ABOUT US
The Well Being Initiative
The Well Being Initiative operates projects and programs with the aim of assisting participants to find meaning, joy and resilience, releasing burnout, overwhelm, depression stress and pain.
Our refreshing and unique approach to the evolution and lift in mindset and habits is delivered with a side salad of fun and great stories. Our programs offer practical and effective strategies for helping people with pain, anxiety, depression, stress, burn-out, management of relationships and greater self-awareness.
We provide assistance to medical practitioners and health workers who are at risk of burn out, to assist them to build resilience and wellbeing. We also provide assistance to people working within demanding roles in the private and public corporate sector.
We are registered as an Australian charitable services institution providing services for the relief of suffering as well as health promotion.
Our work with medical and other industries raises funds which are applied to support the charitable purpose of the organisation.
Our charitable work involves providing wellbeing and Lift your Life programs and Lift sessions to underprivileged members of the general public who are experiencing acute or chronic wellbeing issues such as depression, anxiety or chronic pain.
Kim Durga
Founder and Managing Director
Former lawyer Kim S Durga has been focussed on meditation and wellbeing for over 25 years. She is a leading international teacher, author and practitioner of meditation, wellbeing and spiritual transformation and is on the board of The Well Being Initiative.
Combining meditation with tools from positive psychology, adding in the unexpected benefits of energy and sound healing, Kim ended up developing practical and effective strategies for helping people with pain, anxiety, depression, stress, burn-out, management of relationships and greater self-awareness.
She says: “Clients are helped to create space for good health, happiness and inner peace. We aim to empower people and groups with skills to manage stress and traumatic events. Issues like burn out, stress, and depression will not go away by themselves. We have had a lot of success guiding people through the journey to build a better life, both professionally and personally. We also help clients develop satisfying and connected relationships, thus greatly reducing sources of stress and feelings of powerlessness.”
Kim and her international team of highly trained teachers and practitioners have taught and shared Lift sessions with thousands of people in Australia, USA, Canada, UK, China and India.
Kathy Perego MD
Medical Consultant
Kathy Perrego MD is a board-certified, practicing psychiatrist with 25 years of experience. She has studied at Cornell University Medical College, did her adult psychiatry residency at Mount Sinai Hospital and completed her child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at the Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital-McLean Hospital program.
After honing her skills in her New York private practice, she realized something was missing. She could help people reduce their symptoms, but they were not thriving, and thus she began to explore what the field of spirituality and energy medicine had to offer.
Since the late 90's Dr. Perrego has explored a wide variety of psychotherapies, meditations and sound and energy therapies. In addition, she has engaged in years of deep meditation practice. She now utilizes a wide variety of integrative techniques to treat her patients with good effect.
In 2012, Dr Perrego met Kim Durga and learned of LIFT. Inspired by what she experienced and the results she saw in others, she completed an intensive training program in LIFT facilitation.
In her experience, adding an energetic lens to the mind-body interface increases the effectiveness of the treatment she can provide. Dr. Perrego is committed to further study, research as well as increasing awareness and training for physicians, in the evaluation and integration of these approaches.
Gayatri Anderson
Executive Director
Gayatri's background is in positive psychology, spirituality, mindset and mindfulness. She has been designing and facilitating adult education seminars for the past eleven years on the subjects of emotional empowerment, purposefulness, and the science of human flourishing.
Gayatri has an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology. She has worked with CEO’s, business leaders and corporate teams both in groups and one on one in Australia, the UK and the USA. She is currently a guest lecturer on consciousness studies at Leeds Beckett University, where she is completing her PhD.
Gayatri’s passion is helping people to cultivate robust wellbeing of the heart and mind that not only feels good, but translates into heightened creativity and productivity, and greater levels of success and enjoyment in all areas of life.
Craig Cooper
Consultant
Craig has worked in government, not for profit and private business, overseeing a range of community programs and facilities, leading community & Business teams to nurture a holistic & healthy view in the world we live in.
Working in Local Government for 21 years has equipped Craig to understand work culture, implement effective people management programs and professional administration and management systems. Managing a diverse range of community service programs, recreation, arts, community development, youth & human resource management and his deep interest and involvement in indigenous projects has given Craig a deep understanding of cultural issues and he is well equipped to help bridge the indigenous and western worlds in a way that brings cultural safety and connection.
Being immerged in the rich culture and understanding of Aboriginal politics, traditional lore and caring for country and people and the rich indigenous wisdom of song-lines is part of the fabric of Craig’s life. Craig’s book – ‘Gratitude on Country’ A cry for a Simple Life is available late May 2022. His vision is to lift how we live on country, trade and care for people and place so as to contribute to a better world for everyone. www.livingwellaustralia.com. For more on Craig’s extensive experience and qualifications see https://www.craigcoopermsw.com/craigs-background
Cathy Walker
Consultant
Cathy Walker is a Registered Psychologist. She is the Director of Mind Body Spirit Psychology, an organisation providing wholistic psychology services to the community, though individual consultations, retreats and workshops, as well as professional training and support services to community, medical and allied health groups.
Over the past 25 years Cathy has been researching and integrating western clinical psychology with transpersonal and energy psychology approaches to health and wellness and the healing of trauma. She has extensive training and wide-ranging interest in Yogic Psychology, Buddhist Psychotherapy, Meditation, Life Coaching, Leadership, Change & Crisis Management.
Chamundai Curran
Consultant
Chamundai Curran (BA LLB) is a former lawyer, with a depth of professional experience in family law. She has a Diploma of Relationship Counselling, Accreditation as a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner and qualifications in Mediation, Arbitration and Energy Healing.
Chamundai helps separating couples and families in distress to find peace and to have empowered relationships, better communication, happier children, less conflict, and to develop strong skills to build resilience and improve wellbeing.
Her individual and group programs are effective and fun, bringing new perspectives and skills, inner stillness, peace and harmony to families.
Chamundai has delivered training and keynote presentations at hospitals, insurance companies, schools, law firms, banks, community organisations and she has presented at legal and mediation conferences in Australia, USA, UK, South Africa, New Zealand and India.
Wende Jowsey
Parenting Skills and Youth Support
Wende Jowsey, MA. Ed Youth and Parent Education Programs
Wende has more than 30 years of international facilitation and teaching experience. She has designed and delivered interactive courses in stress management, personal development, women’s courses and support programs for youth and parents. As Program Lead for Phoenix House Youth Services, she was instrumental in developing and delivering innovative resilience programs to youth at risk in secondary schools across Sydney. As the Founder of EducationalHealing.com, Wende currently runs group support programs and provides education based mentoring for parents of teens in crisis as a preferred provider for Taldumande Youth Services, Phoenix House Youth Services, Youth Liaison Officers, and numerous agencies in the greater Sydney area.
Maria Fortuna
Learning & Wellbeing Consultant
Maria started her career as a lawyer, gaining experience in private practice and government policy at the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC). After undertaking further study in Somatic Psychotherapy, she started training and developing people in the workplace. As a learning & development consultant in the financial services sector, Maria provided training solutions to improve team collaboration, communication and wellbeing. She has also facilitated and coached crisis supporters at Lifeline and designed training packages for hospital staff through the Cancer Council of NSW. Maria’s varied experience across corporate, government and the not for profit sector has developed her into a versatile trainer with a passion for uplifting work environments into places where people are empowered, healthy and happy.
Cheryl Alexander
Wellbeing Meditation and Lift Facilitator
Cheryl has vast experience in the community sector with over 20 years as a manager of a domestic violence service. While working within this challenging arena she sought pathways to help alleviate the strain, which she found through meditation and Lift. Having had amazing personal shifts, Cheryl began running meditation sessions to help support her team, along with private weekly meditations. She brings a sense of calm and caring to all she comes in contact with.
Cheryl is passionate about helping others to find that well of peace and love within, her gentle manner and open heart allow her to hold space for them to find that softness that is their true nature.
Jodi Sada Quaranta
Wellbeing Meditation and Lift Facilitator
From a young age, Sada has felt a passion to understand the connection between our physical health and our mind. She started her career as a Personal Trainer, Fitness Specialist and Nutrition Consultant and helped many clients by tailoring health and wellness programs to fit their specific needs.
Sada then obtained a BA in Psychology and started a career as a Hypnotherapist. She began studying a wide range of natural therapies including Meditation, Naturopathic Counseling and Energy Healing. For 15 years, she has combined these modalities to help her clients attain physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing.
Her passion is helping people find more truth, joy and good health in life by facilitating meditation and Personal Development courses, as well as seeing clients one on one.
BA Psychology, minor degree in Exercise Science
Certified Hypnotherapist, National Guild of Hypnosis
Certified Health and Wellness Coach- IAP College
Certification in Naturopathic Counseling, New Eden School of Natural Health
Certification in Personal Training
Certification in other Alternative Healing Modalities including Lift Meditation Therapist
Summary of Activities
We help people suffering distress, pain, chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, burn out and in need by conducting regular healing clinics and weekly meditations and providing access to complementary therapies.
We are a centre for meditation, healing, community, connection, peace, positive psychology and self-awareness and many of our programs run by donation.
Board Members
Qualifications: Degree in Law
Experience: Practiced as a Solicitor with a leading law firm for 40 years until July 2010. Served as a director of an ASX listed company, several large proprietary companies and numerous other smaller companies. He also served for 10 years as chairman of a superannuation fund which grew from 1,200 to 1,600 members during this time.
Qualifications: Master of Education, UNSW; BA London, UK; Postgraduate Certificate of Education, Nottingham UK; Postgraduate Certificate of Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Lund Sweden.
In her career with the public service Patricia was the Principal Adviser in AusAID (now Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) for 14 years until January 2010. She provided strategic advice in organisation development, capacity development, public sector management/reform and governance as it related to the public sector in countries in receipt of Australian aid in the Asia Pacific region. She liaised with the World Bank, United Nations, Asian Development Bank and diplomatic representatives of aid-giving countries. She managed international research projects and was a speaker at national and international conferences to do with foreign aid.
Sheila Fawns
Qualifications: Diploma of Clinical Hypnotherapy, Diploma of Counselling, Diploma of Kinesiology, Certificate IV in Human Resources, Certificate IV in Training & Assessment.
Experience: Worked as Administration & HR Manager Australia for a global shopping development company, including managing staff and development of policies and procedures in various fields including superannuation, payroll and fleet management. During her career, Sheila has also worked a Teacher at TAFE NSW, teaching a Diploma in Business Management. She has also studied a wide range of alternative and complementary therapies and has studied with various spiritual teachers, both in Australia and overseas. She is widely versed in the human energy field, personal development and psychotherapy and assists people in reaching their full potential.
Qualifications: Registered Nurse, Graduate Certificate in Child and Family Health Nursing
Experience: Bhadra has worked within the Public Health System since 1987 as an RN and for the last 20 years in the community with babies, children and families. She has studied extensively in the area of complementary therapies and currently also works in private practice with expertise in preparation for pregnancy, pregnancy and young families. She has a global online practice and ultimately her work with families is to help facilitate greater compassion for themselves, their children and ultimately the world. She also works with people who have acute and chronic conditions, mental health, stress and anxiety to lead happier and healthier lives.