Dermot Whelan on stress, meditation, and how to help your mental health in 16 seconds

Just how do you make a live show – and a comedy one at that – out of meditation techniques? Dermot Whelan tells Marjorie Brennan about his mission to make mindfulness accessible to all

Dermot Whelan, broadcaster: "At first glance, comedy and meditation can seem like polar opposites but they’re not, really." Photograph Moya Nolan

Dermot Whelan is giving me some advice on how to meditate. Not a sentence I would have imagined writing 10 years ago, when the comedian and broadcaster was making me chuckle with his dry wit and deadpan observations on the RTÉ show Republic of Telly.

But out of adversity comes opportunity and when Whelan experienced a terrifying panic attack in 2007, convinced he was going to die, it was a life-changing moment. His hectic schedule combining stand-up shows, his early morning radio show on Today FM, and family responsibilities were taking their toll, and he dealt with the resulting stress in what he terms the old-fashioned Irish way — “with pints, nicotine, and cynicism”.