Episode 21 - Layne's story

Hi everyone, today I am talking with Layne Beachley. Layne is regarded as one of the world’s most successful athletes. She spent 19 years on the surfing pro tour. Won 7 world titles and is the only surfer in history, to win 6 consecutive world titles. 5 however were won in a state of fear. The other 2 that bookends her career were in a state of love. 

How did she get there?

Well first of all, Layne’s mother died when she was 6 years old, this would have been devastating, to say the least, then her dad informed her about her adoption when she was 8. This news may have come too late and Layne explains why. 

As painful and heartbreaking this chapter was in her life, Layne was able to turn it around and become inspired, using what she knew about herself and her environment. With a determined a fierce attitude, Layne was able to use her love of surfing and support from family to set a goal to become world champion, the reason: to prove to the world that she is deserving of love. 

A team member asked her after she had won her 6th world title: Do you think your enough now? Layne hadn’t realised until that point, that the only person who thought she wasn’t enough, had been ingrained within.

Chasing big waves and world titles resulted in many serious injuries such as severe disk herniaton in her neck and a crushed lumbar spine, fractured ribs, 10 stiches in her face and torn ligaments in both her knees, to name a few. 

She also suffered 2 bouts of chronic fatigue, lost her stepmother to breast cancer when she was 30, and lost her biological mother to ovarian cancer when she was 45.  

All of these challenges and set backs have proven not to hold her down, but used as a  transformational tool for growth, lifting others up in her presence, for initiatives and projects she is passionate about, living her life with an attitude of gratitude, to prioritise her health and well-being and commit to doing something she loves, such as surfing and working on her Awake Academy called Own Your Truth, every single day. 

Im not going to lie, I  felt quite nervous and a bit out of my depth in this interview as Layne is an incredible australian icon and I was extremely grateful to Layne for being so open, raw and honest with me to hopefully inspire and encourage others to “honestly know yourself to develop greater self belief and own your truth”.