Inner Expeditions

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For Mental Health week I'm joined by the amazing Sharon Mumby to talk about her personal journey as a mum and what inspired her to start helping others.

Everyone at some stage will struggle with something and quite often for women it can be transitioning into motherhood that can bring some harsh self judgement and guilt. Sharon is a great reminder to not judge ourselves too harshly and to make sure we find time for ourselves guilt free and to put ourselves first so that everyone around us can benefit.

So look after yourself, make sure that voice inside is being kind, reach out if you need to and especially be kind and loving to yourself. Drop the judgement and comparison and focus on the here and now as we can only do one thing at a time, no matter how much our brain is occupied with other things all at once.

I hope this episode finds you in a good place with yourself as the first person you need to care for and please is the person in the mirror. Once you have that it is much easier to project that love and happiness to everyone.

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For this instalment of the show I'm joined by David Ebbott as we talk about his change in careers to go from a tradie to surf film maker.

There can be roadblocks that stop us from acting on what inspires us and fears on all levels that keep us where we are. Do we stay there or break through the barriers and go into the unknown do what we love for a living?

This could be a new career or personal goal in order for us to feel alive, creating a happier self that everyone around you can benefit from. To not be scared of failing in order to take control of what we do and how we live our lives. 

We also talk about the benefits of whole healthy foods as medicine and  how keeping fit can have such a positive effect on how we work and live.

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Australian actor and musician Joel Jackson joins me this episode to talk about his current project 'The Lap WA' and about what inspired him to get it underway.  'The Lap' is a 10,000k motorbike ride for Joel and his dad, Weston riding for 100 days and visiting 45 towns across Western Australia. The aim is to raise money for Telethon as well as raise awareness for the struggle young lives across the country are going through right now. The boys are also joined by Joel's mum who is following them in the support vehicle.

We talk about his love for the land and the people that he has grown up with from the south coast of WA up the the red dirt in Karratha in the north, where he started playing music and decided to study to become an actor. 
Now with his career on the rise there's been new challenges and roadblocks as the pandemic throws in some curve balls as it has for many.

As parts of life can look uncertain it's great to see Joel's positivity as he explains the gratitude he has for the people he has and meets in his life. There's a great energy from engaging with people in the moment and taking time to listen and learn from older generations, something we should cherish and hold onto wherever possible. 

On top of everything we should make sure we take time out for ourselves, get outside and appreciate the outdoors whenever possible. So put away the distractions, take in our surroundings even for just a moment allow for some stillness in the mind and be grateful for the simple things we do have.

Some great books Joel mentions and are some of his favourites are:
'On the Shortness of Life' by Seneca
'Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius
The 'Hawkmoon' series by Michael Moorcock

We both mention 'Breath the New Science to a Lost Art' by James Nestor.

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For this instalment I'm joined by my Dad, John Harvey to talk about parenthood and life.
We look a bit more into my beginnings and what drove a decision for my parents to pack up life in Australia and take us to live in the UK for 5 years,  how they saw that impact me and help create the person I now am.

Sometimes we don't fully grip and understand parts of out childhood until we become parents ourselves, giving us a chance to understand what our folks went through raising us. Along with this we start to look at the people who raised us as friends and equals as we mature into parents and adults ourselves.

It's a fine art to let your kids grow and mature with your guidance but also knowing when to step back and let them work things out for themselves without interfering too much. Dad shares some great advice on this as well as sharing how to keep us close while letting us be ourselves.

I'm glad I got a chance to sit down and have a chat with my Dad as I still keep learning from him, even from this conversation.

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For this episode I am joined by Michelle Hooper to talk about how running helped her find herself again after having kids and how that has lead into a life of ultra running and adventure.

Michelle has a great outlook on her adventures after going down the competition running path, to now exploring the outdoors via solo ultra distance running. we chat about her experiences during the Cape to Cape FKT which then lead to pushing her own limits to complete the 230 km Larapinta Trail in the Northern Territory. 

Training for such epic feats involves great planning and training but has it's own perils as for a lot of the time you are out there on your own and we discuss some of the safety aspects for female and runners in general.

Michelle has a great outlook on her adventures, especially allowing herself time after the big efforts to fully recover and unpack what she has accomplished. From this there is no rush for the next challenge which is a great lesson in allowing for what's next to come to arrive when the time is right. There's something in that for most of us as we can often get caught up the progression of what's next rather than fully absorbing what we have achieved, and ultimately the lessons that we got along the way. 

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Are we making ourselves happy? Or are we basing our happiness on what others are telling us that is? Are you being your truest version or projecting how you want to be seen by others? These are some of the topics in this instalment with my guest, Leon Evangelistis. We discuss what he has seen and learnt from his time travelling to all corners of the earth to assist in his understanding of wellbeing and mindfulness. 

Leon always has a project on the go from building the ultimate desert touring Rav 4 to retrofitting out his boat and bus. Among all of this he helps out his Fiancee Kyra (From S1 E1) with her free diving academy as well as instructing yoga.

We talk about taking control of our own identity and finding happiness in just being ourselves, something which can be hard to do with so many ways to compare and be distracted. There is so much value in taking a break from outside influences and a busy life to just sit and be still with our own thoughts. 

There's always good meaning in our talks with great humility and a fair bit of laughter too. I hope you enjoy your time with Leon as much as I always do.

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For this instalment of the show I'm joined by experienced marathon and Ultra Runner Jon Pendse. Jon has a long and extensive career in running and shares with us all aspects of running from training to nutrition and mindset, all of which he has done with a rare disease called Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria or PNH. It is a disease which causes a destruction of red blood cells and causes impaired bone marrow function.
We discuss how at 39 and living with this PNH how Jon is still pushing his performance and focusing on beating his PB's as he enters his 40's. We talk about routine, training and finding what works well for him as well as taking a look at his nutrition and how it has varied as he looks to push his potential further. 
Jon informs us that what works for him could vary in what works for others as everyones lives, schedules and genetic make up mean we need to experiment to find what works for us.  What we find though is that everyone needs a 'why' or reason to take up something new, be it running or any new challenge we decide to take on and always just focus on our own efforts without comparing ourselves to others.
One thing that we all love about running is the constant learning of our selves as we progress. It could be a 5 k park run PB to mastering our minds to endure an ultramarathon, this sport has so much to give us to aid in understanding ourselves and improving as a people in general.
One common thing seems to be the stress relief and mindfulness we get every time we lace up and head out, giving us a chance to reset and hit an almost medative state. Running is truely a great community to be a part of.

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I'm so glad to finally get Andrew in to record this episode. Andrew lives a pretty incredible life between being a full time firefighter, fitness instructor and (pre-covid) travelling extensively to experiences of all types from free diving in Raja Ampat to marathon running in the polar ice region.

On top of all of this he still makes time to volunteer as a member of the BackPacker Medics Disaster Response Group.  BackPacker Medics are a non for profit organisation which has deployed to natural disaster areas such as Indonesia and Nepal to give aid in remote areas.  It takes a special person to give their own time and money to help people wherever they are, without asking anything in return let alone be able to cope with such a busy and demanding workload.

Andrew has learnt over the years how to separate and give himself time to recover and stay relatively at ease, even after returning home from volunteering abroad in not so ideal conditions.  What he has learned and developed now helps him every day and life in general as he negotiates life and work in todays's modern age.

I'm always grateful to catch up and spend time with 'Strunky' and I hope you enjoy and find time to relax listening to this one as well.


 

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In this episode I talk about art and creativity with friend and author David Minutillo.  I'm learning that what inspires art can come from a variety of things, be it other work, experiences or being surrounded by things that affect us on a personal level.  Art is a great channel for a person to express  their feelings into something that's tangible for someone to then appreciate on the receiving end.  As listeners, readers and audiences we can feel the emotion in someone's work which we can appreciate and relate to. Other times we can create our own thoughts on the work and attach how we feel about the art in relation to ourselves, giving us the ability to relate on our own personal level.

We talk about how Dave manages to do this as a new Author as well as taking on the fears that come with not only exposing your thoughts but starting a new business entirely and leaving old careers behind.  We talk about when we used to work together on sites on the industry we left behind and how that has impacted us on where we are today.  It's been great for me to learn about how Dave goes about writing and also talk about how the process all comes together. 

I love to read and am looking forward to more books to come from Dave.  I also feel so lucky to live in a time where all forms of art are so accessible to enjoy.  It's great to learn what gets people inspired to pull an idea out of thin air,  then have the talent and freeness to put it out there for the world to enjoy.

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For this episode I am joined by Kirsty Fleming who competed for Australia at World Class level and was part of the Aus Olympic lightweight rowing squad from 2003-2008. 
While cycling on the open road and training for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Kirsty would have a major life turn as she was struck by a car at high speed and suffered major injuries.

While in hospital Kirsty had some hard times as she started to think about what she may and may not ever be able to do again, including not just rowing but competing at the highest level. We discuss the importance of positive thinking in getting your life back on track after adjusting into a life outside of competition. During this time in her life Kirsty decided that it wasn't time to give up yet and worked tirelessly to get back to being able to not just row, but be good enough for Olympic Selection.

This is truely a great story on teaching us the importance of putting your mind towards a goal and not giving up, as well as being grateful for every opportunity what we can build for ourselves by working hard, thinking positively and enjoying every step along the way.

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