Back in 2013, Niall 'Bressie' Breslin opened up about his battle with anxiety and depression.
Since his teens he had struggled to cope with these issues, which resulted in the Westmeath man going on a quest to help understand and highlight these feelings.
In 2015, Bressie released his first book called Me and My Mate Jeffrey, where The Blizzard's frontman identified the darkness as 'Jeffrey' on a journey through his mental health.
Having studied a Masters in mindfulness, Niall has this month released his first children's book entitled The Magic Moment - a picture book that helps children explore difficult emotions and face their fears, where young readers will meet Freddie.
Dear world, say hello to sound little Freddie. Really special experience writing this and amazing @SheenaDempsey illustrating and @Gill_Books for being so sound. Out in oct but can pre order now . https://t.co/1YfuQcQCkKhttps://t.co/XrfGEdpM43https://t.co/rbj5RhxG8a pic.twitter.com/IbiWzWv5BW
— Niall Breslin (@nbrez) August 10, 2018
Freddie is based around Niall as a child, but he can be anyone really. Freddie is excited about his first trip to the swimming pool, but when he gets there, he finds it scary. So scary in fact, that he just wants to go home.
Later that evening, Nana teaches him a secret trick. It’s called the 'Magic Moment Trick' and it gives you superpowers when you’re facing something scary. You simply close your eyes and think of your happiest memory and squeeze your finger and thumb together.
It's the first in a series, where each story will pick a certain type of emotion for them to navigate.
Speaking on Dermot and Dave, the author tells us all about where the concept came from and how, "I've had it in my head for a long time".
Through his studies, Breslin says, "I started getting quite interested in kid's brains and their minds and what's overwhelming them. How can we help them a little bit better?".
And as we're all are, social media and the "ipad generation" doesn't help matters - "their consuming far too much information for their brains" in his opinion.
One of the most important things Bressie has learned is that "you cannot outrun stuff that makes you uncomfortable", regardless of your age. And we can all learn from that statement.
There's very high praise for the book's illustrator Sheena Dempsey who hit the nail on the head with his "slightly classic" brief. Dermot and Dave (plus their kids) love it too.
He also tells us why we need to tread carefully on the complexity of mindfulness and reveals some gig news and details about The Blizzard's forthcoming album 'The Last Great Algorithm' (out next year).
The Magic Moment is available now, so check it out.
Catch Bressie's chat in full by pressing the play button in the image at the top of the page.
