Wellbeing at the heart of a special evening

Mr McEwan, who was the MC of the evening, opened the proceedings.

"My name is Brad McEwan, I'm a former journalist and long-time Beyond Blue ambassador and mental health advocate,” he said.

“I have anxiety, and for more than three decades I lived with it because it was my ‘normal’. Now I see a mental health clinician and take medication.

“If you have a physical ailment like a broken arm or the flu you go and see a doctor. So why is there still a stigma if you feel unwell mentally?”

Brad opened the event with a story of a former colleague who was in the US as part of an internship with CNN.

“A former Channel Ten colleague once shared a powerful story with me from a month-long internship in the US with CNN,” he said.

“One day they were doing a workshop on live crosses, and everyone had to do a practice live cross in front of the group. She thought her performance was really good because she didn't make a mistake; she was told it was only okay. The teacher explained ‘It's not about perfection, it’s about connection’.”

Ms Smith has been connected with human health and behaviour being a former fitness professional and physiotherapist, and currently is a public speaker in the world of psychological wellbeing.

“I live on Kaurna land in Adelaide, but I grew up on Arrernte Country in Alice Springs. You wouldn’t know it by looking at me, but I’m a First Nations woman from the Arabana People of Oodnadatta,” she said.

“So, I just wanted to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this country, the Yorta Yorta People and pay my respects to the elders, knowing that their connection to this place is physical, spiritual and emotional.

“I started seeing a psychologist, after years of struggling with my mental health. During my sessions I learned strategies that I wish I learned years earlier, that would have prevented a world of pain.”

“Can everyone clasp their hands together, notice how one thumb is over the other. Now reverse the thumbs positions.

“Notice how it feels. Change can feel weird and uncomfortable. Does anyone know how long it can take us to really change a habit? The answer is 18 months, due to rewiring the millions of neuron connection in our brains.”

Halfway through Ms Smith’s presentation, she introduced a short video on neural pathways and adopting new habits based on research out of the United States.

“This comes from some research that has been done in collaboration between Australian and US universities on the research of neuroplasticity,” she said.

“Recent advances in only the last decade now tell us that this is simply not true. The brain can and does change to add our lives is adaptable. What plastic? Is neuroscientists call this neuroplasticity. How does neuroplasticity work?

“If you think of your brain as a dynamic connected power grid, there are billions of pathways or rows lining up every time you think you will do something.

“Some of these rows are well travelled. And these are our habits, our established ways of thinking, feeling and doing. Every time we think in a certain way and practice a particular task or feel a specific emotion. We strengthen this road. It becomes easier for our brains to travel this pathway.”

As the night proceeded, Mr Watters, now the chief executive officer of LifeChanger Foundation, addressed the captivated audience with a life on and off the footy ground.

“After nine years as a player with Fremantle and two years as a coach. I had numerous injection in both calf muscles, and while I was in the clubrooms, I said to the doctor, I’m done, I can no longer do this,” he said.

“I left footy and found work with Banksia Hill Detention Centre in Perth, I worked there for four years.

“The facility had an issue with glass windows being frequently broken. One day I blew up with eight of the inmates and I told them I had a gutful of the windows getting smashed.

“At lunchtime, word had spread to a young inmate named Dwayne, I brought him into my office, and he was furious. I said to him, I understand you have some credibility round here. At first Dwayne thought he was going to be accused of something.

“Then he realised was given an opportunity to be a leader, and only after a few weeks the broken windows reduced by about 90 per cent.

“Only a few weeks ago, Dwayne contacted me on Instagram. He said, I see what you’re doing with the program, and I think you’re doing good.”

Mr Watters’s final story was about a group of men on a hike, who lost focus with family becoming consumed by their work.

“A while back I was on a hike with a group of middle-aged men. We entered a cave and I said to them, for the next 30 minutes I want you to write to your family members,” he said.

“The cave was so silent you could hear a pin drop. The next day while back on our hike, one of the men, Joe, approached me. He said, my estranged son who’s living in Europe responded back with a three-page letter.”

Elders presented a $10,000 cheque to the LifeChanger Foundation, which works to develop social, emotional and resilience skills through stronger community connections.