RELAX MORE,
INDULGE LESS 
Encouraging employees to swap the
smoke or snack for exercise to ease
stress can bring lasting benefits.
Report: Emily Chantiri BRW
l After 17 years in the legal profession,
Anthony Bazouni, principal of Prominent
Lawyers knew that something was
wrong. Recently a friend of his – a 43yearold
property developer – had passed
away. It made Bazouni sit up and take
stock of his own life.
He says he was successful at work but
that there were ingredients missing from
his life.
“One was balance; the other was
learning to work smarter,” he says.
“I lacked ‘me’ time, or quality family
time. I had the work part right. I’m an
accredited specialist in personal injury
and a member of a few business
associations. But I knew I had to invest
more in myself.”
Bazouni says he didn’t just want a life
or business coach, he wanted a
combination of both, so he went to
GCorp Consulting, which specialises in a
holistic approach to life and health.
GCorp combines the expertise of
karate champion and coaching expert
Jacob Galea, former police officer and
martial arts practitioner Edward Cabello,
and business mentor Gino De Pasquale.
Galea, Cabello and De Pasquale have
designed a unique coaching system to
combat stress that blends ancient martial
arts techniques with modern managerial
coaching methods.
“There are a lot of business coaches
out there who only focus on one area,”
Galea says. “We look at the mind, body
and spirit to combine all three elements
in our coaching consultancy.
“Eastern philosophies and practices
such as martial arts are designed to keep
the body, mind and spirit working in
peak condition.
“They teach selfcontrol,
discipline and
balance. A lot of executives are very
good at being disciplined about work but
when it comes to their health, that
discipline can fall away.”
He says many executives aren’t even
aware they are under stress and ignore
symptoms such as headaches, fatigue,
mood swings, anger and not wanting to
get out of bed in the morning. Instead
they suffer in silence.
However, he says you can easily spot
people that are under pressure.
“Take a look at the front of any office
building in the central business district,
you’ll find workers trying to manage
stress with either a cigarette or a
muffin,” he says.
“It’s the 3pm sugar hit. It would be
great to see this syndrome replaced with
people reenergising
through tai chi
or meditation.”
GCorp’s consulting services extend
beyond individual coaching to group
coaching. Galea says participants are
given an initial consultation and then
undertake a program tailored to the
individual or the group.
“We teach the mental disciplines
around mind, body and spirit and take
these to the corporate world,” Galea
says. The results can be lmost immediate.
“I had a client who had very high
blood pressure,” he says.
“He started to implement a simple
meditation technique and two weeks
later, his blood pressure had dropped.”
The result is staff that are physically
fitter, free of mental clutter, energised,
focused on achieving their goals,
adaptable to change and most important
of all, calm in both their personal and
working relationships.
It also means a dramatic drop in days
off due to stressrelated
illnesses that can
range from headaches, anxiety and skin
conditions to high blood pressure, heart
problems and autoimmune diseases.
Kate James, a director of Total Balance
Group, also advises clients on how to
create a better worklife
balance.
She says some of her executive clients
have been sceptical about bringing
meditation into their lives but once they
have participated in a guided meditation,
they want to know more.
“I believe passionately in meditation,”
she says. “It helps individuals focus and
stay calm.
“Some of my clients were initially
sceptical but when I asked them what
they would like more of, they invariably
would come back and say ‘more
meditation’.”
Bazouni now practises meditation
daily along with regular exercise since
his sessions with GCorp.
“I now park my car on the city
outskirts and walk to the office and I
regularly attend a gym,” he says.
“On the weekends, I’ll take a quick
power nap and it makes the world of
difference to how I function I even enjoy a glass of red wine with my wife on the verandah.”
