16 Jul Resilience and happiness warrior coming to Timboon

It has been confirmed that The Resilience Project founder Hugh van Cuylenburg will personally deliver a free session in Timboon later this month.

Timboon and District Healthcare Service community health nurse Amanda Nash said it was great news for the local community who she expected would turn out in force to hear from Hugh about positive mental health.

“It’s so important that people know about, and talk about, mental illness and Hugh gives us the tools to understand it a bit more and become happier versions of ourselves,” she said.

The Resilience Project facts;

• 1 in 4 adolescents have a mental illness
• 1 in 7 primary schools kids have a mental illness
• 1 in 5 adults will experience mental ill-health throughout the year
• 65 per cent of adolescents do not seek help for mental illness

 

In 2008, Hugh spent several months living and volunteering in the far north of India and he cites this experience as the start of The Resilience Project.

“In this desert community, there was no running water, no electricity and no beds; everyone slept on the floor of their desert hut. Despite the fact these people had very little to call their own, I was continually blown away by how happy they were,” he said.

“It was this experience, and subsequent post graduate studies, that have led me to some pretty simple conclusions about the things that we need to be doing here in Australia if we want to be happier.

“In a nutshell, I learnt in this desert village that practicing gratitude, empathy and mindfulness leads us to a happier more fulfilling experience.”

Mrs Nash said Hugh was an inspiring person who provided his audiences with positive mental health strategies to build resilience and happiness.

“This project has gathered a lot of momentum right across Australia and it’s a really exciting opportunity for our community to benefit from Hugh’s work and to stop and think about our own mental health and how it might be improved,” she said.

“He’s spoken at over 500 schools and helped some pretty big sporting organisations including the Australian Cricket team, the Australian Netball team, Australian Women’s Soccer team and eight AFL teams.”

The free session will be held from 1.00-2.30pm on Tuesday, July 30 at TDHS. Limited seats are available, so please reserve yours by calling 5558 6000.

Read more about The Resilience Project on their website here.