WellBeing Being Issue 4

Clarity with yourself may mean facing a confronting truth you’ve been avoiding; clarity with others might mean saying something that will invite temporary discomfort. But by embracing a quality of kindness in clarity, you may feel more at ease and calm with what’s present. It’s important to remember that being transparent doesn’t necessarily mean you have the answer. Sometimes clarity means having the courage to say, “I don’t know.” Perhaps, when it comes to clarity, what’s most important is threading kindness into the tapestry of your experience. As author and researcher Brené Brown famously said, “Clear is kind.”…

Love isn’t just the feeling of holding someone’s heart in your hands and offering your heart back to them. Love is also what moves you to show up in the world as your most authentic self. It’s what explodes out of you after deep-belly laughing with a dear friend until your cheeks hurt; it’s what radiates from you when you’re feeling at ease in your own skin. In her story on open-hearted living on page 36, Emma so beautifully reminds us that “the heart in its essence is unbounded”. These experiences of being in your heart — in your true nature — are at the core of this issue of Being; exploring what it means to be a wholehearted human being. While I was editing Danae’s story on the wisdom of…

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”— Jacques Cousteau Dawn days It’s a Wednesday morning at dawn in the middle of June. It’s 2°C outside and the frosty sea air I’m breathing deep into my lungs feels almost as invigorating as a fresh coffee. My mermaid-esque neighbour Eve and I start walking down to the beach and, as we chat, our exhalations make misty clouds in front of our faces. The wintery weather and small, clean swell has made the often-crowded Ocean Grove beach break ours for the taking and we couldn’t be more stoked. A light offshore wind greets us at the shore as morning light starts to blanket across parts of the sky. At this point of the day, and this time…

Being mindful is a space where we recognise every thought, feeling and movement, and accept them as they are without judgement. In the law of nature, everything that arises soon passes. When a personal event happens, your body creates a sensation. Whether it is a good or bad reaction, it varies from each individual. However, the deep sensations arise the same way for everyone. They start from inside your thoughts and can alter how you perceive life. From these perspectives, they slowly lead to habits, personalities and character traits. Moving away from mindfulness, these thoughts can cloud your sense of wholeness. In stillness, you can find the root of your behaviours by slowly unveiling yourself, like peeling away layers of an onion, which in time reveals your core. Being in the…

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, more than 11.1 million Australians returned from short-term overseas trips in 2018. Have you ever wondered about the impact of all that travel? Besides financially boosting the visited country’s economy, travellers leave social and environmental traces behind — good and bad. As the ease of travelling grows and globetrotting becomes more common, a shift to exploring the world more ethically needs to happen — and fast. Here are six ways you can do so. Get to know the locals Accommodation apps such as Airbnb and CouchSurfing have changed the way humans travel. Staying with locals means you can discover their favourite spots for delicious food, fun activities and beautiful views, away from the crowds. When it comes to booking activities, seek out locally owned, family-operated tours…

Around 5000 years ago, the sages of India developed a holistic system of medicine referred to as Ayurveda, a Sanskrit word that translates to the science of life. Interestingly, Ayurveda, which originated from the Vedic system of knowledge, is complementary to yoga. At the heart of Ayurveda is the inextricable link between mind and body, which, when in balance, is believed to promote long-term health and wellbeing. And while the principles cover nutrition, movement, mindfulness and self-care, Ayurveda also offers rich teachings to enhance our energy centres and inner state of consciousness. Practitioners believe that once we have entered into a state of balance, we achieve the most pure, true and beautiful embodiment of ourselves. And this is believed to be the essence of beauty. A world away from Western ideals,…