Layne Beachley is most known in Australia and across the world for her history-making surfing career and her claim to seven world titles.
She’s always been a fierce advocate for gender equality within the sport. When she first joined the surfing pro tour in 1990, she saw the inequality and disrespect women were facing and decided to commit to fighting for better conditions.
More recently, Beachley has spoken openly about the lessons she’s learned about her physical and mental health and wellness. She’s also the Chief Awakening Officer at the Awake Academy, where she put her skills as a mental wellness advocate into action.
Beachley will appear at the upcoming 2024 Women’s Health and Wellbeing Summit in Sydney on September 4, speaking on the Women’s Longevity and Wellbeing panel. Ahead of the event, she spoke to Women’s Agenda about her own health journey and what she’d like other women to know when it comes to managing their wellbeing.
Coming from a personal experience, Beachley says the best advice she could give to other women is to find the courage to reach out for support before things have completely fallen apart.
“Women love to help each other, but we have to have the courage to be vulnerable because that’s where the true strength lies,” Beachley says.
“Having the courage to put your hand up and ask for help before everything has fallen apart.”
Beachley says it was her second bout of chronic fatigue and her experiences of depression and suicidality that acted as a “fundamental wake up call” to recognise how she had been taking her health and wellbeing for granted.
Beachley notes it’s a “pretty tough time” at the moment, noting that so many people are struggling with poor mental health in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
“No one deserves to suffer in silence and I want to normalise the conversation around mental health and having mental injury,” Beachley said.
It’s about “learning how to honour and accept our feelings without being dictated by them”, she says.
At the Awake Academy, Beachley works to address this haed on, by encouraging people to become more centred, connected and confident within themselves.
“That starts with learning how to honor your feelings and also take things a time to recognize your strengths and create meaningful connections,” she says.
“We provide templates to induce these conversations and develop deeper understandings of the self and then understanding of the people who are around you to support you. We’re normalising self work and self empowerment, and then we’re also normalizing conversations around mental health and what we actually need.”
More generally, Beachley also says she’d love to see more open conversations about menopause and its impact on women.
“I’ve been going through menopause for the last eight to 10 years, and I know it’s becoming more of a subject that’s willingly spoken about but we still tend to hide behind a veil of shame when it comes to menopause,” she said.
“I wish our medical system supported it with more current research, and that we were able to address the variety of different symptoms that we all encounter.”
Layne Beachley will be speaking at the upcoming 2024 Women’s Health and Wellbeing Summit in Sydney on September 4. Get tickets here.
If you need support, you can reach Lifeline at 13 11 14.