Gary Gorrow

MEDITATION, MINDFULNESS AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE COACH / CO-FOUNDER, SOMA RETREAT

“I like to help people understand that meditation is for the mind what exercise is for the body. ”

GARY GORROW

When Google engaged Gary Gorrow to run a meditation program, the metrics-obsessed tech giant did extensive pre- and post-testing on the participants. A month later, the workplace results were impressive: stress was down by 94 per cent, creativity increased by 84 per cent and employees’ ability to navigate pressure jumped by 91 per cent.

“Corporate environments are often stressful, demanding and overwhelming,” says Gorrow, whose other clients include Apple, GWS Giants, CBA and Coca-Cola, as well as celebrities such as Cate Blanchett, Hamish Blake and Richard Roxburgh. “Most people consistently reside in a fight or flight state – it becomes our default mode. This has a corrosive effect on performance and health, both physical and mental.”

After 20 years as a personal development coach, Gorrow says he’s still surprised by people who focus on physical health by exercising and eating healthily but do nothing specifically for their mind’s wellbeing. “We bombard it with information, pressure and demands then the way most people tend to harmonise their mind is with alcohol and Netflix.

I like to help people understand that meditation is for the mind what exercise is for the body.”

Gorrow started meditating as a stressed 21-year-old, overwhelmed by film and television work, running his own business and facing some personal challenges. “I was having difficulty navigating it all – I had no tools and absolutely no understanding of how to regulate my nervous system, mind and emotions. I thought, ‘If I’m in such terrible shape now, what will I be like in 10 years?’”

He now practises and teaches Vedic meditation, which he describes as an ancient and effortless form of meditation, derived from the same source as transcendental meditation, which uses a mantra to bring the mind and body into a deep meditative state for 20 minutes a day. “Vedic meditation is an incredibly practical and profoundly effective technique that absolutely anyone can learn quickly – and master.”

For companies, Gorrow says the catalyst for seeking his services (which include breath work and high-performance coaching, as well as meditation) is always the same: “The triumvirate of reducing stress, increasing productivity and enhancing workplace culture.”

He teaches meditation only in person, mainly in Byron Bay, in northern NSW, where organisations can choose to enrol their team in an existing group retreat ($1200 per person) or create its own experience at his deluxe 10-bedroom Soma Retreat, complete with a zen garden, bathhouse and freestanding yoga dome that featured in the Nine Perfect Strangers TV series. A corporate client recently sent its key staff to Soma for a program on mindset, resilience, visionary thinking, enhanced communication skills and nervous system regulation.

“COVID shone a massive light on mental health and highlighted how psychologically vulnerable we all are,” says Garrow, adding that the mind is our most important yet most under-utilised asset. “Stress is a slow poison but meditation is undoubtedly one of the most effective antidotes.”