249. Nude Swim 2.0
In this wild episode, I take you behind the scenes of one of the most unexpected moments of my life — landing butt-naked on the front page of a newspaper. Yep, you read that right.
But this isn’t just a cheeky tale for laughs (although it’ll give you plenty). It’s a rally cry for full-bodied, unfiltered, soul-deep self-expression — the kind your voice is craving.
Inspired by my second time doing the Dark Mofo Winter Solstice Nude Swim, this episode is about so much more than stripping off. It’s about stripping back the fear, judgement, and conditioning that keeps your voice small.
I share:
📰 The story behind that Hobart Mercury front page moment
🌊 Why the nude swim became a portal for self-discovery and healing
💡 What cold-water skinny dipping has to do with vocal freedom
Transcript
Ding. New Instagram DM.
This might sound strange, but I think you and your partner are in today’s Hobart Mercury.
As a former journalist, I’m no stranger to headlines, but this message from an insta-acquaintance takes the birthday suit cake.
I rang Patrick immediately.
“Get online and look for the Hobart Mercury.” I was quite firm.
“Oh. My. God.”
There we were – one arm around each other’s waist and the other scooping the air making a big U-shape. We formed the U in Mercury on the front page.
And did I mention we were butt naked?
No claim to shame. This was our claim to fame.
Each June, people get nude and brave the waters of Sandy Bay in Hobart at sunrise to mark the winter solstice. In 2022, it was a clear, chilly morning. Red swim caps, white robes and the air thick with anticipation. Then came the drums. Boom. Boom-Boom. Get ready to strip and dip. Boom. Boom-Boom. Up went the bright red flares and the starting horn blared across the beach. We’re off! The playful shrieks of two thousand naked people scrambling into the water filled the dawn.
I was transported back to my surf life saving days and hit the lead – in what was not a race. After the snowy mountains expedition, this was a summer swim for me. My form was great, my smile was big and I even high-fived the lifeguard straddling his board at the turn-around point. He wasn’t getting paid enough for that job – or getting paid too much – it’s all a matter of perspective on my perky pair of floaties.
By the time we made it back to the beach, most people had stripped, dipped and dashed. After warming our bits by the fire drums with the faithful few remaining, we wanted to record the wild moment. A spirited woman grabbed my iPhone, and Patrick and I headed for the shallows to be artistically silhouetted by the rising sun.
“Great shot!” she said, handing back the phone.
She wasn’t alone in thinking this. Little did we know, a photographer from the state’s premier newspaper also papped our peaches. When the marketing gurus suggested getting exposure for my business, I doubt this was what they had in mind.
So, we did what anyone would do in our situation. Ordered the image, blew it up, printed it, framed it and stuck it in the entrance way of our apartment.
Look, it’s not the first thing you see when you walk in… If you’re Brisbane-based and want an in-person private session, you’ll get to see it.
That front-page moment isn’t just a crazy story I hope gave you a chuckle. It was about full-bodied, unbridled self-expression. And that’s exactly what your voice needs to do: strip back hesitation, dive in and own the moment. If I had any remnants of fearing the judgement of others, I shed them with my little white towel on that sand and gave it the proverbial middle finger with a front-page mooning.
Just to be clear: You don’t need to get your gear off to show us your voiceprint.
But that feeling of freedom and fun with a splash of wild woman is exactly the expressive sensation you want when sharing your voice. Bare it all! Imagine Madonna in your ears – “Express Yourself!”
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And that. My podcast friends is the very first public taste of my new book Voice Print, which comes out later this year. Make sure you are on the presale list. The link is in the show notes, and the reason I shared this with you is because Patrick and I just got back from Tasmania where we did the dark Winter Solstice Nude swim for the second time, hence the title of the episode, nude Swim 2.0. We didn't end up on the front page this time that I know of , but we did swim out to the pontoon and jump off it, so you kind of swim up to this pontoon and climb up the ladder and then just like blah and jump off into the water. So much fun, so much collective joy, so much unbridled self-expression, and this is why I open the chapter in the book on expression with this story.
I'm not just a crazy person who likes getting my gear off and jumping in cold water, though. I get how you'd think that's a theme. What can I say? I do enjoy a good frosty skinny dip, although this time it was 11 degrees, so I'm not sure what the water was, but the air temperature, honestly not so bad in 2023, it was more like four degrees, so it was quite warm. Considering adventures like this are so much more than something wild to do, they are portals for self-discovery, liberation, and healing. If your body rejects the concept of running into cold water, nude with thousands of other people, dig deeper and ask why for God's sakes, I wouldn't be caught dead doing that. Why not ? Why not? Are you bound by what other people think? You afraid of getting out of your comfort zone, feeling cold for a while? Do you hate your body? I can tell you right now, 20-year-old Sally, who by the way looked like a freaking sports illustrated bikini model would've been far too self-conscious to do the nerdy swim. I've had to release so many shackles and turning 40 this year and giving significantly fewer is just so god liberating. It makes you wanna jump off a pontoon naked . So take this opportunity listening to this podcast to do some self introspection. Is that a double negative self introspection? Hmm, introspection. See where the snags are because the restriction you feel in your body will be heard in your voice and can be released through your voice.
True, authentic self-expression is the air flowing freely through the channel of the voice. It flows through your body without all the annoying traffic controllers stepping in to say, oh, what will people think of that? Oh, stop. You're not smart enough to say that. Or, wait, wait, wait. Who wants to hear from you? Oh, stop. Look, you're just not confident. All of these little blocks are like layers of clothing weighing you down, and at some point you get to decide to take off the layers, drop the towel, and just go for it. The only certainty is that we're all gonna die. So doing things that make you feel truly alive is what life is all about. What is the point of life if we do not feel alive? Which brings me back to our nude Swim 2.0, stripping and dipping and feeling it. One with the salt water made my soul feel like it was set free. It was like this beautiful soul spa. I remember breast stroking back into the shore with beautiful Mount Wellington Kani lit up in the distance by the rising sun in front of me, and in that moment I felt so small, yet so enormous at the same time, it was like a remembrance that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, and most of our soul remains with the collective. Why? Because the force is far too strong for one little human body.
Our higher self is our self. It's the part of our soul that didn't fit into this human suit, and that's why tapping into your higher self is so powerful because you are tapping into your self, your intuition, your wisdom, a part of you that knows you better than you may ever know yourself in this life. And when we can allow that soul to be honored, when we allow that soul to shine through the barriers we shackle ourselves with, when it can shine through that mess, that's when we truly feel vocal freedom. We physically, emotionally, and spiritually can say what we wanna say in the way we want to say it. And this is the work I do with my clients. We get to the bottom of what is holding your voice back, and we align the voice with your true intention, with the meaning of what you're saying. Now, don't worry, I don't make people get naked and do the nude swim , but we do explore what are the barriers to your true self-expression? What is the box you're forcing yourself into? What is the prison of your own making? Why? If you have fears around speaking, around expressing yourself, you find yourself avoiding situations where you have to speak. You choose to stay quiet over speaking up as a default, and yet you have that little voice inside of you screaming to be free.
Let's have a chat. Let's have a chat. Give yourself that gift of healing, of growing, of breakthrough, that gift of rewriting your speaking story. Oh, this is the work I do. I guarantee it will change your life. I am fresh off the cold winter solstice dip. My energy is renewed. I'm ready to go. Clothes back on. Don't worry. Let's get you the speaking breakthrough that you know in this lifetime you are meant to have.