{"id":651,"date":"2021-09-20T12:15:50","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T02:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/?p=651"},"modified":"2022-01-27T09:49:21","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T23:49:21","slug":"being-present-damian-chapphro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/being-present-damian-chapphro\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellness Architect: Damian Chapparo’s Secret on Being Present"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We have a chat with Aro Ha’s co-founder Damian Chapparo who shares how he stays in the present moment using ‘Wellness Architect’.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: I feel most calm when \u2026<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A: \u201cMy mind is in my body. When my brain becomes my feet and I\u2019m walking in the grass or feeling a texture. I feel most calm when I am<\/em> my skin, as it feels the sun, enjoys the breeze.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: The last time I felt inspired was \u2026
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A: \u201cWhen I received support from a couple of people close to me on a project that I\u2019d been dreaming up \u2014 to make wellbeing more approachable for more people. Just having their support, it kind of lit a fire inside me;
it made me smile. All of a sudden, the creative juices were flowing, I had the realisation that this project had a much greater likelihood of going forward and we were all on the same page. It felt good [giggles].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: When I need to pause \u2026
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A: \u201cI go outside; I climb a mountain, I go flying. I will often find a small or big adventure that almost is always outdoors.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: The last time I laughed was \u2026
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A: \u201cThis morning on a call about the [Aro H\u0101] cookbook. I had requested that everyone take a manageable \u2018bite\u2019 and set a timeline for achieving that manageable bite, and my manageable bite was the smallest bite of my entire team\u2019s [laughs].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: The last time I cried was \u2026
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A: \u201cFour days ago. I was witnessing some beautiful souls in a closing ceremony here at Aro H\u0101. I was feeling my own heart kind of melt and just learning, you know \u2014 being open and witnessing the humanness of being human. It was really beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: My favourite way to relax is \u2026
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A: \u201cUsually with a cup of tea and my wife and my dog all on the same small couch. Usually the dog on top \u2014 he\u2019s a Labrador, so he\u2019s no small dog \u2014 as
he gets jealous when we are snuggling and having our tea. He decides he wants to be involved, so he\u2019s always at the very top of the pile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: I have the most ease in my life when \u2026
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A: \u201cI prioritise contentment. When I prioritise the reminder that everything is more than enough. And when I can couple that with free-form movement \u2014 whether that\u2019s just my own morning ritual or whether it\u2019s dance \u2014 that\u2019s when it strikes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: How would you describe contentment?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A: \u201cContentment is the opposite of desire. The two need to be balanced of course, but contentment is, in its purest form, neutral. It\u2019s a form of presence. It is where witnessing consciousness most clearly appears. I would say that contentment is societal of great value. I think most of us are prolific, proficient and very well adept to desire and achievement,
but I think to balance that with contentment is a healthy medicine.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: My favourite way to create space is \u2026
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A: \u201cSilence [smiles]; even if it\u2019s space from my own thoughts. Sometimes my wife and I go for walks and even on those walks, while we\u2019re often chatting, we\u2019ll often consciously take time just to be silent. Combining nature, our dog, each other, presence \u2014 just walking in silence is quite a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Creativity comes to me \u2026
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A: \u201cAt about 3am [giggles]. It\u2019s interesting \u2026 at first I fought it, at first I thought, why are you awake? <\/em>But these days I\u2019ve actually created a little practice when it happens. I just assume that my subconscious is interested in telling me something. So I just allow my thoughts to wander, invite some relaxation, invite some allowing \u2026 I can sometimes sit in a fairly creative state for an hour or so before I drift back into sleep. There are often some really interesting flows because there\u2019s no distraction and there\u2019s no need to deliver anything or actually create anything. The openness of those hours seems to be fertile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: I feel most connected when \u2026
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A: \u201cI\u2019m embodied. When I feel my breath in my toes, in my fingertips, in my scalp.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: I define \u201cbeing\u201d as \u2026
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A: \u201cThe part of us that has always been. I experience \u2018being\u2019 as the aspect of myself that first saw through my eyes when I was born into this world and began listening through my ears \u2014 perhaps even inside my mother\u2019s womb \u2014 and that part of me that learned to walk and learned to speak and move through this life. The \u2018being-ness\u2019 is the essential quality. It\u2019s the thing that has never needed learning. It\u2019s ageless. It\u2019s perfect. It can\u2019t be damaged. It can\u2019t be harmed. It\u2019s always home.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To understand more about <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We learn about the practice of being present
\nwith \u201cwellness architect\u201d and co-founder of
\nAro Ha wellness retreat, Damian Chapparo. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[65,66,67],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":703,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651\/revisions\/703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}