Peace Lab 2020

Happy New Year everyone – welcome to the first episode of 2022 from Peace Lab podcast. 

In this episode, I caught up with the lovely Susan Pincus, National Careers Professional from the College of Law, a leading career college for lawyers in Australia and New Zealand. 

In her role, Susan provides specialised advices and guidance for graduate lawyers who wish to enter into the competitive legal market and also facilitates online seminars on diverse and interesting topics pertaining to the legal profession. Although COVID-19 has affected our professional lives in many ways, Susan strongly believes that it is important to find the balance between being kind to oneself in the job search process and keep charging forward with small steps each day. As Susan suggests, connecting and networking is still important, if not more important, when the predominant mode of communication is via Zoom or TEAMS in this COVID reality we are living in. So, do not feel discouraged; instead make an effort to meet new people with a curious mind and without a specific agenda. Sometime such meetings bring unexpected opportunities. 

Susan and I have never met in person, but her natural ability to connect led to the synchronistic meeting of us on LinkedIn. In truth, Susan’s own professional path is underlined by a series of synchronicities through a deep belief in what Susan calls “planned happenstance”, which is a career theory developed by Professor John Krumboltz of Stanford University, asking one to focus less on having specific plans for the future and more about finding opportunities in unplanned events. I am grateful for Susan to share with me her story and wisdom.  

I certainly feel that 2022 is a great year for me to explore and practise “planned happenstance” – look forward to meeting opportunities in unplanned events and places! 

To connect with Susan pls feel free to connect via her Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-pincus/

In today’s episode, I had the great pleasure to speak to a dear friend – Zuong Dang. Zuong and I first met at one of the well-being workshops I facilitated a few years ago for the Law Institute of Victoria, and we reconnected last year as Zuong was curious about my master studies in Applied Neuroscience with King’s College London. 

Each guest on Peace Lab Podcast has a unique story about their mental health, and I am grateful that Zuong shared openly about her personal journey from law to neuroscience and well-being. 

Similar to many lawyers, Zuong was always determined and hardworking, but in her own words, she didn’t take great care of herself especially in the junior years of her legal career.  Until one day her body was showing her signs of chronic stress and she ended up in a gastroenterologist’s office. It was the first time she listened to her body and it was then and there she recalled what her father would often say to her – your work can replace you, but if I lose you as a daughter I cannot replace you. She walked out of that doctor appointment, crying and feeling overwhelmed with a feeling of inadequacy (why cannot I be like others, just work 14 hours a day?) 

But luckily Zuong decided to take action to look after herself and to address her own mental health issues in a more tangible way. She moved to Melbourne from Gold Coast, began a mental health care plan, and started learning about meditation and mindfulness practice to compliment traditional means therapy. 

Fast forward a few years later to 2020, COVID-19 became another catalyst for Zuong’ s next stage of transition. Zuong was working in a major financial service firm and completely engrossed with her work. To others, she was successfully climbing the ‘corporate ladder’; however, deep down she was experiencing bouts of depression for the first time in her life with an inability to enjoy life like before. With the wisdom gained from her past experience, Zuong brought herself back to the doctor’s office – to check in with herself as to what she truly desired in life. During those moments of her reflection, she realized maybe it is time for a career change, maybe it is ok to leave law and to pursue her innermost desire and curiosity – which is mental health and well-being. Once Zuong open herself to this new perceptions and new possibilities, opportunities came to her in a synchronistic way.  

Today not only is Zuong busy working as a Senior Policy Officer in COVID-19 response, but also is undertaking her master in Applied Neuroscience with King’s College London as well. There are so many great points mentioned during our conversation, and I will leave you one of the many great insights from Zuong, which speaks great truth to me: It is ultimately YOU that holds the power to change the mindset and to take responsibility to do something about whatever situation you are in. 

I hope you will enjoy this episode! 

To connect with Zuong: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zuongdang/

Happy Wednesday everyone!

This week I had the great pleasure of speaking to Judith Marychurch, who is the Assistant Dean of Teaching & Learning at Melbourne Law School (MLS) and her role also entails a strong focus on promoting well-being among the law students.

I met Judith many years later after I graduated from Melbourne Law School.  We bonded over our passion for advocating well-being and mental health in legal education. Judith also trusted me with the opportunity to run a programme of laughter workshops at Melbourne Law School for the 'serious law students' several years ago.

So I was excited to catch up with Judith and to talk about her experience with the COVID-19 pandemic both professionally and personally.

According to Judith, the way universities conduct teaching and learning has been transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic, whereby most face-to-face teaching has been replaced with online learning.  Indeed, COVID-19 has been seen as the catalyst for digital transformation in many industries legal education included.  The COVID-19 also highlighted the needs for the educators to consider the diverse backgrounds and the responsibilities (such as carers' responsibility) of the students, as the online learning platform may be more challenging if the student is living in a share-housing,  or is a parent that need to home school children.  However, all the academic staff and students are quite resilient and have quickly found their creative ways to adapt to this new normal.

As a mother of three children (two teenagers and one 7-year-old), Judith certainly had a busy 18 months juggling her academic role whilst home-schooling her children.  Judith noted (like most working parents) that whilst home-schooling could be challenging sometimes, overall it has been a rewarding experience.  Oh yes, her 7 year-old has come to her for cuddles a few times during her Zoom meetings, but everyone was very understanding and considered it was a sweet gesture more than anything else.

During the pandemic, Judith started knitting for her children's schools and it became a surprising way for her to relax, and to be mindful.  We both agree that mindfulness comes in different shapes and forms, and meditation is not the single path to achieve a mindful and relaxed mind.  It must be explored by the individual and each person may have their unique way to a calming mind and a peaceful heart.

Lastly, I was curious to find out Judith's biggest learning gained from the COVID-19 pandemic experience.  Her answer is simple yet profound - "human connection", especially drawing from her personal experience after losing her father in January 2021.  Judith was grateful that her family was able to get together, to grieve and to heal together as there was no strict COVID restriction at the time.  But it would be challenging for many other families that could not do so throughout the pandemic.  Reflecting upon my own personal experience, I must agree that I have a much deeper appreciation for the preciousness and power of human connection than before.

I hope you enjoy this insightful conversation and please stay safe and connected!

To find out more about Judith:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/judith-marychurch-44973729/

Hello everyone,

This week, I caught up with Dr Rudy Lopes, an experienced obstetrician and gynaecologist, who transitioned from being a private medical practitioner into the domain of public health.  Since we spoke last time, Rudy has been working with the Department of Health as a Technical Advisor on hotel quarantine in light of the COVID-19 public health response and has also commenced his PhD candidacy with the Burnet Institute as a NH&MRC scholar.

A lot has happened in the past year for Rudy, which is also quite linked with the continuing unfoldment of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was a rather timely discussion, as this is the same week when Melbourne witnessed multiple-days protests relating to the vaccination rollout and the city also experienced its biggest earthquake in many decades. So we started our conversation reflecting on this week's events. As someone who is tirelessly working in the COVID-19 public health response, his frustration of vaccine hesitancy is understandable, and Rudy shared his honest views on vaccines and the important role it plays for us to return to 'a COVID-safe normality'. 

For me personally, this week's events made me realise the most needed quality at this time is kindness. I shared with Rude that I wish we can find a more peaceful way to express our views (no matter what they are), as violence and force do not help in fighting against the common enemy - the COVID-19 virus.

"More is achieved with honey than vinegar" - Rudy shared my sentiment, and agreed that we must come together as 'us' instead of approaching it from an individual perspective.  Ultimately, there is no absolute right or wrong answer or choice; however, it is a balancing act between the seeming opposites, so hopefully we can eventually reach a place of unity and wholeness.   

As now we are in a different phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was curious what the greatest learnings Rudy has gained. His answer was something many of us can relate to - learning to let go of human control. Rudy noted that we often live under the illusion that we have control, but what the pandemic has shown us is that the more fixated we are on certain outcomes or certain process, the more likely we will experience difficulties. What if we just let go and go with the flow?

This lesson of surrendering into something bigger than us is universal to many of us. As a human, we somehow dislike uncertainty. Yet, change is the name of the game when it comes to life, and this changing nature is accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As both Rudy and I agreed, sometimes when we just follow the path, we may be led to something unexpected and surprisingly pleasant.

I hope you enjoy this insightful conversation and if you wish to connect with Dr Rudy Lopes, pls see his Linkedin Profile below:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudy-lopes-3951772/

Hello everyone, we are back for Peace Lab Podcast again!  

In today’s Peace Lab Conversation, I spoke to Merv Neal from Laughter Yoga Australia.  Some of you may remember Merv from last year's episode (Episode 2) and Merv is one of the most successful and skilled Laughter Yoga facilitators and teachers I know.   Merv shared openly with me about his observations over the past year, especially the "blessing in disguise" of COVID-19.  Although 2020-2021 has been extremely challenging, Merv found that many people have also grained great personal lessons and wisdom from this period of time.  Merv also has seen a great shift in the mindset of the corporate clients that he has been working with (both in Australia and internationally) - to focus more on the well-being of their staff, and how we can work together to not only survive in the "new normal", but truly thrive in such seeming difficult times.  As he said, it requires us to see things different and to find positivity even in the dark places. 

From my experiences, this ability to see light in the darkness, and to see the good among the bad is a true hallmark of one's resilience and wisdom.  I personally feel that COVID-19 unintentionally provided a once-in-a-life time training experience for us to cultivate such capability in life.  

In addition, Merv mentioned that COVID-19 has highlighted the need for a new style of leadership - a more heart-centred leadership.  I couldn't agree more.  In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has entered into a new phase, as we are challenged by the Delta variant and by the many opinions on vaccinations.   In response, we can see a diverse style of leaderships, some of which are based in fear and divisions, instead of a loving, caring and inspiring place.  I will definitely be one in support of a 'heart-centred leadership' in the near future!  

To conclude, we finished with a gentle 'loving kindness meditation' to set the loving intention for ourselves and also for the world!  "May you find peace even in the mids of chaos;  May you find joy even in the seeming darkness;  May you feel safe, no matter whatever is happening in the world". 

To find out more about Merv and Laughter Yoga Australia and Laughter Joy Conference/Festival in October: 

- https://laughterwellbeing.org/;

- https://laughterwellbeing.org/conference-agenda/. 

It is not often I meet another 'Elva' - that is one of the reasons why I was so excited to invite Elva from Elva Li Personal Branding and Lifestyle Studio to the podcast. 

Elva is not your usual branding expert, because she integrates holistic brand strategy, creative direction, and mindset work to translate the soul of a person onto screen.  To Elva, personal branding is about shining the light from inside out, and her role is to guide her clients towards their inner light and make it shine! 

Her unique approach to branding reflects the wisdom and insight Elva has gained through her own personal development, since she left her hometown - Shanghai, China more than 10 years ago.  As she shared openly with me, she had to let go of the 'good girl' expectation by her parents and family, and took a leap of faith to leave the comfort of the corporate world.  In following her heart, she found her true calling and what made her smile every day. 

Now Elva has left some questions for the listeners.  They are not just for those who are seeking branding advices, but can be applied to all areas of our lives, when assessing the level of alignment we have in our lives.  

Here are the questions:

• Who do I need to be to inspire my audience into action and create the change I want to see in the world?

Enjoy!

To find out more about Elva's work: 

- www.elvali.com

- https://www.linkedin.com/in/elvalipersonalbranding/

We breathe in and out on average between 20,000 and 23,000 times per day on average.   

Yet, how much do you know about breathing and the proper way our bodies are designed to breathe?  

Do you breathe fast, shallow, loud? Do you catch yourself breathe using mouth?  

In this episode, Diana Marshall, an internationally accredited breathing expert will share with us how important breathing is really for us.   

This simple act of breathing "in and out" affects the totality of our well-being such as our sleep, energy levels, focus, physical and emotional health. It also leads to productivity and performance issues at work and home. 

However, as Diana shared with us it is never too late to change our breathing patterns.  We can start this by engaging in more diaphragmatic breathing or “belly breathing,” which involves fully engaging the stomach, abdominal muscles, and diaphragm when breathing.   

Alternatively we can make sure that we breathe less through our mouth but through our nose, which connects directly with the para-sympathetic nervous system as well as the limbic system in our brain.  

This is certainly an informative session and I hope you will enjoy learning about the science and wisdom of breathing too! 

To read more about Diana's work, please visit:  

- https://www.breathingrehabilitation.com/ 

- https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-marshall-5924a5176/