GEM podcast review: discovering the secrets to happiness

Hugh Van Cuylenburg, a resilience and wellbeing coach, wants us to be happier and reveals his secrets in a new podcast.

Hugh van Cuylenberg stumbled on the keys to happiness while volunteering and living at a school in the Himalayas. Picture: Supplied

Had a hard week? Tell us about it. Is it your colleagues, the onslaught of bills or the traffic?

Life is hard and – be it first world problems or otherwise – rates of mental illness are rising in the developed world. Could you be happier? That’s the tagline for a new podcast from Audible and Resilience Project founder Hugh van Cuylenburg.

Van Cuylenburg, a resilience and wellbeing coach, wants us to be happier and he’s been teaching on the subject in primary and secondary schools for about 15-years. So what’s his secret? They’re revealed in a new podcast from Audible, which is a recording of a presentation van Cuylenburg gave at the Atheneum Theatre in Melbourne for an Amazon Prime special.

But it’s in India that van Cuylenburg, a published author, had his revelation.

There’s a clue in the title of the podcast GEM – gratitude, empathy, mindfulness. Van Cuylenberg stumbled on the keys to happiness while volunteering and living at a school in the Himalayas while his family was dealing with personal strife at home in Australia. His sister Georgia was suffering with anorexia. At one point she weighed less than 31kg.

“She had everything she ever needed growing up in life,” says van Cuylenburg. “But my little sister, like so many people growing up here in Australia, found it very hard to be happy.”

There’s nothing harder than watching a loved one waste away. Van Cuylenburg says his sister has since recovered.

But it’s in India that van Cuylenburg, a published author, had his revelation.

With his family sorrows on the other side of the world, the then 28-year-old found himself sleeping on the floor of a mud hut with no access to running water or electricity.

There’s an earnestness and vulnerability to van Cuylenburg that’s endearing. Picture: Supplied

Initially he was spooked by the poverty and lack of amenities and wanted to flee. But then, as van Cuylenburg, tells it, he saw the happiest little boy he’d ever seen among his grade three students in their mud classroom with holes in the walls instead of windows.

“I remember thinking never in my life have I seen joy like this before – this kid is so unbelievably happy,” he says. “I ­remember looking across the desert and I was thinking to myself: How is this kid so happy? I don’t understand this. There’s nothing we (in Australia) would consider valuable here.”

Van Cuylenburg ends up staying in the village for three and a half months trying to find the secret to happiness. He eventually discovers the key: practising three things every day. Listen to the podcast. It’s worth the price of admission.

There’s a trope about white people stumbling into happiness in developing countries. Maybe that’s cynicism; maybe it’s jealousy. But GEM doesn’t smack of poverty porn just gratitude. There’s an earnestness and vulnerability to van Cuylenburg that’s endearing. He’s nervous because he cares and that’s more compelling than a speaker slick with confidence.

In the Queue 

The Happiness Lab - Dr Laurie Santos breaks down the science of happiness

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