Arwen Dyer is a gentle soul with a story that we believe needs to be heard. Her photography alone we could discuss for hours, but it is her work in art therapy that is at the core of this conversation.  


We discuss the use of art to heal, even for those of us that place ourselves in the non-artistic box.


“There can often be resistance to using the arts in that therapeutic context even if people want to they can get stuck in their own story and just talking. But also they might feel like I’m going to be judged on what I create or what’s going to come out of this.”


“What if we make some marks on paper about how that feels for you? What colour would you choose? It might just be a black mess on the paper but that’s what it is – that’s what you’re feeling.”


We hope this conversation gives you an introduction to an unusual but beautiful technique.

#02: Finding the Art to Healing with Arwen Dyer

Today, we sit down with Professor Paulo De Souza Jnr, an internationally recognised scientist who has recently discovered ultra running. This conversation is about being the absolute best that you can be, while at the same time not beating yourself up if you fail along the way. It’s about making mistakes but ensuring that you learn from them. Importantly, it’s also a conversation on what drives you. Paulo has a very strong sense of self and this conversation will find you questioning and contemplating what drives you.

 

“Curiosity is the basis of everything I do but I transformed that, I think I changed that, and I give purpose to that. What drives me is purpose”


A quick, and very condensed, overview of Paulo’s life:

- Grew up in the Amazon
- Excelled in Judo and considered pursing it to an Olympic level
- Studied his PhD in Germany
- Worked for NASA
- Now lives and works in Tasmania for CSIRO
- ‘Bees with backpacks’ project
- Discovered a love of ultra running and now finds a balance incorporating it with his researching career
 

“Whatever you want to do – just go for it. But be mindful of what the consequences are of your choices.”


We hope you enjoy this conversation.


Watch the link below for a better understanding of the Bees with Backpacks project.

#01: Running marathons on Mars with Paulo De Souza

Be prepared to never look at your emotions the same way again. Today we sit down with Clive Stack, an absolute trailblazer in mapping emotions. 

While this podcast may not seem relevant to you on the surface, trust us when we say that you will be blown away by how this conversation can be applied in your life; from yourself and your relationships, to your running/exercise and motivation. Freedom, anxiety and fury are all discussed in depth. We also delve into a topic that was asked when we initially released our podcast idea regarding your motivation to run (and continue to run). 

We don’t want to give too much away so we will leave you with the following quotes from the conversation. 

“Emotion is the force to help you become what you want to be. Our emotions control our behaviour.”

“The common thought that someone makes us feel something, that is such a common thing. Nobody can MAKE you feel something.”

“Perfection is about living in the now; there is no perfection except in the moment. When we search for perfection, what we are trying to do is live in the moment.”

We hope you enjoy this conversation and take the risk of learning with us.

#03: Driven by emotions with Dr Clive Stack

Today we sit down with Darryl Griffiths, founder of Shotz Sports Nutrition and author of Sweat.Think.Go Faster. Darryl is known as a pioneer in sports nutrition and if you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll have seen we've frequently showcased Darryl's knowledge through his guest blogs on nutrition and hydration and previous podcasts with Hanny.

   

At its core, we hope this podcast will show you how passionate Darryl is about helping athletes perform better along with giving some more information on the man behind the scenes. Darryl has worked with the world's top: Ironmen and women; triathletes; cyclists; runners; Paralympian's; Formula One and motocross athletes just to name a few. He even has famous faces staying with him in Melbourne on a regular basis!

   

He's inspired us to explore not just sports nutrition but exploring better ways of doing business and living our personal lives with intention. 

       

“It’s about having a respect for the body and an understanding that everyone is so different”
    
“People may be exactly the same size and yet have completely different numbers when you’re talking about hydration”
      

We hope you enjoy this conversation.

#04: Fuelling Your Intentions with Darryl Griffiths

We’ve switched things around and today are interviewing Hanny for the podcast! I’m sure that most of you are at the very least familiar with the name ‘Hanny Allston’ and know that she is a phenomenal athlete. There is a lot more to Hanny than just running though as you will see with this conversation. 

I hope this podcast shows someone with an incredible character and drive that has led to multiple outstanding achievements, while maintaining a humble and grounded personality. Our conversation dives into turning 30, Find Your Feet and the many aspects of running; from training to racing to avoiding injury.
 
We hope you enjoy this conversation.

#05: Running with new insights with Hanny Allston

In this podcast, we go deep into the psychology and foundations of sustainable training, trying to uncover some of the important truths associated with mastering our crafts, be them play or performance.

We delve into:
- The humble beginnings of Hanny Allston
- Hanny’s writing process for her new trail running guidebook and training resources
- How Hanny developed her style of coaching and ethos
- Extra-ordinary benefits of taking time to develop a strong sense of self
- Sustainable training mindsets

#17 Psychological Foundations of Performance With Hanny Allston

Lee Belbin and I crossed paths through the Find Your Feet Podcast. One day I received a compassionately crafted email from Lee, sharing his thoughts and feedback on the podcast so far. We started exchanging emails where Lee opened up more and more about his background as an ecologist, his theories on performance and how by combining these two things he had managed to avoid any sporting injury for his entire life. Now 69, I thought this was quite a remarkable feat and knew we needed to sit down for our own conversation.  
 
Lee has a very humble and unique approach to athleticism, which he calls ‘punctuated equilibrium.’ It actually stems from an ecological theory of evolution. In a very basic summary, species will experience a period of stability until along comes an external situation that throws them out of equilibrium and forces them to either adapt or die. Apply that to a human and obviously the everyday circumstances or deep-set internal drivers that knock us off balance will not be life or death, but it does force us to grow and adapt, or suffer.  
 
Lee is very passionate about striving for balance in our lives. However, he utilises ‘punctuation marks’ to challenge himself and grow physically and intellectually. I found our conversation around this topic and so many more, incredibly fascinating. I hope you enjoy this one! 
 
Main Points
Punctuated Equilibrium - internal and external ‘punctuation marks’ 
‘Home Points’ and ‘Rocks’- the importance of having these places, people, or circumstances that offer stability to our lives, from which we can recharge again. 
Growing doesn’t mean ‘up and up!’ 
Defining success and its malleability with age
How we remain grounded and aware, whilst simultaneously striving and growing 
 
Lastly I would also love to share this powerful passage from Michael Gervais’ blog, a top-class American psychologist whom I love to follow on his own ‘Finding Mastery Podcast’.  In this blog piece, he speaks to the topics of balance and internal growth: 
 
“It is not the external world that needs to change. Transformational shifts happen from upgrading the internal world – your patterns of both thoughts and actions. These pattern shifts might just begin with moving beyond the drive for high performance; beyond the search for peak experiences; beyond being able to do more in your life. While the peaks are important and wonderful, the transformation of living more fully daily begins with a fundamental commitment to organize your life to be you at your best more often; to be more present, more grounded, more joyful, more playful, more focused — more “switched-on”. That way of living requires an investment in recovery: proper sleep, proper hydration and food intake, plenty of movement and an optimal way of thinking.”
 
Thank you so much for joining me in the podcast Lee and I hope you enjoy listening to this one too! :)

#32 Athleticism Through the Theories of Ecology with Lee Belbin

#50 A wink from a guru with Aaron Schultz

An original and helpful voice on this landscape of digital connection for which there are no maps. Seth Godin is a singular thought leader and innovator in what he describes as our post-industrial, post-geography "connection economy." Rather than merely tolerate change, he says, we are all called now to rise to it. We are invited and stretched in whatever we do to be artists — to create in ways that matter to other people.

Seth Godin — The Art of Noticing, and Then Creating (Jan 24, 2013)

There are so many extraordinary people achieving outside of the ordinary.  From athletes to artists, adventurers to entrepreneurs, scientists to everyday people embarking on huge adventures.  However, it is not what they achieve that fascinates me, but rather, how they achieve such excellence.   

Through my Find Your Feet Podcast, I want to pull back layer upon layer to find out what drives these members of our community who are striving hard to find their feet & live a rich, purposeful life.  I want to help their powerful messages and stories to be heard so that they can continue to make a ripple… or potentially even a splash!  

I hope that through sharing their journeys and an insight into what makes them tick, we can provide an avenue for your own self-exploration for a meaningful life filled with excellence, in whatever that field may be.  Because ultimately, I just hope that these inspiring individuals can help us all to progress one step closer to finding our feet as people, and in whatever dreams we dare to dream.
Visit www.hannyallston.com.au

#32 Athleticism Through the Theories of Ecology with Lee Belbin

Find Your Feet Podcast

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