Bennett holds soul session at Bells, launches book

RICHY Bennett has made another dawn visit to Bells Beach, greeting the day with a soul gathering.

As part of the launch of his book 100 Dawns, the local performance psychologist held a celebration of the deeper values of the iconic surf break on Friday morning.

About 30 participants took part in a traditional smoking ceremony on the beach performed by Yorta Yorta man Anthony Hume and listened to poetry read by Mr Bennett and local author Mark Smith, and were guided through meditation by Mr Bennett.

“My intention for creating this space and gathering on the beach is sharing gratitude for the incredible space we have here, the incredible resonance here – we all love the waves, but there’s so much more going on here,” Mr Bennett told the group.

“When you spend the time down here that I know a lot of us do, a lot of the values that we’re going to share this morning are going to come out in the gathering because they’re already within us, those beautiful values of human nature.”

He believed creativity was the language of the soul, which inspired having the readings as a way to express soul.

“Everyone has their own passion, their own gifts, and that’s what we’re really tapping into – when you spend some time around a place like Bells, it’s very conducive to opening your soul to creativity and connecting with who you are.”

On Friday night, Mr Bennett held another event at Quiksilver Bar 61 in Torquay to help launch 100 Dawns.