Camberwell Catchup 6 – Health and Wellness Theme
After hosting monthly events for people who live, work or network in Camberwell under the brand name Camberwell Network from 2012 – 2022, I have re-started monthly Camberwell Catchups on the 1st Wednesday of the Month from 7:30am – 8:30am at My Other Brother, Rear of 586 Burke Road, Camberwell, Melbourne, Victoria 3124.
Our sixth event was held on Wednesday 7 October 2026 and our theme was ‘Health and Wellness.’
Guests Tips
The fabulous guests who joined us provided the following health and wellness tips:
Cherie Werner-Jones – I get up and go for a 30 minute walk at 6am each day and enjoy the ‘me’ time being in the bush and hearing the birds as the sun come up. I also value writing in a journal which I have done for a while and then stopped but when I go back, I start to see patterns, reflect on them and bring awareness to them. Often we are not consciously aware of these patterns. Have also started a creative hobby of knitting and decorating a street library book stop with mosaics. Marie agreed that activities where your hands move like knitting are relaxing to the brain as it is only focused on one thing and it calms the nervous system and gets the left and right brain working.
Clare Cotter – after a recent overseas trip and a mild illness, have not been able to get back to the gym as frequently as I would like so I am going to hire a personal trainer to come to my home to get back in the groove. I am still walking 1.5 – 2 hours per day. However, thanks to a wonderful mother who practiced both alternative and medical practices for health, I am aware of the value of looking after your health, particularly as you age. A healthy person is likely to live well, possibly have a catastrophic event and then pass away suddenly (and many people want to simply pass away in their sleep) but someone who has not looked after their health can have a steady decline with ill health over many years.
Maria Di Pietro – Having a ‘glass half full’ approach to life is helpful. Unfortunately, a lot of small to medium business owners would benefit from psychological support to learn strategies to support them, but they either can’t afford it or don’t understand the advantage it would give them. Recognising when you need to take a break to give yourself “brain rest” and recharging is vitally important to success. In terms of physical health and wellbeing, rather than jumping on the latest fad, e.g. taking a popular supplement, find out what your unique body needs and learn about nutrition and reading food labels. Helpful too is changing perspective from ‘need to lose weight’ to ‘want to get healthy.’
Philip Derham – I recommend listening to your doctor. About 15 years ago, my doctor mentioned that I was pre-diabetic and that I had two options, to go on statins or lose 5-6 kilograms of weight. I then found out that there was a history of diabetes in the family. Thanks to a supportive wife, I changed my diet, in particular in relation to the size of the dinner plate and now use a smaller dinner plate and have avoided diabetes and medication.
Roberto Russi – after playing squash for 50 years two to three times a week, it is a great way to connect with other people, including younger players. It also helps you use your creative mind as you need to work out the angles and distances on the court and you will find many accountants and engineers are players. It is also a sport that transfers your weight. It can be frustrating when your body lets you down but you can tell yourself to be a better player and also teach others to be a better player. I cook my own food and ignore anything in the supermarket that is in a box or the freezer. Your skin will be better and you will feel better. When I see an 80 year old playing, I like to give them a hug!
Sue Ellson – we all know that we need to eat well, sleep well and exercise well but I also believe we need to take on full responsibility for our health and wellness. We can listen to the experts but we also need to question them and we need to implement the relevant advice.
Yvonne Junor – after previously working in aged care, it has given me a lot of healthy living ideas. Also agree with Cherie on the value of journalling. Gardening is one of the best exercises for mental, emotional, physical and social health. We must never forget the value of creativity and being creative and I found it particularly helpful when going through COVID. I believe it is often overlooked and there is a lot of value in doing things with your hands and your brain or just being creative in your approach to life at all times.
Feedback
1. What was been most helpful to you?
Everyone’s view on health inspired me
Connecting with others
Each person’s broad perspective, however all leads to same outcome, health
Hearing different ideas about health
Hearing others’ steps to health and further approaches that could be taken.
Note – it was a most effective/enjoyable morning.
2. What else would have been helpful?
It was perfect
More time!
Quite satisfied with discussions
Hearing of Maria’s services
3. What will you do next?
Do something to accept and embrace my creative side
Catch up with Rob
Implement key points discussed into my personal health and wellbeing
Reflect on what helps my health
Plan to walk more and to take breaks from sitting at the computer
4. What would you like to learn next?
My biggest failure, what I learned
Cold call advice
5. Do you have any other feedback?
Great facilitator, thank you Sue
Love these gatherings!
It was a great session this morning! Thank you very much for arranging
Thank you so much
You do such a great job organising this catch up
More feedback welcome via the Workshop Evaluation online questionnaire
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Camberwell Catchups
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