece about the impersonal way we communicate with each other.

Overcoming Anxiety courses take up just a few hours and yet they really do make us think and reflect on the quality of our lives.

I believe it should be taught in schools.

It would certainly help students prepare for the agonising wait for life-changing exam results each year.

No matter what age we are, we all need to stop and get off the crazy carousel - one that, ironically, we have all helped create.

There are two days in the week on which I try and overcome anxiety: one is yesterday and the other is tomorrow.

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SUPER Cooper - one of my favourite authors is Jilly Cooper.

I once had lunch with her and fellow journalists.

She said we could ask her anything and candidly answered questions about her personal life enough to whet the appetite of any gossip columnist.

We were ready to fill our notebooks with juicy tit-bits until one freelance lady asked JC: "what is your preferred filling for a jacket potato?"

I am sure one day the experience will make it into one of her witty novels.

But why do I admire inspirational Ms Cooper?

At the launch of her new book The Mount, she was asked what was the 'unfulfilled ambition that continues to haunt her?' 

Without hesitation, she said: "To keep all our local newspapers in print."

The Wirral Globe salutes you.

Jacket potatoes all round.

JANICE Long was a big hit hosting this year's folk festival at Liverpool's Albert Dock.

The popular broadcaster did a grand job at the three-day festival, hosting singers and musicians from all over the UK former member of The Coral - Lee Southall.

Janice, who recently sat in for Tony Snell on BBC Radio Merseyside, where she started her career, told Inferno she was knocked out by the huge turn-out.

She added: "Bring on next year – tell everyone about it".

Janice is currently heard on Wednesday nights with her cracking Radio 2 show The Long Walk, interviewing stars who inspired her.

Good to see Janice doing what she does best - long may it continue.

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SICK of them – that's my allergic reaction to fly-on-the-wall medical documentaries.

The latest, Ambulance, is a tribute to such dedicated staff.

I applaud them but I don’t want to travel with them - via TV.

Tuesday nights have also over-dosed us with medical dramas from Holby City to Trust Me.

I once interviewed star of classic US series ER, Anthony Edwards - who played Dr Mark Greene.

So convincing was his portrayal that once, on a street in Chicago, he was urged to help a man who had collapsed.

"I am not a doctor – don't let me anywhere near," was his on-the-spot diagnosis.

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OLE! It is nearly 25 years since the BBC pulled the plug on their Spanish soap Eldorado.

It lasted a year and many reviewers had the knives out from day one welcoming its 'el passing.' 

This week the Beeb sent a camera crew to the location - hinting at a post-Brexit comeback.

I was invited to London to be shown an exclusive recording of the last ever episode in 1993.

We met the cast for one-for-the-road sangrias.

I asked its star, Jesse Birdsall, how he felt about it being killed off?

Taking off his trademark sunglasses, he snapped: "You should know - you critics murdered it." 

Ouch.

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AND finally ... the 2017 Liverpool Comedy Festival is launched on Friday.

Here's a reminder of how I once dealt with that most irritating of species during one of my shows - the drunken heckler.

"Sir, I now know why people take an instant dislike to you - it saves time."

It's so heart-warming having the last laugh.

Peter Grant