Well, what can I say but wow. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking at a lot of conferences about wellbeing across the country this year, but none quite hit the mark like Beyond Activ in Melbourne. The energy, the people, the conversations — it all felt next-level. Huge thanks to Ross Stewart Campbell for having me, and to the ever-brilliant Anna Davies (Refined Wellness) for steering our wellness panel… to a standing-room-only crowd, no less.

I shared the stage with three brilliant humans and genuine leaders in the wellbeing space:

Lyndall Mitchell (Aurora Spa), Adriana Kalidis (Belgravia Leisure Centre), and Sam Merza (Total Fusion).

What I loved most about this group — and the lead-up to the wellbeing panel — was how honest and authentic it all felt. No fluff, no performative wellness, just real people talking about real wellbeing.

What is real wellbeing?

One thing I keep coming back to, and spoke a lot about on the panel, is this ongoing confusion about what actually makes a “well being.” Social media has a lot to answer for when it comes to wellbeing. Wellness gets packaged up into something polished and perfect — cold plunges at sunrise, green juices, rigid routines, flawless discipline. But the truth? That’s not real life. And if it is someone’s life, I promise you they’re the exception, not the rule.

Cue my now semi-famous burger analogy — the one that got a surprising amount of laughs. But it’s true:

If you need to have a burger, bloody well have the burger.

And don’t punish yourself for being human.

This obsession with perfection actually pushes people away from wellbeing, because it feels unattainable. What we need, especially in Australia, is a more realistic, compassionate, and maintainable approach to wellbeing and looking after ourselves.

It shocks people every time I say it, but Australia consistently ranks as one of the most burned-out workforces globally. Reports from the Lululemon Global Wellbeing Report and a UiPath worker survey show Australians are reporting burnout at higher rates than most other countries. So wellbeing is a real concern for this country.

So while we see ourselves as this laid-back, beachy, outdoorsy nation — and yes, we absolutely are — we’re also a country running dangerously low on energy, time, and recovery.

Which is why conversations like the one we had around wellbeing at Beyond Activ are so important. Wellness isn’t just for the elites. It’s not reserved for ultramarathoners, biohackers, PTs, or perfectly curated Instagram routines. It has to be accessible, affordable, and most importantly, maintainable for every Australian.

Our panel theme — Rest, Recover, Repeat — couldn’t be more relevant. As a country, we don’t have a “productivity” problem. We have a recovery problem. People aren't lazy — they're exhausted.

That’s where modalities like sauna, ice baths, breathwork, and sensory recovery come in. And it’s exactly why we built NIMBUS CO the way we did. Not to be trendy, not to be exclusive, not to be a place where you have to rock up in designer activewear — but to create warm, welcoming studios where real people can take a moment to reset when it comes to their wellbeing.

R&R is becoming big business because people now understand that recovery isn’t a luxury. It’s the foundation. Without it, performance — at work, in sport, in life — crumbles.

Someone came up to me after the panel and said, “Neil has an aura which I feel like if I was around, I’d just be a better person.”

Possibly the most unreal feedback I’ve ever received — and I’m not sure I’ll ever top it.

So remember, wellbeing is not a trend, it's here to stay. But, just be real about it.

Hopefully the panel went some small way in helping our industry move towards a more grounded, human, and realistic approach to wellbeing. One that’s less about perfection and more about sustainability. Less about strict rules and more about self-awareness.

Wellness doesn’t need to be complicated. It just needs to be real.

And sometimes… real looks like a sauna, an ice bath, a bit of breathwork, and yes, the occasional burger.