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Writer's pictureangelicahazel

Meet: Danielle Merrett

Updated: Oct 1, 2020


Tell me a bit about yourself & what you do?


I’m a wellness coach. I harness the skills I learned in personal training, remedial massage, and yoga training to implement healthy habits in adults and children. I also dabbled in psychology and nutritional medicine at uni which has shaped my approach. It is very clear to me that optimal well-being is multi-faceted.


For adults I offer private coaching, and run corporate classes and health retreats for groups.


For children I created the Yoga Intelligece Program for Early Education (YIPEE) which is taught in early learning centres to develop confidence, mindfulness and healthy movement. I also now collaborate with a children’s dance company so that children can learn dance and yoga online through ‘Yogi and the Princesses’.


What inspires you with your work?


Ok, how do I not make this corny? Life has all sorts of fluctuations and challenges throughout the journey. But all of us have a limit to our days here on earth. I’m driven to help others get the most optimal experience out of their lives and hence I build the foundation of well-being. Optimal experience comes out of the appreciation of all the small moments and details. So when I see light in someone’s eyes of an ‘ah-hah!’ moment, or their confidence build, or have increased energy to pursue their passion it invigorates me to do more! We all have so much potential and it only takes some healthy physical and psychological habits to help us achieve it.


Did you always see yourself in your current role and if you could do something completely different what would it be?

I saw myself working in wellbeing, but I never saw myself also working with children! The thing is, once you look deeply into habits, you start looking into conditioning.


This leads to an examination of belief systems passed through family, and culture, and how they have developed in different regions and periods throughout history. It can then be determined which of that conditioning is helpful or hindrance in the present day. When done on a personal level this is know as personal development, when societal level this is systems development, social architecture and futurism.



If I were to do something different at this point, it would be to develop a global leaders project. Bringing together the brilliant minds of our youth to design social architecture that creates a net-positive relationship to nature.


What are you most proud of?


I’m most proud of the reach that my work has had. My projects have allowed me to meet and have positive interactions with so many people. A lot more than I had ever imagined.


I’m also proud of spending my time and energy on the things I’m passionate about. It is often a big risk to do that rather than just work to pay the bills. But it’s my belief that all of us hold a “life duty” or dharma. Dharma, the way I hold it, roughly means: the path of right action; the path of greatest integrity; the path (of choices) that don’t create suffering and optimally helps heal it; the path that leads towards increasing wholeness, consciousness, health, and quality of life for all.


Who inspires you and why?


People who embrace their dharma as described above.

  • Jane Goodall

  • Daniel schmachtenberger

  • Tom chi

  • Jacque fresco

  • Alan watts

  • Buckminster Fuller

  • Leslie udwin

What does wellbeing mean to you?


To me well-being means to have the physical and psychological ability to engage fully with life.


To explore and experience life in ways that are conscious of your individual experience and your role in local and global community.


Well-being on some days might look like harnessing all your determination smashing goals, on others it will look like taking the rest you need.


What are your favourite ways to move your body?

I benefit greatly from the breathing, concentration and movement patterns integrated in the Ashtanga yoga system. For me this is a daily practice.

I also think dancing is a pure expression of joy. Getting out and walking in nature is often extremely underrated! We are a part of nature in the same way as an apple is a part of an apple tree. We need to get out in to nature more is society is ever going to overcome the problems it has in mental health.



How do you stay motivated to be healthy?


I want people to know that it’s normal and ok to sometimes fall off the wagon. Life is change and full of fluctuations. But one day we will be here no more, so it’s a pure love of life and curiosity of what I life journey is capable of holding for us that motivates us to be healthy and greet our days with vigour. Life never stay the same, so if your experiencing a trough a peak is inevitably heading your way! And if our modern day world our ability to change it vast. We have so much education at our fingertips, and if we want to start a new life on the other side of the world, it’s possible!


We are definitely creatures of habit, so if you build your foundations with healthy habits they will often support them with out you even having to focus on them.

What does a day on your plate look like?


One of the principles I practice is “Ahimsa”, loosely translated as non harm or compassion. As a result of this all of my food is plant based.


A breakfast might be avocado and zaatar on toast.


Dahl, vegetables and crunchy lettuce for lunch.


And vegan lasagna for dinner. Although my most common go-to dinner is rice and beans.


Does anyone else love stuffed sweet potatoes? I find them to be such a healthy and versatile meal. And did anyone notice that mushroom and thyme go together so well? I don’t know why, but it impresses me every time! (The small things )


What do you do to relax and unwind?


Tea, incense and candles are all a pleasant part of my daily life. Warm water! Whether experienced in the form of tea or soup, or experienced in the form of bathing is extremely underrated for its relaxation qualities.


But I also binge watch Netflix shows.


Please share your favourite book or podcast


The book that I read in my teenage years that transformed my perspective was ‘The Road Less Travelled’ by M. Scott Peck


Collective Insights Podcast












Do you have a favourite travel destination and if so why?


Switzerland, if you love nature like me you will love this place. For its pristine alp, lakes, wildflowers, and mind blowingly good strawberries. Italy would be a close second because it’s history, food, and architecture. And India changed me more than any other place. It completely shattered my paradigm. Painful but transformative. Every place I have ever travelled has nourished my soul and broadened my perspective.

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