Is conscious living merely a lofty ideal, or is it possible to integrate this lifestyle into everyday life? In this interview, director of Osmosis Ventures Adam Horler and his wife Ann Gowing share their insights on how they made living consciously a daily reality.

Based on your personal experience, how would you and Ann define living consciously?
You have to care for yourself before you can care for the Planet. When you take positive action to change yourself for the better (reduce stress, exercise more, eat more healthily, etc) you heighten awareness to all aspects of your health (mentally, physically and spiritually), including the environment around you. We believe that we all have a responsibility to do our best to reduce our impact on the Planet and to consider the effect our actions have on the environment.

What exactly inspired you to take the plunge of leaving the corporate world into a life of wellness and spirituality? In what ways did Ann inspire you?
My 20’s were all about “making it” in the Corporate world, and of course that led me to having some pretty heavyweight jobs in my 30’s, but I did not feel proud of the end result of my success – which was seeing more and more chemical-based products in the hands of consumers. I was hyper-aware of the climate change issues, and I started to feel that I could not carry on selling these products that contained chemicals that had not even existed 40 or 50 years ago. I had a feeling that there had to be a better way, so I decided to use my skills to promote brands that are more environmentally sensitive, which lead to the creation of Osmosis Ventures.

Ann has supported me in my choices to branch out, understanding my passions and how these were not aligned to the corporate world. Watching Ann as she pursues her spiritual path has been inspiring and educational. Those who are on this path are more aware of themselves and their surroundings, and this has influenced me greatly as Ann has educated me in the areas of mindfulness, nutrition and healthier living. I am a better person for this.

Let’s backtrack a little here. Can you and Ann tell us a little about your individual background…some details about your family, your childhood, education and personal interests? How did all of that become part of your journey?
Adam: With the exception of my parents splitting up, I would say that my childhood was fairly normal for the 70s and 80s in England. I was a good student and ‘sports mad’, leading to my going to University in the north of England. I was never really career-conscious, funnily enough, and only took my first job because it had a company car as part of the package! On such whims are lives written… Also, I have a lively sense of fun, and I am very social, which means that my 20s went by in a bit of a blur of parties and nights out!

Sport was, and still is, very important to me. I have always played everything very competitively – rugby, golf, Frisbee, you name it! Rugby was my main game, though, and I ended up “living the dream”, as captain of my club and playing for Hong Kong. It was all I could have hoped for, and I look back on that with a huge sense of pride and fondness. In fact, if it were not for rugby I would never have met Ann, as I hired her to get my team fit.

I wanted to try new things, so I pulled away from rugby at the relatively young age of 32, but continued with new sports such as triathlon and cycling. Through this I met new people and gained new experiences. This willingness to explore my own boundaries more has given me the courage to strike out on my own and set up Osmosis Ventures.

Ann: I left London when I had saved enough money! I wanted out after a very unharmonious upbringing and a schooling that I loathed and failed at. So, I took a bus from London to Kathmandu as it was cheap! My search for 'who knows what' back then took me around the world and I travelled, worked and moved around for many years. Most of my time was spent in South and South East Asia and Australasia before settling in Hong Kong where my brother was based. I thrived on all the rich experiences, people and sights that traveling showed me, and was fascinated with Eastern cultures, religions and rituals.

I remember vividly my first trip to India and watching the burning bodies on the stone steps (ghats) in Varanasi and thinking, " I feel no fear or shock, nor do I feel out-of place watching this. It feels so real - so brutally honest - it's all out there in the open - life, death and who knows what next". I realised at that moment that during my previous 20 years of schooling life I had been taught nothing to prepare me for life. So my search began and I guess this is what I would call my spiritual path – to understand life, the bigger picture and who I am.

In Hong Kong I entered and stayed in the fitness industry for many years. I qualified in all group exercise teaching and then found a passion for helping others become healthier through personal training. This work gave me such a huge buzz – to see people transform with my help and become happy and healthy is extremely rewarding. I studied western and eastern massage and wanted to learn everything about being well in body, mind and spirit from holistic therapies and nutrition to counselling. I then worked as a wellness consultant with top-end hotels, incorporating wellness into spa operations.

Having been exposed to Yoga many years before on my travels, it was a natural progression for me to first study the mind/body discipline of Pilates and then to leave fitness full time to pursue my yoga studies and my personal path. For me, this is when I began to move deeply within.

What is a typical day for both of you like? What are the “conscious” elements that you incorporate into everyday life?
Ann rises first and will spend some time on our balcony meditating and stretching as the forest wakes up (we back onto a nature reserve). Often she will have clients in the morning, so I will walk the dog in the woods, but we generally take turns in this.

The other one will then prepare breakfast. This is usually oatmeal with brown rice milk, added to this are pumpkin, sunflower and flax seeds and raisens/cranberries – all organic. Fresh orange or watermelon juice as well.

Food plays an important role in our lives so time is spent planning meals, buying the ingredients and cooking, which we take turns in doing. If we are not at home for the evening, we enjoy meals out and movies with friends and being outdoors in nature or the local parks with our dog.

I work from home or in town in coffee shops and I cycle everywhere. There will always be ‘workout’ time each day for us both, choosing from cycling, swimming, pilates, gym and yoga. Ann often has clients in the early evening as well.

So, within our typical day there is a consciousness about our environment as well as what we are eating, the quality of the ingredients, our health and well being and time spent socialising with friends. Also, our work reflects where we both wish to invest our time, energy and passions on a daily basis and more importantly, we have both chosen jobs where we feel good about what we do and even better.... we enjoy it!

What is it about cycling that you enjoy so much?
It’s easier than running! No, it’s really the sense of freedom I get from cycling that I love so much. There is the obvious part of being out in the open air and feeling the wind on your face, but there is a deeper sense of not being tied to the car to get from A to B that I find very liberating.

I cycle competitively, and the training in Singapore can be a bit monotonous, with the same routes all the time, but when you travel to ride in the French Alps, and ride up a mountain and stand at the top, in the snow and ice with the whole world beneath you – that is incredible! And the best thing about all this is a healthy heart, trim waistline, new friends and bags of energy as a result of being physically fit!

Please explain a little about Osmosis Ventures. What is your mission/vision? What are some of your current projects?
Our mission is “Promoting Conscious Living”. Broadly speaking we do this on two levels:

Ann works with individuals, educating them to become more aware of their lifestyles and how to make positive changes that directly benefit their health and well-being. We call this our Lifestyle division and Ann will work to expand this area offering Yoga and wellness retreats within Singapore to start.

My time is spent working at a corporate level. There are two areas where I spend my energy – Osmosis Brands and LOHAS Asia.

Osmosis Brands works with organic and environmental brands, helping them internationalise their business. I consult, advise and set up distribution networks for these brands, which originate from a number of countries.

Currently, the majority of our brands are in the beauty & personal care category (skin care, body care), but we are branching out into packaged food and also home energy-efficiency brands.

Osmosis Ventures is also the official representative for the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) organization in Asia. We are working to set up a business network to enable LOHAS companies in Asia talk and trade among themselves, thereby greatly accelerating the growth of this sector. We shall be officially launching this initiative in May this year.

A final question before we wrap this up. For those who are living the conventional “city-life”, working and living in corporate environments, is it still possible to live consciously? What are some ways we can find balance between what would seem like two very different worlds?
Adam: Of course, it is not easy to do, as the demands of business life take you away from your home cooked foods and routines, but it is all about finding balance and being aware of your choices. When in restaurants, ask where the food is coming from (is it local, seasonal, organic etc) and choose the most appropriate dishes accordingly. At the supermarket, seek to reduce your food miles by buying as locally as possible and, again, support the organic brands out there. Refuse plastic bags and use your own shopping bags. Recycle and reuse containers. Take conscious transport choices to reduce your impact on the world (mass transit, bike to work if you can, just leave the car at home).

Our world is an urban one, and will remain so. This means it is important that living consciously is something that can be done in our cities.

My message to everyone is to embrace this concept and lead the way, setting an example to their friends, family and colleagues. We can save this world, one person at a time!

Ann: It is all about balance - we have to balance our internal environment with our external environment to give the body, mind and spirit time to refuel and restore. It is about being conscious and aware of our daily habits and how to positively change them. Yes, the push and pull of modern day city living is stressful, but we can all make small choices if we educate ourselves and develop our self-awareness. We can order a fresh juice instead of buying yet another cup of coffee; we can take a quiet lunch on our own instead of gossiping with work colleagues; we can turn off our phones and TVs for an hour each evening and spend quality time with ourselves or our partner/children; etc..... little by little, we can all make positive lifestyle changes that will benefit our well-being.

Through self-respect, self-education and self-awareness, I find people often feel there is a more meaningful and balanced approach to their day and their lives in general. I am sure we all know someone who has constantly pushed themselves to go on and on - neglecting their health and well-being which normally negatively will impact their work performance, health and family life. Work is important, and enjoyable. But again, it needs to be balanced with self-care.

I often find that people feel guilty in spending the time and money to take care of themselves, and I find this crazy. Should this not be your number one priority? What good are you sick, depleted, angry or depressed to yourself - your family - work colleagues and community?

Through living consciously, we can reduce many modern day stress-related illnesses and generally feel brighter, more emotionally grounded and healthier in our bodies and minds. If you take the time to care for yourself feeding your spirit and nourishing your body/mind daily, then everyone benefits—including Mother Earth.

Adam and Ann’s Conscious Choices: Health & Exercise - taking daily exercise for the mind and body. Transport - reduce air travel, walk and cycle for all trips under 5km, use public transport. Our car is a hybrid and used as little as possible. Food - eat home-cooked food, rich in nutrients. We buy local food as much as possible (reducing food miles). We choose organic, fairtrade, fresh food and refuse plastic bags at the store and reject over-packaged brands. We grow green veg on our (small) balcony. Toiletries - buy brands that use organic ingredients and do not use petro-chemicals as well as think about their packaging for ease of recycling. Energy - we buy energy-efficient appliances and reduce our household energy use. Clothing - we give away clothes that we have not worn for 12 months, choose natural and organic fabrics and reject fur (of any kind).

Created and managed by both Adam and his wife Ann Gowing, Osmosis Ventures aims at promoting conscious living while protecting the planet. Osmosis Ventures is also the official representative for the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) organization in Asia.

OSMOSIS VENTURES
www.osmosisventures.com
(65) 9634 4155

LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability)
www.lohas.com